Free Museums in Whipsnade

"This contemporary art museum is very welcoming to kids, from the family visitor hosts during holidays and at weekends, as well as family maps, regular activities and events (although some are more suitable for older kids) and the Start Display focused on some of the most famous works, helping to get younger visitors thinking about art. There are also suggested games, along with activity packs, and you’re reminded it’s OK to make some noise!. Entry is free – adults have to pay for special exhibitions, but under-12s can enter free for those as well."

"London’s best contemporary art gallery has plenty of interactive activities for kids. It’s inside the former Bankside Power Station and younger kids can run around the vast Turbine Hall. Kids aged 3 and older can sketch their own masterpieces at the Bloomberg digital drawing bar and then have their art projected onto the gallery’s walls."

"PRACTICAL INFORMATION: The museum is open daily from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Time slots must be booked in advance on the museum’s website here. Admission to the general exhibit is free."

"With more than 2300 European masterpieces in its collection, this is one of the world's great galleries, with seminal works from the 13th to the mid-20th century, including masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Vincent van Gogh and Auguste Renoir. Many visitors flock to the eastern rooms on the main floor (1700–1930), where works by British artists such as Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable and JMW Turner, and Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces by Van Gogh, Renoir and Claude Monet await."

"If you only make time to visit a few museums during your London trip, The National Gallery should be at the top of your list. The gallery sits proudly overlooking Trafalgar Square and features an impressive collection with more than 2,300 pieces from the mid 1200s to 1900. It’s certainly one of the best free art museums in London, and a must see."

"A day is the perfect amount of time to see the highlights: Cardiff Castle, the National Museum, and Cardiff Bay. Learn about Welsh history, culture, and language on a walking tour or by talking to locals. Spend the evening in Cardiff."

"Before Google or Wikipedia, the British came here to put a face to the names of famous historical figures from the country's history. As such, the paintings are prized more for their subjects rather than their artists. Highlights include portraits of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth II, the latter courtesy of pop art sensation Andy Warhol."

"If you’re wondering what to do in London, we suggest going to gaze at the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. With free access to over 200,000 portraits from the Tudors to the present day, you’ll see everyone from Shakespeare, Amy Winehouse to The Duchess of Cambridge, and Kate Middleton. Once you’re done working your way through the art, pop by one of the local cafés and grab a treat to eat on the steps of Trafalgar Square."

"This excellent branch of the Victoria & Albert Museum displays one of the best collections of childhood-related objects in the world. Kids are fascinated by the immense number of dolls, dolls’ houses through the ages, vintage board games, construction toys (Lego, Meccano), battery-powered robots and favourite toys from the 20th century, decade by decade. Action figures, teddy bears, puppets, magic lanterns and MicroMachines are among the highlights here."

"Out in Bethnal Green, you’ll discover the free Museum of Childhood. Operated and curated by the V&A, it’s home to toys, dolls houses, and thousands of other interesting items, but a major refurbishment is aiming to turn it into a “world-leading museum of design and creativity for children and young people”."

"Spanning the 1600s to the present day—toys, clothes and interactive displays are set within a 1872 hangar with marble floor and visible cast iron frame."

"The Jack the Ripper Museum is devoted to one of London's most notorious and terrorizing serial killers. The museum recreates the setting in which the unsolved Jack the Ripper murders took place in 1888. The collection has original objects related to the crimes."

"It is home to Kirkaldy's giant testing machine that clocks in at more than 47 feet long, along with other smaller, modern pieces of equipment. The Kirkaldy Machine is kept in working condition at the museum. The museum is available to the public on the first Sunday of each month."

"Also known as the Temple of Mithras, this museum is centered around the remains of an ancient Roman temple in the City of London, left from the days of Roman rule, and is one of the lesser-known free museums in the capital. Named as one of the UK’s most significant archaeological sites, the museum showcases the ancient temple and a selection of interesting Roman artefacts found during excavations, including fragments of writing-tablets which feature the first known reference to London and the earliest hand-written document in Britain."

"One of London’s quirkier and lesser-known spots is literally a blend of old and new. The London Mithraeum is a museum centred around the ruins of a Roman Temple and is located, rather oddly, underneath the shiny glass Bloomberg Buildings in the middle of the city. A visit to the Mithraeum is not just looking at old artefacts, but a full on sensory experience."

"Year Built: c.240 CE Location: Modern-day Walbrook Purpose:  Temple/sanctuary Still Standing:  No – only partial ruins remain. photo source: Wikimedia Commons. The Temple of Mithras is one of the few remnants leftover from the Roman Empire’s time in the area and is one of the oldest buildings ever discovered in London."

"St Helen Bishopsgate was formed originally of two medieval churches joined together. On the left is the nave of a Benedictine Nunnery, which, in the early 13th century was built onto the existing parish church. The two congregations were then separated by a solid screen (now columns)."

"St Helen’s Church in Bishopsgate is another survivor of the Great Fire, and indeed the Blitz. However, an IRA bomb blew its roof off. It originally belonged to a nunnery which was dissolved in 1538."

"This church dates from the 12th-century and managed to survive both the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the Blitz"

"The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide is the oldest organization in the world devoted to the study of the Holocaust. The Wiener Library was founded in 1933 to keep Jewish communities up to date on Nazi persecution. Later, it became a research institute and public access library following the end of World War II. The library today has an estimated 70,000 books, 2,000 document, 45,000 photographs and 3,000 periodicals."

"Rich Mix allows creativity in all its magnificent forms – live music, theatre, poetry, film, art, design and drawing, so it’s a little distinct from the other places on the list, but the charity behind the cross-media arts centre, The Rich Mix Cultural Foundation, has a pretty inspiring goal. And that’s to offer the public space to discover more about the creative offerings of people from various migrant populations. Since taking over the former clothing factory on Bethnal Green Road, Rich Mix has put on many free exhibitions, screenings and concerts."

"This fantastic creative space in the East End, on the site of what used to be in a leather factory, has regular exhibitions featuring emerging and established artists. 39-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA Free entryrichmix.org.uk"

"This is the kind of comedy night that hosts the intellectual clever comics of Radio 4 and the Guardian. The kind that weave a whole story, or create funny characters before hitting you with their comedy. This is grown up comedy for all those who like comedy mixed with fine dining, good conversation and a nice glass of whisky."

"Restaurants Spanish King’s Cross. This Barrafina outpost is on the top floor of Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross has – in a Barrafina first – a few tables for four inside and some decent space for outdoor dining (every other restaurant has been counter seating only). The signature long dining counter, bustling open kitchen and menu packed with flavour all remain."