TATE MODERN GUIDE

The gallery’s sloped main entryway hosts large-scale, often interactive artworks. Louise Bourgeois let her spiders loose here, Ai Wei Wei swamped it with seeds, Carsten Höller gave it a slide and Olafur Eliasson filled it with sunlight. Cracked floors, mock police procedurals, playgrounds: there’s never a dull moment in this arresting space.

Figureheads of way-paving movements – the Dadaists, Surrealists, Pop artists, plus Monet repping for the Impressionists – sit among their inheritors. Tick off Picasso’s Weeping Woman, Dali’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus and Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych. Mark Rothko gets a room to himself, and Matisse, Bacon and Hockney all hang here. 

The Tate’s most striking sight isn’t painted or performed. From the tenth floor of the new Blavatnik Tower, London’s laid out like a map. The panorama shows the best of both banks, and the ninth-floor restaurant overlooks landmarks too. Stop for a meal (don’t peek into the pricey flats opposite), or blag entry to the members’ bar.

For a pound (or free download and print), the Tate’s family map makes sense of the often nonsensical. It plots a path through family-friendly eateries, viewing platforms, best-loved pieces, and playspaces. And it’s full of tips: download a sonic trail, grab a vintage suitcase filled with art-related objets and get touchy-feely with Rudolf Stingel’s graffiti wall. Or try the interactive Drawing Bar and monthly artist-led workshops.