Madame Tussaud's
 

Is it better to visit Madame Tussaud's in London in the morning or afternoon and how much time should we allow for the visit?

First of all many fodorites will probably tell you to skip it entirely. My feeling is M. Tussauds is fun if you are in the right mood - but it gets REALLY crowded (it draws more visitors every year than the Tower of London)

The queue to get in often stretches around the block. So if you want to go, buy yoyr tickets ahead of time - then you can walk right in w/o standing in line. Just up the street (at the hop-on-hop-off bus stop) there is a small store front ticket agency that sells passes to M Tussauds.

You could spend an hour there - or 3 or 4 hours depending how many photos you take and and if you try to see it all.

With all the Botex around, why bother?

Did you mean Botox?

Bought my ticket ahead of time but still a wait to get in - not long in May. You can easily spend a couple of hours but I would also recommend the Planetarium since you're there. I enjoyed that very much.

We had a great time at Madame Tussaud's last July. I bought the tickets on the website, MadameTussauds.com, and was able to get a timed entry, which enabled us to arrive within half an hour either way of our given slot. Yes, it was quite crowded, but we really enjoyed it.

Good luck!

Would anyone recommed the morning or afternoon as the best time to visit.

Morning or Aftrenoon makes no difference - it is crowded all the time. But getting there at 9 AM with an advance ticket would probably be the least crowded. Do not go on a weekend - then the crowds become unbearable.

The crowds were absolutely unbearable when we went in March 2002. It was midweek and towards the evening. We got in right away with timed tickets but it made no difference.
If you decide to go, I'd hit it upon openning. Most of the crowds gather in the first rooms to be photographed with the "celebrities." The only room of real interest to me was the one with the historical figures. The sound system on the car on the ride at the end through old London wasn't even working. I felt I had been taken and that I'd wasted precious time in London.

Just got back from London. We went to Madame Tussaud's on a Monday and arrived there about 11:00 a.m. We had already bought our tickets from The Original Tour bus tour a few days before so we just walked on in. It really wasn't very crowded. We had a great time. Glad we went.

It is really worth it to get your tickets from The Original Tour company as it is only 12.50 vs 19.99 at the door. I throught I read that you had to buy a combo ticket (the bus tour and Madame Tussaud's) but it didn't really seem that way. If you don't want to do the bus tour (which by the way is very good) I think you can still buy the Madame Tussaud's ticket. Note: You can't buy the tickets at the booth that is right by Madame Tussaud's. We bought ours at the stop in Piccadilly Circus.

Good luck and have fun!

Terry

I've seen lines snake around the entrance an hour before opening.

If you want my two pence, I would skip Madame Tussaud's. There are far more interesting things to do in London than to look at a bunch of wax figures most of which do not resemble in the least the people they are depicting.