Churchill War Rooms

Beneath the streets of Westminster, a set of basement offices served as the center of Britain's war effort, and walking them shows how a parliamentary democracy kept governing under bombardment. The Map Room was staffed day and night through the Second World War; on August 16, 1945, its lights were turned off for the first time in six years, and the rooms have been kept as a historical record ever since. The attached Churchill Museum covers his whole 90-year life, so the visit works as a portrait of one prime minister and of wartime government at once. It is run by Imperial War Museums and is a paid attraction, so book tickets ahead rather than waiting in line on the day; children aged 5 to 15 pay half price and students get a discount.