Libraries are my happy place so when we stumbled upon the British Library after exiting St. Pancreas Tube station, which is one of the most beautiful buildings in London, it was a no brainer to change our day’s previous plans and instead finally take the time to go see it. This national library of the UK is one of the largest libraries in the world with 14+million books and other items dating as far back as 2000 BC. and while you can’t access a large part of it without a resident library card, there are lots of open spaces to relax and literary artifacts to see. Definitely worth a visit!

First up we checked out the Treasures Collection which, of course, is free and chock full of over 200 treasures as the name indicates from Beatles lyrics to the Magna Carta to Leonardo da Vinci drawings to a Gutenberg Bible (the second we’ve seen!). Original music scores, maps, religious manuscripts, autograph letters, diaries, notes and other manuscript material from famous people such as Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin, J.R.R.Tolkien, Alan Turing, Jane Austen, and many others are all beautifully displayed.

In the middle of the building is a six-story glass tower inspired by a similar structure in the Beinecke Library, containing the King’s Library with 65,000 printed volumes along with other pamphlets, manuscripts and maps collected by King George III between 1763 and 1820 (Wikipedia). Picture above is this tower from the outside, but the public is not allowed in there. Darn!

Depending on how much time you have to visit, there are special exhibitions, cafes on every floor, and lots of seating to relax and enjoy the free Wi-Fi. Check it all out here: Visit us in London and Yorkshire | The British Library (bl.uk) All these spaces were busy with students, people having meetings, and eating/drinking. Clean bathrooms are plentiful, including multi-gender ones, and, available on every level. Why is it so hard in the US to find multi-gender bathrooms when they are everywhere here in Europe? The gift shop has lots of fun items including pillow covers, which haven’t been easy to find, so I got a great one with a map of London on it. Enjoy the journey!