Design Museum, London

If you are a lover of advertising, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design, you will love the Design Museum, which you will find in a converted banana warehouse on the South Bank not far from Tower Bridge.

The museum was opened in 1989 and is the first of its kind in London. Entry isn’t free, because it isn’t subsidized by the government as other museums are.

On the ground floor you will find the admissions desk, the museum shop, the café and the toilets. These last were designed by the Australian product designer Marc Newton and they are so ultramodern that a lot of visitors think that they are part of the exhibition and take photos of them.

Leaving the photogenic loos behind, you climb to the 1st floor where temporary exhibitions are held. These are really very good and educative, such as the History of Video Games Exposition, which is very popular and comes back quite often.

On the 2nd floor there are two sections: one for semi-permanent exhibitions about the History of Design and the other is the Educational Centre where the Education Department of the museum teaches school-children in design workshops.

On the top of the museum, you will find the famous Blueprint Café, where you can enjoy splendid views of Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and the Canary Wharf. A pair of small blue binoculars is placed on each table to enhance viewing. If you are really brave you can sample a warm smoked eel and red onion pickle sandwich which is one of the specialties of the café.

Operation hours: Daily 10 am - 6 pm