When travelling to the United Kingdom, a trip would not be complete without spending some time in its most prominent museums. These museums convey its vivid history, guard its national traditions and display its artistic achievements.

The British Museum

The British Museum is the museum that is one of the biggest and oldest in both England and the entire United Kingdom. Its collections of manuscripts, paintings, historical relics, ancient books and scientific, ethnographic and archaeological artifacts were once in the possession of a British doctor and naturalist, Sir Hans Sloane. The country inherited his entire collection after his death and the British Parliament created the museum under a specific act.

The London National Gallery

The London National Gallery is an art museum with close to 2,000 exhibits of works that date back to the 13th century. Each painting is a masterpiece with works done by such famous artists as Jan van Eyck, Sandro Botticelli and Diego Velázquez.

The National Maritime Museum

Located in Greenwich and established in 1937, the National Maritime Museum comprises numerous large buildings which display the history of the British fleet. It also includes the Royal Observatory and the Quinn’s House, built in the 1860s.

Dover Castle

There are numerous castles in the United Kingdom, but Dover Castle is the oldest and has a long and colorful history as it once was the residence of the royal family for many years. With its strategic location, it has also been called the “Key to England”.

The National Railway Museum

One unusual museum is the National Railway Museum in North Yorkshire. In the museum are over one million objects from over 300 years of railway history that includes locomotives and rolling stock, an archive of railway posters, artistic inspirations of the railway, close to two million images of railways, vehicles and railway workers, how signaling is done on the railways and railway furniture, fixtures and timepieces from railway buildings.

The Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum in London is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Some of its galleries include exhibits on dinosaurs, volcanoes and earthquakes, massive mammals, insects, plus the Central Hall which is the grand entrance to the museum with a one thousand three hundred-year-old giant sequoia tree, along with a statue of Darwin and a prehistoric fish still living in the Indian Ocean.

The Bit Pit Museum

The Bit Pit Museum in South Wales was once a coal mine and was opened in 2004 to feature what it takes to get coal out of the earth. A visit to the museum includes an underground tour and exhibitions of the story of mining in Wales.

The Gunnersbury Museum

Established in 1835, the Gunnersbury Museum was the first suburban residence of Rothschild, a well-known banker. Its exhibits display the life of its owner and the history of the Borough of Ealing and Hounslow.

The Tea and Coffee Museum

Established by one of the heirs of tea kings in England Edward Bramah in 1992 and located on the bank of Thames River, the Tea and Coffee Museum has exhibits of the history of tea making in England. In addition, visitors can attend a tea ceremony.

The Coventry Transport Museum

The Coventry Transport Museum has a collection of bicycles that is one of the best in the country, a range of vehicles and the two fastest cars in the world.

So there you have it, 10 of the top museums that are host to some of the best attractions on offer to tourists in the UK today.