The Victoria & Albert Museum and Kensington: Private Half-Day Tour
Explore the Victoria and Albert Museum, famous for its resplendent architecture both inside and out, as well as its amazing collection of sculpture, jewellery, costume, art and design from many eras and cultures, followed by a walking tour through the elegant and discreet streets of West London, home of billionaire emigres, financiers, the aristocracy and British royalty.
On your private tour, you will:
- Explore one of England’s most famous museums, the Victoria and Albert (known locally as the V&A) and the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design which houses a collection of over 4.5 million objects;
- Admire the museum’s magnificent architecture, before stepping inside and wandering around its maze of galleries and exhibitions;
- Admire famous works from the Italian Renaissance, including the great maestros such as Raphael, Michelangelo and the king of Baroque, Bernini;
- Pause for a well-deserved break of tea and scones in the Victoria and Albert’s Museum café;
- Stroll through Knightsbridge and Kensington – two of London’s most exclusive neighbourhoods, where you’ll see Harrods, and the Albert Memorial, and hear some of the inside stories about those who live here;
- Learn all about the long reign and passionate marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert until his tragic early death;
- Enter Hyde Park and enjoy an orientation of this 350-acre park, followed by a visit to the pristine gardens of Kensington Palace;
- Walk along the Princess Diana Memorial Walk and see the new bronze statue of the late princess in the sunken garden;
- End your tour outside the Palace gift shop in Hyde Park.
Your tour begins at the entrance to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is over 52,000 square metres in size and contains a whopping 145 galleries that span a colossal 5,000 years of applied arts.
The impressive museum displays artefacts, furniture, paintings, textiles, ceramics, costumes, prints, ironwork, photos, and much more besides. In total, it houses over 4.5 million objects.
You will see the awe-inspiring hall with plaster casts from Renaissance Italy - including Michelangelo's David, the famous Raphael cartoons and statues by Bernini as well as more modern fashions and jewellery collections by Alexander McQueen.
After touring the Victoria and Albert Museum, your guide will show you the surrounding neighbourhood of Kensington as you walk towards London’s Hyde Park.
Once renowned for its wild criminality, Kensington is now a playground for the rich, and synonymous with luxury brands such as Harrods. But unknown to many, it is a royal love story that truly underpins the history of this area - the relationship between Queen Victoria and her Consort, Prince Albert.
Learn of the life and times of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert: the world in which they lived, and the enormous influence they had on wider society and indeed throughout Europe. Albert was a great innovator, fascinated by science, and it is thanks to him we have the world-renowned museums of the famous Exhibition Row: they were his brainchild for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. The area became known at the time as ‘Albertopolis.’
On entering Hyde Park, you’ll see Kensington Palace – home to the new Prince and Princess of Wales - William and Kate, and other members of the Royal family, and former home to Diana, Princess of Wales. You’ll walk along the Diana Memorial Walk and see the new bronze statue of the late princess in the sunken garden. At the end of the tour, your guide will orient you about the park so you won’t get lost in its 350 acres! And show you to the Kensington Palace gift shop.
