Aaron Tyme

With shorter days, drizzly weather and often seriously biting cold, winter can be a pretty depressing time. And sure, you’ve at least got the festive period, and some pleasant but chilly places to visit at Christmas, but in our humble opinion, there’s only one way to beat the winter blues.  And yes, we’re talking about booking a holiday. After all, there are plenty of places all over the world that stay pleasantly warm throughout the winter, and a ton of them are actually better once the crowds have subsided in the off peak season. From South Africa to Thailand, here are the best spots for winter sun, all over the world. Enjoy! RECOMMENDED:☀️ Where is hot in October?❄️ The best places to visit in December🎊 The best places to visit in January🫶 The best places to visit in February At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines and check out our latest travel guides written by local experts.

A bad time of year to travel actually doesn’t exist, but out of all of them, April is pretty blooming great (get it?). Across the planet, the seasons are shifting, whether it’s the eruption of spring in the northern hemisphere or the slow shift to the warm glow of autumn in the south, and it means April all over the world is blessed with variety.  From shimmering cities like Porto, Stockholm, Vancouver and Washington DC which are finally warming up to the scorching, sun-bathing weather of Belize, Hawaii and Thailand, we’ve got plenty of ideas about where’s best to travel in April: have a browse of our list below. RECOMMENDED:✨The coolest neighbourhoods in the world right now🎨The best cities in the world for culture🌌The best places to travel in May🌤️The best places in the world to travel alone At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines and check out our latest travel guides written by local experts. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines.

It might manifest as a straightforward historical documentary, but the fascinating, hypnotic Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat unfolds into something much deeper – and more sinister.  The story focuses on the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s first democratically elected president, in 1961. Director Johan Grimonprez delves into the main players in the race for colonial control of Congo, painting the UN, United States and his own homeland of Belgium as culpable for the coup which led to Lumumba’s demise. A bold opening sets the tone for what’s to come, with polyrhythmic jazz swirling around clips from scene-setting political interviews. Footage from the Cold War, the African decolonisation movement, and the nuclear arms race tangle with one another. Among the Nina Simone riffs and Louis Armstrong trumpet solos, you feel the weight of a world on the brink of change. Grimonprez digs into Lumumba’s rise to power and his ambitious vision for a united African state, which ultimately clashed with the West and left him with an inescapable target on his back.  Grimonprez intertwines these cold political realities with intoxicating musical rhythms. Congolese bolero underscores the country’s declaration of independence (Joseph Kabasele’s ‘Indépendance Cha Cha’ is a highlight); soulful blues play over scenes of Lumumba’s exile; and jazz drummer Max Roach’s percussive patterns intensify moments of conflict.  Cold political realities are intertwined with intoxicating musical rhythms The

A cheap pint is increasingly hard to come by these days – especially here in London. Earlier this year, we reported on the arrival of the £8 pint, which has started to become less of a rarity and more of an accepted part of living in the capital. But not all is lost. There are still a handful of boozers out there, fighting the good fight, serving up cheap pints for the city. The problem is knowing where to find them.  That’s why we’ve rounded up all of the places you can get a slightly more affordable pint in Zone 1. At the time of writing, all of these draught pints cost £6 or less (please don’t come at us if prices have changed since then).  Holborn/Farringdon/Soho Horse & Wig, Holborn: £5 Pravha, £6 Madri, £6 Aspalls, £6 Guinness The Albion, Farringdon: £5.40 Young’s London Original The Marian Anderson, Farringdon: £4 Guinness & Pravha, £5 (all) Jubel Peach, Session Purity IPA, Blue Moon, Staropramen, Camden Hells, Madri, Harbour IPA Freedom Bar, Soho: £5.90 Heineken Pelt Trader, Cannon Street: £5.50 Puns of Anarchy, £5.50 Brew York Calmer Chameleon, £5.80 Kelham Island Pale Rider, £5 Lord Marples, £6 König Pilsner, £5.70 Crafty Apple Cider Paddington/Euston/Camden Paddington Railway Club, Paddington: £4.40 Madri, £4 Coors, £4 Carling, £3.80 Caffrey’s, £4.40 Guinness, £4 Cider [Plus, happy hour Tues-Thurs, 2-5pm: everything £3.50] Golden Lion, Camden: £4.90 Carling, £5.45 Real Ale [Plus, all craft ales £5.50 on ‘Craft Thursdays’] Euston Tap, Euston: Cask ales from £4, £

A few years ago, Black Friday and Cyber Monday were phrases that only people in the US knew about, but that’s not the case anymore. Over the last few years, the traditionally American shopping mayhem (which falls the day after Thanksgiving and is followed by the just-as-chaotic Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday the following week), has stretched into a worldwide frenzy, and travel is hands-down one of the best ways to utilise it.  Who doesn’t love a bargain, anyway? With airlines, booking platforms, hotel chains and cruise operators all slashing their prices over Black Friday weekend, you’d be silly to not at least suss out the discounts. Below is a comprehensive roundup of the very best ones, curated by us – take a look.  Flights British Airways British Airways Black Friday deals include flights to the UK and Europe for as little as £39, up to £300 off holiday packages as well as 3 for 2 on city breaks. You can have a look at these in more detail here.  Virgin Atlantic Until Cyber Monday, you can book Virgin Atlantic flights with up to £25 off per person, plus save another £100 off when you spend at least £3,500 per couple or £4,400 per family of four. Oh, and if you’re flying to Orlando, Tampa or the Caribbean, there’s an extra £60 off on offer per adult, and £45 per child. Expedia Expedia is set to have some cracking deals for 2024, so make sure to keep an eye on this page – the offers go live on November 22.  Qatar Airways Though 2024 offers haven’t been announced yet, last

It’s good news for all Kingston residents: last Saturday (November 16) saw the opening of the newly refurbed Cromwell Road bus station after 15 months of construction. The brand new ‘state-of-the-art’ bus depot comes as part of the Mayor of London’s commitment to improving accessibility to outer London. A significant upgrade on its predecessor, the transformed bus hub has a bunch of environmental and accessibility improvements. New toilets, a retail space and a customer information desk will be a ‘gamechanger’ for customers according to Deputy Mayor for Transport, Seb Dance. The station is also now equipped with solar panels, a sustainable urban drainage system and a canopy to keep passengers dry.   Kingston’s portfolio holder for transport and highways, Nicola Nardelli, praised the design dubbing it a ‘leading sustainable design that incorporates safety, accessibility, energy efficiency and flood prevention during heavy rain’. Practicality aside, the bus station has also gone through a proper glow up. Its new look features slick wooden pillars and a flattened roof, giving a much needed face-lift to the rusted green canopy it’s replaced.    With 32 bus routes running through it, the new bus station should provide a more comfortable travel experience for dozens of passengers travelling to and from one of the busiest retail towns in the UK. ‘We hope customers will be able to take advantage of the new and improved station and encourage more people to use local bus services,’ sai

We all know about the urban foxes that knock over our bins, and pigeons that scramble after our leftover Pret sandwiches, but much lesser spoken about is the wide range of marine diversity the capital is home to. In fact, the Thames’ infamously brown waters boast around 125 different species of fish including flounders, sea basses and eels. Lately, Londoners have been frequently spotting seals in the waters, as the friendly mammals are making their way further upstream into London’s centre to explore and look for food.  ‘We’re currently seeing a sharp increase in seal sightings in London,’ Mary Tester, founder of the Thames Seal Watch, told the Standard.  ‘Seals have long lived in the river with the latest estuary populations from Zoological Society of London (ZSL) counting nearly 600 harbour seals and 3,000 greys. The newer trend is that they seem to be more regularly exploring areas of London,’ she added.  As tempting as it is to get up close to the animals, the RSPCA and the ZSL recommend keeping around 50-100m away from seals. In fact, seals are most vulnerable when ashore, as they come to land to sleep, digest food and give birth to pups. Disturbing them in these situations can make them extremely agitated, which can cause them to stampede, injure themselves, or bite humans.  ‘Feeding seals could endanger them by attracting other predators like birds or foxes and cause them to associate people with food, which has caused fatal accidents in the past,’ Tester said. So chuc

As much as we love its pleasant pastures and mountains green, sometimes we Brits get tired of the UK’s grey skies and want to see a little bit more of what the world has to offer. These days, our UK passport is our ticket to freedom, but how far (and for how long) can this little book take us? The good news: with a UK passport you can travel to a lot of countries, often with little to no entry requirements. The Arton Capital Passport Index currently ranks the UK passport as the 7th most powerful globally. The less-good news? It can be a little hard to keep up with what restrictions apply and when. Most of the countries you can travel to visa-free will let you stay for a period of 90 days out of 180, meaning you’ll then have to come back home for three months before you can go again. This applies to all of the 29 European Schengen countries. For the countries that require a visa on arrival, be prepared to travel with a pen and a little bit of cash in hand as you’ll probably have to fill out a form or two at the airport. The ominous countries with ‘other requirements’ are not so bad either, you’ll most likely just have to pay a small fee online before travelling. We’ve tried to make this a bit simpler for you by grouping countries into whether you can travel there completely visa-free, by obtaining a visa on arrival or by following other non-visa entry requirements. All that’s left for you to do is to decide whether you’d prefer to hear the steel drums of Trinidad or ride th

People who like getting their meatballs, hot dogs and flat-pack furniture in one trip will be pleased to hear that IKEA has just opened its very first high street restaurant in the UK. The restaurant is on King Street next to IKEA’s Hammersmith store and it offers cheap and cheerful meals 12 hours a day all week.  The Swedish company, best known for its self-assembly furniture, has instead assembled a menu filled with a variety of cost-effective dishes. It centres around the star-of-the-show: IKEA’s iconic meatballs with mashed potatoes, peas and lingonberry jam, for a reasonable £5.50 (the plant-based alternative comes in slightly cheaper at £4.95). The kids’ meal, which offers pasta and tomato sauce with a drink and a piece of fruit, costs only 95p, while the breakfast menu offers a nine-piece cooked breakfast for £3.75. Aside from main meals, the new restaurant also sells IKEA café and bistro items, providing customers with snacks and pastries. IKEA’s restaurant replaces a former Wasabi and seats up to 75 people.  This all comes as part of the Swedish giant’s plans to ‘bring IKEA to you,’ which has already seen the launch of over 100 mobile pick-up points at Tesco locations, with 100 more planned for the future. The opening of the Oxford Street store is due for spring 2025, alongside a further expansion in the number of its dedicated restaurants in the city.  The Standard reported that the Hammersmith restaurant sold close to 2,000 meatballs on its first day and is current

Following in the footsteps of the likes of Southwark and Walthamstow, Sutton in southwest London is the latest in a never-ending chain of areas slated for redevelopment in the capital.  Sutton Council has announced the demolition of the St. Nicholas Shopping Centre as part of a project to bring a brand new ‘civic hub’ and retail centre to the high street. Built in 1992, the shopping centre has become something of a Sutton landmark. It was purchased by the council in 2021 And now Sutton Council has officially revealed a regeneration plan for the shopping centre and its surrounding area. A new town centre is set to create 740 new homes (50 percent of which will be affordable housing), new leisure facilities and fresh retail spaces for use by both new and existing businesses.  The proposed plans look to make ‘better use’ of the site, replacing the current civic centre with what the council says is a more sustainable alternative. An improvement both environmentally and for Sutton’s pockets, the new hub is apparently set to save a whopping £1 million per year in operating costs.  Image: Genr8 Kajima Regeneration Ltd (GKRL) By the time of the new civic hub's completion at the end of the decade, Sutton residents may hardly recognise their high street. A spokesperson for the council said that the new civic hub will be its ‘front door’ on the high street, giving residents direct access to all their council services in the heart of town.  But not everyone ison board with the plans. S