Thanks to several wise folks on the forum for putting me on to this place. The price is right! I plan to check it out while the "little wife" is shopping.

Any rants or raves about it?

Basic research info found below:

The Wallace Collection is situated in the West End of London, just off Oxford Street. in Manchester Square behind Selfridges. The nearest underground stations are Bond Street and Baker Street. Admission is Free.

Its open every day of the week, Monday to Saturday 10.00am until 5.00pm, Sundays 12.00pm until 5.00pm, except Dec 24, 25, 26, Jan 1, Good Friday, May Day Bank Holiday and Jun 3.

It is both a national museum and the finest private collection of art ever assembled by one family. It was bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace in 1897. Its first visitors were variously delighted, amazed and bemused. Among its treasures are one of the best collections of French 18th-century pictures, porcelain and furniture in the world, a remarkable array of 17th-century paintings and a superb armoury.

www.wallacecollection.org

Hi, Degas.
I love the Wallace Collection. And it is relatively quiet and uncrowded.
Are you planning to take your fried chicken, mashed potato, gravy, fried okra, corn on the cob feast with you on the flight over? You crack me up!
Enjoy.
Judy

Oh Degas ! We loved the Wallace Collection! We made our daughter visit last year and she is now a fan also.
It is just the right size, really easy to get to, behind Selfridges, with a nice pub on the side street to perk you up either before or after your visit.
There are some wonderful paintings - one of my favorites is a painting of Whistler when he was a young man! With a mother that was no great beauty, he was a very good looking young man!
And then there is The Swing!
A great collection of Asian art and weapons! Lots of armour.
Nice rooms upstairs and downstairs, one room that is all clocks!
I am raving, sorry

Yes, a great museum to pass the time. You will certainly enjoy it.

You've found yourself another winner. Arrange to pick up your wife at Selfridges after. Nothing terribly cutting edge in that store, but the underwear and socks wear like iron. Just a shopping tip.

I must congratulate you on your approach to information gathering, Degas. What a good idea to separate everything out as you have and do individual posts!

I hope Janis doesn't send you the list of the 40 museums in London she's visited. Put one foot in front of another and just do it.

anotherjudy, I'll be on a rigid diet this trip over. Airlines are starting to get huffy and drop hints about it being a good idea for me to get two seats. The nerve! So, as a sign of good faith, no gravy this time and maybe, and this is tentative, a little less cheese in the fried cheese grits. Oh, we also might have diet cokes this time instead of regular.

dln, I hope folks don't get tired of my long winded trip postings.

My intent is just to share basic research that I've already done for my trip "cheat" sheets. I print them out by day and it saves me from having to carry too many guidebooks around.

What I like to do is attend a Sunday morning concert at the Wigmore Hall - usually string quartets, piano trios, vocalists or other small groups. It is a wonderful venue and afterwards you get sherry or coffee and can go into the green room to talk with the performers. Then it is a short walk over to the Wallace Collection.

Together they make for a really lovely Sunday - and if shopping is a must you can then walk to Selfridges, or better yet over to Liberty.

Thought that I read that there is a restaurant and tearoom there now. If so, how is it?

The Wallace Collection is a gem. And I just read a long article about what they've done to make Selfridges an exceptional store, so your wife should enjoy it - it's very close.

As for a don't miss - the Turner collection in the Tate (not the Tate Modern) is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I try to go every time we are in London.
Those Turners are breathtaking!

And if you haven't been to the Victoria and Albert, go - it's a lot of fun, with a great variety of exhibits to see.

One more suggestion: my husband wanted to go to the Imperial War Museum, so I reluctantly went. It was fabulous! It's more of an anti-war museum, with really sensational exhibits. We went back on our next visit, and this time I wanted to go.

Have fun!

Sylvia

Degas:

<I hope folks don't get tired of my long winded trip postings>

On the contrary, I for one am delighed and I'm profiting greatly from your inquiries. Have printed several on museums we haven't visited and art I look forward to seeing.

We are returning to London in December, so I hadn't started any inquiries yet. Thank you for saving me the trouble!

I'm now convinced Edgar is resting easily, based on your recent posts.

daph, there is a restaurant and tea room in the Wallace. The web address is:
http://www.wallacecollection.org/i_s..._bagatelle.htm

We were there for tea in May of 2002. My complaint was that it was very, very bright and too hot. I believe that was shortly after it was opened and they may have brought things under control since then. Someone else may have a more recent experience. By the way, the tea was fine.