If you experience rainy days on your vacation while in London (because let’s be honest, that is pretty likely here in the UK), there are so many fantastic museums that you can go to that are couple friendly, free, and so fun! For me and my experience in London, a rainy day always meant the perfect day to go to one of London’s incredible museums.
Honestly, each one deserves their own post, but here is just a general one to give you ideas of where to go on a rainy day in London.
Here are some of my favorites:
The V&A (aka the Victoria and Albert Museum, my favorite)
The National Gallery (also my favorite)
The British Museum is a London classic! It has tons of collections that are all fascinating! There you can see the Rosetta Stone and lots of other amazing things. It is a really big museum and can be a bit intimidating, so what I like to do is get the museum map and see the top 10 things they have listed in the map. This way, I get to see 10 key pieces in the museum and it takes me around most of the collections so I get a good review of the whole museum without getting exhausted and overwhelmed!
The V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) is on Exhibition Road and is one of my favorite museums. It just has a great collection of art, sculpture, photographs, clothing and much, much more. It is one of the “smaller” museums and just has a great atmosphere and collection. It’s a great one to stop in for a little bit if you are near Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, or Harrods.
The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum are also found on Exhibition Road. Although these museums are more geared towards children, they are also really fun and interesting for adults. The architecture of the Natural History Museum is astounding and the Science Museum has all kinds of fun, interactive things to see and do.
The National Gallery is located on Trafalgar Square, and the National Portrait Gallery is right behind the National Gallery. The National Gallery is one of my top 3 favorite museums of London. The art displayed in the gallery is just breathtaking! It is definitely a must-see and it’s in a great location! You walk out the front doors and there is Trafalgar Square! From there you can see all the way down to parliament and Big Ben.
I personally am not a huge fan of modern art, but if you are, head over to the Tate Modern, one of London’s most famous museums!
Also, a lesser well-known exhibit can be found at the British Library. There is a permanent exhibit that plays host to incredibly historic documents such as the Magna Carta, original writing of Jane Austen, original writing of Shakespeare, the Gutenberg Bible, original writing of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo, original music scores by Handel, and much more.
Most of these museums, if not all, also have really nice cafes where you can enjoy your lunch.
Be sure to head to at least one, if not all of these museums! They are a great place to go while on vacation with your partner when you find yourself in rainy London.
Relationship Tip: If you go to a museum for date night, make a little game of it. You can do a scavenger hunt together to find the key pieces of each collection!
