6. Waterloo

Sunday 11th February 5pm

The busiest Tube station on the network, attached to one of the unloveliest railway stations imaginable. Perhaps it was more glamorous when Eurostar stopped there but now it's untidy and unloveable. So although it's right behind the National Theatre and all that other stuff on the Southbank I usually find it easy to cross the river and travel from somewhere else.

The problem with the Tube station is that is has a confusing amount of exits, and it doesn't matter which one you pick it's always the wrong one, which I guess is what happens when you try and squeeze too many lines into one station. The Jubilee line section of it is of course magnificent - big and concretey, like the space-age future we were promised but never got. Pop fact: the ABBA song of the same name - key lyric, "I was defeated/you won the war" - is not actually about a commuter trying and failing to get out of the station.

Wikipedia entry here.

5. Southwark

Sunday 10th February 1pm

I don't think I'd ever heard of Southwark until I saw a play called Southwark Fair and realised it's where Tate Modern is. It's not really where the Tube station is though - it's so close to Waterloo there are exits to it from within the station.

It's only a small station but it's a beauty - it's part of the Jubilee line so has than modern metal and concrete look that the whole line has - but instead of being cavernous it's compact and stylish, particularly the big blue wall that greets you when you get to the top of the escalator and head towards the ticket office.

Wikipedia entry here.

4. London Bridge

Sunday 10th February 11.30am

For a long time I didn't even realise London Bridge existed and think I was like the mythic American who mistook it for Tower Bridge. It was only when I went to Brighton by train a couple of years ago that I went through the station for the first time and thought it was too busy and a bit of a dump. That, it turns out, is because it's the sixth busiest Tube station on the network, and because it's been undergoing endless reworking to prepare it for the extra passengers who will use it now the area has been regenerated by the arrival of The Shard (apparently you can get into the Shard directly from the station, but it's not obvious how).

I was being harsh calling it a dump though as half of it is on the Jubilee line, which is spacious, modern and a little bit sexy. Less so the bit that's on the Northern line.

Wikipedia entry here.

3. Piccadilly Circus

Saturday 1st February 11am

Despite giving its name to probably my favourite line it's not one of my favourite stations. I guess that's because above ground Piccadilly Circus is ridiculously busy and it's easier to get out at the previous stop - Leicester Square - and walk. But I'd arranged to meet a friend at the statue of Eros (although it's actually his twin brother Anteros) so I found myself there.

There are no parts of the station above ground, and below ground it has a round ticket hall which would be lovely if it wasn't build from a pale brown marble that manages to be bland and unpleasant at the same. And there are far too many exits, although I seem to remember that you used to be able to get straight into Tower Records from it without going outside, which sounds too fantastic to actually be true. There is a linear clock that looks interesting but I forgot to look for it.

The station appears in the title of a song by the wonderful Tracey Thorn - making her second appearance on this blog, which goes to show how much London is part of her music - which was inspired by a poem about Grand Central Station in New York:

Wikipedia entry here.