Sir John Soane's Museum

This lovely home/museum was left by its owner as long as it remained largely intact. That is the true charm and delight of Sir John Soane's Museum. The venue is quite small, so patrons cue outside before being admitted by a guide. We didn't wait long, however, and once inside it was all worth it, free admission as well.

Soane, the architect for Bank of England, was also a professor of the subject who collected everything, especially with the view to teaching his students from his own collection. The gems of my visit were Hogarth's "The Rake's Progress" (series of 8), as well as his "Election" series of 4 scathing indictments of politics.

The rooms refurbished & designed by Soane are quirky. I found myself smiling with fascination much of the visit. Don't miss this place!

This is a nice additional to any trip. Probably not the highlight but it is very interesting. The home (or museum) is fascinating.

I'll be honest - I love this museum and I visit it every time I'm in London. Sir John Soane was an architect, collector, writer and much more. He was enormously rich and spent most of his fortune on artifacts for this, his home. He fell out with his children and so had an act of Parliament passed to leave his beautiful home and contents to the nation with two provisos (1) it had to be unchanged internally (2) admission had to be free. And so it still is now, nearly 200 years later. This museum has it all - wonderful Hogarth paintings, original furniture, eccentric grottoes, nooks and crannies, friendly and helpful staff , a lovely location in Lincolns Inn Fields , small enough to wander around and even get lost in but easy on the feet and yes its always free. There are also some pretty good pubs roundabouts ( the Cittie of Yorke in nearby Holborn is a wonder ). Its a must see in London for an inspiring wander and you will come out wishing you could have met Sir John over a glass of port or two.