The Victoria and Albert Museum is the greatest museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is split up into four collection departments: Asia; furniture, textiles and fashion; metalwork, ceramics and glass; and word and image. In total the museum has 145 galleries, but given the vast extent of the collections only a small percentage is ever on display. On request the museum curators provide access to objects that are not currently on display.

The collection of art from Asia numbers more than 160,000 objects and is one of the greatest in existence. The museums coverage includes items from South and Southeast Asia, Himalayan Kingdoms, China, the Far East and the Islamic world. The collection of Chinese art is one of the world's most important and comprehensive of its kind.

The furniture and furnishing collection with more than 14,000 items, covers Britain, Europe and America from the Middle Ages to present. The Glass collection covers 4000 years of glass making, and has over 6,000 items from Africa, Britain, Europe, America and Asia.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is located Cromwell Gardens, South Kensington. Opening hours are from 10:00 to 17:45, with a late opening until 22:00 on Fridays. Most exhibitions are free, but some have an entrance fee. Visit www.vam.ac.uk to learn more.