London Marylebone And Regent’S Park

THE WALLACE COLLECTION. Housed in palatial Hertford House, this stunning array of paintings, porcelain, and armor was bequeathed to the nation by the widow of Sir Richard Wallace in 1897. Restored to much of its 19th-century glory, the mansion’s impressive collection is rendered even more dazzling by its grand gilded setting. On the ground floor, four Armoury Galleries boast scads of richly decorated weapons and burnished suits of armor. The State Rooms hold a collection of sumptuous Sèvres porcelain from Catherine II of Russia’s meal service and the study has furniture once owned by Marie Antoinette, the queen of indulgence. The East Galleries contain Dutch and Flemish art. The centerpiece of this collection is indisputably the Great Gallery, once called “the greatest picture gallery in Europe”: it boasts a varied collection of 17th-century work by masters like Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Rubens, Ruisdael, Velázquez, Titian, and Gainsborough as well as the collection’s most celebrated piece, Frans Hals’s Laughing Cavalier. An ongoing refurbishment project means some rooms are closed, but with over 25 galleries in total, you won’t feel like you’ve missed anything. Hungry art appreciators can plop down in the newly opened and ever-so-swanky sculpture garden restaurant, The Wallace, which serves gourmet French cuisine. (Hertford House, Manchester Sq. Bond St., Baker St., or Marble Arch. ☎020 7563 9500; www.wallacecollection.org. Open daily 10am-5pm. Private tours 10am-3:30pm; call for details. Wheelchair-accessible. Free (£2 suggested donation). Tours £6. Audio tours £3. Restaurant: ☎020 7563 9505. Entrees £12.50-18. Open M-Th and Su 10am-5pm; F-Sa 10am-11pm.)

SHERLOCK HOLMES MUSEUM. With four floors of scenes and decor from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels, this museum claims to be the real 19th-century residence of fictional characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Probably only die-hard fans who delight in the unabashedly corny will find a photo-op in Mr. Holmes’s cap worth the six quid. (221B Baker St. Baker St. ☎020 7935 8866; www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk. Open daily 9:30am-6pm. £6, children 7-16 £4.)

Galleries

THOMPSON’S GALLERY. Priding itself on displaying 20th- and 21st-century British and Scottish artists, Thompson’s features cutting-edge painting, sculpture, and photography. (76 Marylebone High St ...more