Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mains a wonderful period piece, with etched glass balustrades, walnut veneer and two large
columns of black marble rising up on either side. You can view the interior en route to the
institute's often thought-provoking first-floor architectural exhibitions (free) and to its café.
The excellent ground-floor bookshop is also worth a browse.
MADAME TUSSAUDS
Marylebone Rd Baker Street 0871 894 3000,
www.madametussauds.com
.
Mon-Fri 9.30am-5.30pm, Sat
& Sun 9am-6pm.Online tickets from £22.50.
MAP
Madame Tussaud's waxworks have been pulling in the crowds ever since the good lady ar-
rived in London from France in 1802 bearing the sculpted heads of guillotined aristocrats.
The entrance fee is extortionate, the likenesses occasionally dubious and the automated
dummies inept, but you can still rely on finding London's biggest queues here - to avoid
joining them, book your ticket online. There are photo opportunities galore throughout the
first few sections, which are peppered with contemporary
celebrities
from the BBC to Bol-
lywood. Keep your eyes out for the elderly and diminutive Madame Tussaud herself, and
the oldest wax model, Madame du Barry, Louis XV's mistress, who gently respires as
Sleeping Beauty - in reality she was beheaded in the French Revolution, as was Madame
Tussaud's uncle. The
Chamber of Horrors
, the most popular section of all, is irredeemably
tasteless, and now features live, costumed actors who jump out at you in the dark (you can
opt out of this). The Tussauds finale is a manic five-minute “ride” through the history of
London in a miniaturized taxi cab, followed by a thirty-minute high-tech presentation, usu-
ally on a celebrity/Hollywood-inspired theme, projected onto the dome of the adjoining
Auditorium (formerly the Planetarium).
SHERLOCK HOLMES MUSEUM
239 Baker St Baker Street 020 7224 3688,
www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk
.
Daily 9.30am-6pm.£8.
MAP
Sherlock Holmes's fictional address was 221b Baker Street, hence the number on the door
of the museum. Unashamedly touristy, the place is stuffed full of Victoriana and life-size
models of characters from the topics. It's an atmospheric and very competent exercise in
period reconstruction - you can even don a deerstalker to have your picture taken by the
fireside, looking like the great detective himself.
