Budge up and make some room, folks, because I come bearing yet another sparkly item to precariously shove into London’s full-to-bursting trophy cabinet. And today’s accolade is a good’un, because it comes courtesy of the lovely lot over at TIME magazine who have just revealed their highly-coveted World’s Greatest Places list.
Each year, the list-makers traverse the globe, scouring every nook and cranny in search of the best, brightest, and most brilliant in the world of travel. From places to eat, sleep, and visit to things to do, see, and experience; no stone is left unturned. Once all the numbers have been crunched, a list of the 100 best hotels, restaurants, cruises, attractions, museums, and parks is created. And a London locale manage to earn itself a comfy spot on the list, despite not even having had its doors open to the public for an entire year yet. Not bad, hey?
The V&A East Storehouse
The V&A East Storehouse in Stratford was crowned one of the world’s best places to visit, and so it seems only right that I spend the next few minutes waxing lyrical about it. One of the newest museums on London’s block, the storehouse only swung open its doors last May, but has certainly made its mark on the capital’s cultural scene since then.
The V&A East Storehouse set up shop as the first public venue of its kind, giving Londoners a new way to get up close and personal with a whole host of historic and cultural items. Unlike most other museums, there are no permanent displays, but the venue instead serves as an ‘ambitious hybrid’. It’s part storage facility, part research centre, part public museum. It’s home to over 250,000 objects, 350,000 books, and almost 1,000 archives – and it’s completely free to visit.
Perhaps the most game-changing component of the V&A East Storehouse is its ‘Order an Object’ service. A bit like an Argos catalogue at Christmas but for cultured grown-ups, the service allows guests to sift through a digital catalogue of more than half a million items and select up to 5 pieces to be pulled from the fully-stacked shelves and presented to them by a museum staff member. Since the initiative started, over 30,000 items (that would have otherwise stayed in storage) have been selected, giving visitors the chance to curate their perfect trip to the museum.
You’ll find the V&A East Storehouse at 2 Parkes Street, Stratford Cross, E20 3AX. Find out more about the objects on offer and plan your visit here.
