London is a city that wears its history like a well-worn trench coat: layered, stylish, and full of forgotten receipts in the pockets. Beyond the Tower of London and the British Museum, there’s a labyrinth of delightfully strange experiences that will make your trip feel like you’ve wandered into a Monty Python sketch written by Tim Burton.
Here are some of the most bizarre, bonkers, and brilliant spots in the Big Smoke — plus what to do nearby when you finally emerge, slightly bewildered and possibly changed forever.
The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History
📍 Hackney
Step into a surreal cabinet of curiosities where the taxidermy is dandy, the shrunken heads are real, and a preserved mummified cat glares at you from a Victorian display case. The Viktor Wynd Museum is less a museum, more a gothic fever dream. There’s erotic art. There’s a two-headed kitten. It’s weird. It’s wonderful. It’s deliciously unhinged.
Nearby Things to Do:
- Sip a cocktail in the adjoining absinthe bar—because where else would you drink absinthe under a ceiling of antique dolls?
- Stroll Broadway Market on a Saturday and eat your way through artisan cheese stalls and Vietnamese street food.
- Take a canal-side walk down Regent’s Canal toward Victoria Park for some much-needed fresh air and existential recovery.
The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret
📍 London Bridge
Tucked into the dusty attic of an old church near Borough Market lies Europe’s oldest surviving surgical theatre. And yes, it’s as chilling as it sounds. Complete with bone saws, leech jars, and wooden benches for grim-faced students, this place hurls you back to a time when anesthesia was optional and screaming was expected.
Nearby Things to Do:
- Snack through Borough Market, which is mercifully more delicious than the museum’s past use of herbs.
- Catch a show at The Globe Theatre, just a short walk away — Shakespeare’s tragedies feel cheerier after the museum.
- Climb The Shard (or sip a cocktail at one of its bars) for a towering view and a hefty dose of modern luxury.
The Hunterian Museum
📍 Holborn
Located within the Royal College of Surgeons, this museum is a parade of preserved anatomy: bones, skulls, organs floating in jars — the kind of collection that makes your inner biology nerd squeal and your inner vegan reconsider lunch. Recently refurbished and gleaming with eerie pride, it’s not for the faint of stomach.
Nearby Things to Do:
- Walk to Sir John Soane’s Museum — a more artful, equally eccentric collection of curiosities and architectural oddities.
- Grab a pint at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a historic pub once frequented by Dickens and ghost stories.
- Explore Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London’s largest public square, perfect for digesting both anatomy and thoughts.
Dennis Severs’ House
📍 Spitalfields
This is not your typical museum. It’s a time-traveling theatrical experience where you silently wander through ten candlelit rooms of a preserved 18th-century house, staged to look as though the residents just stepped out — or perhaps died mysteriously mid-dinner. There are smells of oranges and woodsmoke, creaking floorboards, and a persistent sense that you’re being watched.
Nearby Things to Do:
- Brunch at Spitalfields Market, home to quirky boutiques and food vendors galore.
- Explore Brick Lane for street art, vintage shops, and London’s best bagels (fight me).
- Drop by the Ten Bells pub, infamous for its Jack the Ripper associations and still delightfully creepy.
The Clink Prison Museum
📍 South Bank
Forget the sanitized prisons of film. The Clink — from which all other clinks are named — was one of England’s oldest and most notorious jails. Today, it offers a hands-on (sometimes literally, with chains) exploration of medieval punishment. Expect grim tales, torture instruments, and the occasional ghost story whispered from the walls.
Nearby Things to Do:
- Meander along the South Bank, where street performers juggle fire and saxophones compete with seagulls.
- Visit Tate Modern, a palate cleanser of abstract art and existential puzzles.
- Take a river cruise, because nothing says “I survived The Clink” like wine on a boat.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum
📍 Baker Street (no surprise there)
Okay, he’s fictional. But try telling that to the staff, who stay firmly in character as Victorian housekeepers and detectives. Set inside 221B Baker Street, the museum recreates Holmes’ world with delightful obsession — including wax figures of Moriarty that will haunt your dreams.
Nearby Things to Do:
- Walk through Regent’s Park, one of London’s prettiest green spaces with hidden gardens and open-air theater.
- Pop into Madame Tussauds, if you’re not waxed-out yet.
- Visit the Wallace Collection, for real art and fewer fictional sleuths.
Leighton House
📍 Kensington
Part Arabian Nights fantasy, part Victorian fever dream, Leighton House is the former home of painter Frederic Leighton — who clearly never got the memo about minimalist interiors. Step inside and you’re greeted by a kaleidoscope of Islamic tiles, peacock-blue walls, gold domes, and an indoor fountain that whispers, “You are now royalty.” It’s opulent. It’s otherworldly. And it’s one of London’s most unexpected art temples.
Nearby Things to Do:
- Stroll through Holland Park, a quiet, fairy-tale garden nearby, complete with Kyoto-style Japanese gardens and peacocks that are just as fancy as Leighton House.
- Pop over to the Design Museum if your brain still craves more visual wonder.
The Fan Museum
📍 Greenwich
Yes, a museum exclusively dedicated to fans — as in the dainty, foldable, swooshy kind, not the ones that cool your laptop. The Fan Museum is surprisingly riveting, offering centuries’ worth of fashion, flirtation, and symbolism — all packed into one of the quirkiest museums in the city. With fans used for secret messages, mourning rituals, and dramatic exits, it’s a story told through fluttering elegance.
Nearby Things to Do:
- Explore Greenwich Market, a treasure trove of handmade goods, antiques, and world eats.
- Visit the Royal Observatory, stand on the Prime Meridian, and tell people you’ve time-traveled (technically true).
- Take a Thames Clipper back to central London, because the river’s the best way to leave a fan museum feeling fancy and windswept.
