London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [62]
The Garden Museum.
A rather unassuming museum, it has a great story behind it and is supported by a dedicated team of volunteers. In the mid-1970s, two gardening enthusiasts were looking for the graves of the John Tradescants (the elder and younger), who were adventurous plant collectors, responsible for introducing many familiar blooms to these shores. Their search led them to a medieval church, right next to Lambeth Palace—which, they were horrified to discover, was about to be bulldozed. Inspired to action, they rescued the church and opened this museum, which has built one of the largest collections of historic garden tools, artifacts, and curiosities in the world. The museum also has its own beautiful walled gardens, which are maintained year-round with seasonal plants. One section contains a perfect replica of a 17th-century knot garden; another is devoted entirely to wildflowers. It’s worth a visit to see the church itself, which also contains the tombs of William Bligh, captain of the Bounty, and several members of the Boleyn family. There’s also a green-thumb gift shop and the Garden Café serving vegetarian lunches and home-baked cakes—the toffee-apple variety is a must! | Lambeth Palace Rd., South Bank | SE1 7LB | 020/7401–8865 | www.gardenmuseum.org.uk | £6 (includes garden and all exhibitions) | Daily 10:30–5; closed 1st Mon. of month | Vauxhall.
HMSBelfast. At 613 feet, this is one of the largest and most powerful cruisers the Royal Navy has ever had. It played an important role in the D-Day landings off Normandy, left for the Far East after the war, and has been moored in the relative calm of the Thames since 1971. On board there’s a riveting interactive outpost of the Imperial War Museum, which tells the Royal Navy’s story from 1914 to the present and shows you about life on a World War II battleship, from mess decks and bakery to punishment cells, and from operations room to engine room and armaments. | Morgan’s La., Tooley St., South Bank | SE1 2JH | 020/7940–6300 | hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk | £12.95, children under 16 free | Mar.–Oct., daily 10–6; Nov.–Feb., daily 10–5; last admission 1 hr before closing | London Bridge.
Imperial War Museum.
Despite its title, this museum of 20th-century warfare does not glorify bloodshed but emphasizes understanding through evoking what life was like for citizens and soldiers alike through the two world wars and beyond. There’s an impressive amount of hardware at the main entrance with accompanying interactive material, including a Battle of Britain Spitfire, a German V2 rocket, tanks, guns, and submarines—and from here you can peel off to the various sections of the museum. Sights, sounds, and smells are used to re-create the uncomfortable Trench Experience in the World War I gallery, which is just as effective as the “Blitz Experience” in the World War II gallery: a 10-minute taste of an air raid in a street of acrid smoke with sirens blaring and searchlights glaring. There are two galleries of war art on the second floor (by Henry Moore, John Singer Sargent, Stanley Spencer, and William Orpen, to name a few), poetry, photography, and documentary film footage. | Lambeth Rd., South Bank | SE1 6HZ | 020/7416–5000 | www.iwm.org.uk | Free (charge for special exhibits) | Daily 10–6 | Lambeth North.