British Museum

Having lived in London all my life I can't believe I have never visited this museum. Finally went there last week with my 11 year old daughter and I can honestly say I was blown away. Perhaps not great for the VERY young but for 7 upwards I would say it's hard to beat.

Went to the butterfly exhibit which was fantastic and exciting, very well laid out and so much to see. A must do when visiting London!

Before I had children, I loved going to the British Museum. I loved finding some obscure object and spending ages getting to know it in detail - e.g. the Assyrian hunting reliefs in the basement.

Fast forward a few years and I think it is a pretty rubbish place to take a child. I agree with the previous reviewer's comments about the cafe and toilets. Few of the exhibits are presented in a way that makes them interesting and engaging for young children.

When I took my 3 month old baby to one of the special exhibitions, I had to pay an online booking fee for his 'free' child ticket. The exhibition was packed with a long queue to get in. Halfway round I found a dark corner to breastfeed him discretely but was pushily advised that I would be more comfortable in the baby change area - miles from the exhibition room through crowds of people. When I said, no thank you I am fine, the lady got a bit stroppy and insistent. I stayed because I was lucky to have my brother to stand up for me, but the whole experience was really stressful and I wouldn't go again, especially as the tickets were quite expensive.

My ratings are based on going with kids in tow.

Disappointing. We went to recreate Harry in a museum and wanted to see some mummies. It was a weekend and so crowded. I don't mind crowds as such but people literally pushed my children away from cases so they could take photos. We were sitting on the floor talking about one of the objects but in the end got physically pushed aside.
The cafe is impossible unless you have 2:1 parents to kids. You cannot get a table easily but the food is too far to leave the kids at the table. So do you buy food and gamble on not being able to sit down or leave the kids at a table out of eye sight and buy food despite not being able to see a menu. Last the baby change - designed by someone that has never met a baby! Two LINKED rooms - you have to go through one to get to the other. Not a single hook to hang change bags and when we were there every bin over flowing - we mentioned this to a very disinterested information desk.

I love the museum but will not go back till the kids are much much older.