Churchill war rooms in London

This is a museum placed in a bunker. It belongs to the Imperial War Museum in London. The war rooms were built in 1938 as a measure against future possible air attacks. After the outbreak of the war the government center with Churchill in command was transferred to the basement. Located in the Treasury building in Westminster, just a short walk away from Big Ben. 

The tour has two parts. On one hand the tour of the bunker with recreations of all the rooms and on the other hand a large exhibition hall dedicated to Churchill, exhibiting documents, videos and photos from his youth until his funeral. It shows the personality of the former British prime minister during World War II.

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BUSINESS INFORMATION

Official website: http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms

Location: here .

Metro station: Westminster (green lines, yellow and gray)

Buses: 3, 11, 12, 24, 53, 87, 88, 109, 148, 159, 184, 211, 453

Opening hours: 9:30 to 18:00 (last admission 17:00)

Closed from 24 to 26 December.

Admission: 17 pounds (20 euros). Audio guide included.

The museum is very interesting but it has few visitors. The entrance it's a little bit hidden in a side of King Charles street, under the Clive Steps.

In the area of the museum about Churchill you can find some items of his personal life, from his Nobel Prize to pictures painted by him. 

A little photo gallery of the place:

Visit the Scapa Flow naval base in Orkney Islands

For those interested in WWII Orkney has the most important naval base in England during the World Wars: Scapa Flow . Churchill had sent blocking sinking ships to create an impenetrable barrier against possible submarine attacks. Despite this, in 1939 the German submarine U-47 with Günther Prien in charge entered the base and sank the Royal Oak with a torpedo hit. This battleship hadn't been achieved in the previous war. It killed 833 crewmen. Three days after the attack, four bombers Junkers Ju 88 of the Luftwaffe bombed the base reaching the battleship HMS Iron Duke . After the attack, some roads were built to block the oriental entrances, known as " Churchill Barriers ".

HOW TO GET SCAPA FLOW?

Scapa Flow is in Lyness , in the east of the island of Hoy in the archipelago of the Orkney Islands , north of Scotland. View location map here .

• By plane: There are flights from Edinburgh or Aberdeen to Kirkwall Airport , the capital of the islands, operated by Loganair through http://www.flybe.com . You can book tickets here from 80 pounds the rounf  trip . Keep in mind that Kirkwall airport is on the island of Mainland so then we will have to take a ferry to Lyness on the island of Hoy . The ferry leaves from Houton and to get there from the airport, you have to go to West Castle Street where you can catch the bus number 2 (for details and schedules VISIT this page ). A better way (especially since you will visit many more places like the Italian Chapel ) is to rent a car at the airport. To view the route to the ferry click here . Once in Houton you can park your car there or pass it to Lyness on the ferry but the base is very close to the terminal so it's no needed. The price of the ferry is 4.5 pounds the normal ticket and 13.20 pounds if you go with the car. It takes 35 minutes to arrive. You can check schedules here .

• By ferry: It's a bit complicated because there isn't a direct ferry from Scotland to the base. Ferries depart from Aberdeen , Scrabster , Gills Bay .NorthLink Ferries connects three days a week Aberdeen to Kirkwall (Mainland). The journey takes just over seven hours and the ticket price is 17.30 pounds . From Scrabster we can get to Stromness (Mainland). There are up to three trips a day from Monday to Friday and two on Saturday and Sunday. The crossing time is approximately 90 minutes and the ticket of 14.10 pounds round trip. From Kirkwall, Stromness can be reached by bus. With Pentland Ferries can reach St Margaret's Hope (South Ronaldsay) in about 1 hour out from Gills Bay . There are three daily departures (four in summer) and the ticket costs 12 pounds . Once there to move between islands you can rent a car and move through Orkney's Ferry .

To plan routes, check timetables and Orkney's public transport this page will provide all the information: http://www.travelinescotland.com/journeyplanner/enterJourneyPlan.do?hss=0tokn105870488

 photo: Gregory J Kingsley