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Which Is London's Best Tube Station?

Second in a two-parter, looking at the capital’s best and worst underground stations. The worst are here.

Yesterday's poll on the worst stations on the network brought out all grumbles many and varied. We were heartened, therefore, to find an similar outpouring of opinion when we asked our Facebook followers for the best Tube station in London.



Here are the top 10 best underground stations:

Station Votes Westminster 61 Canary Wharf 40 Baker Street 28 Southgate 15 Caledonian Road 14 Angel 9 Canada Water 9 Oval 9 St John's Wood 8 North Greenwich 7

So, a clear winner in Westminster, with most voters citing the impressive architecture for their fondness (two commenters compared it to a zone from old TV show The Crystal Maze). Stations on the Jubilee extension, which opened a little over a decade ago, fared well in general. Four of the top 10 (Westminster, Canary Wharf, Canada Water and North Greenwich), including the top 2, are from this period. Older architectural styles were also rewarded. Although Southgate won't be familiar to many readers, the station makes it into fourth place for its 1930s flying saucer-like design.

One other pattern was particularly heartening: the friendly, courteous and sometimes entertaining demeanour of London Underground station staff. Caledonian Road features so highly for this reason, and it was also a contributory factor at Angel and Oval, where the 'quote of the day' whiteboards are cherished by commuters. Warwick Avenue didn't make the top 10, perhaps because it is little-used compared with the bigger stations above, but two people commented on the 'friendliest man on the underground' who dwells within.

Thanks to everyone who contributed comments, votes and likes to this non-scientific, light-hearted survey. In total, we received 296 votes for 63 stations.

See the worst stations on the London Underground here.

Image of Southgate station by Art of the State in the Londonist Flickr pool.