British Museum Top of the Pops

The British Museum attracted in excess of 6 million visitors in 2007, making it Britain's top cultural attraction, according to a report published on 1 July. The British Museum attracted 6.04 million visitors, pushing Blackpool and the Tate Modern into the silver and bronze medal positions in terms of visitor numbers with the former attracting 5.5 million punters and the latter 5.23 million.

The First Emperor Exhibition proved a huge hit with museum goers from across the UK and visitors from abroad. The First Emperor Exhibition complete with its collection of 2,000 year old Terracotta Warriors attracted in excess of 850,000 visitors. The Terracotta Army was created to protect the First Emperor Qin Shihuang in the next, or afterlife. The Terracotta Army was stumbled upon in 1974. The Times reported in an article published on 1 July that during the Exhibition's run the British Museum's ticket office "was inundated with as many as 180 calls an hour, hordes of visitors queued from as early as 5.30am to be sure of getting one of the 500 day tickets released almost four hours later."

Independent travellers in London can hear about the history of the British Museum with the Museums, Galleries & Performing Arts audio downloadable walking tour. Listeners will hear how Sir Henry Sloane's vast collection of antiquities formed the basis of the Museum's original collection when it opened 249 years ago. Hear which famous nineteenth and twentieth century social theorists studied in the Reading Room in the centre of the courtyard. The heart of the Reading Room is the King's Library, which is so named because the books in it were donated by King George IV.

See the capital's first covered public square, the magnificent Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, which was designed by the award winning architect, Sir Norman Foster and his firm, Foster and Partners. The Queen officially opened the Great Atrium in December, 2000.

To hear an audio sample from the Museums, Galleries & Performing Arts podcast gudied tour please click here.

Visitors to London can see the Millennium Bridge and City Hall on the Ride & Stride and the City & South Bank & Circular, London iPod travel guides.

With a Walk Talk Tour, London travel guide you're in charge. No need to struggle to keep up with the tour guide with the umbrella or feel conspicuous with a guidebook in your hands. Sightseeing with children? If they're driving you to distraction - or the heavens open - simply pause your tour and resume it when you've recharged your batteries or escaped the worst of the weather.

Each individual Walk Talk Tour has a Where & When page detailing the opening times and admission costs (where applicable) of key attractions on each tour's route.

Each Walk Talk Tour, London city guide comes complete with detailed instructions describing how you can get from A to B and a downloadable map - for you to print off - so you won't miss a thing!
In addition, the five audio downloadable walking tours of London have been translated into French, German and Spanish.

Walk Talk Tours also allows visitors and locals alike to go walk about in Edinburgh, York and Manchester.