Phoebe Crompton

The legacy of 18th century surgeon John Hunter's collection, the Hunterian Musuem probes every area of human and animal anatomy, offering shelves of deeply-interesting pickled internal organs and bodily curiosities.

Rather under-appreciated in his time, Brutalist architect Ernő Goldfinger's personally designed family home displays all the skill and unusal subtleties of his best design work. Housing his own collection of art, including works by Henry Moore and Ernst Marx, 2 Willow Road has much to interest anyone with an interest in design.

Outsider art by the clinically insane can offer the possibility for deep personal insight into their disturbance - and the chance to be unnerved. And Brazilian Arthur Bispo do Rosário's elaborate tapestries and sculptures showing at the V&A are intense, representing fifty years of work done in a psychiatric unit in Rio inspired by visions of blue angels.

Personal collections make for the best museum material, as you become absorbed in the subtle niches of an often over-looked area of interest. Robert Opie's collection of packaging and products is no exception. With cabinets full of bottles, toys, posters and crisp packets, this museum is an unusual reflection on social and political changes throughout twentieth century Britain.

By focusing in on the people themselves, rather than the famous landmarks of Buckingham Palace or a red phone box, these photographers sensed the interest at the heart of the city, and allow a pleasant walk back onto London's post-war streets. At Tate Britain.

This is not your average zoological museum: there appears to be far more material to display than there is room in the Grant Museum of Zoology, so that you are met with unnerving specimens from every angle and from every cabinet. Inviting in its modesty, this collection has an extremely high concentration of interesting specimens per square meter.

Away from central London's expansive museums of natural history and anthropology, the Horniman Museum and Gardens offers a unique variety of intrigue in architecture, artefacts and taxidermy for South London.

Ranking Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Harry Houdini and fourteen US presidents amongst its members, the three hundred year old Freemason fraternity has quite a controversial reputation to live down. A tour of their grade II listed London Lodge and museum offers an intimate look at the organisation's much speculated symbols and rituals.

From Paris: A Taste for Impressionism is a testament to the intrigue and value of private collections. Normally housed off the beaten track in Williamstown, Western Massachusetts, and featuring works by Sisley, Monet, Renoir and Tissot, this exhibition provides an often surprising and very personal take on a well-known artistic movement.

Wellcome's collections are outstanding in their variety, a testament to his passion for the pursuit of medical knowledge, and just plain fascinating. Whilst the artefacts on display certainly cover the deeply weird and unusual aspects of human nature, they also offer some insightful glimpses into our understanding of our own physicality.