Madame Tussaud's

Streams of humanity jostle excitedly here for the chance to take pictures of each other planting a smacker on the waxen visage of fame and fortune. Madame Tussaud brought her show to London in 1802, 32 years after it was founded in Paris, and it's been expanding ever since, on these very premises since 1884. There are some 300 figures in the collection now, under various themes: 'A-list Party' (Brad, Keira, Kate Moss, Will Smith), 'Première Night' (Monroe, Chaplin, Arnie as the Terminxator), 'Sports Zone' (Tendulkar, Rooney, Muhammad Ali), 'By Royal Appointment' and so on. If you're not already overheating, your palms will be sweating by the time you descend to the Chamber of Horrors in 'Scream', where only teens claim to enjoy the floor drops and scary special effects. Much more pleasant is the kitsch 'Spirit of London' ride, whisking you through 400 years of London life in a taxi pod. Since summer 2010, Tussauds has also been host to Marvel Super Heroes 4D. Interactives and waxworks of Iron Man, Spiderman and an 18ft Hulk provide further photo opportunities, but the highlight is the nine-minute film in '4D' (as well as 3D projections, there are 'real' effects such as a shaking floor and smoke in the auditorium) in the dome that used to house the planetarium. Click the 'buy tickets' button below to book online and avoid the queues.