Hotels for Julio Le Parc

Kinetic art has rarely been this playful. Expect optical illusions, mirrored installations and works that shift and move as you walk past them, built to make you question what your eyes are actually seeing. This is the kind of show that draws in people who don't usually seek out galleries, alongside art students and long-time followers of the kinetic and op-art movements.

Thursday's opening day tends to be quieter than the weekend crush, giving more room to actually stand in front of the pieces that need space to work their effect.

Tate Modern is Britain's temple to modern and contemporary art — a former power station on Bankside whose vast Turbine Hall stages era-defining installations, with free galleries running from Picasso and Rothko to the very latest. The riverside setting is one of London's best: the Millennium Bridge crosses to St Paul's, and Borough Market, Shakespeare's Globe and the South Bank are all a short stroll.

Blackfriars and Southwark stations are close, and the whole West End sits just over the river. Staying nearby means quiet early-morning gallery time with the Thames on your doorstep.