Treat yourself to a souvenir of history or a taste of modern art. Either way, London’s museums and galleries can send you on your way with a culturally cool purchase.
Spend a week trawling some of London’s 250 museums and you’ll know all about being tired. Healthy servings of art and culture are all very well, but inevitably we start thinking about how lovely it would be to nip back to the hotel for a siesta. If anything can jettison the torpor, it’s the promise of a fossick through the shop at the end of it all. Indeed, there are people who have been known to skip the Dutch masters and Egyptian antiquities altogether and head straight for the knick-knacks.
Just as London’s temples of culture have moved with the times, so have their retail spaces, with many also boasting online stores that are great for second-thought purchases. Where once it was all about postcards, catalogues and a tea towel or two, these days art and commerce mingle seamlessly.
From exclusive lines produced in collaboration with artists and designers to unique objets seemingly created with your unique personality in mind, it’s all here and it’s all for sale.
Tate Modern Shops
Bankside.
+1 0207 401 5167.
Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms Shop
Clive Steps, King Charles Street.
+1 0207 930 6961.
Victoria & Albert Museum Shops
Cromwell Road.
+1 0207 942 2696.
The Wallace Collection Shop
Hertford House, Manchester Square.
+1 0207 563 9522.
Natural History Museum Shop
Cromwell Road.
+1 0207 942l 5494.
Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret
9a St Thomas’s Street.
+1 0207 188 2679.
Source: Qantas the Australian Way December 2008