Commuting is a pain, particularly in London – but the main problem with travelling on the Tube is all the people. Don’t blame the buildings.
The next time someone shoves past you on the way up the escalator, take your head out of your phone for a few seconds and admire the view, because you might just be in one of the city’s most beautiful spaces.
The Tube network is a huge source of frustration on a daily basis, but it is also a marvel of both engineering and architecture.
And while not every station is a work of art, there are more than enough that are worth seeking out.
Here are the most magnificent Tube stations on the London Underground.
Westminster
Westminster station is immense
Admit it: every time you change at Westminster from the Circle line to the Jubilee line, you imagine having a lightsaber battle with Darth Vader.
You do, don’t you? I know I do.
Side note: they should definitely put little beds for weary commuters in those concrete rectangular compartments behind the wire as you go down the escalators. You know the ones I mean. Get on it, TfL!
Southwark
Director Danny Boyle shot scenes for his recent thriller Trance in Southwark station, but don’t let that put you off it.
Designed by architect Sir Richard MacCormac, this is a real gem in London’s Tube crown, all the more so because the initial plans for the Jubilee line didn’t include a station between Waterloo and London Bridge.
If every Tube station was as bold and bright and beautiful as Southwark, none of us would ever make it into work.
Leytonstone
To commemorate 100 years since the birth of the area’s most famous son, 17 mosaics depicting the films of Alfred Hitchcock were installed in Leytonstone station in 1999.
Made by the Greenwich Mural Workshop, they are predictably awesome.
East Finchley
East Finchley is a 1930s wonder
Created in the 1930s Art Deco style (after the original building was demolished) by Charles Holden, the architect behind most of London’s most iconic Tube stations, East Finchley is the Northern line’s go-to stop for design lovers.
Keep an eye out for the stone archer by sculptor Eric Aumonier, which, punnily enough, is pointing his bow towards nearby Archway.
Gloucester Road
If there’s a Tube station that could double for a church, it’s Gloucester Road, which has a serenity you won’t find elsewhere on the network.
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf Tube station is regularly voted Londoners’ favourite, but that’s probably because so many of them go through it every day.
It’s big and it’s brash but it’s also beautiful, and when you go up that massive big escalator, for a second you feel like you are on a stairway to heaven.
And then you finally emerge into the light and a 100mph gale almost rips your coat off, and you realise you are just in Canary Wharf.
Gants Hill
The Tube meets the Moscow Metro in Charles Holden’s signature London station, designed while he was also working on the underground system in the Russian capital.
If you want to feel like you’re in a spy novel, hop off the Central line here.
The station was used as both an air raid shelter and a weapons store during the Second World War, and because it’s under a roundabout, there is no station building topside, lending it an extra eeriness.
Cockfosters
You know the name (firstly, because it is at the end of the Piccadilly line; secondly, because it has the word ‘Cock’ in it), but have you tubed the Tube?
If you have, you will undoubtedly have been reminded of the shuttle launch sequence in Battlestar Galactica when you pull out of the station, which is another Holden special.
Earl’s Court
When Earl’s Court station (note how it takes the apostrophe, while the area Earls Court does not), is busy, which is often, it’s a bit of a nightmare, but you should take the chance to take a breather from the rat race and stand at the top of the steps and gaze down on the District line platforms.
It’s a wonderful view and a great glimpse into bustling London life.
Baker Street
Does anyone go through Baker Street and NOT hum the saxophone riff from Gerry Rafferty’s hit song of the same name?
We also love the Sherlock tiles and the general ramshackleness of the place.
West Brompton
There’s something oddly comforting when the London Underground sticks two fingers up at its own name and goes, um, overground.
That short little train burst from a tunnel into the light has the power to brighten anyone’s day.
West Brompton is a Tube station where everything is in the open air, thanks to its Overground platform on the other side of one of its two footbridges.
Canada Water
If there’s one Tube station that looks like it could take off and fly away into outer space, it’s Canada Water.
Tottenham Court Road
The current refurbishment of much-loved Tottenham Court Road has been controversial, largely because of the fate of Eduardo Paolozzi’s amazing mosaics that peppered its walls and stairwells.
While a portion of the mosaics have been removed and will go on display in Edinburgh, Transport for London (TfL) insists that 95% of the artwork will remain in the station.
Let’s hope so – they are a fabulous diversion from the hustle and bustle of one of London’s most packed stations.
For more Tube trivia, go to Ian Jones’s blog, 150 Great Things About The Underground
This article was originally published on September 25, 2015
The 13 most beautiful Tube stations on the London Underground
The 13 most beautiful Tube stations on the London Underground