Wellcome Collection
Tue–Sun 10 am–6 pm, closed Mon
Museum about medicine, the body and being human, with curious objects and a lovely reading room.
Free, closed Mondays. In the Reading Room on the 2nd floor you can read and rest on the sofas.
London · Quiet
Bloomsbury
Leafy squares, bookshops and the British Museum. Quieter than the centre. 8 places in and around Bloomsbury.
SeeDavid Samuel, User:Hellodavey1902 · CC BY-SA 3.0 
Alan Stanton · CC BY-SA 2.0 
Ham · CC BY-SA 3.0 
Peter Trimming · CC BY-SA 2.0
See4
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Foundling Museum
Tue–Sat 10 am–5 pm, Sun 11 am–5 pm, closed Mon
The story of London's first foundling hospital, with works by Hogarth and Handel memorabilia.
Online £13.50, at the desk £14.50. Closed Mondays. The little tokens left by the mothers are the most moving part.
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British Museum
Daily 10 am–5 pm, Fri until 8.30 pm
The Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon sculptures. Ideal for a rainy day.
Collection free, special exhibitions charge. Fridays until 8.30 pm with free time slots.
Charles Dickens Museum
Wed–Sun 10 am–5 pm, last entry 4 pm
The house where Dickens wrote ‘Oliver Twist’, furnished as in his day.
Adults £14. Closed Monday and Tuesday. In December there are longer opening hours and Christmas readings.
Food and drink
Bex Walton · CC BY 4.0 
Ewan Munro from London, UK · CC BY-SA 2.0 
Edwardx · CC BY-SA 3.0
Food and drink4
Coffee1
Store Street Espresso
Mon–Fri 7.30 am–6 pm, Sat 9 am–5.30 pm, Sun 9.30 am–5 pm
Bright café in Bloomsbury near the British Museum; espresso from changing roasteries, plus pastries.
A good stop on the way to the British Museum; lots of laptop customers, seats are easiest to find in the morning.
Dinner3
Scarfes Bar
daily from 4 pm
Bar in the Rosewood London on High Holborn with a fireplace, bookshelves and caricatures by Gerald Scarfe.
Often live music in the evening; booking is worthwhile.
The Lamb
daily from midday (hours on the website)
Victorian pub on Lamb's Conduit Street with pivoting snob screens above the bar.
In fine weather the drinkers stand out on the traffic-free street.
Princess Louise
daily, hours unverified
Victorian pub on High Holborn with mosaics, carved woodwork and small partitioned snugs; cheap beer from the Samuel Smith brewery.
No website; mobile phones and loud music are frowned upon at Samuel Smith pubs.
All of it in the app, as a plan from your arrival
Traceflap turns arrival, departure, opening hours and weather into a day plan and accompanies the whole trip live.
Traceflap for iPhoneSources: Selection and texts: Traceflap. Hours and prices from the official websites, as of 21 Oct 2026. Coordinates: Wikidata (CC0), some venues © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). No guarantee, please check before visiting. Map: OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence with each picture.