Horniman Museum

Taking advantage of the relatively reduced levels of traffic, we drove to the Horniman Museum today. We couldn't find parking at the museum but a few streets away, there is unrestricted parking. Alternatively, you can use the pay carpark behind Sainsbury.
I was impressed with the Museum even though some exhibits were hard to see as the lighting had gone. There are hands on areas that enable kids to play...the best one was in the amazing Musical Instruments gallery. This gallery had hundreds of interesting instruments and was worth the visit alone. The lower ground floor also houses a small aquarium with some beautiful jellyfish and tropical fish.
The natural history section included an enormous walrus. It was a real one that was stuffed! Puts into perspective our relative small size. In addition, there was a case showing extinct animals including a dodo - I must be getting soppy in my old age as I nearly cried on reading that this animal was neither good for food or clothing but was hunted anyway. B*****d hunters.
We started our visit with lunch in the cafe. My dish was fresh though my families sandwiches weren't quite so. However, it wasn't an expensive lunch and the staff were very friendly.
After walking around the Museum we strolled around the surrounding park area which has quite a panoramic view of London. The flower garden was cordoned off but we could see it was very pretty. A great park to take along a picnic to. It's very parent friendly with ramps down to floor, or lifts. Plenty of space to park buggies including a dedicated buggy room with lockers for storing bags etc and a baby changing room. The cafe had a huge supply of child chairs and a special kids menu.
This is also a great place to get married. While we were there a civil partnership ceremony was taking place in the pretty Conservatory so there were plenty of well dressed folks milling about. :)

Horniman Museum 100 London Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ
Tel: 020 8699 1872
www.horniman.ac.uk