Visiting London in October.

[Deleted member 13126]

For any of you brothers or sisters who are more well traveled than I, I wanted to ask about what your “must see” list in or close to London might be.

I am visiting London for a few days in October and have a day to myself where nothing has yet been planned. I’ll be staying in a rented apartment right in the heart of Elephant & Castle.

So I wanted to ask if anyone had recommendations for museums or other things I may want to see while there. I’ve heard of a small Museum of the Book, but would also be interested in any museums that house biblical artifacts from antiquity. I’m also open to seeing other things, but as it is a seminary related trip, my primary focus and interest falls along those lines also, although I suppose a day trip to France isn’t out of the question.

This will be my very first trip abroad. Thanks very much in advance for any suggestions you may have.

 

[NaphtaliPress]

Westminster abbey. However, the Jerusalem Chamber is usually not open to the public sadly (unless you have a group with pull like Dr. Beeke's group a few years back; https://tinyurl.com/5n6bwe67).

 

[hammondjones]

the Jerusalem Chamber

The Hidden Highlights Tour includes it, but it books up.

The British Museum should have more than enough antiquity to see.

 

[Edward]

in the heart of Elephant & Castle.

I spent a week in that area a little over 50 years ago. I'm not positive that my information would be completely up to date.

The Tower of London has ties to the reformation. Queen Jane, Thomas More, John Fisher

THE MARTYRS WALK- Tower Hill to Tyburn

The execution site on Tower Hill. TOWER HILL SITE OF EXECUTION Monday 18 th November, 11am, emerging from the tube station on Tow...

general-southerner.blogspot.com

 

[Phil D.]

Westminster Abbey - stunning history and architecture, as well as the highest concentration of burials of historically notable people on the planet
The British Library - Treasures exhibit - absolutely mind boggling
The Tower of London - a busy tourist mainstay, but saturated in amazing history

 

[Phil D.]

Not sure of your transportation arrangements, but if instead of using taxi/Uber services (...very expensive...) you want to embrace London's fascinating, multi-faceted public transportation as part of the overall experience (...very inexpensive...), then I would recommend getting an Oyster Card. Then download their app, and instructions for getting from point to point are pretty easy.

 

[Edward]

There's a Elephant and Castle tube station that will take you to the Waterloo or Charing Cross stations or to Piccadilly Circus tube station. (Bakerloo line, it appears). Looking at the map, looks like you'd get off at the Embankment to transfer to the lines going to the tower area (District or Circle line?).

 

[Deleted member 13126]

Thank you for all the lovely suggestions, friends!

 

[Deleted member 13126]

The Hidden Highlights Tour includes it, but it books up.

The British Museum should have more than enough antiquity to see.

I’m going to keep an eye on this Hidden Highlights tour. I have hope since I know the dates I’ll be there and while July is booked up, August still has availability. Perhaps in August I can book for October. Thank you again for suggesting this!

 

[Jack K]

museums that house biblical artifacts from antiquity

The British Library has actual Bibles and pieces of Bibles that are highly museum-worthy. And the British Museum has ancient artifacts galore from every era of biblical history. You simply can't do better in a single museum if that's what you're after. I took dozens of photos with the thought, "I have to show this to my Sunday school students so they know what this sort of item, which is mentioned in the Bible, looks like."

My family and I greatly enjoyed Greenwich Observatory and the nearby Maritime Museum, but it's a bit out from central London, which means it takes up more of your day. And the focus is on the eras of exploration and empire building, not antiquity.

And Westminster Abbey is a fascinating place just to be there. So much has happened there, and so many people are honored. We took the official tour and it was okay, but it included a lot of spots/people we would have skipped while it never stopped at others we wanted to find. We probably had more fun after the tour just exploring on our own.

 

[JP Wallace]

in additon to all the above - the Imperial War Museum is excellent and is about a 10 minute walk up the street from the Metropolitan Tabernacle.
Definitely go to Bristish Museum excellent for Babylonian/Assyrian period reliefs etc.
Definitely go to British Library.
You should try and go to Bunhill Fields burial ground - John Owen, Bunyan etc.

 

[Phil D.]

If you do decide to visit the British Museum, consider going to their website to decide and plot out the location of the particular exhibits you are most interested in. Otherwise the immensity of museums like that can be overwhelming and take a lot of valuable time out of a one-day itinerary. My wife and I did this with the Louvre in Paris, and managed to see 7 or 8 select exhibits in an hour flat!

 

[Phil D.]

If you do go to Bunhill Fields, might as well also check out John Wesley's last home, church, and tomb, which is right across the street. Who knows, you might even be able to pick up a theological point or two...

 

[hammondjones]

Thank you again for suggesting this!

Happy to help, we were just at
Westminster back in April, but were not able to do that tour as my children didn't meet the age requirement.

 

[LilyG]

The Bourough Market is a fun stop.