Housed in a real (decommissioned) subway station, this underground museum is a wonderful place to spend an hour or so. The museum is small but very well done, with good multimedia exhibits exploring the history of the subway from the first shovelful of dirt scooped up at groundbreaking (Mar 24, 1900) to the present. Kids and parents alike will enjoy the interactive elements and the vintage subway cars, old wooden turnstiles, and beautiful station mosaics of yesteryear. A recent exhibit dedicated to surface transportation called "On the Streets: New York's Trolleys and Buses," continues to be on display. It's a very worthy hands-on tribute to an important development in the city's history. The smaller Gallery Annex & Store at Grand Central Station also houses rotating exhibitions and a terrific transit-themed gift shop.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New York City 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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