London Bloomsbury

The British Museum, Great Russell St. (020 7323 8299; www.british-museum.org) The funny thing about the British Museum is that there’s almost nothing British in it. Founded in 1753 as the personal collection of Sir Hans Sloane, the museum juxtaposes Victorian Anglocentricism with more modern, multicultural acceptance. The building itself, in all its Neoclassical splendor, is magnificent; a leisurely stroll through the less crowded galleries is well worth an afternoon visit. The many visitors who don’t make it past the main floor miss out—the galleries above and below are some of the museum’s best, if not most famous.
The Great Court is the largest covered square in Europe, and has been used as the British Library stacks for the past 150 years. The blue chairs and desks of the Reading Room, set inside a towering dome of books, have shouldered the weight of research by Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky, as well as almost every major British writer and intellectual—and minor ones as well! From the main entrance, the large double doors to the left of the Reading Room lead to the Museum’s most popular wing, the West Galleries. The Rosetta Stone takes center stage in the Egyptian sculpture rooms, while the less iconic but enduringly huge monumental friezes and reliefs of the Assyrian, Hittite, and other Ancient Near East civilizations are worth more than a glance. Most famous (and controversial) of the massive array of Greek sculptures on display are the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, statues carved under the direction of Athens’s greatest sculptor, Phidias (Room 18). The Greek government technically bought the Marbles (albeit for a measly price). Other Hellenic highlights include remnants of two of the seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos (Rooms 21-22).
Upstairs, the Portland Vase presides over Roman ceramics and house wares (Room 70). When discovered in 1582, the vase had already been broken and reconstructed, and in 1845, it was shattered again by a drunk museum-goer. When it was put back together, 37 small chips were left over; two reconstructions have reincorporated more and more leftover chips, though some are still missing from the vase. Egyptian sarcophagi and mummies await in the North Galleries (rooms 61-66). The newer African Galleries display a fabulous collection accompanied by soft chanting, video displays, and abundant documentation (Room 25, lower floor). In Rooms 51-59, musical instruments and board games from the world’s first city, Ur, show that leisure time is a historical constant, while Mexico dominates the Americas collection with extraordinary Aztec artifacts (Rooms 26-27). Islamic art resides in Room 34, and above it, the largest room in the museum holds Chinese, South Asian, and Southeast Asian artifacts alongside some particularly impressive Hindu sculpture (Room 33). The highlight of the Korean display, in Room 67, is a sarangbang house built on-site, while a tea house is the centerpiece of the Japanese galleries (Rooms 92-94).
In the South and East Galleries, the King's Library gallery holds artifacts gathered from throughout the world by English explorers during the Enlightenment. While the labeling is poor (and in some places nonexistent), the collection itself is spectacular. The upper level of the museum's southeast corner is dedicated to ancient and medieval Europe, and includes most of the museum's British artifacts. A highlight of the collection is the treasure excavated from the Sutton Hoo Burial Ship;the magnificent inlaid helmet is the most famous example of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship. Along with the ship is the Mildenhall Treasure, a trove of brilliantly preserved Roman artifacts (Room 41). Next door are the enigmatic and beautiful Lewis Chessmen, an 800-year-old Scandinavian chess set mysteriously abandoned on Scotland's Outer Hebrides (Room 42). Collectors and enthusiasts will also enjoy the comprehensive Clocks and Watches Gallery (Rooms 38-39) and Money Gallery (Room 68). Tottenham Court Rd., Russell Square, or Holborn. Tours by request. Free. Small suggested donation. Prices for events and exhibitions vary. Museum open daily 10am-5:30pm. Select exhibitions and displays open Th and F until 8:30pm. Paul Hamlyn Library open M-W 10am-5:30pm, Th 10am-8:30pm, F noon-8:30pm, Sa 10am-7:30pm. Takes credit cards. Wheelchair access.

The British Library, 96 Euston Rd. ( 020 7412 7676; www.bl.uk) Castigated during its long construction by traditionalists for being too modern and by moderns for being too traditional, the new British Library building (opened in 1998) now impresses all nay-sayers with its stunning interior. The 65,000 volumes of the King’s Library, collected by George III and bequeathed to the nation in 1823 by his less bookish son, George IV, are displayed in a glass cube toward the rear. The sunken plaza out front features an enormous and somewhat strange statue of Newton, and also hosts a series of free concerts and events. The heart of the library is underground, with 12 million books on 200 miles of shelving; the above-ground brick building is home to cavernous reading rooms and an engrossing museum. In the Literature Corner of the museum, find Shakespeare’s first folio, Lewis Carroll’s handwritten manuscript of Alice in Wonderland (donated by Alice herself), and Virginia Woolf’s handwritten notes to Mrs. Dalloway (then called The Hours). Music-lovers visiting the museum will appreciate Handel’s handwritten Messiah, Mozart’s marriage contract, Beethoven’s tuning fork, and a whole display dedicated to the Beatles, including the original handwritten lyrics to "A Hard Day’s Night"—scrawled on the back of Lennon’s son Julian’s first birthday card. In the museum, the original copy of the Magna Carta has its own room with accompanying Papal Bull that Pope Innocent III wrote in response. Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks are in the Science section, while one of 50 known Gutenberg Bibles is in the Printing section. Euston Sq. or King’s Cross St. Pancras. Free Wi-Fi. To register for use of reading room, bring 2 forms of ID—1 with a signature and 1 with a home address. Open M 9:30am-6pm, Tu 9:30am-8pm, W-F 9:30am-6pm, Sa 9:30am-5pm, Su 11am-5pm. Group tours (up to 15 people) Tu and Th at 10:30am and 2:30pm, £85 per group; call 019 3754 6536 to book. Wheelchair access.