Museums — London

The world's oldest national public museum, housing eight million objects spanning two million years of human history, from the Rosetta Stone to the Parthenon Marbles.

The secret underground bunker beneath Whitehall from which Winston Churchill and his war cabinet directed Britain's fight through the darkest hours of the Second World War.

The UNESCO-listed maritime quarter where the Prime Meridian splits the globe in two, crowned by Wren's Royal Observatory and the tea clipper Cutty Sark.

London's world-famous wax museum on Marylebone Road, showcasing lifelike figures of royalty, film stars and historical icons, founded by sculptor Marie Tussaud.

A cathedral-like Romanesque building in South Kensington housing 80 million specimens, from Hope the blue whale skeleton to a full hall of dinosaurs.

A hands-on temple to invention in South Kensington, from Stephenson's Rocket to a real Apollo command module, with free entry across seven floors.