Ripley's Believe It or Not! London

Ripley's Believe It or Not! London opened at The Trocadero, Piccadilly Circus in August 2008. It's part of a global chain of odditoriums, as these museums are called, which has over 700 authentic, original, and unbelievable exhibits collected from all over the world, representing the places and cultures visited by Robert Ripley during his travels.

Each Ripley's Believe It or Not! odditorium is unique in its collection of oddities and in their presentation.

See photos from Ripley's Believe It or Not! London.

Robert Ripley, the globetrotting creator of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoon in 1918, displayed his first collection of oddities at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933, filling the exhibition hall with hundreds of genuine artifacts he had gathered from his travels to more than 200 countries. Today, his exotic treasures can be seen in 30 Ripley's Believe It or Not! museums worldwide.

Address:
The London Pavilion
1 Piccadilly Circus
London
W1J 0DA

Nearest Tube Station: Piccadilly Circus.
Use Exit 4 to Coventry Street.

Use Journey Planner to plan your route by public transport.

Telephone: 020 3238 0022

Official Website: www.ripleyslondon.com

Tickets: Adult: £20+ / Children under four years old go free.
Additional charge for Mirror Maze.

You can also book tickets at the VisitBritain Shop (Buy Direct).

Opening Times: Ripley's Believe It or Not! London is open 365 days a year from 10am to 12 midnight (last ticket sold at 10.30pm).

The exhibits appeal to people of all ages, both young and old. Note, all children under 7 must be accompanied by an adult.

Buggies are allowed in the museum, or you can use the free Buggy Park (just after the entrance and before the gift shop).

When my daughter was two years old she enjoyed the interactive 'fish floor' the most. No big surprise here, but she didn't like the horror area and especially the man on the electric chair!

As she still remembered this incident when we revisited when she was five years old, I wanted to avoid the Dungeon Zone as it is signposted: as containing "certain exhibits that may be disturbing for young children or those of a sensitive nature". But even though there should be a way to travel between floor 4 and floor 3 I was informed the lift is staff-operated only between these floors. There was no sign to tell me this, and no staff in the area, so we waited a long time and only managed to leave the area when a visitor got out on floor 4 by mistake. I'm glad I refused to go in the Dungeon Zone but I don't know how others would avoid it without being as obstinate as I had to be.

Visit Duration

1-1.5 hours.

Photography

Photography is encouraged at Ripley's Believe It or Not! London, however tripods and lights should not be used.

Accessible

Ripley's Believe It or Not! London is completely wheelchair accessible, although some elevators/lifts require staff to operate them.

Mirror Maze

The maze consists of hundreds of mirrored reflections. The more participants in the maze, the more confusing it is. All visitors have to wear disposable gloves as the finger smears could make it too easy to see where there were mirrors! Keep a tight rein on children as you don't want to lose them in there. Also, make sure they don't run off as they may run straight into a mirrored wall!

There is an additional charge and you can buy tickets at the front desk, or decide later. Note, you can't only try the Mirror Maze - you must by a ticket for the museum too. On my last visit it took me and my daughter 10 minutes to get through the maze.

Ripley's Believe It or Not! London takes up 24,000 square feet, over five floors at The Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus. This area has seen many attractions come and go but Ripley's London has a reported 25 year lease so hopefully we can enjoy this for some time. Home to the weird, wonderful and just plain bizarre, there are more than 700 curiosities from all around the world to marvel at.

The popularity of these odditoriums can be put down to basic human curiosity. Have you even seen a two-headed calf? Want to see one? Exactly. I feel the only thing that may stop you from rushing down there is the high ticket price. It's not a bargain but then where else can you see a portrait of Princess Diana made of laundry lint from a clothes dryer?

Exhibits Include...

• 4 meter model of Tower Bridge made out of 400,000 matchsticks
• 545-pound meteorite
• 27 inch hairball found inside a cow's stomach
• 3,000 pound piece of the Berlin Wall
• Swarovski-Covered Crystal Mini Cooper worth £500,000
• 3 human shrunken heads from Ecuador
• copy of The Last Supper painted on a grain of rice
• famous sweater worn by Marilyn Monroe during her last photo shoot on the beaches of Malibu
• a mummified man
• genuine moon rock

See photos from Ripley's Believe It or Not! London.

As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary services for review purposes. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our Ethics Policy.