A short walk along Exhibition Road from the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum holds the most important British collection of industrial, scientific, and medical objects. Stephenson's Rocket — the prototype steam locomotive from 1829 — sits in the Making the Modern World gallery alongside the Apollo 10 command module that flew around the Moon in 1969. The first computer (Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2), the first jet engine, and a slice of the Difference Engine programmed by Ada Lovelace are all here.
The upper floors lean towards interactive exhibits and are excellent with children — the Wonderlab on level 3 is the best science play space in London, though it charges a separate admission. The Information Age gallery, opened by the Queen sending her first tweet in 2014, traces 200 years of communication from telegraphy to the smartphone.
The basement Garden play space for under-fives is genuinely good but books out fast — reserve a slot online before you arrive.