Amy Houghton

Thank god for Burns Night. As the long, bleak month of January rolls on, this kilt-raising, haggis-scoffing, whisky-fuelled celebration of Scotland’s national poet Rabbie Burns is a chance to banish the winter blues and have a rip-roaring time. The Bard turns 267 this year, but you don’t have to be in the big guy’s motherland to join in the festivities. An estimated 200,000 Scottish expats live in the capital, which technically makes it the third most populous Scottish city, so you can guarantee there’s plenty of feasting, boozing and partying to be done down here too.  When is Burns Night in London? Burns Night always falls on January 25, the day Robert Burns was born in South Ayrshire way back in 1759. This year’s celebration falls on a Sunday.  Whether you want to get sweaty at a ceilidh, pipe in a haggis, or have a classy time at a whisky tasting or indulgent Burns supper, this is how you can enjoy Burns Night 2026 in London.  RECOMMENDED: Here are London's best spots for a delicious Burns Night supper.

Things are getting more and more expensive here in Europe, and many of our reliably ‘cheap’ cities aren’t so cheap anymore. The hotspots in Greece, Spain, Italy and more that are plagued with overtourism are seeing hiked prices to match, and starting to look startingly similar across the board. But don’t fear: if budgets are tight this year, there’s still plenty of spots that won’t break the bank.  The best part? On the most part, this list of budget-friendly destinations tend to come hand in hand with other wins – we mean less tourists, less crowds, and the flights there are likely to be much cheaper too. Of course, it goes without saying that a ‘cheap city’ is highly subjective, depending on a whole load of factors: which city you’ve travelled in from, what time of year you’re visiting, how bougie your tastes are and all the rest of it. But the spots you’ll find below are lively, culture-packed, and generally incredibly good value for money. Read on for the cheapest (and best) cities to visit in Europe in 2026.  RECOMMENDED:📍 The best city breaks in Europe for 2026🌃 The most underrated travel destinations in Europe Ella Doyle is Time Out’s Europe editor. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by experts across Europe. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate

There’s a heck of a lot to get excited about in Britain over the next 12 months or so. Between now and 2027 Brits will gobble down platefuls of new restaurants’ grub, slurp tasty bevs in fresh bars, get cultural fixes at museum exhibitions, spectate at globally-renowned sport events and even witness moments of proper historic importance. In 2026 the UK will see the return of the Bayeux Tapestry (not seen on these isles in 900 years) and the completion of the nation-spanning King Charles III Coastal Path. Among the likes of new music festivals and theme parks will be the world’s biggest Irish cultural event, the premiere of one of this century’s most highly anticipated stage musicals and centenery celebrations for a globally-loved children’s character.  And that’s just the stuff that’s planned – who knows what else will define the year? Without further ado, here are the 16 best new things to do in the UK in 2026, chosen by Time Out editors and contributors. RECOMMENDED: 📍 The 14 best places to visit in the UK in 2026.🏛️ The 26 best new things to do in London in 2026.🌍 The best new things to do in the world in 2026.

January is here, which means we’re entering a brand new year. Despite all the January goals, resolutions and hopes we have for 2026, it’s no secret that January can ostensibly become the most depressing month of the year. The days are short and dark, it’s cold, and our bank balances are severely depleted after the December festivities. But, we’re here to help you realise it’s not all bleak.  For one thing, it’s the ideal time to discover London on a budget and without the crowds, while many of city’s very best theatre and musicals, restaurants and bars – ranked definitively by Time Out's crew of expert local editors – offer discounted tickets and cheap meal deals to entice you out of the house during the coldest and darkest days of the year. Believe it or not, but January can also a time for celebration, too. London will once again be playing host to plenty of Burns Night ceilidhs, haggis suppers and poetry readings commemorating Scotland’s most famous poet, plus dinners and parades in celebration of the Lunar New Year, which falls nice and early in 2025, on January 29. If you’re someone who likes to commit to a month of sobriety or a punishing new exercise regime at the start of the New Year, London definitely has your back too. The city is home to countless excellent sports clubs and fitness classes, plus dozens of glorious parks and spectacular walking routes, and there’s arguably nowhere that better caters for the sober and sober-curious. Of course, if you’d rather just s

2026 has officially landed. An entire year of adventure awaits, with Britain set for a deluge of thrilling new things to see and do. Beyond the individual openings, however – the new bars and restaurants, museums and attractions – where should be on your radar for places to visit in the UK?  If you’re up for being inspired here at Time Out, as always, we’ve got you covered. We’ve scoured the listings of all that’s happening in Britain in 2026 and consulted our nationwide network of writers and editors, harnessing all that info to put together a guide to the places that should be on your radar over the next 12 months.  Destinations made it onto Time Out’s list for a vast range of reasons. Some have swaggered onto the scene with a quickfire burst of thrilling new attractions. Others have built their cred slower and reached a point of quiet brilliance, while others still are established spots that simply remain very much worth their rep. Several places will be made even more tempting by those aforementioned 2026 openings, whether that be delicious places to eat and drink, game-changing new transport options or unmissable cultural events.  From trendy seaside towns to revived industries cities, medieval forts to ‘the new Berlin’: here are the UK’s 14 top places to visit in 2026. RECOMMENDED: 🇬🇧 The best new things to do in the UK in 2026.📍 The 26 best stuff to see and do in London in 2026. 

Whatever your vibe (and whatever your budget), London’s got it all – and anyone will find something they love here. Historic pubs, leafy parks and gardens and an unmatched restaurant scene make this city worth visiting year-round, but before you’ve booked anything in London, you kind of have to know where you’re going to be based. To get you started, we’ve rounded up the city’s best Airbnbs available to book right now, with expert tips from our local editors.  Should I choose an Airbnb or a hotel in London? London is not short on lovely hotels, ranging from budget to luxury and just about everything in between. But it’s fair to say that even the cheaper options cost a pretty penny – and you’ll often find them in more central, touristy areas in the city. If you want to live like a Londoner, an Airbnb can allow you to properly immerse yourself in a more residential area of London – and all the locally-loved bars, pubs and restaurants that come with it. You’ll find lots of our local tips below, but for a detailed breakdown of the best neighbourhoods to stay in London, check out our ultimate area guide. More of a hotels guy? No problem. Here’s our list of the best hotels in London.  📍 RECOMMENDED: Ultimate guide to the best hotels and Airbnbs in London Who makes the cut? While we might not stay in and review every Airbnb featured, our writers have based our list on expert knowledge of the destination covered, editorial reviews, user reviews, amenities and in-depth research to

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 January 2026. London's best new restaurants at a glance: 🍛 Central: Adoh!, Covent Garden 🍠 North: Ling Ling’s, Islington 🥟 South: Doma, Sydenham 🍝 East: Legado, Shoreditch 🥗 West: Martino’s, Chelsea January 2026: New additions include slinky Italian joint Martino's in Chelsea, cosy Chinese cuisine at Ling Ling's at Godet in Islington, Hunanese heat at Fiery Flavors in Surrey Quays, Sri Lankan fast food at Adoh! in Covent Garden, Caribbean classics with a twist at 2210 by NattyCanCook in Herne Hill, perfect pasta at Casa Felicia in Queen's Park, spicy southern Thai at the new branch of Plaza Khao Gaeng by Borough Market, and soup noodles at Khao So-i in Fitzrovia. Hungry yet? Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London. The hottest new openings, the tasties

December 2025 update: There's new songs being added to karaoke machines on a regular basis, so we see it as our duty to keep this list bang up to date. Our latest additions include a K-Pop Demon Hunters anthem, as well as an addicitve tune courtesy of Benson Boone. Whether you’ve got the voice of an angel or you’re totally tone deaf, karaoke unites us all. But heed our warning: choosing the right song is crucial (aka, don’t opt for that Whitney Houston tune if you haven’t the range. And if you don't quite have the skill, steer clear of rapping.) So we thought we’d help out a little bit. In our list of the best karaoke songs ever, we’ve got everyone from Adele to Toto, and from Frank Sinatra to Ricky Martin. There's even recent singalongs from Sabrina Carpenter, Huntr/x and Chappell Roan. Something for everyone. So down that shot, grab that mic and take to the stage. Your audience awaits you. Here are the best karaoke songs ever.  RECOMMENDED:❤️ The best love songs🎶 The 40 best songs of 2025🎉 The best party songs🕺 The 25 best albums of 2025  

Even after a couple of vintage years for new music, 2025 has been special. Sure, we didn’t get a clear-cut ‘song of the summer’, but artists have been instead putting out defining works in a longer format. The past 12 (well, 11) months have featured all manner of extraordinary album releases.  Belted-to-the-rafters country pop, plunderphonic majesty, ecstatic dance music, intimate electronic world-building, history-collapsing art rock, triumphant hip-hop… these are just a few of the sounds and styles that have been executed marvellously in 2025. Here are the year’s finest 25 albums, chosen by Time Out editors and contributors.

It’s easy to leave planning New Year’s Eve to the very last minute – often you get so tangled up in the tinsel-decked glories of Christmas that you forget there's another big bash, just a week later. But New Year's Eve is the kind of night that you forget at your peril. Attempt to wing it and you might well end up stuck at home with a glass of flat prosecco in front of Jools Holland’s Hootenanny, because all London's best clubs and parties book out weeks or months in advance.  But fear not, we're here to make sure you give 2025 a seriously good send-off. Here's our list of London best NYE bashes for ringing in 2026, from never-ending club nights to LGBTQ+- friendly celebrations. Assemble your crew, book your tickets, plan the perfect ‘fit and prepare to say a big fat goodbye to the year gone by. London’s best NYE parties at a glance 🎆 Best for views of the fireworks: New Year’s Eve at Sky Garden 🦖 Best for a one-of-a-kind party: NYE at the Natural History Museum 🍴 Best for midnight snacks: New Year's Eve at Aram, Somerset House  🏳️‍🌈  Best for LGBTQ+: Horse Meat Disco at Village Underground 🌟 Best for glitz and glamour: New Year's Eve at W London RECOMMENDED: Find things to do in London on New Year’s Day.

Let’s be honest, with all the pressure that gets put on New Year’s Eve, often it ends up as a disappointment. You’re lying if you say you haven’t spent at least one countdown with your head over a toilet after getting too razzed before midnight, or the night is spent jostling with what feels like everyone in London to get into an average club night. This year, spare yourself the pain and save the hardest partying for New Year’s Day instead.  New Year’s Day raves have taken off over the last few years. They tend to last longer than the events of the night before and there aren’t the same enormous NYE crowds to battle with. Of course, celebrations on Jan 1 needn’t be instead of NYE revelries – soldier through your hangover and combine the two to create one big 48-hour blowout.  The capital’s venues are ready to welcome you with open arms for the first rager of 2026, with all manner of day and night parties to check out. Because who says the fun needs to stop as soon as the countdown’s over? Here are London’s best New Year’s Day parties.   RECOMMENDED: Find New Year’s Eve parties in London.

The final stretch of 2025 is upon us, and London is looking mighty festive in the run-up to Christmas. The skies are be sparkling with Christmas lights, the capital’s venues are filling up with Christmas pantos and carol services, and the streets are lined with colourful Christmas markets and twinkling trees. But December isn’t just about Christmas, and there’s plenty more brilliant things to do besides all the festive stuff. Notably, the acclaimed Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo is making its UK debut, it’s the first full month of the Design Museum’s hotly-anticipated Wes Anderson exhibition and the last full month of the bonkers jukebox musical Titanique. Plus, there are the ice-skating rinks, the winter pop-ups and the chilly winter walks followed by cosy pub hangouts. And that’s before we even get on to New Year’s Eve!  Here’s our guide to the finest events, parties, cultural happenings and things to do in London over December 2025.  London’s best things to do in December at a glance: 🧀 Best for foodies: Future of Food, Science Museum 🎭 Best for thespians: Ballet Shoes, National Theatre 🎬 Best for cinephiles: Backyard Cinema, Bermondsey 🎨 Best for aesthetes: Wes Anderson: The Exhibition, Design Museum 🧛 Best for night owls: Christmas lights, citywide 📚 Best for families: Winter Funland, Kensington RECOMMENDED: Time Out’s definitive London events calendar.

Prepare to have your senses thrown into chaos. Anish Kumar’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

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.

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.

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.

When a place rates itself as assuredly (in huge bold letters, no less) as Good Hotel does, it’s natural to feel a little sus. But it’s true: Good Hotel really does make you feel good. Service is cheery and laid-back without being overly casual, the food leaves nothing to complain about and – maybe it’s the luxurious silence of the area or perhaps the proximity to gently lapping water – I visited in 2024, and I don’t know if I’ve ever had a better night’s sleep in the city. Aside from all that, guests can walk out of Good Hotel feeling extra gratified by virtue of its ‘do good’ DNA. Why stay at Good Hotel? As you walk along Royal Victoria Docks, this huge black shipping container is impossible to miss. Originally built as a Danish prison, this floating hotel docked in London in 2016 after sailing across from Amsterdam. Its founder, Marten Dresden, had come up with the Good Hotel concept four years prior while travelling in Guatemala. Now, each night you spend there pays for a week of school for a child in South America, with profits also going towards hospitality training for long-term unemployed locals (lots of whom become Good Hotel employees).  The hotel also hosts regular community workshops and events that guests can attend. There are comedy nights, yoga classes, salsa classes, kids art clubs and, if you’re in the mood to be extra good, litter-picking around the local area. What are the rooms like at Good Hotel? Throughout the hotel, the interiors are slick, earthy-toned

One of the more recent additions to Wimbledon Village, Good Fortune Club is bright and buzzy with a sprawling menu of Cantonese dishes, the best known of which is its handmade dim sum. Stop by with a large, hungry posse to pack your table with bamboo steamers and sample har gau (shrimp-filled dumplings,) xiao long bao (pork soup dumplings), cuttlefish cake and more.

Of its four south-west London outposts, DropShot’s Leopold Road location serves up hefty brunches on the daily. The portions here are breathtakingly generous, and the tennis-themed menu goes well beyond the standard eggs benny or avocado on toast; think mozzarella and chilli jam-filled potato pancakes andbig fat slices of French toast laden with monterey jack cheese and fresh pesto, or loaded with tiramisu cream and berries. The coffee is fantastic, too.

Crack Comedy Club brings pre-party laughs to Tunnel 267 – Wimbledon’s only nightclub – every Saturday night from 8pm to 10pm. For standup sets from four or five comics, tickets are £25 for general admission on the door or £21.50 if you book online in advance. You can also buy tickets that include dinner from a local restaurant beforehand, and if you stick around afterwards you’ll get free entry to Tunnel’s clubnight. Three in one. 

This quirky, tiki-themed minigolf course first popped up in Dalston's Efes in April 2015. A decade later, that debut site is no more, but you can now find Plonks outdoors in London Fields and under the arches at Borough Market. The Hackney course, which recently got a big ol’ refurb, takes you through a ‘Polynesian themed putt paradise’ complete with a tiki forest, a volcano canyon and octupuses. There are plenty of satisfying holes that fire your ball onto tricksy little mechanisms, a loop the loop, and a lot of impossibly steep ramps. All in all: it’s a great place for a plonking party. Prices start from £9.35 per person per play. 

There's a real sense of fun to this deliberately rough-around-the-edges course. Party tunes blare from speakers, graffiti jazzes up the walls and it's made from ‘twisted junk, car booty and charity shop shizzle’. Junkyard Golf Club has four courses – Gary, Pablo, Dirk and Bozo – that are all fabulously chaotic and mildly freaky. Depending on which challenge you take on, you’ll be putting past pirate pigs, dishevelled nightclub urinals, terrifying giant clown heads and a UV rave room. There's also a second location in Camden for more of the same.  Prices start at £12 for nine holes at off-peak times (Sunday to Thursday) and go up to £21 for 18 holes on busier days (Fridays and Saturdays). And as any good crazy golf should, Junkyard has a menu of themed cocktails to keep lubed up before, during and after your game. 

Torquay, Paignton and Brixham are three towns in south Devon that together make up Torbay, an area otherwise known as the ‘English Riviera’. Once upon a time, the towns were grand tourist hotspots. They were especially popular during Victorian times and were frequented by Queen Victoria herself. In recent decades they’ve become rather worn down, but a series of renovations could soon bring them back to their former glory.  A whole load of redevelopments and improvements are lined up for Torquay, Paignton and Brixham over the next few years, totalling a whopping £300 million. Here’s a look at the most exciting upgrades lined up for the three Torbay towns.   First: Torquay. The town’s pavilion has been crumbling for more than a decade now, but in 2023 plans to restore it back to its former glory were announced. Right now, a consultation is underway to figure out how it can be transformed in a project expected to cost around £11m. In the past its been a theatre, a cinema, a shopping centre and an ice rink. Suggestions for its future include turning it into an Agatha Christie attraction, a research centre or a concert hall.  Elsewhere, Torquay’s Union Square Shopping Centre is set to be demolished and replaced with a complex of 100 new homes, healthcare facilities and new shops. The area surrounding the shopping centre on Higher Union Street is also due to get a makeover as part of a wider 10-year plan. Then, towards the harbour an abandoned Debenhams will be knocked down and rep

If there’s one thing we know about at Time Out, it’s city life. From New York to Lisbon, Paris to London, Melbourne to Singapore, it’s our job to keep tabs on all greatest things to see, do and eat in metropolises across the globe. Every year different events, new openings or major anniversaries give different cities a chance to shine. So, we’ve put together a guide on all the best city breaks in Europe to take in 2026, with one UK city set to have its turn in the spotlight.  We named Glasgow one of the best cities in Europe to travel to this year. In our guide to the city, Time Out contributor and Glasgow local Olivia Simpson said: ‘Long seen by outsiders as Edinburgh’s shabby little sibling, the city is enjoying a renaissance, fuelled by home-grown talents cultivated at the city’s world-leading art school and from within the thriving music and arts scene, all whilst grassroots community organisations fight to ensure that development happens as fairly as possible.’ Summer 2026 will be a particularly exciting time to make a trip to the city thanks to two major events. Around 3,000 athletes from 74 nations will land on Scottish soil to compete in the Commonwealth Games from July 23 to August 3. And, if music is more your thing the city will also welcome the very first WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) festival to be held in Scotland. Taking place on July 3 and 4, WOMAD at Kelvingrove Park promises ‘an eclectic line-up of high-profile and emerging artists performing a vast

The admin involved in travelling from the UK overseas in 2026 is set to look a little different to what we’re used to. More airports are due to scrap the 100ml liquid limit, and from April all Brits will need to provide fingerprints and mugshots, and apply and pay for a visa-waiver in order to enter any EU country.  There are changes lined up for people travelling to the UK too. And that includes for British dual citizens living abroad. Right now British dual nationals are allowed travel in and out of the country with their foreign passport. But that will soon change. The government has announced that British dual citizens may have to pay more than £500 in order to come to the UK. Here’s everything you need to know.  What are the new rules? Under the new travel rules, British dual citizens will have to show a British or Irish passport in order to enter the UK. If they want to use the passport of the country where they hold dual citizenship, they’ll have to present it alongside a certificate of entitlement. And that will cost a pretty penny – more on that cost below.  Why are the new rules being introduced?  The new regulations follow the introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). ETA is a £16 document needed for travel to the UK by residents countries that don’t need a visa. It’ll be mandatory for residents of 85 countries, including the US, Canada, France and Australia, from February 25.  British nationals can’t get an ETA, so it means that those who only have a

Countless literary greats have called Britain home. Tourists come from far and wide to visit the home of Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon, to explore where the Brontës grew up in Yorkshire, to see London through the eyes of Charles Dickens or to walk in the footsteps of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein in Oxford.  Every now and then, a big anniversary of one of our literary icons rolls around, and celebrations span the whole country, Last year, the New York Times named Jane Austen’s England (mostly Hampshire and parts of Wiltshire, Somerset and Surrey) one of the 52 best places to visit in the world for that reason. This year, it’s put Winnie-the-Pooh’s England on the list.  2026 marks a whole century since AA Milne created Hundred Acre Wood and all its beloved residents. Events will be taking place up and down the country in celebration of Pooh’s 100th birthday, but the NYT shines a particular spotlight on the festivities happening in East Sussex.  Milne brought Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and co to life at Cotchford Farm in East Sussex, where he lived with his wife and son, Christopher Robin. As the NYT points out, the farm is now a six bedroom holiday retreat, meaning Pooh fans can stay and explore Milne’s real life study and Christopher Robin’s bedroom. Its garden also features a statue of Christopher Robin and a sundial carved with Milne’s woodland characters.  Photograph: ShutterstockWhere Pooh Sticks originated at Ashdown Forest, East Sussex Nearby, there’s Ashdown Fo

The City of London, particularly in the darks days of January, can be awfully grey. Grey skyscrapers, grey suits, grey pavements, grey skies... you get the gist. But at the end of this month, there’s a brand new festival arriving to inject some colour into the financial district.  ‘Vibrance’ will light up Roman ruins, medieval churches and secret gardens across the Square Mile on Thursday January 29 and Friday January 30 from 5.30pm until 8.30pm.  Created by Guildhall Production Studio, it brings together more than a dozen artworks and live performances by emerging artists from Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Photograph: Guildhall Production Studio Guildhall Yard will be illuminated with a series of different large-scale projections; St Gile’s Cripplegate will host an something called an extended reality installation, which combines sound, light and virtual reality (VR) technology to create an otherworldly effect; St Alphage London Wall and Garden, meanwhile, will host live music performances merging opera and electronic music.  A stone’s throw away, there’ll be a sonic installation at Salters’ Garden which will guide visitors down a route with speakers hiding in the greenery. Finally, Milton Court will come alive with visual lightworks that organisers say will reflect on ‘inner-city life and its impact on the human experience’.  The whole thing is completely free and there are no tickets needed – just turn up and wander around the kaleidoscopic light and sound scapes to

Travelling between two places is always much, much easier if you can do it via direct train. You can just sit back, relax and not worry about all the kerfuffle involved in having to change over to another service midway through your journey.   That’s why local leaders in west England are calling for a permanent direct daily service between Swindon and Oxford. Right now, rail passengers have to switch trains at Didcot Parkway to get from one place to the other.  Swindon Council debated the motion at on Thursday January 15, but the results of the meeting are still not clear. Those campaigning for the service say that it’ll ‘boost commuting, tourism, and supply-chain links’ between the two cities, offer local communities ‘quicker, greener travel’ and help to ease congestion on the roads. They add that it would cut journey times by more than 10 minutes.   Transport secretary Heidi Alexander, who also happens to be the MP for Swindon South, has expressed her support for the service. Last week, she told Swindon Advertiser: ‘Swindon is obviously a proud railway town. My dad was an electrical apprentice, and the railways are really important to Swindon. ‘I’d like to see whether we could do more to give us better connections to cities like Oxford… Making family days out more affordable for leisure travellers will be welcomed by people in Swindon.’ The calls come over a year after Great Western Railway began trialling a direct train service between Bristol and Oxford, which included a

Every year, the UK welcomes a whole host of shiny new things to see and do. And every year, writers and editors at Time Out take it upon ourselves to let you know which of those are most worth your time. Our list of the best things to do in the UK in 2026 includes a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, an exciting new theme park and a couple of big Celtic festivals. Also on the list is exploring one of the UK’s more underrated regions with the help of an unlimited rail pass. The Explore Wales Pass is essentially Wales’ answer to an Interrail Pass. It gives holders unlimited train travel across the country on four days within an eight-day period, costing £149 for adults and £74.50 for kids (there are discounts for railcard owners). It also allows you unlimited bus journeys across all eight days.  Obviously, there are hundreds of different ways you could use the pass. You may want to stay within one particular region of the country or use it to travel as far and wide as you can in the given period. Let us offer you some inspiration.  An easy place to start things would be the capital city of Cardiff. Some of our favourite places there include the city’s only Michelin star restaurant Gorse, the packed National Museum and the buzzy Cardiff Docks, as well as cool neighbourhood Canton, which is home to Chapters Art Gallery and brilliant caffs like Hard Lines Coffee and Ffloc.  Photograph: Shutterstock A 20-minute train ride from Cardiff Central will take you to the town of Caerphilly,

With their nine course tasting menus, experimental small plates and cutting-edge cocktails, Michelin-star restaurants rule dinner. But none so far have ventured into the world of tasting menus for breakfast, AKA the most important meal of the day. That is until now. This month, a London Michelin-starred restaurant is taking on brekkie for the very first time.  Pavyllon at Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane is launching a five-course breakfast tasting menu on January 10. Featuring luxurious takes on early morning classics, it’ll be available every weekend from 6.30am (7am on Sundays) until 10.30am, so you can’t get away with calling it brunch. The meal will kick off with a bespoke ‘amuse-juice’ followed by a seasonal ‘bakery creation’ by the restaurant’s executive pastry chef Francesco Mannino. Then, diners will have the choice between a chia pudding with mango or granola with berries, and after that eggs royale (with an extra caviar option) or a weekly chef's special such as Turkish eggs or tiramisu pancakes.  Photograph: Pavyllon London The final course is a round of French toast with caramelised hazelnuts and whipped cream and, to top it all off, guests will be treated with a parting gift of ‘Les Chocolats de Yannick Alléno’, which the restaurant describes as ‘a gastronomic delight made with birch bark extract’. Veggies and vegans will be catered for, too.  You’ll get all of that, plus a tea or coffee, for £70 per person. And the early start has you feeling extra spen

In September, we found out that the 2027 edition of world’s most famous cycling event, the Tour de France, would start in Edinburgh for the first time ever. Now, the race’s full route through the UK has been unveiled.  The last time that the Tour de France went through Britain was more than a decade ago in 2014, when the cyclists raced from Yorkshire to London. It also went through England in 1974, 1994 and 2007, but next year will mark the very first time that it passes through Scotland and Wales, and the first time that the Tour de France Femmes has ever been in Old Blighty. For both the men and women’s events, there will be three stages in Britain. They’ll see cyclists traversing stunning national parks, passing by magnificent castles, speeding through cities and taking on some gruelling inclines.  For the men, the first stage will go 184km through Scotland, the second 223km through northwest England and the third 223 km through Wales (which looks to be the most challenging with the most categorised climbs of all three stages). As for the women, they’ll travel from Leeds Civil Hall and through the Pennines, Manchester, the Peak District and Sheffield over two days before racing through London on the third day.  Simon Morton, UK Sport’s director of events, said: ‘Our vision was to host a massive sporting event that would genuinely thread together the countries, cities, and communities of Great Britain. The route details do just that, enabling us to reach, unite, and inspi

The first Henley Passport Index of 2026 has officially landed. Four times each year, consultancy firm Henley & Partners ranks the power of 199 of the world’s passports based on how many countries each one allow its holder to enter without a visa. And, for the first time in a long time, the UK passport has risen up the list.  There was a period between 2010 and 2015 when the UK’s passport was consistently one of the top three most powerful passports in the world, but that power has been diminishing over the past few years. Our passport hit a record low back in October when it was booted down to eighth place, but in the most recent edition, it’s been promoted to seventh place. Despite going up in the ranking, Brit passport holders actually have visa-free access to fewer countries than they did three months ago. In October, the passport enabled visa-free entry to 184 but now that number sits at 182. That means that its climb up the rankings is down to other nations’ passports becoming less powerful. But don’t get us wrong, visa-free access to more than 180 countries is still a big privilege.  Misha Glenny, award-winning journalist and Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, explained: ‘Passport power ultimately reflects political stability, diplomatic credibility, and the ability to shape international rules. As transatlantic relations strain and domestic politics grow more volatile, the erosion of mobility rights for countries like the US and UK is less a technic

Every year, Time Out crowns one London neighbourhood the coolest of the lot. In 2023 the title went to King’s Cross, in 2024 it was passed on to Leyton and right now, thanks to its young-at-heart vibe, independent spirit and vibrant multiculturalism, Camberwell currently holds the crown. But we’re not the only ones seeking out the city’s hottest postcodes.  The Times has just unveiled its list of the 11 coolest UK places to move to in 2026, with one London area making the cut. The newspaper declared that the capital’s coolest place to be to in 2026 is... Poplar.  The Times said that Poplar’s vibe is particularly suited to ‘urban makers’ and added: ‘This low-key stretch of the Docklands has pedigree. It was once known for its roots in activism (the suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst worked with local female councillors), but these days you’re more likely to spot creatives stalking the Poplar streets.’ It pointed out that the neighbourhood is an ‘architectural melting pot’ with a mix of brutalist blocks, Georgian terraces and old warehouses occupied by artists studios, trendy cafes and beloved drinking holes. Some of Poplar’s coolest haunts, according to the Times, include the Poplar Works studios where upcoming fashion brands and makers reside, community garden R-Urban Poplar, which hosts creative workshops throughout the year, Ian McKellen’s pub the Grapes and the second outpost of E5 Bakehouse.    Photograph: Shutterstock   Of course, nearby there’s also 24-hour nightclub FOLD (

Jetting off for some winter sun this weekend? We bet you’re feeling pretty smug about it. First, though, you’ve got to get to airport on time. And if you’re flying from Heathrow airport, you may have to adjust your plans.  Lots of travellers tend to rely on the Piccadilly line to get them from central London to Heathrow Airport on time. However, this weekend they’ll have to find an alternative route. The entire Piccadilly line will be shut down from midnight on Friday (January 16) until Sunday evening (January 18).  The good news is that you should be able to get by without it just fine. Just make sure you leave with plenty of time to spare. While the Piccadilly line is the cheapest way to get to the airport, it’s far from the fastest option. So, with the dark blue line out of action, here are all the ways you can get to Heathrow Airport from central London this weekend.  RECOMMENDED:  All the tube and train disruption in London this weekend [January 16-18 2026]. How to get to Heathrow during the Piccadilly line closure this weekend, January 17-18 2026 Heathrow Express You might not have the Piccadilly line, but you do still have the train that was purpose-built to get people to the airport. The Heathrow Express leaves London Paddington every 15 minutes – it reaches Terminals 2 and 3 in just 15 minutes, and Terminal 5 in just over 20. That makes it the fastest way to get there from central London, and it’s expected to run a normal service this weekend.  If you need to get to