The best Easter events and activities in London

Step into the stunning Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House for just £15 – an Easter treat for art lovers and curious minds alike. Celebrating the best of global photography, this breathtaking showcase features powerful portraits, striking landscapes, and boundary-pushing visuals from world-class photographers. Open now and running through the Easter break, it's the perfect cultural day out in one of London’s most iconic venues. Don’t miss your chance to be inspired.

For a limited time only, Inamo’s legendary 90-minute bottomless sushi feast comes with an adorable twist – an exclusive seasonal special: the Easter Sushi Chick! Available until April 27, this cute creation joins the line-up of unlimited sushi and Asian tapas you can enjoy for just £27.95 with Time Out. Grab your chopsticks and hop to it – this is a Tokyo-style treat with serious Easter charm.

Easter is the perfect excuse to visit one of London's bougiest bakeries and score a batch of freshly baked hot cross buns: visit the likes of St John, Popham's or Toklas for rich, dense takes on a classic. Or go rogue at Gelupo, which is serving them stuffed with delectable ice cream eggs. Here's our rundown of this city's finest.

Henry VIII’s former gaff is already one of the most splendid-looking buildings in London, but fill it with 10,000 tulips and you’ve got something mighty special to look at. Hampton Court Palace’s Tulip Festival is one of the biggest planted displays of the colouful flowers in the UK and is a good excuse to celebrate the start of spring. See the buds pouring out of the Tudor wine fountain and in floating tulip vases, and spot rare, historic and specialist varieties. There are also expert talks on the flowers and craft activities themed around them.

The palace’s expert gardeners predict the displays will look at their best in mid-April, so don’t wait around to visit. 

With GoBoat in Paddington, you can hire and self-drive your own boat make your way across London’s canals. Depending on how good your steering skills are, you’ll be travelling past London Zoo, through Regent’s Park and Camden Lock. Prices start at £95 for one hour. Sound good? Each GoBoat can have a micro crew of up to six people. Your days as a lonely sea captain are over. 

Blast off this Easter with The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks at Lightroom. For just £19 with Time Out, you’ll step into a spectacular immersive experience that traces the thrilling story of lunar exploration – past, present and future. Narrated by Tom Hanks, it’s part history lesson, part space odyssey, and completely awe-inspiring. Ideal for curious minds and stargazers of all ages.

Outdoor spaces are big business come summer, and this seasonal pop-up between Waterloo and Westminster bridges is one of the biggest and best in London, boasting lovely views over the river Thames and an eclectic programme of drag shows, DJs, live performances and themed club nights. Between the Bridges returns for the season from April 17, with a packed schedule of entertainment throughout the summer months, including plenty of free events. There’s also some banging street food on offer, thanks to Time Out’s very own Eat Street, a mini food market featuring some of our favourite street food vendors from around the city, as selected by our Food & Drink Editor, Leonie Cooper. Better yet, to celebrate the venue’s reopening, it’s giving away 500 free drinks to kick off the long weekend – head down sharpish on Thursday evening to grab yours. 

If you’ve ever seen people hunched over the banks of the River Thames at low tide, chances are they’re part of the city’s community of mudlarkers who comb the river foreshore, which is only accessible for a few hours a day when the tide draws out, hunting for ancient objects which have washed up after being lost in the waters for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years.

See over 350 mudlarked objects, from intimate personal items to historical relics in this exhibition which explores what the artefacts say about London and reflects on how the moon creates the tides that make mudlarking possible. Blending archaeology with contemporary art and digital experiences, expect fresh perspectives on London – past and present.

Chalk Farm’s famous circular arts venue has been serving up an eclectic mix of live music, visual arts and spoken word this month as part of its new festival, Roundhouse Three Sixty, and the bank holiday weekend is no different. Alongside the final of the venue’s longstanding Roundhouse Poetry Slam and a gig hosted by Tom Oddell, the weekend sees award-winning comedian Munya Chawawa host a Good Friday variety show featuring a host of his talented buddies, including rappers Kojey Radical and D Double E, singer Miraa May, Swindle’s House Band and some exciting secret guests TBA on the night. Expect lots of laughs, and maybe a little big of boogying too. 

Sunday lunch. There’s nothing quite like it. An elemental meal that Londoners take incredibly seriously, debates about what constitutes the ‘perfect’ Sunday roast have been known to last for hours. There is no shortage of top roasts in London. We’ve rounded up the city’s best Sunday meals from a host of homely pubs and restaurants all around town. From snug neighbourhood staples to more bijou gastropubs. A lot of these places get quite busy, by the way. So you’re always advised to book ahead to avoid disappointment. 

London’s botany HQ should be booming with blooms in April, making it the perfect spot for an Easter weekend walk. From its Cherry Walk lined with pink-blossomed Japanese cherry trees to its primrose and crocus-filled woodland garden, there’s plenty of pretty petals to spot here.