Amy Houghton

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 in the past year 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 November. London's best new restaurants at a glance: 🍛 Central: Khao Bird, Soho 🍠 North: Belly Bistro, Kentish Town 🥟 South: Doma, Sydenham 🍝 East: Legado, Shoreditch 🥗 West: The Lavery, South Kensington November 2025: New additions include Sri Lankan fast food at Adoh! in Covent Garden, Chingford chophouse Gina, Filipino freshness at Belly Bistro in Kentish Town, Caribbean classics with a twist at 2210 by NattyCanCook in Herne Hill, Balkan comfort food at Doma in Sydenham, perfect pasta at Casa Felicia in Queen's Park, and Thai BBQ at Khao Bird in Soho. 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 tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now to tuck i

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.

The final stretch of 2025 is upon us. And now that we’ve said so long to summer, London’s institutions have begun to enter full festive planning mode. In a matter of months, the city’s skies will be sparkling with Christmas lights, its venues will fill up with classic Christmas tunes and its streets will be lined with colourful Christmas markets. Of course, 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.

Every year, we tend to bank on New Year’s Eve being one of the best night of our lives. But that’s a lot of expectation to put on one night out, and it can really set you up for disappointment. The solution? Ease the pressure and save your hardest partying for New Year’s Day instead.  New Year’s Day raves have taken off over the last couple of 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.

Boxing Day might not get all the glory of Christmas Day, but if you ask us, in many ways, it’s far superior. It has all the magic of the big day, but without the stress of cooking and the pressure of keeping the whole family happy. But one of the best bits? While everything shuts down on Christmas Day, things start to tentatively open up on Boxing Day, meaning you can get up from your Quality Street-induced stupour on the sofa and get out and about on December 26.  The day after Christmas, London is mostly free of its usual crowds (except for shopping districts like Oxford Street packed with bargain hunters). That means that, should you leave your house, large parts of the capital city are yours for the taking. There are the parks and riverside paths for frosty winter walks or the Christmas lights to admire while you brave the Boxing Day sales. The city’s pop-up ice skating rinks are normally open, pantomime season is still in full swing, and there are even a few parties lined up. Here are some great ideas for how to spend your day off. RECOMMENDED: Find more festive fun with our full guide to Christmas in London.

There are few things that we’d willingly brace the cold for during winter in London. But ice skating is one of them. From early November each year, ice rinks decked out towering Christmas trees and twinkly fairy lights start to fill London’s squares and courtyards, hosting everything from DJ takeovers and kids’ skating lessons to date nights and family outings over the festive period. Pretty soon you’ll get to pretend you’re in a festive London rom-com, as you romantically glide (or awkwardly stumble) with your loved ones under the backdrop of landmarks like Somerset House, Battersea Power Station and Hampton Court Palace.  Keen to flaunt your best ice moves? Determined to skate at least one lap without clinging onto the wall for dear life? We recommend you book a spot at your chosen rink as early as you can. We’ll be topping up this list as more rinks for the 2025/26 season are confirmed. How much does it cost to go ice skating? The cost to skate at London’s various permanent and pop-up ice rinks varies quite significantly. So far, this year’s cheapest option is Queens Skate Dine and Bowl, where adult tickets are available from £8 (during off-peak hours). The most expensive adult ticket in 2024 was £26 for peak hours at Skate at Somerset House. For cheaper tickets, consider visiting at less popular times.  London’s best places to go ice skating this winter: ⛸️ Best for the biggest rink in town: Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park 💃 Best for ice dance parties: Somerset House, Ald

  We all know travelling with the kids can be tricky, so finding a hotel that keeps everyone happy is key. From splashable pools to free breakfasts for little ones, London has plenty of spots that make family life on the go a whole lot easier. Here’s our pick of the best family-friendly hotels in the city, where parents can relax and kids can be… well, kids. The hotels we’ve selected all make travelling with kids as smooth possible. We look for places that are close to London’s top attractions, so you can zip from Hamleys to the park, without having to spend your whole day on public transport, as well as having the resources to keep the whole family entertained. How we choose our family-friendly hotels A family-friendly hotel is about thoughtful touches for children. Perhaps, there are extra cots, kid-friendly menus, splashable pools, and little surprises that make young guests feel welcome. These are hotels that go the extra mile, from milk and cookies at bedtime to a designated kids concierge services. We include luxury stays and budget-friendly finds. Finally, we consider atmosphere and accessibility: helpful staff, close to attractions and safe play spaces, and a vibe that makes both little ones and grown-ups feel at home. London’s family friendly hotels at a glance 💰 Best for a cheap deal: Good Hotel 🗓️ Best concierge service: The Berkeley 🧠 Most iconic: The Ritz ☕ Best afternoon tea for kids: Park Plaza County Hall 🖼️ Most dramatic design: The Mandarin Oriental M

Do you smell it? That faint waft of pumpkin spice latte in the air? Summer’s sunny days and balmy nights may be behind us, but now it’s time to embrace all the wonderful, cosy things autumn has to offer.  For some, this time of year is all about spooky season, for others it’s about candle-lit evenings in front of the telly with a steaming mug of hot chocolate. For others, it’s about pumpkins galore – a golden excuse to get picking, carving and cooking. As the weather drops, farms in and around London become gourd wonderlands, littered with bright yellow and flaming orange pumpkins. Often there’ll be photo opportunities, craft workshops and spooky goings on thrown in so you can make a real outing of it. Just make sure you book in advance to make sure you get a decent pick of the crop. So, whether you want to stock up on pumpkins to carve into Halloween lanterns or to make masses of soup and pies, here are our favourite places near London for pumpkin picking in 2025.  London’s best places for pumpkin picking at a glance: 🎃 Pumpkin smashing fun: Rogate Pumpkin Patch, Petersfield 🪄 Magical village vibes: Marsh Farm, Chelmsford 🧙🏻‍♀️ Best for witches on a budget: Cobbs Farm, Essex 🦇 Best for spooky night-time picking: Foxes Farm, Chelmsford ⚡️ Best for little adventure-seekers: Hobbledown Heath, Hounslow  RECOMMENDED: The best things to do in London in October 2025

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

It’s no secret that London can be very, very pricey if you’re not careful. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any options if you’re on a budget. Both big chains and beloved independents offer some very affordable rooms in the Capital – you just have to know where to look. Obviously, being ‘on a budget’ is pretty subjective, but every hotel on this list has rooms for under £200, with many starting under £100 – and even some shared dorms for £12 per person.  Every hotel highlighted here by Time Out’s experts is good value; whether that be because of its location, design, or quite simply, the price. Staying in one of these will give you the kind of buzz only a good deal can deliver. So get booking and then use all the cash you’ve saved on more important stuff. Like, erm, going to the pub.  🛌 Our guide to the best Airbnbs in London Which area is best to stay in London for a good price?  Honestly, it depends on what you’re looking for. There’s cheap options in Shoreditch, just off the South Bank and even in the heart of the West End – so you can save and still be in walking distance to Theatreland or London’s best museums. Or, go further afield to find deals that way, in more residential areas further out. To get a better grip on your options, here’s our handy guide on where to stay in London.  How we curate our hotel lists Headed up by editor Joe Mackertich, our team at Time Out London spend their time reviewing hotels all over the Capital – new openings, old classics and ever

When someone utters the word ‘Wimbledon’, we’d bet big money that the first thing you think of is tennis. Normally a quieter part of town, SW19 erupts with energy every summer when it hosts the mighty Wimbledon Tennis Championships (one of the oldest and most prestigious sports tournaments in the world), with thousands of people queuing for tickets from four in the morning, roaming around in their all-white fits and guzzling down plastic cups of Pimms. When the crowds disperse, Wimbledon is once again demoted to simply being somewhere very, very far away from the rest of London.  🏘️ Ultimate guide to where to stay in London But we’re here to assure you that Wimbledon is actually worth the trek year-round, and it has loads more going for it beyond racket sports. There’s the homely pubs, the locally loved restaurants, the underrated theatres and the lush green plains. Yes, it feels a world away from the cool hordes of Hackney and the hectic hubbub of Camden, but when you need a little breather from the city without actually leaving the city, there are few places better. Go on – venture to the end of the District line and discover the best of what Wimbledon has to offer.  RECOMMENDED 🍽️ The best restaurants in Wimbledon🍺 The best bars and pubs in Wimbledon⬅️ The best things to do in west London📍 All of Time Out London’s area guides

Greece is, quite simply, king of the holidays. It’s a country full of sprawling cities, beautiful islands and some of the best beaches in the entire world, and the food? Don’t even get us started on the food. There’s a hell of a lot of islands, and our editors have been to a hell of a lot of them, but for the on-the-ground knowledge that only a local has, we’ve roped in our Greece expert Demetrios Ioannou, who grew up in Athens but has travelled all over the country. Whatever you’re looking for, here are the best places to visit in Greece.  Where should I go for my first time in Greece? We’re firm believers that everyone should go to Athens at least once in their lives. So if it’s your first time visiting the country, you should probably start there. But the good news is that in Greece, you can pretty much do it all. So don’t stay in Athens for a full week – spend a perfect weekend there before heading out on a ferry to Aegina, Poros, Hydra and more. If you’ve ticked off Athens already, consider Greece’s latest destination dupe, Paros, which is set to this year’s ‘new Santorini’ (just without the crowds).  📍 RECOMMENDED: Discover our ultimate guide to Greece Which is the best Greek island to visit? If we’re talking most popular, Santorini and Mykonos are always going to be top of the list. But Greece has more than 6,000 islands and islets, each with its own unique vibe and all worth visiting for entirely different reasons. Crete is Greece’s biggest island, in the south of th

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. 

What is it?  Technically several adjoining markets, this sprawl of stalls stretching from Camden Town tube to the Regent’s Canal is London’s fourth most popular visitor attraction. In its recent heyday, around 250,000 people came here every week to shop, sample street food and soak up the distinctive, still-grungy atmosphere. Camden Lock Market is an arts-and-crafts haven while the Stables Market is a trendy spot for everything from quirky furniture to fetish clothing. Nearby Buck Street Market on Camden High Street has had a shipping container revamp. As you saunter through the different markets, don’t be surprised to see grungy teenagers and old punks on the street corners. Camden feels more mainstream than it did in the ‘90s, but it’s still one of London’s most rock ‘n’ roll neighbourhoods. Why go?  To get lost in a one-of-a-kind maze of art, garms, antiques, accessories, books and endless street food.  Don’t miss The Cheese Bar – London’s only fully fromage focused restaurant – for all manner of gooey, cheese-based delights in a classy, low lit space in Stables Market.  Ticket info  No tickets needed.  When to visit  Camden Markets are open everyday of the week from 10am until late.  Time Out tip If you find the lunch queues and options a bit too much in the main Camden Lock Market, cross the road to Buck Street Market where you’ll find food that is just as great and are more likely to find a free spot to sit.  RECOMMENDED: London’s best markets

London goes all out for Christmas. Now that we’re just four weeks away from the big day, dozens of Christmas markets have popped up across the city, hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights have been switched on and pantos have begun. Add London’s embrace of the festive season to that the fact that it’s is home to some of the finest hotels in the world, and it’s no surprise that one of our luxury establishments was just named the most Christmassy hotel in all of Europe.  We enlisted the help of travel writer and Christmas fanatic Clara Hogan to help us curate a list of Europe’s most festive hotels for 2025. Opulent institutions in Paris, Rome, Vienna and Switzerland all made the cut, but the number one spot went to London’s very own Claridge’s.  Clara said: ‘Claridge’s has been a Mayfair institution for over a century, and at Christmas it’s at its best. Art Deco marble gleams underneath garlands, afternoon teas are served beneath twinkling lights, and the atmosphere is so royal you half expect William or Kate to stroll past (it wouldn’t be the first time).’ The hotel runs a three-night festive package that runs from December 23 or 24 and includes mince pies and carrots for kids to place on the mantlepiece, a visit from Father Christmas and his elves, carol singing, a horse-drawn carriage ride around Mayfair and, of course, a hearty Christmas lunch. But the best thing about the luxury hotel at this time of year is its famous Christmas tree display, which has become a cultura

In case you haven’t already got the hint from all the mince pies on supermarket shelves, the pine trees in market squares and the fairy lights lining our high streets, Christmas is well on the way. And here’s another sure sign that the holidays are coming: Coca-Cola’s bright red illuminated truck is officially back for 2025.   Every year for the past 15 years, the Coca-Cola’s Christmas lorry has gone on a tour of the UK to ensure every part of the country gets in the festive spirit. It normally stops by 15 different areas across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, bringing with it games, exclusive merch and prizes, photo opportunities and, of course, ice cold cans of the fizzy stuff.  The iconic vehicle is now back on the road to mark the start of the 2025 festive season. To celebrate its return, the brand has partnered with hunger and food waste charity FareShare to donate 1 million meals to those who need it most.  Below is everything you need to know if you want to catch the Coca-Cola Christmas truck on its tour this year.  Coca-Cola truck locations and dates for 2025 We know that the truck will stop by 15 locations on it’s Christmas road trip 2025, but we don’t know all the specific stops. Coca-Cola normally keeps the route a secret until a day or two before arriving in each location.  First up for the truck was Edinburgh, where it had two stops last weekend. Here are all the stops that have been confirmed so far: Friday November 21: Bothasig Residential (12pm

When Forum Birmingham unexpectedly closed back in April, it was a major loss for the city’s nightlife. But the Forum-sized hole in the city’s nightlife wasn’t there long – just a month later, the venue’s operators had found a new home in Digbeth. Forum Digbeth launched in May at a former Roller Jam site in Digbeth, one of Time Out’s coolest neighbourhoods of 2025. Now, in even better news, it has revealed that the venue will double in size before the end of this year. On its website, Forum Digbeth is described as a ‘cutting-edge space for live music, club culture, and creative events’ with a ‘modular layout, advanced lighting and audio systems and adaptive production design’ that makes it ‘one of the most versatile venues in the Midlands’.  The club plans increase its capacity from 2,000 to 4,000 thanks to an adjoining warehouse space named the Annexe. Billy Chauhan of Global Venues, the club’s operator, said: ‘The Annexe lets us deliver the scale, production and atmosphere that major artists and promoters are demanding from Birmingham. We’re doubling capacity because the city is ready for it; the audience is here, the ambition is here, and we’re committed to leading from the front.’ The Annexe will open on December 20 with an event hosted by Cru2. Then, it’ll host a New Year’s Eve party with Dnb Allstars.  ICYMI: Legendary nightclub Sankeys is returning to Manchester.  Plus: Find out which UK club nights were crowned the best in 2025.  Stay in the loop: sign up to our free T

Not all Christmas markets are created equal. While some are cosy labyrinths full of brilliant food and festivities, others feel overcrowded, over-commercial and generally overrated. Ideally, you want to know before going to a Christmas market whether it will be worth the trip or not. That’s where Which? comes in.  The consumer advice company has listed the nine best Christmas markets in the UK for 2025, based on a survey of more than 4,000 people. The survey ranked city markets according to things like food and cultural sights – both things that can help lift a festive fair from good to great.  First up on Which?’s list (though it’s not ranked in any particular order) is Bath Christmas Market, which turns 25 this year. More than 200 chalets will pop up in Bath’s historic city centre offering everything from garden sculptures to knitwear to gifts for pets. Obviously, there’ll be loads of grub from local businesses to dig into too, including including foraged jams and festive baked goods.  Bath’s market also features on Time Out’s pick of the UK greatest markets. With its UNESCO-protected Regency and Georgian architecture, we reckon it’s one of the most picturesque festive fairs in Europe. Another Time Out favourite that also made it onto Which?’s list was Winchester Cathedral Christmas Market. It sees around 100 Alpine-style stalls set up outside of the city’s stunning cathedral (the longest medieval cathedral in the world) selling all kinds of edible and non-edible goodies.

2025 has been a big year for music. New York indie band Geese had a spectacular international breakthrough with the release of their fourth album Getting Killed, TikTok star Addison Rae made her pop-star debut and Lily Allen came back on the scene with a vengeance. But which albums stood out above all the rest? Well, Time Out’s editors and contributors have had their say. We just published our ranking of the year’s top records, picking out 25 of 2025’s highest-calibre releases. Time Out’s album of the year for 2025 is... Choke Enough by Oklou. Contributing writer Chiara Wilkinson, who nominated the record, wrote: ‘For a long time, French musician Oklou was gatekept by the nerdy and the chronically online. Her debut mixtape Galore was beloved by various internet communities for its futuristic mish-mash of ambient pop textures and dreamy, airy synths. ‘Choke Enough feels like a softening, an intentional evolution of her classically-inflected, post-internet world-building that has led to Oklou’s stature growing immensely. There’s a distance to her sound throughout this record – it’s like walking in a haze, not quite seeing where you’re going but feeling your way anyway – and the result is something beautiful, confident and entirely Oklou’s own.’ Image: courtesy of the artist If you’ve yet to listen to Oklou, start off with the standout track from the album ‘Blade Bird’, in which ‘Oklou’s computerised veil slips away, the lyrics raw and vulnerable, her vocals almost naked’.  O

The Christmas festivities are really starting to ramp up now. Across London, the Christmas trees are up, festive sandwiches are on the menu, lights are sparkling above our streets and markets are open for business. People will be out in droves over the coming weeks to sort out their Christmas shopping, and one neighbourhood is shutting down to vehicles for a day to make the experience a little bit easier.  From 11.30am until 7pm on December 6, Seven Dials will be entirely free of vehicles. The pedestrianisation is for ‘Festive Saturday’, which will see the streets of Seven Dials fill with gifting experiences, in-store activations, special discounts and complimentary treats.  If you stick around until 6pm, you’ll catch the community carol service led by the Some Voices choir, underneath the Seven Dials Sundial Pillar. There’ll be mulled wine, mince pies and song sheets on hand for passersby.  It’s part of Covent Garden’s wider ‘The Theatre of Christmas’ campaign, so why not combine it with a stroll to see the piazza’s 55ft Christmas tree, light installation and pop-ups? And around the corner Regent’s Street is also being transformed into a car-free destination for the day, with all sorts of festivities, pop-ups and special offers from 2pm until 9pm.  Got Christmas shopping to do? Find great gifts at one of Time Out’s 50 best shops in London.  ICYMI: New maps show how Oxford Street will go car-free.  Plus: The glitzy London shopping street that is now officially the most expens

You can pack a lot onto a single London street. One moment you may stroll past an historic cultural institution, the next you might find yourself outside a trendsetting club or breathing in aromas from a locally-loved family food joint. The eclectic mishmash that lines London’s roads is part of what makes it so great, so it only makes sense that one of them made it onto Time Out’s list of the coolest streets in the world.  Blackstock Road, the 1km street running from Finsbury Park to Highbury, has been crowned one of Time Out’s coolest streets in the world for 2025. It ranked 23rd in the global list, between cool corridors in Buenos Aires and Cape Town. From storied bars to old-school pubs, cult takeaways to hipster stores, wholesome family-run caffs to shiny award-winning restaurants, Blackstock truly has it all.  RECOMMENDED: I lived on Blackstock Road and I will never get over it.  Time Out’s things to do editor Rosie Hewitson said: ‘Blackstock Road represents everything that’s great about London. A bustling artery running from the lively and chaotic transport hub of Finsbury Park to the leafy, Georgian terraced streets of Highbury Fields, this 1km stretch is a fabulous showcase of the melange of cultures and vibes that make this city great.’ Rosie gave special mentions to unassuming Uyghur restaurant Dilara, hole-in-the-wall Kurdish takeaway Baban’s Naan, Ethiopian deli St Gabriel, late-night Jewish spot The Happening Bagel Bakery and Bib Gourmand-winning Thai joint Faran

Plain old chocolate advent calendars just don’t cut the mustard anymore. Who wants tiny choc reindeer each December morning when you can get mini cans of cocktails, cute tubs of caviar, little tubes of lipstick or wedges of cheese instead? You name it, there’s probably an advent calendar out there full of it. With such an abundance of options, Time Out has tried and tested a load of advent calendars from some of our favourite London brands, so that we can let you know which ones are really worth it.  And our top pick for the countdown to Christmas 2025 is... MOTH’s Cocktail Advent Calendar. For £79, behind its doors are 24 ready-made cocktails ranging from 125ml to 200ml, including margaritas, espresso martinis, cosmopolitans and piña coladas.   Liv Kelly, Time Out staff writer and chief advent calendar judge, said: ‘MOTH’s 24-door cocktail cal is one hell of a way to celebrate the run-up to Christmas. Not only does it include 24 bar-strength cocktails, but open a door to find a golden can and you’ll be the winner of the company’s comp to win £1,000 worth of cocktails.’  That’s right, it’s a gift that could keep on giving. There are 10 golden cans hidden across MOTH’s thousands of calendars. If you find one of them, you’ll have to submit a video of yourself it in order to claim all that booze. Dry Jan who?  Other special mentions in our roundup of advent calendars went to the Science Advent Calendar Volume 2 (the best for kids), the Artisan Cheese Advent Calendar from Paxton

Christmas is creeping ever closer. And while that means that we can finally dig into mighty festive sarnies, start opening our advent calendars and sit down for Christmas movie marathons, it also means that there’s a lot of shopping to do.  In order to save up for gifts, tree decorations and Christmas party bits, you’re probably watching your spending elsewhere – perhaps cutting back on nice meals out or saying no to a few pints in the week. But if you still want to keep your weekends in the run up to Christmas booked and busy, it doesn’t have to involve parting with your pennies.  Besides all the free stuff things you can do in London year-round, this weekend will see a number of brilliant parties and pop-ups that won’t cost you a thing. So, without further ado these are all the best free things happening across the capital city over the next three days.  📍 All of the other best things to do in London this weekend. 1. Explore the city’s finest festive markets  You’ve got oodles of time to visit Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park, Southbank Centre Winter Market or Leicester Square Christmas Market. But there are some Christmas markets worth checking out that are only around for a short window of time. The final weekend of November is one of your only opportunities to hit up the Urban Makers Christmas Market in Mile End, Finnish Church Christmas Fair in Rotherhithe, the Chelsea Physic Garden Christmas Fair, the Christmas Market at St Martins-in-the-Fields and the Merry and More

You might have heard the news that next year, for the first time in 30 years, rail fares across England will be staying exactly the same.  The government announced that it would be putting a freeze on regulated fares across the country to ‘ease the pressure on household finances and make travelling to work, school or to visit friends and family that bit easier’. But that freeze won’t apply all rail fares. Great news, right? Well, while it’s a good thing for anyone who regularly commutes into London from cities like Milton Keynes, Reading, Bath or Woking, there may not be benefits for Londoners themselves.  The price of public transport across London is overseen by the Mayor and City Hall, not central government. The Mayor is yet to reveal any updates on what tube and train fares Londoners will be paying next year, but it’s not looking promising.  Right now, City Hall says that it’s working to understand the implications of the national freeze. There are worries that the cap on regulated fares will put the burden on unregulated fares to cover any increase in operation costs.  On top of that, back in June an edict from the government told TfL that in return for a £2.2bn boost, it should increase prices by the RPI rate of inflation plus one percent every year until 2030. At the moment, it’s assumed that the rise in 2026, which would come into effect in March, will be around 5.8 percent. And it’s likely that if tube fares increase, so will the price of Travelcards.  Hina Bokhari

Love good tunes? Obsessed with surfing? Then you probably already know about Boardmasters – Cornwall’s huge music festival and surfing competition rolled into one.  In 2025, the festival’s stages were graced by the likes of RAYE, Rizzle Kicks, Central Cee and Nelly Furtado. Now, the first big names for next summer’s line-up have been revealed. And there are a lot of major throwbacks in there. Whether you’re nostalgic for lad rock, mourning the heyday of indie sleaze or you spent the nineties raving to big beat, Boardmasters 2026 has you covered.  Already picturing yourself suntanned and dancing on the Cornish coast? Here’s everything you need to know about the dates, headliners and tickets for Boardmasters 2026.  When is Boardmasters 2026?  Next year’s Boardmasters is happening on from Wednesday August 5 until Sunday August 9.  Where is Boardmasters 2026?  As ever, it’ll be held at the stunning Watergate Bay and Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall.  Boardmasters 2026 headliners  Your headliners for Boardmasters 2026 are laddish rockers Kasabian, legendary DJ Fatboy Slim, indie darlings The Kooks and laid-back rapper Loyle Carner.  Full confirmed line-up so far From noughties/2010s rappers Dizzee Rascal, Tinie Tempah and Example, to Time Out’s former Londoner of the Year DJAG, to internet stars Big John and Ibiza Final Boss, these are all the acts that have been announced for Boardmasters 2026 so far.  Fatboy Slim Kasabian The Kooks Loyle Carner REN Tash Sultana

Blakeney Point in Norfolk is home to England’s largest colony of grey seals. There are roughly 15,000 seals that call the salt marsh, a National Nature Reserve, home and, of course, part of the reason they do so well there is the fact that there are no humans around to disturb their peace. But that doesn’t mean we can’t admire them from a distance.  This time of year offers one of the most impressive sights to behold on Blakeney Point. From the end of October until early January the colony comes ashore as thousands of adorable pups are born. And this year, for the very first time, the public can witness it via a live webcam.  The solar-powered camera, which is hidden away in the beach’s grassy dunes, was trialled for the first time last year and is the only responsible way to see the colony besides an expert-led boat trip. The National Trust, which oversees the site, says that ‘some of the highlights included a live seal birth, cows suckling their pups and bulls vying for dominance and the chance to mate with the females’.  Image: National Trust It’s estimated that around 9,000 pups are born during Blakeney Point’s pupping season each year. The female seals (AKA cows) suckle their newborns for around three weeks, during which they start to moult the fluffy white coat they were born with. After they’re weaned, the pups to fend for themselves – they grow their short waterproof coat and can enter the water to catch fish.  Shortly after each cow is done weaning her pup, mating