The Charles Dickens Museum, the author’s former Bloomsbury home and only surviving London residence, re-opened today following a major refurbishment. The building has been transformed and is now double the size, in celebration of Dickens’s bicentenary year.

As well as restoring the house at 48 Doughty Street – Dickens’s home at the start of his career and the place where he wrote classics Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby – and opening the house’s attic and kitchen for the first time, the museum has expanded into neighbouring 49 Doughty Street.

The adjacent building has been converted into a state-of-the-art Visitor and Learning Centre with rooms available for events, study and reading facilities, as well as facilities for exploring the Dickens museum’s digitised collection. The new extension to the building and a lift in No 49 now mean the museum has hugely improved step-free access to the original house at No 48, opening it up through hidden access doors on the basement, ground, first and second floors.

Pop into the new museum, and you’ll be able to walk around rooms decorated as Dickens would have known them. Each room reflects a different part of Dickens’s world; his reading desk can be seen in the drawing room, where he would have entertained guests with readings from his work, whilst the master bedroom will display personal items that have never been on display before. The second bedroom, where his sister-in-law Mary died aged 17, reflects on Dickens’s relationship with mortality and will feature the museum’s latest acquisition, an extremely rare set of photographic prints showing the 1865 rail crash which Dickens himself was involved in.

In the attic, visitors can learn more about Dickens’s difficult childhood and his literary and social legacy, before moving next door into the new wing at No 49 to explore further collections of Dickensiana.

Visit dickensmuseum.com to find out more.

7 February 2012 marks 200 years since Dickens’ birth and institutions and organisations all over the world are staging a variety of cultural events to celebrate.

The programme, called Dickens 2012, is being co-ordinated by the Charles Dickens Museum and Film London and patrons include Sir Derek Jacobi, Peter Ackroyd and Claire Tomalin.

In London – the city that Dickens more than anyone else helped to document and mythologise – venues include the British Library, BFI Southbank and of course the Charles Dickens Museum. The main highlights are:

• Dickens and London at the Museum of London
  See original Dickens’ manuscripts and discover what London was like in Victorian times. Until 10 Jun
• Dickens on Screen at the BFI Southbank
  The largest ever retrospective of film and TV works based on or inspired by Charles Dickens. Until 28 Feb
• A Hankering after Ghosts: Charles Dickens and the Supernatural at The British Library
  Discover Dickens’ fascination with the supernatural and how it features in his writing. Until 4 March
• Charles Dickens: Life and Legacy at the National Portrait Gallery
  A unique collection of prints, drawings, and photographs illustrating Dickens’ life and circle. Until 22 April

Other Dickens 2012 events are at the V&A Museum of Childhood, the V&A itself and there’s even a Dickens book club at Foyles bookshop. (My 2012 resolution is to finally finish Little Dorrit).

For more information on Dickens 2012 visit www.dickens2012.org. And use the comments below to let us know if you’ve enjoyed any of the bicentenary events, or even your favourite Dickensian London spot.

Dickens often walked the streets of London at night to piece together ideas for stories and characters. This exhibition takes you on a similar tour of Dickensian London, showing how the city he called his “magic lantern” inspired his famous tales.

Like any Dickens novel, there’s plenty of information about the grimy, poverty-stricken side of London in the 1800s. But there are also cheerier aspects on display, such as a beautiful painting of people enjoying Hyde Park in the summer, strolling, relaxing and playing – just like Londoners do today.

My favourite exhibits were:

• Handwritten letters by Charles Darwin, plus one of his own inkwells
• A display of period doorknockers (straight out of A Christmas Carol!)
• Dickens’ writing desk and chair

Also, Museum of London have added to their excellent app collection with Dickens: Dark London, a gorgeous-looking, graphic novel app, with monthly additions, available from 9 December.

Dickens and London, Museum of London, 9 Dec-10 Jun (admission charge). Get two-for-one entry to Dickens and London with our special offer

Please Sir, Can I Have Some More….

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens in 2012 with more Dickens-themed activities in London:

• The Charles Dickens Museum: See where the author lived between 1837 and 1839
• Meet Ebenezer Scrooge: Visit one of Dickens’ most famous characters in the grottos of Museum of London and Museum of London Docklands between 27 December and 1 January, and win a prize if you can cheer him up!
• The British Library: Charles Dickens and the Supernatural examines how Dickens used supernatural phenomena in his stories. Until 4 March
• BFI Southbank: Dickens on Film showcases archive footage of classic Dickens adaptations and examines his contribution to film and television history. 15 December
• Charles Dicken’s London: Our guide to the London landmarks featured in Charles Dickens’ novels