Imperial War Museum in London

I second your recommendation! It's a great museum!!

I agree, it is an excellent museum, one of a number of WW2 related sights in London, including the Churchill War Rooms and the HMS Belfast.

It has also, over the years changed, updated, and somewhat altered it's view, like so many military museums. On my last visit (been maybe three times over the years) the exhibits look much more at the human toll of the war(s) and the personal impact to highlighted individuals, as opposed to the display of militaria. Like I said, nearly every major military museum has done this same shift.

FWIW, another fantastic museum, though a bit tough to get to by public transport is the Tank Museum in Bovington (near the South central Coast, near Poole), probably the premier museum on armor in the world. Of course, there are also a couple great RAF museums, and then days of naval museums in Portsmouth.

I agree, and I'll point out that the IWM also has other venues around the country.

We walked there after our visit to the Churchill War Rooms. Even though a school group walked in just before us, it wasn’t crowded. Plenty of interesting exhibits and information. And yes, they have a nice cafe where you can sit for a few minutes to regroup.

I finally made it there last December and believe we spent three hours there. I liked the exhibit on espionage but was disappointed on The Troubles exhibit. Seemed like it was all reading and few items to look at. I guess I was expecting something a little different. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the museum.

I made it to IWM Duxford a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it too.

I heartily recommend too the Bovington Tank Museum for those focused on armoured warfare in particular in theory and operation aside from military history in the 2oth century, which I use a combination of public transport and taxi to reach coming from London.

Using the Tube from Kings Cross, I get to London Waterloo for the train to Wool, a direct shot. There the taxis are waiting to take you to the Museum, literally door to door service....very nice and convenient.

Another vote for the IWM in London, its expansion since 2014 for the centennial makes it even more comprehensive and interesting to see. There is the IWM in Manchester, which I have not seen yet, also doable from London.

I'm a huge WWII buff and finally made it to the IWM in 2022, spent a good 3 hours and found their exhibits very well-done and thoughtful in their focus on things other than weapons, uniforms and the other usual war museum offerings I have seen in other countries. On the way back to the Underground I had an excellent early dinner at The Hercules pub on Kennington Rd.

For conflicts after WW2 IWM Manchester does it very well, or did last time I was there. Like many museums most of the collection is in store. They have over a million items, all of which are on their catalogue- IWM collections.

RE: items in store, yes, that is correct. I saw one such example, what was shown in the past but currently no longer.

Prior to the centennial the WW1 section of the IMW Lambeth North had among items displayed pertaining to the Eastern Front, a small board painted in bright red, very conspicuous , behind the glass display of WW I "realia" on the German side, eg, Ulanen lances, etc and that of the Russians.

One of these WW1 realia now missing, ie, no longer displayed in the expanded post-centennial Eastern Front displays was the bright red wooden board. That red board was to announce the fateful order given by the Tsar for general mobilisation to begin.

I can't think of a key word to search the catalogue for that item.

By the way there is a (cumbersome) system where you can ask to view a non displayed item at the branch it is held at, given enough advance notice.

Thanks for the info on absent items in the IMW.

Displaying this brightly painted red board was a singular feature of the IWM.

In no other museum in England or any where with exhibits displaying "realia" pertaining to the Eastern Front , ie in Vienna's Army History Museum (HGM), Les Invalides (Paris) or the WW1 Museum in Meaux, Berlin's the German History Museum (DHM) or the East Prussian Museum have I seen this particular display.

@ RJ.....Since you were staying close to Waterloo Station, you were at the station from which to access The Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset.

Take the train from London Waterloo to Wool, the taxi there gives you literally door to door service to the Museum's main entrance....almost always a taxi waiting for that very purpose. ....next time. As you say, this place is a must.

At least it doesn't contain a link this time... Reported.

It’s perfectly walkable, about 1.6 miles.

There are no 8 lane roads anywhere near central London - on that route I would doubt any 4 lane either. BUT, bear in mind if you plan to spend time walking around both museums on the same day adding a good walk as well might not be a great idea. The 12 or 453 buses will get you there in c17 minutes with little walking.

The input from the bot triggered a really useful post :)

Thank you AI overlords! [edit: and Johnew52 of course!]