The Charles Dickens Museum

Informative little museum. Good for a day out with kids and past your time after lunch.

I visited London for the first time at Christmas time 2014. I am a huge fan of Dickens, so I had to visit this museum. I found it to be quite interesting. I loved seeing the desk that he wrote ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and ‘Oliver Twist’ at. It was neat for me to learn a little more about the life and family of Dickens. The gift shop is great! I knew exactly what I wanted to purchase before I got there, because everything is on their website. I say give it a go!

We visited during a trip to London in December of 2014. It was nice to take a break from some of the overwhelming crowds at this cute little museum. They had a lot of interesting information and really well put together self-​guided tour. I was really impressed with the gift shop too. It had a ton of great, unique items.

I really am glad we carved a bit of time out of our schedule to visit this museum. I had read other reviews, in which people had gotten lost trying to find the house, but we found some very clear signs (brown, with white lettering) posted along the route from the underground station, which led us right to the front door.
The museum is within Dickens’ former residence, a five-​level, four-​story terraced house in Camden. Each room is decorated as it might have been when he lived there, and the displays provide additional insight into the man, the author, the husband and the activist. The most amazing things for me, though, were the original letters they had on the walls, and the references to his work in trying to abolish the slums in London and trying to protect the intellectual property put out by himself and his peers.
The layout could be a bit confusing, even with the provided guide (on loan only, don’t even try to take it with you!), but each room was informative without being overwhelming. I loved that they gave a glimpse as to the house as a whole — including how the servants lived and what occupied his wife’s time during the day. It really helped to paint a picture in my mind.
The displays each had a card that provided information about the object you were looking at — its significance in Dickens’ life, how old it was, where it came from, etc. — so I never got the sense I was just looking at a bunch of random antiques pulled together for the museum. Granted, some of the items and stories could have been hogwash, but at least they were presented well!
All in all, it took us maybe an hour to get through the entire house, and that was with us stopping to read every placard and take every conceivable picture you can imagine. It was absolutely worth the time and money, even if you’re not a fan of the author (my husband hasn’t read a Dickens book, but he was still able to enjoy himself).

Small but perfectly lovely museum in one of Charles Dickens’ London houses. I’m not a massive fan of Dickens’ work but I found the museum interesting. They give out a free guide at the start which you return at the end and you wander round at your own pace. A lot of the artefacts are collected from other houses he lived in or are reproductions, but it still gives you a good idea of the way things must have looked. It won’t take you long to go round — there are maybe a dozen rooms in total — so don’t plan on spending hours here but it’s handy if you’re wandering through Bloomsbury anyway or if you can fit it in on the way to somewhere else. The shop is also very good with a nice range of things.

Certainly worth the visit for die hard fans, this museum is small but not terribly interesting. Found more to do in the gift shop than in the actual house.
The staff is very nice and informative but it felt a bit like an off-​the-​beaten-​path tourist trap.

Small museum that was originally Dickens’ home early in his career. As others have stated, lots of nice artifacts; but I went for one reason only: to see the painting «Dickens’ Dream.» Watch the film «Hereafter» and you’ll see Matt Damon’s character going to this museum to see the same painting.
Nice experience if you’re a Dickens fan. Not sure if neophytes apply.

Although I can’t count myself as an especially voracious reader of Dickens, I really enjoyed this small, intimate museum. They have excellent displays of his letters, first editions, and personal artifacts, and they really make clear the connections between his personal life and written work.
Don’t miss having an espresso in the small garden downstairs. It was a beautiful place to relax and write out a few postcards before heading on.

Fellow book geeks, get out of the coffee shops and come visit the Dickens Museum. I recently visited here over Christmas and was enchanted by its lovely collection and friendly staff.
The Museum’s collection consists of personal items and papers and provides a unique perspective on not only Dickens but the era. In the event that you find yourself in need of caffeine or feel inspired to pick up a read, they have a cozy café with decent coffee for a decent price.
Be warned: it’s not a free museum, but the minimal price of admission is worth an entertaining afternoon.

This is essentially, Dicken’s House in Bloomsbury where he lived through the bulk of his career.
It take a little bit of wandering to find it as there isn’t really much signage above a blue plaque and it obviously looks like every other house in the street. You have to ring the doorbell to be let in (quaint and somewhat time-​consuming) before stepping into the hallway. The house is spread over 3 floors:
1) Ground floor — front room and rear reception room have photos, notebooks and show how the family might have relaxed by the fire. Who knew Charles Dickens had so many children! 7 at my count of the portraits on the wall. To the rear is a small gift shop and tiny café that opens onto a walled garden or terrace.
2) First floor — a drawing room that overlook the street has os much riginal furniture of the time and more information on Dickens notes and acquaintences throughout his career. Information on printing his Oliver Twist series in installments etc
3) Second floor — Plays and how his works have been turned into performances on the stage etc, costumes and small memorabilia.
We got in free for this as it was part of the Bloomsbury festival, but usually the entrance is £6.50 ish. Bit steep I thought, but having said that, they are mostly privately funded and have ambitious plans to build an extension out the back across all froor in a modern wood and glass style. This will be to house more of the collection, but if you ask me, it will completely unin the originality and WHOLE POINT of the mnuseum as being kept in tact since Dickens lived here. Bah humbug and all that, but if I were one of the neigh bours in this area I’d be up in arms.
Maybe go and see it in it’s current state while you can!

J’y suis allée lors d’un voyage scolaire il y a moult temps maintenant ! C’était intéressant et instructif.

This museum is one of my favorites.
In this place Charles Dickens actually lived and there are still some of his old furniture and arrangements as there used to be when he was still alive.
You get to know Dickens and his private life, his concerns and (of course) his works.
There are manuscripts Dickens wrote and you can see his handwriting and the way his novels developed.
Every room in this house has a story to tell about this famous novelist.
If you like his works you will love this place because it combines the writers life with his novels. Just the way Dickens did it. But here it is made visual.
The museum ist quite small and the staff is really friendly. They know a lot about Charles Dickens and are happy to tell it to the people who are interested.

The house is small but the collection of papers and work is extensive. There aren’t too many of those items that were supposedly used by him, but I still liked it, being a Dickens fan. I really liked that little library at the bottom which I assume has every edition of all his novels – I have a nerdy picture of myself pointing to the Penguin Classics edition of David Copperfield I have.
I’m pretty sure if you have no interest in Dickens, though, that you’d find this place incredibly boring.
Because this place is so small, this isn’t a place that you should save as a «one-​day» trip. This is more of a side-​trip on the way to another museum.

I am not an English major or a rabid Dickens fan. Business brought me to this little museum. Still, it proved a unique window in to Dickens life and career. The museum is in, I believe, the only remaining home associated with Dickens in London. The museum is a hybrid of exhibits, house museum and grass roots institution. The relatively short audio tour is a good choice for the mild Dickens fan. It helped put the man’s career and life into the context of the home.
The biggest disappointment was the sense of decrepitude on the third floor. Dust and faded text panels were all I could concentrate on. So, if you’ve been to all the big boys of the London museum scene, give the Dickens a try. You might find yourself going to the library and giving one of his classics a read.

This is an extremely small museum, and the friend I took with me was literally bored to tears. The most entertaining part was when we tried on various mustaches and took pictures. That was before we realized they smelled funny and had probably been on innumerable people’s mouths… umm, yum… at least we didn’t contract a disease.

Essential pilgrimage for any lover of Dickens. It’s fascinating to see original manuscripts, portraits of him and his family, plus other bits and bobs related to this notable Victorian figure.
As one reviewer said, yes, there’s a lot to read, but if you’re a total Dickens geek like I am (from «Great Expectations» to «Bleak House» — I think I’ve read nearly every published work of his) you’ll absorb it all with ravenous fascination. Plus, there’s just something special about being in a place, a room, where a writer that you love penned words that have so-​captivated you.
The best time to pay a visit is during the Christmas season when the house is festooned with holiday greenery and they do live readings of «A Christmas Carol» (just as Dickens himself once did). They even hand out mince pies and mulled wine for you to enjoy as you listen… a nice way to get into the holiday spirit!

If you have to go on a school trip or with your university I suppose it is ok, but if not really I don’t see the point. Dickens lived here for two years, that is like making a historical landmark out of the flat you rented for a couple of years and then moved on. I don’t know that this was a significant time for Dickens but the house will sure make you feel like it is. These museums of dead people as I call them have a great way of making something out of nothing. Its not the way the house would have been while Dickens was here but seeing his letters and things like that is pretty cool. Of course like all these «old celebrity houses» you can rent it out for exhibitions and banquets and things like that. I really don’t think being a fan of older/​dead celebrities is any more prestigious than being a fan of current celebrities, but I am sure many will beg to differ.

The Dickens Museum is located in a former residence of the man himself, but is not a must see unless your a Dickens fan — although it can fill an afternoon nicely for a modest price, and is very informative as you’d expect. It’s by no means a recreation of his house as he lived in it — there are a few pieces of his furniture (allegedly) but it’s mainly a collection of letters, articles, paintings and illustrations of his books, and perhaps most interestingly drafts of some of his most famous books.
The building itself and the surrounding street are nice examples of typical Georgian townhouses, with lots of original features, but Dickens only actually lived there for a couple of years. His biography is well explained and definitely helps to establish his influences, and he was apparently very happy here where he wrote some or all of Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist. There’s also a small temporary exhibition space, a shop and a library — it’s not somewhere to take the kids as there’s so much to read, but a lot of it is quite fascinating if you can cope with it all.