Tate Modern

Tate Modern is the most visited modern art museum in the world, and it earns that partly through the building itself. The former Bankside Power Station, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott — architect of the red telephone box — was converted by Herzog and de Meuron and opened in 2000, its central chimney still rising over the river opposite St Paul's. The Turbine Hall, where generators once roared, is now a vast covered street five storeys high that hosts an annual large-scale commission; artists have filled it with a setting sun, giant slides, a crack in the floor and much more, and whatever is installed is usually the most talked-about artwork in London. Around it, the Natalie Bell Building and the angular brick-lattice Blavatnik Building hold the free collection displays, rehung regularly and arranged by theme rather than chronology, so Picasso might sit beside a contemporary artist from Nigeria or Brazil. Highlights often include Rothko's Seagram murals in their own dimmed room, works by Matisse, Dali, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Bourgeois and Kusama, and a strong commitment to international and women artists. Major exhibitions are ticketed, with discounts for young people and free entry for up to four children per adult. The building opens 10am to 6pm Sunday to Thursday and until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, when the late evenings bring a lively crowd. Level 10 of the Blavatnik Building has a café-bar with views, reached by lift, though parts of the outdoor viewing terrace have been screened since a neighbours' privacy case. Bags must be cabin-sized, and the main cloakroom has closed, so travel light.

The power station closed in 1981 and stood empty for years before the Tate chose it to house its international modern collection, separating it from British art at Tate Britain upriver. The conversion kept the industrial bones — the brick, the steel, the scale — and the Millennium Bridge, opened the same year, linked it directly to St Paul's and the City, turning a forgotten stretch of Southwark into one of London's busiest cultural quarters. The Blavatnik Building extension opened in 2016, adding galleries, the Tanks — underground oil tanks converted for performance and film — and the high-level spaces with river views.

Making a visit work: because the free displays are themed, the best approach is to pick up a map and choose two or three themes, plus whatever is in the Turbine Hall; ninety minutes gives a solid taste. Friday and Saturday evenings are the most atmospheric time to visit, and weekday mornings the quietest. Families do well here: the Turbine Hall is a natural playground for the imagination, and the gallery runs free family activities. There are cafés and a restaurant with river views; the shop is one of the best for art books in London. Lockers do not take cash, so carry a card.

The setting is half the pleasure. Walk the Millennium Bridge north to St Paul's, or follow the South Bank west past the Globe, the Southbank Centre and the London Eye. Shakespeare's Globe sits next door, with tours and performances. Borough Market is ten minutes east for lunch, and Bankside's Thames-side pubs make a fine stop at sunset. A Bankside pier puts you on the river for onward travel. If you see only one gallery of modern art in London, see this one — and if the Turbine Hall commission is good, go back.