Amy Houghton

We know that London is the best city in the world. But like any metropolis, it can also get a bit much sometimes. Occasionally, what you want isn’t to drink cocktails in a trendy bar after seeing the hottest Gen Z bedroom popstar at the Islington Assembly Hall, but a little peace and quiet, actually. Enter: the weekend getaway, invented by the Victorians (probably), there’s a reason why Londoners have been taking sojourns to the seaside on sunny bank holidays since the 1800s.  Together, we’ve come up with a cracking list of our favourite day trip destinations near London. There’s something for everyone here, from historic cities and cute villages to sandy beaches and rolling countryside. We've included some recommendations for ace restaurants, quaint little pubs, and our favourite things to do at each destination on the list – all of which are close enough to the city that you can get there and back in one sweet day.  Best day trips from London at a glance 🍔 Best for foodies: Margate 🎭 Best for culture lovers: Stratford-Upon-Avon ⛪ Best for history buffs: Canterbury 🛁 Best for families: Bath 🐴 Best for hikers: New Forest 🍺 Best for pub crawls: Lewes 🏖️ Best for seaside fun: Brighton RECOMMENDED:✨The best day trips an hour from London👪 The best family day trips from London☀️ The best weekend trips from London🏘️ The best Airbnbs near London🌳 The best quirky Airbnbs in the UK This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial conte

Every week, a frankly silly amount of brilliant new restaurants, cafés and street food joints arrive in London. Which makes whittling down a shortlist of the best newbies a serious challenge. But here it is. The 20 very best new restaurants in the capital, ranked in order of greatness and deliciousness. All of them have opened over the past 12 months and been visited by our hungry critics. So go forth and take inspo from this list, which is updated regularly. Check in often to find out what we really rate on the London restaurant scene. And look here for all the info about the best new openings in April 2026. London's best new restaurants at a glance: 🍝 Central: Osteria Vibrato, Soho 🍠 North: Ling Ling’s, Islington 🇹🇭 South: Kruk, Peckham 🍝 East: Tiella, Bethnal Green 🥗 West: Martino’s, Chelsea March 2026: We have a new Number 1! The newly-opened Tiella in Bethnal Green has scooped the top spot thanks to knockout regional Italian dishes from chef Dara Klein. Other fresh additions include Cafe Kowloon in London Fields, South African cookery at Kudu in Marylebone, the slinky Martino's in Chelsea, Osteria Vibrato in Soho, Cambodian residency Barang at The Globe in Borough Market, perfect produce at Dockley Road Kitchen in Bermondsey, Korean fusion spot Calong in Stoke Newington, Hunanese heat at Fiery Flavors in Surrey Quays, cool diner energy at Dover Street Counter in Mayfair, Georgian classics at DakaDaka in Mayfair, and veggie-friendly Thai at Kruk in Peckham. Hungry

July is the month where London really lets its collective hair down and has some fun. It's just too hot to stay cooped up indoors so everyone descends on lidos en masse, or assembles in fun-seeking hordes at rooftop bars, beer gardens and alfresco restaurants. We can already taste the sweet, sweet golden hour Aperol Spritz.  And as ever, this year's July line-up of massive festivals and other prospects that are exciting enough tempt you away from yet another tinny in the park. Some massive music names are descending on central London for BST Hyde Park, ravers will be heading west for Junction 2, electronic music artists from around the world are playing Labyrinth by the Thames. Or, if you like your outdoor entertainment to be deeply weird and feline-inspired, spring for the long-awaited revival of Cats at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.  Other London music festivals are popping off throughout the month, and it’s also a chance to take in the city’s lavender and sunflower fields, which are going to be at their blooming loveliest. Here’s our guide to the best exhibitions, shows and things to do this July 2026 in London.  RECOMMENDED: The definitive London events calendar

In 2026, European travel is shifting fast. We’ve seen overcrowding, overheating and plenty of anti-tourism measures across the continent – and as a result, travellers are actively seeking out quieter, lesser-known destinations away from the tourist crowds. And if that sounds like you, you’re in luck – here at Time Out, underrated destinations are our bread and butter.  This list has been updated for 2026 by Time Out’s global network of local experts who have been to every single destination featured (often multiple times), highlighting destinations that are not only overlooked, but genuinely worth visiting right now. We’ve got alternative Scandinavian city breaks, remote islands only accessible by ferry, and destination dupes for some of Europe’s hottest beach holidays, from the Algarve to the Amalfi Coast.  ➡️ Discover the best city breaks in Europe for 2026 Why travel to underrated destinations in 2026? Sure, we love the classics for a reason. But if you’ve ever queued an hour for a pastry, spent your day’s budget on a coffee or had to book a museum three months in advance, you’ll know why more and more of us are searching for under-the-radar breaks: it’s the crowds. In fact, in some cities – the likes of Amsterdam, Venice, Barcelona – overtourism is so bad, they’ve been forced to clamp down on crowds with anti-tourism measures, from daily visitor limits to outright bans on new hotels. If you’re coming up against these, then we’d say that’s a pretty good reason to head some

We’ve made it through the most depressing month of the year, the endless wait for that post-Christmas payday is finally over, and festival season 2026 is on our minds. By the time summer rolls around, Londoners will be absolutley spoilt for choice. With something taking place almost every weekend throughout the warmer months, you can forget trekking across the country to live in a field for five days; simply hop on the tube and before you know it you’re listening to your favourite artists, tinny to hand, knowing that there’s a hot shower and a cosy bed waiting for you once the day is over.  The future of events in Brockwell Park was thrown up in the air in 2025, but you’ll be glad to know that most of the south London park’s usual lineup of events will return in 2026, with Cross The Tracks, Field Day and Mighty Hoopla all in the diary for late May. And the line-up announcements for next year’s events are already coming in thick fast, with huge acts like Tyler, The Creator, Lewis Capaldi, Lorde, Lily Allen, Blood Orange and Deftones all set to take to London stages come the summer. Have a scroll through our comprehensive guide – which we keep meticulously updated with all the latest line-up announcements – and see what takes your fancy. RECOMMENDED: ⛺ The best UK music festivals🌍 The best festivals in Europe

Work-dos are a hard art to master. How do you find something that strengthens your team spirit and that everyone in the office, across multiple generations, is actually going to find fun?  Stuck for ideas? You’re in the right place. Whether you’re after some healthy competition among co-workers or an activity that requires all your colleagues to work together, London has a load of classic and quirky ways for your team to let their hair down. So, take notes, we’ve rounded up the best of them. These are some of the top places in the city to go to build your office bonds.  RECOMMENDED: The best office party venues to hire in LondonThe top London venues for a private bash 

The Irish really know how to celebrate, so when it comes to St Patrick’s Day in London, the city’s Celtic community has no problem showing us how it’s done. With an estimated 170,000 expats from the Emerald Isle living in the city, and many more Londoners with Irish heritage, the celebration of Ireland’s patron saint is always one big welcoming bash, involving plenty of dancing, hearty traditional dishes, a huge parade and as many pints of Guinness and drams of whiskey as you can handle. The Mayor of London’s annual St Patrick’s Day Festival celebration will take place on Sunday, March 15 – two days before the official holiday – and, as usual, thousands of revellers are expected to watch the parade wend its way from Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square for a giant free party with Irish music, food and performances from 12noon to 6pm. If you don’t fancy braving the crowds of central London for the main event in the capital, there are still plenty of St Patrick’s Day parties and events to check out. We’ll be rounding up the best of them below as they get announced, so you’ve got plenty of time to get planning for a very green week. RECOMMENDED🍻 The best Irish pubs and bars in London☘️ Our ultimate guide to the St Patrick’s Day parade and festival🌱 The best London events in March

The Six Nations rugby tournament is almost wrapped up for another year, but not before one last weekend of action. For the final time in 2026, rugby fans will be taking over boozers, beer gardens and outdoor screens across London on Saturday to watch the three climactic fixtures. And it’s an especially exciting final round this year, with three teams battling it out at the top of the table.  France, Scotland and Ireland all have a shot at taking home the championship trophy, depending on the results of their fixtures, at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and the Stade de France in Paris.   You could just watch on your telly at home, but if you’d prefer to catch every scrimmage, try and conversion in a lively atmosphere with a nice freshly-poured Guinness in hand, head to one of the rugby pubs, bars, beer halls, markets and social clubs listed here, where you’ll find free-flowing pints, special guest appearances and countless renditions of ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’. RECOMMENDED: More great things to do in London this weekend  Fifth Round Fixtures Here are the final three matches of the Six Nations 2026: Saturday 14 March 2:10pm kickoff – Ireland vs Scotland 4:40pm kickoff – Wales vs Italy 8.10pm kickoff – France vs England Best Spots to Watch Six Nations: At A Glance 🏉 Best for pre-match fun: Bat & Ball, Stratford 🍀 Best for Irish fans: London Irish Centre, Camden 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Best for Welsh fans: London Welsh Centre, Bloomsbury 🍻 Best for big groups: Flat Iron Square, Boroug

May truly is one of London’s finest months if you ask us. Not only is the city pleasantly warm and bursting with colourful spring blooms, but everyone is giddy with the possibilities of the coming summer. And most excitingly of all, there are not one, but two bank holidays on which to embark on inaugural rooftop bar excursion of the summer, rock out at one of the year’s first music festivals, lounge about in your favourite park, check out all those must-see exhibitions you’ve been meaning to catch or escape the city on a day trip or mini-break. And if that isn’t enough to keep you entertained, here’s our guide to the best events, parties, pop-ups and things to do in May 2026 in London. You’re in for one sweet, sweet month. London’s best things to do in May at a glance: 🪩 Best for party people: GALA 🌷 Best for botanists: RHS Chelsea Flower Show  🎶 Best for pop music stans: Mighty Hoopla  ✏️ Best for something new: Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration 🎭 Best for theatre-goers: 1536 at the Almeida

London has never exactly been known as a bargain destination. But the good news is that The Capital still has plenty of great places to stay without blowing your entire travel budget. Every hotel on this list has been picked by Time Out’s editors because it offers something special – whether that’s a brilliant location, standout design, or simply excellent prices. Book one of these and you’ll get the kind of buzz only a great deal can deliver. Then spend the money you’ve saved on the really important things. Like, erm… the pub. What do we mean by ‘budget’? In a city like London, ‘budget’ is always relative. Prices can vary hugely depending on the neighbourhood, time of year and even the day of the week, so finding a good deal is often about knowing where to look and booking smart. For this list, we’ve focused on places where rooms come in under £200 a night, with plenty dipping well below the £100 mark if you book ahead or travel off-peak. You’ll also find a few hostels offering dorm beds for as little as £12 per person, making them some of the cheapest ways to stay in the capital. 🛌 Our guide to the best Airbnbs in London What's the cheapest area to stay in London?  Honestly, it depends on what you're looking for! Budget hotels and hostels are scattered all over the city, so it often comes down to how far you’re willing to travel. Central areas like Shoreditch, King’s Cross and parts of the South Bank can still offer surprisingly good-value stays (which means you're in wal

London summer has officially kicked into gear. And that means that the Wimbledon Tennis Championships – aka the oldest, and arguably the very best, tennis tournament in the world – is back very, very soon.  This year the tournament is happening from Monday June 29 - Sunday July 12 2026. Thousands will be descending on SW19 to see the matches go down in real life but live screenings will be peppered all over London for thousands more who missed the ticket ballot or can’t be bothered to queue in the hopes of getting in day of.  With a jug of Pimms in one hand and a punnet of strawberries in the other, you’ll hardly know the difference. Even better – most watch parties won’t cost you a single penny. So, pack your picnic blanket, fill your flask and pull up a pew at a summery screening near you. Most haven't been announced for 2026 yet, but check back and more will be added closer to the time. RECOMMENDED: Our full guide to Wimbledon 2026.

Twice a year, fashion Christmas comes to London, bringing with it whole closets full of covetable new looks you’ll dream of wearing. London Fashion Week returns next week for another deep-dive into the trends and styles that will be dominating red carpets, shops and streets in autumn and winter 2026 (AW26).  Across five days, the city’s most stylish will be hanging out around the Strand and sitting front row to see fresh looks from the likes of Simone Rocha, Chopova Lowena, Harris Reed, Burberry and Fiorucci. Yes, the majority of shows are invite-only, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be in the know. Here’s all the information you need ahead of London Fashion Week AW26.  When is London Fashion Week 2026?  LFW takes place twice a year: in February and September. The next fashion week will be from Thursday February 19 to Monday February 23.  Where is London Fashion Week held?  London Fashion Week usually takes place at the British Fashion Council’s own show space at 180 The Strand. The closest tubes are Holborn and Temple. Several events will also be held at external locations across the city. How do I get tickets to London Fashion Week 2026?  We hate to be the ones to tell you but unfortunately, most of the LFW shows are invite-only, so you can’t buy tickets.  What designers should I be watching out for?  Although you may not be able to see the shows in real life, you will be able to watch them live on the London Fashion Week website. So, these are all the one’s worth tuning in

Cameron House is nearly every Scottish stereotype wrapped up in a pristine package.  As we glide down its long drive, the enormous Loch Lomond stretches to the left while baronial towers stand proud to the right, and when we step through its grand front doors, golfers hang about the lobby and bespoke tartan pops up everywhere from the staff uniform to headboards. See? Scottish as hell. Spanning 400-acres, the hotel's high-end touches and abundance of facilities might seem intimidating at first. But, in true Scot fashion, as vast and luxurious as it is, Cameron House somehow still feels homely and down to earth.  Why stay at Cameron House? The bonny vistas over Scotland’s largest loch and the Trossachs National Park are enough reason to stay at Cameron House on their own. But add to that its grand architecture, its endless grounds, its impeccable dining, its proximity to Glasgow, and a night here becomes near irresistible. And if big names mean anything to you, you may be interested to know that it has earned nods of approval from the likes of Barack Obama, Sir Alex Ferguson, Leonardo Dicaprio, Cameron Diaz and Robbie Williams.  It has a compelling history, too. The site was originally home to a castle in the 14th century, which was remodelled in the 17th century. Then, for three centuries, it was home to esteemed Scottish family the Smollets (owner and famous novelist Tobias Smollett famously wrote ‘I have seen Lake Garda, Albana, de Visco, Bolsetta and Geneva. Upon my honour

Bar Flor is laden with loveliness. You’d expect little else from Aaron Potter and Laura Hart, the chef and interior stylist duo who gave us the ever-so-elegant Wildflowers. One floor above that restaurant is Bar Flor, which comes complete with whimsically hand-painted walls, reminiscent of the interiors of Charleston House, pale wood finishes, cosy velvet-clad pews and gentle, romantic light.  Bar Flor bills itself as a more playful, more spontaneous sister (the Type-B sibling, if you will) to the pristine Type-A restaurant below. The menu is Basque-country inspired – a copious lineup of European wines, vermouths and sherries alongside lager, Basque ciders and cocktails, complemented by a snappy selection of pintxos.  I was pulled towards the cocktails, which range from the house Adonis, made up of Cocchi Torino vermouth, Manzanilla sherry and a dash of orange bitters, to the luxuriously smoky Flor Margarita. Plates of dangerously moreish bar snacks filled the table throughout the evening, arranged on pretty floral plates that look like they’ve been pulled from a Spanish abuela’s kitchen cupboards. Dishes change on a weekly basis, but standouts on the night we visited included the delicate triangles of cave-aged manchego doused in honey, as well as shudderingly salty, briny gildas and (the showstopper) a fried calamari sandwich with garlic aioli oozing over the edges of the crusty bun.  Order this I couldn’t keep my hands off Bar Flor’s Peschiole Martini – a sugary, tangy co

What is it?  Brockwell Park is a much-needed slab of green (84 acres) just south of Brixton. Locals from the surrounding areas flock here in summer to sun-worship (if they’re lucky), fly kites, play football, swim in the outside pool, garden in the community greenhouses and parade a stunning array of dogs. The vast space was once the private grounds of Brockwell Hall and was opened to the public in 1891 by the London County Council. The hall still stands today and is one of several grade II listed buildings dotted about the park, including the emerald green Tritton Tower Clock, which was gifted to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.  Why go?  It's big, diverse and interesting, with numerous areas to appeal to different tastes, from the calm, rolling meadows around Tulse Hill and walled ‘Old English’ flower garden to the BMX track and sloped football pitches by the Dulwich Road. The playground in Brockwell Park is a favourite, with its aerial slide, massive sandpit and sections for different age groups; nearby you’ll find duck ponds and a huge paddling pool. There’s also a lovely little minature railway open at the weekends May to October, weather permitting – it’s not particularly massive but it’s been just £1 for a return for years now. Don’t miss:  Regular events at the park include circuses and a busy schedule of summer concerts and festivals including Wide Awake, Mighty Hoopla, Field Day and Cross the Tracks. But one of the most beloved annual events is the Lam

Afternoon tea is a classic Mother’s Day activity, so you can’t go wrong with this offering from Biscuiteers, available at both its Notting Hill and Belgravia cafés for a month from March 8. The spread will include Biscuiteers’ signature hand-iced biscuits, Tregothnan tea, plus the mini sandwiches (with fillings like cheese and fig, ham and truffle and smoked salmon and cream cheese), patisserie (think coconut and mango mousse cake and strawberry and champagne macarons) and freshly baked scones crucial to any good afternoon tea. If you’re willing to spend a little extra on mumsie, you can add a glass of bubbly or a DIY biscuit icing session. There’s also a complimentary (undisclosed) gift included for the woman of the hour.

After a year out, Dialled In is returning to the capital city for its fifth birthday celebrations. Once again, the all-dayer will bring established and emerging artists from all over diasporic and South Asian countries and cities to east London. Unlike past editions, this year’s event will take over multiple venues throughout Dalson, from Café OTO to The Divine to Rio Cinema. It’ll see former member of The xx, Baria, make her first return to the London festival circuit in fifteen years, a rare London live set from rising star Gayathri Krishnan and the London debut of Lifafa, frontman of Peter Cat Recording Co. That’s alongside appearances from the likes of Sarathy Korwar, Mya Mehm, Anish Kumar and Raf Reza. This year will also see the festival expand into the realms of food, film, dance and comedy. 

Gather your brood and join Hackney’s ceilidh band Cut A Shine for its afternoon of family friendly St Patrick’s barn dancing. The bandmembers will teach you and the little’uns all of the crucial ceili moves and ensure that everyone is kept fueled with traditional Irish stew and champ (vegan option available). Things will round off at 3.30pm with a disco where the kids can show off all their newly-learned Celtic choreography. Oh, and there’s a fully stocked bar of Guinness and whiskey for the grown ups. 

Prepare to have your senses thrown into chaos. Anish Kapoor’s first major UK exhibition in the UK took place at the Southbank Centre’s Hayward Gallery in 1998. Nearly 30 years later, the internationally acclaimed sculptor’s work is coming back to the gallery for his largest UK show to date. The exhibition displays recent pieces by Kapoor made with futuristic light-absorbing nanotechnology, as well as works that defined the early part of his career.  There will be huge disorientating mirror sculptures, a colossal PVC installation, a foreboding mass of red and black wax drooping from the ceiling, and a striking collection of carnal paintings made using silicone, resin and pigment.  

Homely isn’t quite the word that comes to mind when you pull back the heavy velvet curtain separating Casa Felicia from the dozy Queen’s Park street outside. Chic, for sure. Elegant, certainly. A parade of two-cover tables are packed close together in the main whitewashed dining room, and over in a far corner, there’s a booth for larger groups which is painted entirely in an intense sultry red. But the deeper into the evening we go, the more we’re taken in by this place’s unexpected down-to-earth charm.   Fettuccine porcini and paccheri with mussels and squid are simple but impeccable Casa Felicia is helmed by chef Francesco Sarvonio, formerly of Manteca and currently of Elephant. The menu switches up daily, but always promises southern Italian ‘soul food’. A pleasing heap of puntarelle salad embellished with pear and hazelnuts, and a faultless seabass crudo speckled with crispy red pepper starts us off. We’re then presented with the most intriguing take on parmigiana I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t come in the traditional form of layered aubergine coins, but as the whole vegetable roasted, skinned and fried in a tempura batter, then cocooned in cheese fondue with a pool of marinara on the side. It’s fantastic – the batter lightly encases the vegetable like a chiffon blanket and the aubergine manages to be both firm and completely melt-in-the-mouth.   Don’t get carried away with the antipasti, as the bowls of pasta (handmade with just semolina and water, no egg) are truly generou

Adoh! (Sri-Lankan for ‘oi!’) is loud.  Sat on Maiden Lane in frenetic, tourist-packed Covent Garden, this Sri Lankan spot from Kolamba duo Eroshan and Aushi Meewella fits right in. While Kolamba and its sister restaurant on Liverpool Street are sleek, sophisticated haunts, this is a maximalist whirlwind. Chopped roti gets more heavenly with each chewy bite Adoh’s goal is to emulate the rapid, chaotic energy of Colombo and its street food culture. The decor is raucous – the tables a striking shade of red and the walls busy with storybook murals depicting hand-painted trucks of South Asia. As for service, it’s full speed ahead. You can very easily be in and out within an hour, and fully satisfied. In the throbbing heart of the theatreland that’s no bad thing.  The menu features a blend of authentic bits (isoo vadai, mutton rolls or roti and curry) and some milder hybrid dishes (fried chicken and curry leaf waffles are best suited to less adventurous members of your party). Shiny squares of prawn toast dolloped with tamarind sauce start us off, swiftly followed by a supple dosa spread with smoky masala, alongside a rather dry coconut roti with eye-wateringly hot lunu miris chilli paste.  The must-order main (which at £17 is the priciest item on the menu) is crab kothu, a late-night classic in Sri Lanka. The bronze mountain of chopped roti, egg and stir fried crab meat (mutton, chicken or jackfruit kothu are available too) isn’t particularly pretty, but drenched in curry sauce (p

The UK’s first major retrospective of acclaimed Ukrainian artist Boris Mikhailov is coming to the Photographers’ Gallery. A ‘kind of proto-punk’, Mikhailov has been capturing and commenting on life in Ukraine since the 1960s – from the everyday consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union to the realities of people living on the edges of society – through photography, conceptual work, painting and performance art. Ukrainian Diary brings much of that work together to illustrate the tumultuous social and political changes that have shaken Eastern Europe over the past fifty years.

One hundred years ago, a strange curtained box appeared on Broadway in New York City. If you went inside and slotted in 25 cents, you’d emerge with eight sepia tinged photos of yourself in a matter of minutes. It was the Photomaton – the world’s first fully automated photobooth. Fast forward to the 21st century and photobooths are in bars, train stations, cinemas, record shops and on streets all over the world. The Photographer’s Gallery is marking a century of the machines with Click!, an archival exhibition exploring their imperfections, their quirks and their most famous fans. Naturally, there’ll be a working photobooth for visitors to take their own snap.

In 1978, Zofia Rydet decided that was going to photograph the inside of every Polish household. Aged 67, she began knocking on doors and asking occupants if they’d be willing to partake in her project. She continued to knock on doors for the next three decades, collecting everyday stories and creating ‘one of the most important achievements in 20th century Polish photography’. More than 100 of Rydet’s prints will be on display at the Photographers’ Gallery alongside books and personal letters offering extra insight into her sociological mission.

With 90 outlet shops selling goods at up to 60 percent less than their normal price, Portsmouth’s Gunwharf Quays is a prime bargain-hunting spot. Now, a whopping £45 million is being thrown at the hub to turn it into a shopping destination ‘unlike anywhere else in the UK’.  Gunwharf Quays discount shops include Brighton-born clothing brand Lucy & Yak and Aussie fashion brand Hush alongside high street staples like Boots, Clarks, Adidas and Oliver Bonas. Its 30 different eating and drinking options include indie matcha cafe Maddie’s, artisan coffeeshop The Fossil Thief and chains like Wagamama, Pho, Giggling Squid and the Alchemist.   Image: HGP Architects The venue’s planned revamp will include extending the spaces on the ground and first floor to boost alfreso dining options, and adding a new staircase and lift to improve access between levels.  Image: HGP Architects Yvonne Clay, centre director at Gunwharf Quays, said: ‘This is an incredibly special year for us. As Gunwharf Quays celebrates 25 years and Portsmouth marks 100 years of city status, it feels like the perfect moment to look ahead, as well as reflect on all we have achieved. ‘We are shaping a harbour-side experience unlike anywhere else in the UK – one that fully embraces our waterfront setting, attracts best-in-class brands, and creates a vibrant, high-quality place for our guests to spend time’.  Image: HGP Architects The proposals still need to be approved by the council before they can go ahead. But if

London’s airports aren’t always thought of fondly. Often, they’re seen as hubs of stress, places that are ridden with delays and never-ending security queues. Really, though, we’ve got it pretty good. The capital city’s airports give Brits access to more destinations than anywhere else and, in a new survey of thousands of travellers, two were voted among the best in the entire world.  Every year consultancy Skytrax carries out a huge customer satisfaction survey of 575 airports in order to compile a list of the 100 best on the planet for the World Airport Awards. It asks passengers for their feedback on dozens of elements of the airport experience, including the ease of getting there, check-in facilities, shopping/restaurant options, friendliness of staff and lost luggage services. After Skytrax crunched all the data, the only British hubs recognised among the world’s top 100 for 2026 were London Heathrow and London Gatwick.  Rising six places since last year, Heathrow (the most connected airport in the world right now) placed 16th on the worldwide list. In the awards’ subcategories, it ranked eighth among the best airports in Europe and fourth for best airports with more with 80 million passengers. And with more than 345 retail units, it was also crowned the greatest airport in the world for shopping.  Photograph: Alexandre Rotenberg / Shutterstock.com As for Gatwick, it came a very respectable 30th on the global list, also six places above where it ranked last year. It

When Time Out’s food editor Leonie Cooper visited Osip in at the end of last year, she lauded it as ‘heroically good’, a ‘field-to-table, foragers paradise’ and the best restaurant in the UK right now. As you’d expect, eating at such an exceptional place doesn’t come cheap.  At the moment, if you want to dine at Osip, you’d be looking at spending £165-a-head on the 10-course dinner tasting menu. But now, the Michelin-starred spot in Somerset has launched a menu that costs less than half of that. From April, Osip will offer a three-course Table D'Hôte (‘Host’s Table’) menu for £75 per person.  The daily-changing menu is, apparently, more ‘rustic inspired’ than Osip’s other offerings. In keeping with Osip’s sustainable ethos, the menu will make use of the surplus of the most abundant produce from the restaurant farm and will utilise off-cuts and different parts of the animal from its in-house butchery programme to minimise waste.  Sample dishes from the Table D'Hôte menu include chilled asparagus soup with fennel and Dorset crab; grilled hogget, brassicas and lamb juices; cassoulet of white beans with wild garlic and lamb fat breadcrumbs (pictured below) and, for dessert, drunken honey tart with mead custard, bee pollen and whisky cream.   Photograph: Olivia Anderson Diners will also be treated to a selection of snacks and Osip’s house-made bread to kick off their meal, two sides to go with their mains and petit fours to finish.   Head chef Merlin Labron-Johnson said: ‘In the

Back in 2020, after 55 years in business, the beloved Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre (Europe’s first ever large indoor retail centre) closed its doors. A year later, it was knocked down to make room for a whole new £500 million ‘town centre’.  That shiny new town centre will open later this year and will be known as The Elephant. This week, its first wave of stores were revealed.  A big M&S with a market-style food store is the centre’s headline shop. There, you’ll find fresh produce, everyday essentials and on-the-go meals for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Blank Street Coffee will open a branch at The Elephant in the summer ahead of the main opening, offering its viral blueberry matcha alongside other creations like banana bread matcha and cherry glaze matcha. Thirsty visitors will also be able to pick up protein smoothies and açaí bowls from health-focused cafe Jungle Berry. Image: Get Living Local Latin supermarket DistriAndina, which currently lives under the nearby railway arches, will be moving in too. For entertainment, there’ll be a new five-screen cinema showing mainstream, classic and independent films. Overall, the centre is expected to have around 50 shops, restaurants and bars. Get Living, the developer behind the project, is also reportedly in discussion with Corsica Studios about the potential future of the venue, which shut on March 29.  The shopping centre is part of the enormous £4bn transformation of Elephant and Castle. As well as all that retail sp

Often, a train journey spent looking down at your phone is a train journey wasted. There are so many railway lines around the world that run through spectacular, remote landscapes, offering views you wouldn’t get if you were travelling on foot or by road.  With that in mind, travel insurance company Insure and Go wanted to know which train routes are the most scenic in the world. Specifically, it wanted to find out which train journeys are the most eye-catching. To do that, researchers showed participants multiple images of views from train routes across the globe and used eye tracking technology to see how quickly their eyes were drawn to each image and how long they spent looking.  Participants were shown trackside vistas from Japan, Peru, Switzerland and more. But pulling up in fourth place was the UK’s own West Highland Line.  The world-famous Scottish route earned an eye-catching score of 86 out of 100 and was the only UK entry in the top 15. Travelling 164 miles from Glasgow to Oban, Fort William or Mallaig, it’s best known for gliding over the iconic magnificent Glenfinnan Viaduct, which starred in the Harry Potter films.  Photograph: Shutterstock If you peer out of your window at any point along the journey, you will see a view that looks like it should be hanging in a gallery. The track snakes through Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and curves around Scotland’s dramatic mountains, vast heather moors and glimmering, pine tree encircled lochs. It then splits

Easter is a huge time for chocolate obsessives. Supermarket shelves are loaded floor to ceiling with chocolate eggs of all shapes, sizes and flavours – from bitesize caramel-filled eggs to monstrous, pistachio-flavoured eggs larger than your head. But this year, the largest chocolate egg of the lot isn’t in a supermarket. It’s on special display in Bournville.  Last year, Cadbury’s unveiled a colossal Creme Egg which, at three feet tall, was the largest in the world. Now, the brand has supersized the Mini Egg. The Mega Mini Egg stands at 70 centimetres tall and weighs a mammoth 55kg, which is roughly the same weight as an adult cheetah. A team of three master chocolatiers worked on the enormous creation for two days. Just like the Mini Eggs we know and love, it’s a hunk of Cadbury milk chocolate encased in a pink speckled sugar shell.  Claire Fielding, one of the chocolatiers involved, said: ‘After the amazing reaction to last year’s gigantic Cadbury Creme Egg, we knew we had to craft something just as fantastic for 2026. Cadbury Mini Eggs are another absolute favourite and a British Easter staple, so creating the Mega Mini Egg felt like the perfect next challenge. ‘We took that instantly recognisable shell and chocolate centre and scaled it up into a real showstopper. It’s been so rewarding seeing it come to life, and we can’t wait for visitors to come and see it in person this Easter.’ Visitors to Cadbury World will get to see the giant egg for themselves throughout the Eas

Earlier this month, the longest maintained coastal path in the world was officially launched. The King Charles III Coastal Path (KCIII Path) bends and curves 2,700 miles around the entire English coastline, from Berwick-upon-Tweed all the way down to Land’s End. Much of the path has been open to the public for decades, but in this marks the very first time that every inch of the coastline has been accessible to walkers.  To try out the path for yourself, you could take the train south to walk sections in Dorset or Cornwall, or you venture north to take on stretches in Sunderland and Northumberland. Or, you could just hop on the Elizabeth line or DLR to Woolwich. That’s right, the coastal path even runs through London. The section that stops by the capital stretches just over 76 miles between Woolwich and Grain near Rochester. It begins (or ends, depending on which way you’re walking) at Woolwich foot tunnel, where the Thames Path National Trail meets the coastal path, and follows the river the entire way to Grain. The route has existed since 2022, but there is still one short section in Grain that is still not complete. National Trails says that you catch the Arriva 191 bus to connect the open sections.  The trail, marked by signs with the KCIII’s signature acorn logo, takes you past a number of heritage sites and wildlife hotspots. It goes by Woolwich Arsenal, which has a long history of providing armaments and ammunition for the British army and navy, the Queen Elizabeth II

No area of London is the same. Some are littered with trendy bars, others stick to more traditional pubs. Some are built up and chaotic, others are calm and full of greenery. Whether you’re in the centre or the suburbs, each postcode has its own distinct character.  Now, the Telegraph has weighed in on which London suburbs are better than the rest. The paper listed its top 10 suburbs, which included Wimbledon Village, Dulwich Village, Southall and Amersham. But it also named five places that it says people should give a miss. And we beg to differ.  Don’t get us wrong, we know these places by no means perfect. But they certainly don’t deserve to be written off altogether. Here’s the case for each area that the Telegraph says ‘still give the suburbs a bad name’.  Anerly  The Telegraph’s main criticism of Anerly is that it ‘has a station and not much else’. But a two minute walk from that station you’ll find one of London’s greatest bakeries, Chatsworth Bakehouse, which is reason enough to pay the place a visit. On the same road, there’s Gipsy Hill’s micro-bar The Douglas Fir and on the other side of town there’s Marlow Fish Bar, a 60-year-old family run joint known for serving the best fish and chips in the south of the city.  Croydon Croydon really gets a bad rap. It featured on the Telegraph’s list for its ‘decimated shopping centre and soaring crime’. However, the paper does acknowledge that it once had ‘oodles of promise’. We’d argue that there are plenty of places in the s

The clocks have wound forward, the cherry blossoms are out, daffodils have sprouted and spring is finally in full swing. After a few isolated days of warm sunshine earlier in the month, on the whole London has remained grey and chilly and is yet to enjoy a an extended period of balmy weather. Could that change for the long Easter weekend?   The Easter weekend falls two weeks earlier than it did last year, so don’t expect it to be quite as warm. While the weather in London isn’t looking terrible, it’ll be best to make sure you’ve got at least some indoor plans lined up.  Here’s your guide to the current weather forecast for the long weekend, according to the Met Office and BBC Weather.  London Easter Bank Holiday 2025 weather forecast Right now it’s looking, well, meh. At the time of writing, the Met Office says that Good Friday (April 3) will be cloudy most of the day and reach a high of 13C. It predicts that there will also be patchy rain from 4pm that’ll last until the early hours of the next morning. Saturday (April 4) looks much the same, with a high of 14C and drizzle throughout the day.   The forecaster predicts a 40 percent chance of rain on Easter Sunday (April 5) and a temperature that feels around 9C. It hasn’t revealed a detailed forecast for Easter Monday (April 6) yet.  BBC Weather’s forecast looks similar. It says that there’ll be light rain, gentle breeze and highs of 12C-14C on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then ‘drizzle and a moderate breeze’ reaching 15C on

Sometimes, Brits can be polite to a fault. We’ll always say our please and thank yous, we’ll always let someone else through the door first, we’ll always form an orderly queue and if someone trips us up on the pavement or smacks us in the face, we’ll probably be the one to profusely apologise. British good manners are world-famous. And, in case you needed proof, a new survey has crowned us the third politest nation on the planet.  Financial services provider Remitly did some digging to uncover which countries are considered the most well-mannered. It asked 4,600 people from 26 different nations  about their perception of their own politeness and asked them to name the place that they perceive to have the politest population.  Photograph: Shutterstock Just over six percent of the survey’s respondents perceived the UK as the politest country in the world. The only two countries that had more votes were Canada, which was voted the politest by 13.5 percent of respondents, and Japan, which got an overwhelming 35.15 percent of the vote. See the top 25 in full here.  Having good manners is not quite the same as being friendly (the worst person you know could also be the politest), but there’s certainly overlap. And in Time Out’s most recent Best Cities survey, three British cities were voted among the most friendly in the world: Brighton, Belfast and Glasgow. You can read more about what makes them so welcoming here.  Did you see that four UK destinations are in the top 50 most b

Once a year, the Sunday Times takes it upon itself to declare which areas of the UK are the best to live in. To be named among the crème de la crème, places must have charm, a strong independent spirit, a good community, enviable infrastructure and top-class schools.  A total of 72 villages, towns, boroughs and cities made the final list. The city of Norwich was crowned the overall best place to live in the UK (read more on why here), but the paper also chose winners for each of the country’s 11 regions. Was your hometown among them?  In the southeast of England, the village of Lindfield in West Sussex took the top spot for its ‘aspirational’ high street, its community events calendar (from a fancy dress beer race to a summer pizza gathering) and its huge common. The picturesque and culturally rich Malverns were crowned the best place to live in the Midlands and, a little further north, Malmesbury in Wiltshire, with its magnificent abbey, local pride and creative spaces, earned first place for the southeast.  Photograph: ShutterstockMalmesbury, England To the east, Manningtree in Essex was number one thanks to its beautiful waterways, artsy spaces and nearby high-achieving grammar schools. In London, Richmond was named the most desirable place to live and described as the ‘most serene corner of the capital’. But you’ll need around £900,000 to spare in order to get an average house there.  Photograph: Shutterstock Up north, ‘classy, cool and comfortable’ Altrincham in Grea

Wales could be getting it’s first new national park since 1957. On the face of it, a brand new officially designated and protected stretch of land might sound like a great thing. But not everyone is excited at the prospect.  Glyndŵr National Park (pronounced glin-door), named after the last Welsh-born Prince of Wales Owain Glyndŵr, would be Wales’ fourth national park. If approved, it would stretch from the northeast of the country to the centre and encompass the existing Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – an already protected landscape.  Between 2022 and 2025, Natural Resources Wales went through the official process of checking whether the proposed area fit the criteria for a national park. Then in January this year, the organisation’s board voted to back the proposals. The next step is for a public inquiry to take place, in which planning inspector scrutinises the arguments for and against the park, then makes a recommendation to ministers.    Photograph: Shutterstock   Local opinion over whether the area should become an official national park is split down the middle. Of 1,678 responses to a public consultation back in 2024, 53 percent were in favour, 14 percent offered at least conditional support, 31 percent were opposed and 3 percent were undecided.  Supporters of the idea argue that a national park designation would result in more funding to help better manage tourist pressures, grants for farmers to manage the land sustainably, ra