British Museum Highlights Private Tour in London including the Rosetta Stone
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London, England
- 2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Experience culture and art through the ages at London’s exceptional British Museum. Tour through some of the museum’s 70 galleries, gleaning far more from your private guide than you would from the information panels alone. Then, enjoy time on your own to explore exhibits at your own pace, including genuine artifacts like mummies from Ancient Egypt, unique Anglo-Saxon coins and sections of the Athens Acropolis. With millions of items to see, the British Museum offers something for everyone!
- A private guide means you can ask as many questions as you like
- Head straight to the highlights without wasting time getting lost
- This compact tour is ideal for time-pressed travelers in London
- Learn about Ancient Egyptian culture while exploring the Egyptian Rooms
What's Included
- Professional English guide
- All Fees and Taxes
- Food and drinks
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Montague PlaceMontague Pl, London, UK
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.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
The British Museum is home to over eight million pieces of history. Navigate its 70 galleries without getting overwhelmed by booking a private tour. Meet your guide, who will be holding a sign, on Montague Place by the north entrance of the museum, which has stone lions by the doorway.
From Athenian marbles to Egyptian mummies, your guide will add context to what you see, sharing the history behind treasures such as the Rosetta Stone. Pass by highlights such as the Parthenon Frieze, which once stood in the Acropolis in Athens, and learn about the significance of the afterlife in ancient Egypt. See artifacts from the British Isles’ Anglo Saxon culture, such as the ship burial of Sutton Hoo.
A private tour means you can tailor it to your interests and any exhibits you want to see. Afterwards, explore the museum on your own.
From Athenian marbles to Egyptian mummies, your guide will add context to what you see, sharing the history behind treasures such as the Rosetta Stone. Pass by highlights such as the Parthenon Frieze, which once stood in the Acropolis in Athens, and learn about the significance of the afterlife in ancient Egypt. See artifacts from the British Isles’ Anglo Saxon culture, such as the ship burial of Sutton Hoo.
A private tour means you can tailor it to your interests and any exhibits you want to see. Afterwards, explore the museum on your own.
1
The British Museum
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Baby strollers are not permitted on the tour
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.3
based on 105 reviews
Peter_P, Mar 2026
Alle over a superior tour. Our guide had the full understanding of our interest area. And was absolut fleksible to our wishes..
Raymond_K, May 2025
What an incredible collection of objects. Could have spent days exploring. We had an amazing guide. His knowledge was outstanding and he shared his passion with us.
Stephen_F, Aug 2024
Rosetta Stone was amazing, and the Frieze of the Parthenon and all the other Greek historical artifacts were incredibly impressive and very memorable. Had a fantastic experience here!
Eleanor_C, Nov 2023
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.
ERIC_M, Apr 2023
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!!!!
Stephanie_A, Feb 2023
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!
Response from Host, Aug 2023
Hello Stephanie_A,
Thank you for sharing your feedback about your British Museum Highlights Private Tour in London, including the Rosetta Stone. We appreciate your positive comments about skipping the line and our guide's ability to navigate you to the museum's top highlights.
However, we are sorry to hear that you experienced difficulties in finding your guide and that her presentation fell short of your expectations. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this.
We take the conduct and professionalism of our guides very seriously. We will investigate the matter thoroughly to understand what happened and address any issues with our team.
We are committed to providing informative and enjoyable tours while respecting the museum's artifacts and rules. We regret any misunderstanding regarding the use of a flashlight and will ensure that our guides are well-informed about the appropriate measures to take during their tours.
Your feedback is crucial to our ongoing efforts to improve our services, and we appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
Once again, we apologize for any negative experiences you encountered during the tour. We value your insights and hope to have the opportunity to provide you with a more seamless and enjoyable experience in the future.
Kind regards,
Edgar J.
Communications Manager
City Wonders
Rex_L, Sep 2018
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.
Paula T, Aug 2018
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.
Elizabeth_D, Aug 2018
Unfortunately my flight was delayed and I missed this tour-- I only had a 24 hr layover in London. The company was kind enough to give me 6 months to go on one of their tours in any other city they serve. Great customer service-- will attempt to take this tour next time I'm in Londo
Jane F, May 2018
Guy the guide gave us a great tour of the British Museum. This tour was great! Guy took us through the highlights and made everything very interesting!
Alan E, Nov 2017
I would never do the British Museum without using Viator again! I could only hope to have the brilliant and energetic guide TRUDY again as well! She did a fantastic job of navigating the school groups who were there when we were. We didnt miss a thing!
Look, the British Museum is a must see in any London trip. But take a guide with you to make sure you get a live explanation of what you are looking at. THEN when the 2 or 3 hour guided tour is over, grab the headsets or the paper guide and go through the rest of the museum. Dont miss out of the chance to ask a local historian questions about what you are seeing first though.
We have used viator before and in other cities. I always look for them because the experience of getting my tickets at convenient times is easy and the guides that they hire are outstanding.
Amy F, Oct 2017
A wonderful tour to see and learn about a small fraction of the amazing artifacts in this museum. Our guide had a wide range of information about so much of the items that weren't even included on the tour.
Marcela F, Oct 2017
wow!!! our Tour guide guy was amazing!! He loves his job!! 5 stars to him!!!
Thomas_M, Oct 2017
First understand that, like the Smithsonian, the British Museum is open to the public free of charge unlike museums we have encountered in Italy and France. It was a rainy Tuesday the day of our scheduled tour and the museum was absolutely jammed. Was glad that we had booked the small group tour as we got to see the museum highlights in spite of the crowd. Without the guide we would have missed many key exhibits.
John M, Oct 2017
Our guide, Trudy, was so full of life and enthusiasm for the museum. Very contagious! I can't imagine a better guide. She gave a lot of background and detailed information on all of the things we saw together.
We covered the Rosetta Stone, parts of the Parthenon, Syrian reliefs that were fascinating as well as heartbreaking, big Egyptian section and a fascinating British find of an ancient burial place. Lots of other interesting things along the way.
Highly recommend. Great way to gain an insight and overview of the museum. Can't imagine doing it without Trudy!
Mary H, Aug 2017
Had trouble finding place to meet tour guide. There was no specific address given. Called contact number and person answering wasn't able to help us.
James G, Aug 2017
Tour guide didn't show up when and where supposed to. Complete waste of money.
Sophia B, Jul 2017
This is a great tour, a quick one for people who have a tight schedule. We were only 3 people so the tour seemed like a private one and we had the tour guide attention.
ruby.marcelo, Jul 2017
There is so much in this museum!! The guide helped me understand the history and the context of the various pieces in side. Great history lesson and the storytelling was amazing!!! Having learned about the rosetta stone in history books is one thing, seeing it in person is AMAZING. The reaches of the vast historical British Empire again what we Americans learn in history is literally right before your eyes!
Joseph O, Jul 2017
Tour provides a great overview of some of the more important exhibits in the British Museum and points out the locations of the other major exhibits. Tour guide was very knowledgeable and articulate.
Nona D, Jul 2017
Wonderful tour and the guide was very knowledgable. The museum was crowded and very warm on the day we visited. I am glad we had our guide. Thank you for such a wonderful experience.
Michael I, Jul 2017
The tour was ok. We didn't really get to see very many exhibits in the time frame and it was really packed. To be honest i wish we'd allowed a whole day for the museum and just wandered around ourselves with a digital guide as there is way too much to see in the amount of time the tour allows, but if your pressed for time then the tour is definately the way to go.
Bears92, Jun 2017
My daughter loved it. Wish there was more walking around seeing things than looking on a iPad and listening to the tour guide.
regina, Jun 2017
Very glad I did this tour. There were only three of us and our guide can't remember his name - older gentleman, Irish did a really great job showing us the highlights and explaining why they were important. He orientated us to the museum, then took us to see various important exhibits in different portions of the museum. We were with him for a few hours, and he concluded the tour by making sure we knew where we were going in the museum for any follow on viewing we wanted to do. He answered those questions he could, and was honest when he didn't have an answer. Great tour. The museum is huge and intimidating. This highlights tour was great to see the highlights and figure out where things are.
Walter B, Jun 2017
The British Museum is wonderful. I have visited few museums with the vast number of exhibits that are on display here. It is well worth the time to pay a visit when in London.
Gloria W, Jun 2017
We saw mostly Egyptian statues and some Roman, which was very interesting. Tour stated not available for wheelchairs, but we had a lady in our group in a wheel chair. Need to be reasonably fit as 2 hours of walking and stairs can be tiring. Knowledgeable guide. Only problem was finding the meeting point as Hotel mentioned has changed name.
Dennis M, May 2017
ZoZo was very knowledgeable about all the artifacts we saw. Very interesting history
Charlotte_S, May 2017
Very well done, with an enthusiastic guide who made the whole tour interesting. I believe that she did an excellent job of touching lightly on a sample of the huge amount of material in the museum.
Kelly E, Mar 2017
Wonderful time, good way to see the highlights in the museum in a short time.
Zach L, Feb 2017
Trudy was a great tour guide who really knew about the museum and its artifacts. She was very passionate about the exhibits, and really brought the history to life for me. Without her stories and background on the pieces, I can't imagine taking away even half as much from the museum. I was also incredibly lucky to have a group of only 2 people!
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From $141.03
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British Museum Highlights Private Tour in London including the Rosetta Stone
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