Best London museum for 17 year old (boy) who doesn't do museums

[SirChenjins]

OK, maybe that's not fair...he doesn't have any real interest in staring at history or art, but would go along with something more immersive. DH and I have put our foot down for this trip and have said we want to do one museum (Nike Town doesn't count) so which one would you take your slightly-disinterested 17 year old to? He'll be well catered for the rest of the time so don't feel too sorry for him.

My teens enjoyed the Huntarian museum recently - partly for all the specimens in jars
It's not to big either https://hunterianmuseum.org/

There are some very cool interactive exhibitions now,
Including one called Moco mocomuseum.com/info/london

Tate Modern is good for the building alone?

Churchill's War Rooms if he's into history.

Design Museum in Kensington is ace and not your usual museum - they have old tech eg apple computers etc, plus lots of exhibitions and a fun shop.

Thanks - will look into all of these

Mine enjoyed the Hockney Lightroom in Kings Cross, plus there's quite cool stuff going there, so it's nice to wander round the area.
My boys also liked the Wallace collection which has an amazing weapons collection, along with some Fragonard paintings and a great cafe.
The Design Museum and London Docklands Museum might also appeal.

What are his interests?
But also.....why?
We've stopped taking our 16 year old to museums unless it's something she has specifically asked to see.
She's recently got into arthouse type films so going to the cinema at BFI at Southbank was very exciting to her.
If he isn't fussed about a museum there's plenty of other cultural things he might like.

Power Up?
At the science museum. Perfect for gamers

5 decades of consoles

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/power

There's a prison museum by borough market I think...called the clink museum

I've also heard good things about the paradox museum...I plan on taking my own teens there soon

And not quite a museum, but how about the London dungeon

At 17, can he not just go off and entertain himself for a few hours while you do a museum of your choice? There is nothing worse than having a demonstratively bored teenager following you around, or constantly having to cater to their interests...

I was a single parent to two DC with a big age gap, so by the time DC1 was in his teens, I started letting him go off for increasing amounts of time to do his own thing while I did something with DC2 that he would hate. We started in London, but he had explored lots of different cities around Europe by himself by the time he was 17.

If your DS has money/a debit card (for buses & tubes), and a charged up phone with google maps on it, he should be fine for a couple of hours in London at that age. Independence is something that needs to be built up before they head off for uni or whatever.

Frameless

I think if he is disinterested you need to pick the one he may enjoy a bit out of the ones you are interested in.
My top tip is not to expect to linger too long so do a museum at a faster pace or do a couple of rooms only. This works well if they are free entry so tate modern look in two rooms then refreshments in the cafe with a view of London or National history to look at the dinasours only. I would avoid the British museum as although it has so much great stuff it is quite traditional in approach.
For an immersive museum Dennis Servers house is quite an experience.

Wallace collection - lots of suits of armour downstairs, manageable amount of good art upstairs, plus cafe. Walkable to Oxford street etc.

Imperial war museum.

The transport museum in Covent Garden was great. My 16 yr old loved it. Imperial war museum also

HMS Belfast or the old operating theatre?

The Last Tuesday society is more a quirky, mini museum under a bar in East london. Lots packed into it with weird and unusual curiosities. If you got the tube to Bethnal Green, E2 or Cambridge Heath overground station- its a short walk away. In the area is also the children's museum. More aimed at younger children, but I always find it interesting to see toys from my own past- walkmans, space hoppers etc.

Both are not far from regents canal, London fields (markets on sat) and on a Sunday there is Columbia rd flower market and Bricklane markets if you wanted something non-museum to do too.

https://www.vam.ac.uk/young?srsltid=AfmBOoqBalLXI1RV2YvF6Gx-8Aj4Vca_l0pcUPv8wTIcq5bR75qVRB4Q

thelasttuesdaysociety.org/museum/

Science Museum specifically the Power Up (gaming) exhibit, HMS Belfast, The Clink Prison were all hits with my 16YO nephew

Came here to say The Clink too. There are so many different places though, so whatever his interests are, there will be a museum / home / exhibition in London to visit.

Maybe not the Last Tuesday Society. I can’t imagine any thing more cringeworthy for a 17 year old than spending an afternoon with your parents browsing a collection that includes the mummified penis of a hanged man and a selection of erotica from around the world, especially as he isn’t old enough to drown his sorrows in the Absinthe bar afterwards 😂

Twist museum is another of the many immersive museums that are popping up everywhere. It also has the advantage of being across the road from Nike Town 😂

It depends on your interests really.
HMS Belfast? Maybe just a tourist boat down the Thames. Tower of London? (The Beefeater guided tours are good). A football stadium tour?

So many great ideas, thanks!

Not strictly museums but London dungeon or Tower of London might be a good mix of entertainment and history.

Not quite a museum but a tour of disused tube station. Really interesting