The British Museum
大英博物馆 · Bloomsbury, London, UK
A history of world civilisation written in objects: from the Rosetta Stone to the Parthenon sculptures, two million years of human story under one roof
Know before you go
- Do not touch any openly displayed stone carvings or sculptures — oils and friction accelerate the weathering of artefacts
- do not use flash, tripods or selfie sticks
- do not eat, drink or talk loudly in the galleries — security staff will intervene
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Stories & people
Stories & people
History
Stories of The British Museum
The British Museum's most treasured piece, the Rosetta Stone, is itself a "key". This granodiorite stele, inscribed in 196 BC, carries the same decree in Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic script and ancient Greek. In 1799 French troops dug it up while building fortifications near Rosetta in the Nile Delta; in 1801 it passed to the British under the Treaty of Alexandria, and in 1802 it entered the British Museum. Twenty years later, the French scholar Champollion, by comparing the stone's three scripts, deciphered the hieroglyphs that had slept for a thousand years — without this stone, there would be no Egyptology today. It still stands at the entrance of the Egyptian galleries (Room 4), forever ringed by a crowd behind its glass. The other unavoidable exhibit is the Parthenon sculptures: in the early 19th century Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, shipped more than half of the temple's sculptures back to Britain and sold them to the museum in 1816; the Greek government is still demanding their return — and that argument itself has become another key to understanding this museum.
Source: The British Museum official website; Wikipedia: British Museum
History
History of The British Museum
The British Museum grew from the bequest of the physician and collector Sir Hans Sloane, who sold his lifetime collection of more than 70,000 objects to the nation for £20,000, far below its market value. Parliament passed the founding Act in 1753, and in 1759 the museum opened to the public in Montagu House, Bloomsbury — the world's first national public museum, and free from the very beginning. The neoclassical main building seen today was built between 1823 and 1852, and the central Great Court was roofed with a glass dome by the architect Norman Foster in 2000, making it one of the largest covered squares in Europe.
Source: The British Museum official website; Wikipedia: British Museum
Culture
Culture & customs
Background
The British Museum is grounded in the "Enlightenment world collection", its holdings spanning the civilisations of every continent: Egypt's Rosetta Stone and colossal pharaoh statues, Assyria's lion-hunt reliefs, Greece's Parthenon sculptures, China's Dunhuang manuscripts and porcelain, Japan's prints, the Easter Island moai and more — a global history in object form.
Local customs
Free admission and encouragement of self-directed learning are the tradition of Britain's national museums: there are free Eye-opener tours and volunteer-led talks every day, and Friday opening extends to 20:30. The visitor route is organised "by civilisation", so rent an audio guide or download the museum's app in advance to plan your path.
Religion & beliefs
- No particular religious affiliation
- it is a secular public cultural institution. But the collection holds many religious artefacts (Buddhist figures, Egyptian temple elements, Easter Island ancestor statues and more), so when viewing religious exhibits, keep quiet and do not touch the cases.
Etiquette & taboos
Etiquette & taboos
Don’t DON'T
- Do not touch any openly displayed stone carvings or sculptures — oils and friction accelerate the weathering of artefacts
- do not use flash, tripods or selfie sticks
- do not eat, drink or talk loudly in the galleries — security staff will intervene
Locals appreciate DO
- Photography is allowed for personal, non-commercial use in the permanent galleries (no flash), but avoid special exhibitions and individual objects marked as no-photography
- book your free entry slot in advance and download the museum map to lock onto your target galleries — the Egyptian and Greek galleries are best reached right at opening
- at popular objects such as the Rosetta Stone, take turns viewing and leave sightlines open for the rows behind
Plan your visit
Practical info
Travel tips
- The permanent galleries are free, but booking a free timed entry ticket on the official website in advance is strongly recommended — walk-up queues in high season can exceed an hour
- There is a security check on entry with bag searches
- large luggage cannot be brought in, but paid storage is available near the main entrance
- The collection holds more than 8 million objects, so a day only covers the highlights: allow 3–4 hours and lock onto the three great routes — Egypt, Greece and Assyria
- Open daily 10:00–17:00 (Fridays to 20:30), closed 24–26 December over Christmas. Tickets: the permanent exhibition is free
- special exhibitions are ticketed separately at about £18–25 (see official announcements). Getting there: Tottenham Court Road, Holborn and Russell Square tube stations are all a 5–10-minute walk. Suggested duration: 2 hours for a skim, 4 hours or more for the highlights in depth
- security queues in high season run about 20–40 minutes, so allow extra time.
Eat nearby
What to eat nearby
Must-try
- A scone with clotted cream and jam
A scone with clotted cream and jam (the proper order — jam first or cream first — is still debated by the two English schools); fish and chips (London's old shops are reliably good); the afternoon tea set at the museum's Great Court Restaurant; a steak pie at a British pub in nearby Bloomsbury
| Where to eat | The Great Court Restaurant and the courtyard café inside the museum are the most convenient; Bloomsbury and Soho, a short walk out, are dense with pubs, curry houses and restaurants of every cuisine |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | In pubs you order and pay at the bar — there is no table service; eat afternoon-tea scones while they are warm, and flag a server to top up the teapot; British restaurant bills often include a service charge, and additional tipping is not compulsory |
| Typical price per person | A simple meal inside the museum £12–18 per person, roughly RMB 110–165; afternoon tea £30–40 per person, roughly RMB 275–370 (reference prices, estimated at £1 ≈ RMB 9.2) |
| Tips | Friday late opening is quieter — tour the galleries first, then have dinner in the Great Court; for fish and chips, try an established shop in Soho and avoid the fast-food stalls right outside the tourist entrance |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
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Fish and chips
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Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster
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