Museum in Docklands

Lonely Planet review

Housed in a converted 200-year-old warehouse once used to store sugar, rum and coffee, this museum offers a comprehensive overview of the entire history of the Thames from the arrival of the Romans in AD 43. But it's at its best when dealing with specifics close by such as the controversial transformation of the decrepit docks into Docklands in the 1980s and the social upheaval and dislocation that accompanied it.

Kids, however, usually adore the place, with its exhibits like 'sailor town' (an excellent re-creation of the cobbled streets, bars and lodging houses of a 19th-century dock-side community and nearby Chinatown) and especially the hands-on Mudlarks gallery, where five- to 12-year-olds can explore the history of the Thames, tipping the clipper, trying on old-fashioned diving helmets, learning to use winches and even constructing a simple model of Canary Wharf.

The tour begins on the 3rd floor (take the lift to the top) with the Roman settlement of Londinium and works its way downwards through the ages. Keep an eye open for the scale mode of the old London Bridge and the Rhinebeck Panorama (1805-10), a huge mural of the upper Pool of London that has been likened to the view from the top of the London Eye.