Imperial War or Tate Modern?

[CanIRetirePlease]

I have a couple of hours in London near Waterloo to kill. Me, dh, dd15 and ds7 .

Neither have been to a major art museum so I think Tate Modern would be a great shout - dd15 is doing Art and Design GCSE So it might chime with her and provoke some interesting conversations.

Dh doesn’t enjoy art at all and thinks ds will be bored.

Third option - We could divide and conquer - boys do war and girls do art and meet up afterwards.

What would you do?

I would split up so everyone has the chance to see something they are more interested in. Tate modern wouldn’t appeal to me but I found the imperial war museum fascinating, but I am generally more interested in history than art.

There is the potential that ds 7 will be bored in the imperial war museum. I went in the summer with dh ds 15 and my Dad. Ds is doing GCSE history, I don’t remember any interactive exhibits, it was a lot of looking and reading. Also there is a whole section on the holocaust that isn’t suitable, recommend minimum age of 14.
DH can suck it up and all go to the Tate modern.

I would choose Tate modern, it’s not at all like a stuffy art gallery and there’s usually a brilliant exhibition in the Turbine Hall, plus the walk along the south bank has great views of many London landmarks.

if it’s literally a couple of hours you have, factor in the the c 20 min each way walk.

Tate Modern! The turbine hall is epic and there's usually a kids trail or activity that your 7yo would enjoy. And it's right by the millennium bridge, lovely to walk across.

Tate Modern, the DS who does not like art will probably enjoy the turbine hall, and in any case, supporting a DC who is doing a GCSE is more important to be honest.

Cabinet War Rooms and Tate Modern

I’d do the Tate Modern, if you walk over from London Bridge/Borough Market, the whole route is interesting and while the art might not be interesting to the 7 yo/DH will be.

Tate modern 100%! The sheer scale of the place is exciting to kids, and it's a hugely eclectic collection so you'd be hard pushed to find something that doesn't catch your eye. And as others have said, you're on the south bank so views over the Thames and walk across millennium bridge to st Paul's.

Most of what is interesting about IWM I think would be less engaging for a 7yr old (and in some cases not suitable - e.g the powerful but harrowing holocaust section)

There is some excellent art at the Imperial War Museum.

I found the IWM absolutely fascinating to my complete surprise. They had some brilliant engaging displays that would appeal to any kid that’s done anything about the war at school.

tate modern I find very hit and miss, the turbine hall exhibition at the moment is really dull https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/maret-anne-sara

Your DH is projecting his preferences onto his son.

The nicest option given the family make up and GCSE Art consideration is to take DS to Tate Modern with his sister and see if he likes it. He wouldn't be harmed if he were 'bored' but it's highly unlikely anyway given the quality of the museum. Plus he gets to talk to his sister about it.

Both are great but Tate Modern sounds like it ticks more of your boxes. There's so much to see there that there's bound to be something that interests your DH. Just the architecture is pretty awe inspiring. Nice walking along south bank from Waterloo too.

So we went to Tate Modern! Ds was a bit fed up but he did like parts of it and my dd was happy to see some art that looked like something she could do if she had the guts!