London’s Top 5 Alternative Museums

In London, one of the world’s great cities, stand some of the world’s great museums but for something a little more off the beaten track, why not explore some of the less well-known museums?
Follow this guide to London’s top 5 alternative museums and discover a world you may not have known existed?

1. London Transport Museum

For centuries, Londoners have traversed their city by boat, by road, by rail and, of course, underground. Immerse yourself in a journey through those centuries at the London Transport Museum, where amazing exhibits tell the city’s travel stories. Here you’ll find a sedan chair, dating from 1800, which was London’s first licensed public transport and a horse-drawn omnibus, models of the boats that once sailed across and up and down the Thames, steam engines and railway coaches. Not simply a museum for boys of all ages, the London Transport Museum is living history with amusing anecdotal displays, and examples of the innovations in transport that transformed London life. The museum is in the Covent Garden Piazza.

London Transport Museum / Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Loz Pycock

2. Freud Museum

In 1938, Sigmund Freud, regarded as the father of psychoanalysis, fled his Vienna home from the Nazis and went into exile in London with his family. Today, his Hampstead residence provides a fascinating glimpse into his life with his study, complete with couch, preserved as it was during his lifetime. There are more than 2,000 antiquities of Greek, Roman, Oriental and Egyptian origin to examine, while an upstairs room is devoted to his daughter, Anna, who lived and worked here until she died in 1982.

3. Fashion and Textile Museum

Iconic designer Zandra Rhodes founded the Fashion and Textile Museum to showcase London’s contemporary fashion, textiles and jewellery. Its exhibitions change regularly, although there is a permanent display of Rhodes’ creations. The museum – run by Newham College – also offers courses for students and acts as a network for the fashion and jewellery industries. Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta designed the museum building, which is situated in Bermondsey, south London.

4. Handel House Museum

From 1723 until his death in 1759, the composer George Handel lived at 25 Brook Street, London. Here, he composed some of his finest works – and indeed some of the greatest and most recognisable music in history – including Music for the Royal Fireworks, Messiah and Zadok the Priest (you might know it better as the theme for football’s Champions League!). The beautifully restored Georgian interior reflects Handel’s era while weekly concerts and special events bring live music back to this historic house – the upstairs rooms were once home to rock legend Jimi Hendrix.

5. Trinity Buoy Wharf and the Faraday Museum 

On the banks of the Thames, Trinity Buoy Wharf was once the site at which all buoys and markers for England’s coast were made and repaired. Its lighthouse is the only one in London and, along with the rest of the Grade II-listed warehouses on the site, has been restored to become part of a creative community that includes artists’ studios and London’s smallest museum, the Faraday Project. This little hut is dedicated to the scientist Michael Faraday, who conducted experiments into electric lighting in the lighthouse in 1863.

This article was brought to you by one of the top luxury hotels in London, Claridge’s – who have been a fixture in the UK’s capital city for well over 100 years.

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Tags: antiquities, beaten track, fashion textiles, father of psychoanalysis, living history, london life, london transport museum, mexican architect, nazis, railway coaches, Rhodes, sedan chair, sigmund freud, steam engines, textile museum, travel stories, upstairs room

Category: Museums and Galleries, Museums and Galleries