Like every major city in the world, London boasts some large and impressive museums. While the London museums are not of the quality of a Smithsonian in Washington, DC, there is quite a lot to see and enjoy. We spent a couple days wandering the halls of the major museums, the Victoria and Albert, the Natural History, and the Science and Technology Museums. Last year we visited the vast British Museum and gawked at the mummies and Egyptian artifacts, so we didn't go back there this trip. The museums are clustered together in an easily walkable group and accessed by the tube that opens right in front of the Natural History Museum, making it an easy trip from Richmond for us. Additionally, all the museums are free, so we felt comfortable taking our time with what interested us most, knowing we could come back and see other exhibits later if we wished.

Our favorite museum was the Victoria and Albert Museum dedicated to the decorative arts and design . Housed in a red brick Victorian building, this museum is massive! We spent most of a day viewing the exhibits showing the clothing, furniture, rooms and decorative items arranged by historical periods. They even have whole rooms taken from historically significant homes, reassembled in the museum to show the architecture and design of the time. The costume and clothing exhibits of both men and women from about the 1600's to today give you sense of walking through time as you see what people wore, right down to their underwear and shoes, and how it changed through the centuries. The museum was not crowded, and we were able to take our time with areas that interested us and move more quickly through those that didn't. After a few hours, we took a break and had tea and scones in the courtyard, enjoying the modern water fountain and relaxing.

After a day of walking museums, we like to find somewhere fun to eat. Today, we went to China Town, one of our favorite destinations for a good dinner . It's always interesting to walk around and look in shop windows and see the hanging ducks!

We went to the Natural History Museum and the Science Museums in one day as they are next to each other and easy to walk between. The Natural History Museum is the most beautiful museum building I've ever seen. It's large marble exterior is impressive, but the main hall of the museum will take your breath away. The ceiling soars several stories high and the back wall is crowned with three magnificent stained glass windows. The huge hall holds Dippy, the 105-foot (32 m) long replica of a Diplodocus carnegii skeleton suspended in all its dinosaur glory. The dinosaur display taking up an entire floor and wing of the museum is well-done and interesting, boasting a catwalk for above the scenes views, and an animated T-rex that is very scary indeed. Because the museum was so crowded with children on school field trips, we didn't spend as much time as would have otherwise, but this is one we may go back to see again . It was obviously the most popular of the three museums.

We also took in the Science Museum next door. The main floor display of Watt's giant steam engines was interesting and kicked off the Industrial Revolution changing life as we know it forever. While this museum was our least favorite, there were a couple things that stood out for us. We enjoyed the exhibits in the basement showcasing the "Secret Life of the Home." Basically, the exhibits featured historical examples of the evolution of ordinary household items like the sewing machine, washer, toaster, etc. We had fun pointing out the things we've actually seen used in our parents' and grandparents' homes. The museum has an IMAX theatre which we skipped as we've seen this before. There are lots of hands-on and interactive teaching exhibits geared towards teaching kids about science and technology, as well as a room devoted to space science and another for technology.

Overall the museums are interesting and easy to access. They are obviously a great teaching tool for children as well as tourists. Enjoy our pics!