Places Mat Everywhere Wants to Go

The fantastic charm of England's oldest botanical garden has made it a place of writerly inspiration for centuries.

This hidden 13th-century tavern room has a few Shakespearean connections.

Used as an example in one of the first dictionary entries for "museum" in 1706.

The lantern carried by the infamous Guy Fawkes when he was arrested while attempting to blow the houses of Parliament and the King of England to smithereens

An easily overlooked stretch of ornate window fronts and gaslight lamps that could be right from the pages of Dickens.

A faded reminder of what was once a common sight in London during the Blitz.

The perfectly preserved underground rooms where Churchill plotted the war against Germany.

William Smith's iconic "map that changed the world" is hidden behind a curtain in the Geological Society building.

English antique dealers with a taste for the unusual.

The beloved beast's taxidermy remains sit in the Natural History Museum's cafe.

Eighty million natural history specimens call this gargantuan museum home.

The monster at the center of the Darwin Center Spirit Collection.

Repository for more than 22 million pickled specimens.

Hidden in the courtyard of the Victoria and Albert Museum is a little-known tribute to two celebrity pooches.

This ancient oak plays host to carvings of magical elves, gnomes, witches, and other creatures prominent in local folklore.

Tucked away in the Tower of London is the weapon once used to execute high-profile prisoners.

A Roman spa buried deep beneath the City of London.

The only university zoological museum in London houses extinct animals, bizarre natural history specimens, and a Micrarium of microscopic creatures.

One part local history, 99 parts gruesome haunted house.

The collection contains over 25,000 items and details the painful dental practices of the past.

You'd never know the houses at 23-24 Leinster Gardens were fakes—until you see the train tracks on the other side.

This unique bridge curls up like a caterpillar to let boats pass and then unfurls again to span a small canal.

This whimsical Oz-themed park had a wonderful impact on the surrounding neighborhood.

Years of archaeology, just chillin' by the water cooler.