Victoria

Heard a rumor that all museums in London are free? Is this true? If so for how long?<BR>Thanks for your help<BR>Victoria

janis

many UK/London Museums have always been free but due to a tax law change last year, it is now possible for most museums to drop their entrance charges.<BR><BR>this isn't a temporary thing - <BR><BR>(Most will still continue to charge for some special exhibitions)

Ben Haines

Commercial museums still charge for entry, as does the Tower of London. But many commercial museums (Madame Tussaud's, London Dungeon) are trashy anyway.<BR><BR>Welcome to london<BR><BR>Ben Haines

Joanne

Ben is correct of course. Here's an article about the museums that have been able to drop their admissions fees because of tax law revisions.<BR><BR>http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/ent...00/1684143.stm

XxX

Why do you people boot lick this Ben person? It appears to me that Janis said exactly the same thing as Ben. i.e.: Most museums are dropping their entrance charges because of new tax law. And yet Joannes says "Ben is correct of course". from where I sit Janis said it FIRST.

elvira

Ben added a side note, that commercial museums and certain sites weren't included, as Vicoria's question asked "ALL museums in London are free?".<BR><BR>XxX, what did you add?

Sincewhen

Since when were Madame Tussauds and the London dungeon considered "museums", anyway? They are both tourist attractions but not museums. If Joanne and Elvira and XxX want to get in a spitting match I side with XxX. Janis said more including information about the taxes. it seems like everyone has to massage Ben's ego, Yes Ben you know so much! OOH! <BR><BR>But when was the last time Ben got into any actual discussion? He always spouts but does not listen. The way I see it he cuts and pastes information from other sources and takes the credit for it.

janis

Please, I don't need any defense. I welcome Ben adding information to what I wrote. <BR><BR>(I did say it first - just kidding - I didn't know this board was a race to get there FIRST)

John

This is not quite on topic but, is Madame Tussaud's terrible? I realize wax museums are trashy, but isn't it the original, and therefore interesting? I've never been, but I thought about going on my next trip.

janis

John - most folks on this board will tell you it is horrible, which is just the PC opinion. But it actually can be fun. I would NEVER go there if I had to wait in the very long line. <BR><BR>This is sort of a secret - Just across the street from M Tussauds is one of the Original Bus / Big Red tour stops. Right there is a small storefront (looks like a bureau d change) which will sell you tix to tussauds for about 50p more than the face value. With this ticket you can walk right in. So an extra 50p investment allows you to avoid more than an hour in line - well worth it. <BR><BR>Anyway - if you have a sense of humor or interest in public figures, M Tussauds is great. I never recommend somone go there on their first trip to London - there is just too much else to see/do. But the displays of how the models are created, the original clothing on all the figures, and the historical material from 200 years ago are interesting.

JPM

I went to Madam T's last year with my 13 year old nephew and we had a great time. Yes it is a tourist trap, but big deal, its fun - however, once is all you ever need to go.<BR><BR>Another secret to tickets (what we did)- we got there and the line was around the block. I went to the nearest phone booth, called the number on the side of the building, and we were able to purchase tickets for 15 minutes later. We then walked right in!

Ben Haines

For Since When: I last got into an actual discussion about eight months ago, over Brixton. And that was real discussion ? nobody felt any duty to agree with me, thank heavens. I?ll e-mail you the correspondence if you ask me. I last wrote a fair-length piece that was not cut and paste two weeks ago, on Ordinary Tea. You?re right that much of my contribution is copy and paste from timetables ? but not many north Americans can lay their hands on those -- and from such well-informed Fodors forum correspondents as those who wrote on Paris for Children and on hotels near Victoria. Even those aren?t that easy for newcomers to find, so I think it worth compiling them and filing them. And when I compile I am listening hard ? what do I know about Paris ?<BR><BR>I?m afraid I have to agree that sometimes people on the forum write over-kindly to me, but must admit I?d sooner that than that they wrote over-harshly.<BR><BR>As you see, we don?t wholly disagree. Sorry not to give battle. I leave that to Eric the Red.<BR><BR>Ben Haines<BR><BR><BR>