Bloomsbury is a nice change of pace from the chaos of Kings Cross to the North, being mostly quiet residential streets.
It features the University College London and the British Museum - all grand, classical buildings - but also lots of nice human-scale Georgian shops and terraces.
I was particularly taken with Lamb’s Conduit Street - a leafy partially pedestrianised road with many good coffee & lunch options.
Museum housing a vast array of historical artefacts from across the globe.
Set over five floors of one of Charles Dickens’ former residences, I’ve read no Dickens but enjoyed this museum more than I expected.
It is a chance to see inside a Bloomsbury terrace as it would’ve been in the 1800s and to explore an early example of celebrity culture.
Formerly the Foundling Hospital - set up in 1739 by Thomas Coram to house children who often had to be abandoned due to extreme poverty.
The museum tells that story and also has a large collection of artworks - the hospital raised funds by becoming the city’s first public art gallery.
Confusingly located next door to the Wellcome pharmaceutical company’s actual offices.
There’s a lovely café, an absorbing collection of medical exhibits, a library and a comfy reading room - albeit monopolised by UCL students.
Nice coffee shop featuring guest roasters. Lots of seating but goodness me the entire population of London descends upon the place at lunchtime.
