London Transport Museum

The museum occupies the former flower market building on the Covent Garden piazza, an iron and glass hall of 1871, and holds vehicles from a horse bus of 1829 through Victorian underground carriages, trams, trolleybuses, Routemasters and a 1938 tube stock train, most of which can be boarded. Its other strength is graphic: London Transport commissioned posters from major artists from 1908 and the collection runs to thousands, alongside Harry Beck's 1931 diagram of the network, which abandoned geography for straight lines and forty-five-degree angles and became the model for transit maps worldwide, and Edward Johnston's 1916 typeface, still in use. The Acton depot holds the reserve collection and opens on occasional weekends.

Highlights

• The boardable vehicles - horse bus, tram, Routemaster and 1938 tube stock.
• The poster collection - commissioned art from 1908 onward.
• Beck's diagram - the 1931 map that abandoned geography for clarity.
• The Johnston typeface - the 1916 lettering still used across the network.

When to go

Year-round; the ticket is valid for a year, which suits repeat visits. School holidays bring families to the interactive areas. Acton depot open weekends are announced in advance and sell out.

Practical notes

It is aimed substantially at children and is loud during holidays. The building is small and the collection tightly packed. The shop is unusually good and unusually expensive.

Nearby

Covent Garden piazza surrounds it; the Royal Opera House and Somerset House are close.

Key facts