London Transport Museum

Half the world's population now lives in an urban environment, a reality explored in the excellent, if hard-to-navigate, newly reopened museum's first display: audiovisual recordings of public transport in London and five other cities - Tokyo, Shanghai, Delhi, Paris and New York. Among the vehicles on display is the first underground electric train. It had no windows because there was nothing to see underground. The trouble was that no one could tell which stop they were at, a glitch resolved by employing an athletic announcer who ran to each carriage at every station, shouting out the stops. Dating from 1890, this is one of several museum exhibits you can board. The design gallery is a tribute to Frank Pick, the man responsible for rolling out the London Underground brand and giving each line its own character. Pick's work included ensuring the emblematic bar and circle logo became an intrinsic part of London's visual identity, to the extent it now signifies 'tube station' without the need for words. For children there's an under-fives play area decorated with Steven Appleby illustrations and the chance to sit in the driver's cab of a red bus and guide a Northern Line simulator through tunnels and up to platforms, which is fun for adults, too.