Madame Tussauds
Marie Tussaud modeled the French Revolution's victims and brought her death masks to London — and her own hands shaped figures still standing among today's celebrity-selfie waxworks.
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Behind the photo-op waxworks sits a collection reaching back to the French Revolution — figures Tussaud modeled herself, plus the Chamber of Horrors she built from models of murderers. Founded in 1835, it's a real collection, not just a modern franchise, down to Curtius's du Barry of 1765.
What to look for
- Marie Tussaud's own wax self-portrait, made in 1842 near the end of her life, now at the museum entrance
- 'The Sleeping Beauty' — Madame du Barry, the oldest figure, modeled by Curtius in 1765, with a device in her chest that makes her seem to breathe
- The Chamber of Horrors — a name Tussaud originated in advertising by 1843 — where she displayed models of murderers; other faces from her era include Robespierre and George III
The Marylebone Road galleries opened 14 July 1884, a few minutes from Baker Street Underground; lines run long, so book a timed ticket.
Madame Tussauds is one of 40 sights worth the detour in London, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the London pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in London
- British MuseumThe room where a dead language got its voice back — and you walk in for free.
- Buckingham PalaceThe balcony where a whole country turns up to watch a family wave — with 775 rooms behind it.
- Westminster AbbeyNearly every English monarch since 1066 has been crowned on the same worn patch of floor.
- Big BenThe clang in a thousand establishing shots comes from a cracked bell that's rung slightly off-key since 1859.
- Tower of LondonWilliam the Conqueror's keep turned royal prison, where two queens lost their heads and the Crown Jewels still sit under guard.
- Tower BridgeA Victorian drawbridge dressed as a Gothic castle, its roadway still splitting open for passing ships.