How To Have The British Museum To Yourself

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Over 5 million people visit the British Museum each year but there are ways to see it without the crowds (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) I live in London. Even better, I live near Bloomsbury, a Georgian-era district that surrounds the British Museum , so I’m lucky enough to pop in when I have a free hour or so (like many of Britain’s other major museums, the entrance fee was abolished in 2001). Or, more realistically often decide not to join the queue that would take at least half an hour to navigate.

But when I do, I never regret it. This is a world-class collection of the wonderful, the contentious (yes, the Elgin Marbles but also other artefacts) and the utterly jaw-dropping, where a 30-second stroll can take you from Ancient Egypt to Renaissance Italy. With over 8 million objects, for me, part of the appeal of museums like this is that they make me feel as if time - and continents - are shrunk.

The Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum And to see all this before other visitors arrive? An even more extraordinary privilege. Guests at the Montague on the Gardens hotel, which looks onto the British Museum, can book a private tour. "We’ve always had a relationship with the hotel," Dirk Crokaert, the hotel’s General Manager.

"We’re neighbours." Good hotels, with centuries of charm to draw on, can charm the impossible, including a precious hour to enjoy the museum before the first visitors arrive. Gaining spe.