John Soane Museum reviews
Small intimate space with big impact. Designed by John Soane himself, the building is just as impressive as his carefully arranged collections. I particularly enjoyed the arrival where one has to ring the doorbell to enter the house. It's a truly inspiring and personal experience that most museums would not be able to offer.
by LONDONBOI (4 reviews), 15 May 2008This is London's best-kept secret. An amazing experience and, for architectural students, Soane's use of refracted light is 'illuminating' (dreadful pun, but...). Do yourself a favour and visit.
by Ian Gooner, 02 May 2008I love this little museum. I have been here several times and have always made new discoveries because there are so many areas to explore. It can be a bit overwhelming on your first visit, as things are not really organised. But that's what makes it special, as you can wander through it and explore like you would in an antique shop. There's also an amazing Egyptian sarcophagus in the basement. It's free (although you can leave a donation if you wish) and it's never busy either, which makes it special. I think they're also open late one night a week.
by bobbypants "top london reviewer" (55 reviews), 17 Jun 2007Bizarre, entertaining and educational. It's free to enter (but make a donation) and definitely worth a trip. Soane collected a remarkable range of art and archaeological artifacts from Europe, Egypt and beyond and left them all for us to marvel at.
Its relative obscurity makes it all the more special and most people I know who've visited encourage others to check it out - a great example of "hidden London".
What an amazing place! If you live in London and have any interest in architecture, culture or interior quirkiness you need to visit the Soane museum.
John Soane apparently bequeathed his house to future generations and we owe it to him to explore this magical space. It's more intimate, unusual and thought-provoking than any museum I've visited.
This is my favourite museum in London. John Saune was a great architect, responsible for many of London's most magnificent public buildings. He collected/pillaged wonderful statues and sculptures from all over the world, particularly Egypt, and brought them back to London.
What's most impressive is the way he has displayed them - the house is a bizarre labyrinth of fabulous objets in interconnected and beautifully decorated rooms. I've really never seen anything like this anywhere else and I'd especially recommend it to anybody with a background or interest in interior design, archaeology or architecture.
During my most recent (3rd) visit I realised I had never actually been in one particularly strange room but had only seen it from above. It took me a few minutes to work out where it could possibly be and how to access it. If you visit, hang around for the opening of the "Wake's Progress" cartoon-style paintings - layer on layer of hinged walls that peel back to reveal the story, and finally, the room below that I discovered to my delight.
An astonishing museum that surprisingly few people know of, so impress your friends and take them there soon. It's free too.
An eccentric and very lovely museum, which makes you feel like you're stepping into another world. The location itself is worth admiring - Lincoln's Inn Fields is a grand and quintessentially 'old London' square.
This is a perfect place to go on a grey 'what shall we do' type of day.
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