British Museum Private Tour: Explore Rosetta Stone and More Historic Treasures

Embark on a 2.5-hour private tour of the British Museum in London and uncover the fascinating history and culture behind iconic artifacts like the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Frieze.

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • The British Museum - In the heart of London exists a treasure chest, filled with objects spanning all continents and centuries of human civilization. These fascinating artifacts of priceless value tell the story of mankind and no comparable collection exists in the world. This treasure chest is called The British Museum. It houses over eight million pieces spanning two million years of human history, contained within a seemingly limitless space of nearly one million square feet. As a result, touring the British Museum without a guide to lead the way can be a daunting task. However fear not, on our specially designed private tour your knowledgeable guide, an expert who is passionate about the British Museum and its treasures, will keep you engaged and enthused by sharing the history and anecdotes that bring these ancient objects to life.

Relax in the beauty of the wonders contained inside as your guide skilfully navigates you through the seventy galleries housing Athenian marbles, Egyptian Mummies, and Anglo Saxon treasures. You’ve probably heard of Rosetta Stone as language learning program, but what you probably didn’t know was that this is a real stone that played an instrumental role in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs and is now on display here. Another guaranteed highlight is the enormous Parthenon Frieze. Just over three feet high and 525 feet long, this incredible sculpture once stood in the Acropolis in Athens and is one of the most important surviving relics of classical Greece.

Another group of “must see” highlights lie within the Egyptian Rooms and their impressive collection of mummies. Your guide will explain the importance of death and the afterlife in Ancient Egyptian culture as you witness this incredible piece of human history in person. The museum also contains a wonderful selection of artifacts representing the British Isles’ own Anglo Saxon culture, such as those found at the burial sites of Sutton Hoo. Your guide will share the amazing story of how these objects survived the centuries and the grave robbers, making them an improbable find.

This private tour offers you the special opportunity to be shown around these highlights alongside your own personal guide dedicated to you and only you. As well as ensuring that you don’t miss the must see exhibits contained within, this will also give them the opportunity to tailor parts of the tour to your own desires and wants. Allow them to educate and elucidate you on the parts of history that you are most interested in. Use your own story to engage you with the story of mankind.

All that’s left is for you to set off on an incredible time-travelling adventure through this chronicle of human culture from the beginning of time to the modern age, on our Best of the British Museum tour.

What's Included
  • All fees and taxes included
  • Guidance from a professional English-speaking guide
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information

Experience the vibrancy of human history and culture on a 2.5-hour journey through the British Museum in London! The museum is enormous, housing millions of artifacts across 70 galleries, and visiting it without a knowledgeable guide can be formidable. Follow an informed local guide through the exhibition halls and uncover its gems while you learn intriguing historical facts and tales. Discover mummies from the era of Ancient Egypt, Anglo-Saxon treasures from England, and the awe-inspiring Parthenon Frieze from Athens’ Acropolis, among other captivating artifacts.

  • Baby strollers are not permitted on the tour
Location
Montague Place
On Montague Place next to the King Edward entrance. This is the north entrance, with the stone lions on either side of the doorway. We will be holding a sign for easy recognition.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.3
(102 Ratings)
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Eleanor_c
Nov 3, 2023
One of the BEST tours we have, highly recommend - Our guide, Rob, was early waiting for us at the location that was also clearly indicated on the instructions. He's extremely knowledgeable about the Musuem and it's displays. He gave us briefing of items that are significant and 'must see' at the museum with just the right amount of info. Very, very helpful and very friendly. Definitely highly recommend. Even though the entrance is free, this tour is the most efficient way of going through the best part of the Museum if you only have 1/2 day or 1 day to spare.
Review provided by Viator
Eric_m
Apr 5, 2023
Exelent way to view the Museums! - The tour was wonderful!!! Our guide [Mr. Rob Smith] was exceptional!!!! He was very knowledgeable on history of the museum, the collective pieces, and the architecture new and old. He was professional, patient, and human. I would highly recommend anyone reading this review to ask for him specifically. Great tour!!!!
Review provided by Viator
Pritam
Oct 26, 2018
Value for money - It was fantabulous indeed. More than our expectations. We loved British Museum. the museum exceeded our expectations in terms of hugeness, variety of archives displayed and in toto it was one of the finest experience so far as visiting a museum is concerned. Overwhelmed!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
M5722kfchristinep
Oct 2, 2018
British Museum, London - This is a very large museum with many floors and different periods of time. Very good, interesting and wonderful items.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rex_l
Sep 28, 2018
Outstanding Overview of Top Sights in British Museum - We were in London for a limited time and realized that there was too much to see at the British Museum for an afternoon. We were so happy that we booked this tour with Viator because it concentrated on some of the top exhibits at the Museum. Our guid, Norma, was outstanding. She was enthusiastic and really "knew her stuff"! After our tour we were able to go back to areas of interest. This tour really cuts through the clutter of 'so much to see in a limited time". We definitely would recommend it to our friends.
Review provided by Viator
Michael
Aug 28, 2018
The British museum deserves a guided tour - We missed the start of the tour because we did not pay careful attention to the instructions and waited outside the museum. But happily we found the guide in the museum and he accommodated our needs. It is great to hear some of the stories associated with the exhibits which are so impressive.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cortneym511
Jul 7, 2023
Fast! - Guide showed up right on time at Russell Square. Walked too far for older people. Spent twenty minutes outside. Once inside the museum moved around to maybe 10 of the biggest attractions inside. Place is huge so I understand that, just would’ve liked it to be more inside the museum and from top to bottom… we had no idea why or what we actually saw.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Poinsda
Sep 2, 2018
Convenient Way to See Major Exhibits - This guided tour this is a good way to hit the major attractions at the museum like the Rosetta Stone several Egyptian exhibits. The tour guide was very knowledgeable although towards the end of the tour, she seemed a bit rushed. Overall though it was a good experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Paula
Aug 9, 2018
Having a guide makes makes it... - <p>Having a guide makes makes it feasible for a tourist to see the important items in a museum as large as this one. This is a quick tour of a museum that could occupy you for days, weeks, or months. We were glad we were with an expert.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Stephanie_a
Feb 1, 2023
Not worth the high price - On the positive side, it was nice to skip the line and our guide was able to navigate us to the top highlights of the museum. However, we struggled to find our guide. There was no sign, as indicated in the instructions, and we had to call the tour company to locate her. I never leave negative reviews, but our guide smelled overpoweringly of stale cigarettes and was a bit difficult to understand. Most of the time we felt like she was just reading off the display cards, and even offered incorrect information a couple of times (that we know of). She also used a flashlight in an exhibit where the light was intentionally low to preserve the artifacts, even after being told by a security guard to stop. Our ability to see clearly definitely isn’t worth the degradation of some of the worlds most precious antiquities. Eek!
Review provided by Viator
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September 2024
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