London Tate Modern

Considered the second half of the national collection (the first portion is held in the National Gallery), the Tate Modern is the most popular museum in London and one of the most famous museums in the world. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much: Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s boorish, mammoth building was formerly the Bankside power station. Inside, though, you’ll find some of the world’s most famous modern art, scattered among two floors and divided into six themes. By grouping works thematically, the Tate has turned itself into a work of conceptual art. The collection is enormous and gallery space limited, so works rotate frequently. If you’re dying to see a particular piece, head to the museum’s computer station on the fifth floor to browse through the entire collection. Meanwhile, the seventh floor bar boasts unblemished views of the Thames and the north and south of London, while Turbine Hall on the ground hall is now an immense atrium that inevitably dwarfs the (often interactive) installations it exhibits.

THIRD FLOOR. One of the four concept galleries, Material Gestures features post-war European and American painting and sculpture. The galleries within Material Gestures include artists such as Anish Kapoor, Claude Monet, and Douglas Gordon, as well as Mark Rothko’s famous Seagram Murals. On the other side of Level 3 is the Poetry and Dream gallery, which is devoted to Surrealism and related works. Highlights include works by Francis Bacon, Joan Miró, Max Ernst, and Hans Arp. The small Scale room holds objects that play with perception; René Magritte, Auguste Rodin, and Claes Oldenburg all have works here.

FIFTH FLOOR. Energy and Process looks at artist’s interaction with transformation and natural forces, and houses a series of works related to minimalism and conceptual art. Major artists include Kasimir Malevich, Richard Serra, and Anselm Keifer. States of Flux features Cubism, Vorticism, and Futurism alongside works that focus on change and modernity. Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, and Ed Ruscha are the chief artists on display.