Annie McNamee

Sure, winter has its perks. Cosying up by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate in hand is lovely. Big woolen jumpers are ever-chic. But there’s no warm, fuzzy feeling that comes close to feeling actual warmth. In our eyes, you just can’t beat the sunshine: sitting on a rooftop terrace, ice-cold cocktail in hand… bonus points if everyone back home is stuck with endless grey drizzle. There are plenty of places across the world still basking in glorious sunshine from October to February. Our list of the best winter sun destinations this year spans six continents and five months, giving you 20 recommendations for the very best places you can visit during the winter months. Whether it’s Thai beaches, African safaris or sunny city breaks in Europe, we’ve got you covered. The best winter sun destinations at a glance: 🏖️ Best for beaches: Thailand 🏙️ Best for a city break: Cape Town, South Africa 🌡️ Warmest in Europe: Tenerife, Spain 🐘 Best for wildlife: Namibia 🎭 Best for an arty break: Cartagena, Colombia 🍜 Best for food: Vietnam At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines and check out our latest travel guides written by local experts. RECOMMENDED:☀️ Europe’s 10 best winter sun destinations

This list is from 2024. Our latest ranking for 2025 is live here. In 2024, what exactly makes a neighbourhood cool? Craft breweries, natty wine bars and street art are well and good, but the world’s best, most exciting and downright fun neighbourhoods are much more than identikit ‘hipster hubs’. They’re places that reflect the very best of their cities – its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink – all condensed in one vibey, walkable district. To create our annual ranking, we went straight to the experts – our global team of on-the-ground writers and editors – and asked them what the coolest neighbourhood in their city is right now, and why. Then we narrowed down the selection and ranked the list using the insight and expertise of Time Out’s global editors, who vetted each neighbourhood against criteria including food, drink, arts, culture, street life, community and one-of-a-kind local flavour. The result? A list that celebrates the most unique and exciting pockets of our cities – and all their quirks. Yes, you’ll find some of those international hallmarks of ‘cool’. But in every neighbourhood on this list there’s something you won’t find anywhere else. Ever been to a photography museum that moonlights as a jazz club? Or a brewery with a library of Russian literature? How about a festival dedicated to fluff? When communities fiercely support and rally around their local businesses, even the most eccentric ideas can become a reality. And that, in our eyes, is

On March 25, 1925, at London’s Selfridges department store in central London, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird made the first public demo of his latest creation: a way to broadcast visual information from a camera to a screen. A full century later, Baird’s discovery has led to perhaps the most vital, creative and popular mode of artistic expression in the entire world. But it’s only in the past 25 years that television has really fulfilled its artistic potential.  The result has been the so-called ‘Golden Age of Television’, a boom kickstarted roughly around the turn of the century with the rise of shows like The Sopranos and later Breaking Bad, and continuing with awards-winners from Succession to Shōgun to Slow Horses. So while our list of the 100 greatest TV shows may pay tribute to the unmissable programs of yesteryear, you’ll find that the majority hail from our own century – meaning there’s no excuse not to watch every single one. Paring the list down to only 100 was a painful process, so we decided to omit sketch shows, talk shows, news and non-fiction in order to focus on scripted drama and classic comedy. Time to go goggle-eyed. Recommended: 🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far)🍎 The best shows to watch on Apple TV+ right now📺 The best Netflix original series to binge🎮 The best ‘90s TV shows

This bustling coastal city is absolutely steeped in history, maritime heritage, and of course, there's loads to see. It’s roots date back as far as the Stone Age, and its first ever museum (the Tudor House) remains a top attraction, with gorgeous gardens and guided tours on offer.  There’s plenty of modern-day action too, with a treasured football team, The Saints, and their fans bringing life to the city on match day. Southampton is also only a 20-minute drive away from the New Forest, or a ferry-ride away from the Isle of Wight, there's plenty going on that makes this city worth a visit. Check out our list of top picks for all the best things to do in Southampton.  RECOMMENDED:  🚆The best day trips from London⛰️ The best things to in the New Forest🏖️ The best seaside towns in the UK💕 The best things to do in the UK Annie McNamee is a writer at Time Out UK. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

This is about the time when the January blues start to hit pretty hard. It’s dark at 4pm, you’ve got no money left after Christmas and winter feels like it’s dragging on forever. But we’re here to tell you that things are looking up, because 2025 is going to be a corker of a year for the UK.  It turns out that 2025 is going to be a bit of a big one, with a number of landmark occasions being celebrated across Britain. There’s Jane Austen’s 250th birthday in Southampton, as well as the art-packed Folkestone Triennial, a celebration of 200 years of the British railway in York and Bradford’s 2025 City of Culture festivities. Then, there are up-and-coming foodie towns in Cornwall, music scenes that are popping off in Cardiff and Belfast, and the reopening of grand cultural insitutions like the Tate Liverpool.  If there’s ever been a good time to book a trip, it’s now (it might even help keep some SAD at bay). There is so much fantastic stuff happening across the country this year, so read our list curated by local experts of the best places to visit in the UK in 2025, and get stuck in.  RECOMMENDED: 🇬🇧 The 25 best new things to do in the UK in 2025📍The 12 most underrated city breaks in the UK 🏨 The UK’s 13 best new hotels opening in 2025👨‍👩‍👧 6 amazing places to stay with Kids in the UK

If people make Glasgow, music is what fuels it. The city's music scene was thriving long before the rest of it had caught up, with places like the Barrowlands and the Old Fruit Market offering locals good, cheap live music when general attitudes of Glasgow were, let's just say, less than favourable.  But those days are behind us, and Scotland's biggest city is now known across the UK for its vibrant cultural heritage, nightlife, and, of course, its music scene. Whether you're looking for an arena of people to scream along your favourite songs with, or a small makeshift stage at the back of a bar to find your new favourite band, Glasgow's got you sorted. Fair warning though: crowds here are famously rowdy. They're a lot of fun, but don't be surprised if you end up beer-soaked. Oh, and brush up on our local chants. You don't want to be the only person not shouting along with 'here we, here we, here we f'ing go!'. 

History has it that Pollokshaws Road was once home to a merry band of Flemish weavers – known as the ‘Queer Folk’ – who were brought over to work in the city during the 19th century by local landowners. These days it’s still a thriving creative hub, threading down Glasgow’s Southside and linking up the districts of Govanhill, Strathbungo and Shawlands. Rows of sandstone tenements loom over traffic separated by wide pavements, behind which stand ornate townhouses designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. There’s a juicy chunk of Pollokshaws Road where bars, cafés and boutiques jostle for space; pick it up from Allison Street and wander down past Queen’s Park. Since it’s a largely residential area, there’s a distinct feel of community – something that’s enhanced by the indie businesses that have popped up over the past few years. In particular it’s a brunch haven, with queues leaking out of living-room-sized cafés come rain or shine. You can also expect to find organic fruit and veg at Stalks & Stems, a fresh produce emporium with a florist next door, and (almost) a different coffee shop for every day of the week. It’s not all hipster territory, though. Punters tired of mustachioed baristas and bar staff will be cheered by the decent selection of old man pubs complete with smoked-glass windows. Recommended: Full guide to the best things to do in Glasgow

How easily could you be persuaded to shave off an eyebrow, or take a shot for every stair you climbed? Perhaps you’d feel more compelled if you were half a bottle of ‘Chicken Wine’ deep, 18, and surrounded by new friends that you were trying to impress? If you attended university in the UK you might have an uncomfortable feeling of deja-vu, perhaps being whisked back to the time you were ‘hazed’ as a first year student. If you didn’t, you’ve likely heard the rumours about former prime ministers getting it on with pigs, or rugby teams shoving carrots in places vegetables should never go. Hazing, or ‘initiation’ as it more commonly goes by this side of the Atlantic, is a practice which usually consists of ritualistically embarrassing rookie members of a given group in order for them to prove themselves. It’s also nothing new. There’s evidence of rowdy schoolboys dating as far back as 420 BCE when Plato recounted ‘practical jokes played by unruly young men’ which left both spectators and haze-ees injured. Somehow, this bizarre custom has survived the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the birth of Jesus Christ, several international plagues and found a home for itself in the modern age on university campuses. But for the past decade or so, hazing’s millenia-long reign has been threatened by a generation who supposedly care more about their physical and mental health than they do about banter and ritual humiliation. Today, hazing has met its match: Generation Z. So what do these

You might never want to leave Edinburgh, and we get it. The Scottish capital is loved the world over for its culture, restaurants and Fringe Festival (to name a few). But if you limit your time in Scotland to just Edinburgh, trust us, you’re missing out.  Scotland is full of gems, but the best part is a whole lot of them can be reached by train or car in just one day – with enough time left to get back in time for dinner. From hilly hikes to wide-open beaches and from pretty towns to full-blown city breaks, these day trips from Edinburgh are not to be missed. Here are our favourites.  RECOMMENDED:🌤️ The best things to do in Edinburgh 🎨 The best art galleries in Edinburgh🏰 The best attractions in Edinburgh🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Edinburgh This guide was updated by Edinburgh-based Arusa Quereshi, and Time Out editors. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

What words come to mind when we mention the Olympics? Prestige? Excellence? Medals? Or is it: ‘Grom’?  The Olympic games have been around for nearly three millennia. As the entire planet tunes in to watch as the top sports people compete for those coveted gold medals, there’s some stuff you’ll probably want to get your head around to make the most of your viewing experience: jargon for you normies to weave into your vocab that will have you sounding like proper Olympic pros in no time.  RECOMMENDED:How to watch the Paris 2024 Olympics in the UK for freeHere’s the full schedule and timings for the Summer Games We’ve done some digging and unearthed some 100 percent real words and phrases that will almost certainly be used by professional Olympians and commentators across the next few weeks. What’s more, there’s something inherently funny about words which sound out of place to the average Joe. There’s nothing worth giggling about hearing the word ‘jaeger’ at a bar (especially as it’s usually followed by a friend trying to convince you to neck a shot of sweet battery acid and gone-off liquorice), but watching it earnestly come out of the mouth of a world-class gymnast? Now that’s entertainment. So what are you waiting for? Brush up on your sporty lingo and drop these into convo next time you’re watching the Games to impress your mates. Skateboarding  ‘Goofy stance’: Refers to when a skateboarder has their left foot on the back of the board. Also used in surfing and snowboarding

You remember the days. Assuring your friend that she definitely looks like her older cousin’s co-worker, especially with a ponytail in. Hovering awkwardly around the corner from the off-license as your one 18-year-old pal does God’s work for the rest of you. The pit in your tummy as you recite a fake birthday to the bouncer of a sticky-floored nightclub – remembering your star sign, memorising your imaginary postcode – and the elated relief when he lets you in with a raised eyebrow and a reluctant nod. Finding increasingly inventive ways to get around age-restrictions was half the fun of being 17, but today’s teens seem to be going off going out altogether. ‘You definitely see fake IDs less than you used to,’ says one bouncer at a popular student nightclub in Bristol. When he started working at the venue a decade ago, he’d encounter a load of fakes on any given night – but not so much anymore. ‘The worst one I ever saw had the back on upside down,’ he says. ‘The ones we do see are getting a lot better and it can be harder to catch them. But they’re definitely rarer now.’ Something has certainly shifted. A few weeks ago, as I walked through the Triangle, Bristol’s premier hotspot for stumbling freshers and lovers of three for two Jägerbombs, I noticed that the local Sainsbury’s was busier than all of the clubs combined. Two years ago, dancefloors would’ve been filling up at 11pm on a Monday. This wasn’t a fluke: since that night, two of the clubs in question have closed their

For all of the stick we give the UK – the grey skies, the pigeons, the Greggs sausage roll packets littering the pavements – it’s actually a pretty gorgeous country. In London alone, you can be goggling over the Barbican’s brutalist beauty one moment, the next, you might be basking in the tranquility of Hampstead Ponds. Add the turquoise coasts of Cornwall, the rugged mountains of Snowdonia and the fairytale wonder of Scotland’s highlands and islands to the mix, and you’ve got a country which is as good looking as they come.  When we set about curating this list of the most beautiful places in the UK, we called on our network of expert travel writers. These guys have have personally experienced the pinch-me moment of seeing every place on this list IRL – so we can guarantee you there is no catfishing going on here. Of course, you’ll find the usual suspects – you can’t argue with the magic of the Isle of Skye, after all – but you’ll also find some more surprising beauty spots to add to your travel bucket list. RECOMMENDED:🚂 The UK’s most beautiful train stations🇬🇧 The best things to do in the UK🏝 The most beautiful places in the world🏠 The best Airbnbs in the UK Chiara Wilkinson is Time Out’s UK features editor, based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content

You’ve been here before. Almost.  With a clientele which would be perfect for a Love Island spin-off featuring exclusively people with ‘entrepreneur’ in their bios and a healthy amount of exposed pipework, The Counter is what those in the know would probably call ‘trendy’. Its dim lights, small plate selection, and strategically chipped brick feature wall put it on the verge of parodically hip, but a glance at its menu and a quick chat with any member of its team reveal it to be much more down to Earth than some of its equally Instagrammable peers. If you close your eyes you can almost feel the Istanbuli breeze flowing through your hair The sense of deja-vu you feel may not be coming solely from its open-plan bar though. Chef Kemal Demirasal’s first UK venture, opened up two years ago in Notting Hill to much success. Originally from Turkey, he’s taken much of the charm of the original joint (as well as its most popular recipes and excellent cocktails) and transported it to Kingly Street – and combined it with a series of fresh ideas and a lot of seafood. Fresh is definitely the operative word. The cocktails are infused with real fruit. The tomatoes have been imported from Turkey. There’s sort-of-caviar sprinkled on avocado-topped fish. If you close your eyes and just bite, you can almost feel the Istanbuli breeze flowing through your hair. A series of enthusiastic staff members recommended a variety of dishes to us. Some, like the tomato salad or prawns, were familiar classi

Here’s some slightly intimidating news: you’ve only got seven weekends left before Christmas. That might sound like a lot, but we all know it’ll come around sooner than you think. Now’s the perfect time to start thinking about what you’ll have for your Christmas dinner, and how you can stock up on pigs in blankets without breaking the bank. Luckily, there’s good news for Londoners on the hunt for some budget-friendly groceries: two new Aldi stores will arrive in the capital by mid-December. It’s part of a huge investment from the company, which announced earlier this year that it would be opening one new store a week until the end of 2025, and we now know exactly where they’re going to be – discover the full list of upcoming UK locations here. Sixteen Aldis will open across the UK between today (November 7) and December 12, with two set for London. One new branch – Fulham Broadway – launched back in September, so these will be the second and third openings in the capital in the span of four months. That’s a pretty impressive ratio. Old Kent Road, the Southwark road and cheapest property in Monopoly, Kentish Town and Uxbridge will be the locations of the new stores. We don’t have exact dates for when they’ll open yet, but they will definitely be up and running in time to do your Christmas groceries. Once they are in business, there will be an impressive 52 branches of the low-cost supermarket in the Big Smoke. And more could be coming in 2026, as the company has plans to conti

Grab your popcorn: the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) has just revealed its shortlist for the Cinema of the Year 2025, and one of the final five is only an hour away from London. BIFA was established in 1998 to celebrate all of the time and passion that goes into independent film in the UK, from concept to set to the editing suite, and now, for the first time ever, right to point of distribution. This year it has introduced an award for Cinema of the Year, as voted for by you. The organisation is particularly interested in breaking down barriers and creating a more inclusive industry, so all of the nominated cinemas have made substation commitments to their communities, sustainability, and accessibility. 130 indie movie theatres entered, but only five made it into the shortlist. One of the finalists, the Depot Cinema, is in Lewes, a cute East Sussex town which Time Out previously described as ‘the sleepier, quainter, more poetic neighbour to Brighton’. BIFA aren’t the first to recognise the cinema’s excellence – we also named attending one of Depot’s three annual film festivals as one of the best things to do in the town. Photograph: Depot Cinema, LewesArtwork lines the walls of Depot’s screens As well as screening all the blockbusters and must-see releases that every cinema does, Depot makes an effort to showcase smaller independent films, as well as opera, ballet, and theatre screenings. It also hosts frequent events, for instance the upcoming Phantom of the Opera

Back before there were affordable flights or holiday parks, most Brits went to the UK seaside for their summer holidays. People flocked from inland to enjoy the water and the sand, and, if they were lucky, a pier full of games and attractions. Only a few Victorian piers are still standing today, and most of them are in need of some serious TLC, including the Grade-II listed wooden promenade in Southport. It’s an uphill battle for any pier to access enough funding to save itself from rot and ruin, but luckily for Southport a £20 million pledge from the government has secured its future. Dating back the 1860s, Southport Pier is the second longest in the country at 1.1 kilometres, and brings an estimated £15 million to the local economy every year. Or it did, before it was shut down in 2022 due to safety concerns. Since then it’s sat completely untouched, except for a minor fire in August caused by faulty electrics. Photograph: Dave0 / Shutterstock.com Marion Atkinson, the leader of the local Sefton council, told the BBC that the pier is ‘a structure with a rich history’, but that a ‘poor refurbishment programme.. left [it] very vulnerable’. That scheme, which was carried out in 2002 for £7 million added a tram, but did not adequately future-proof the structure. But that was more than two decades ago, and things are looking more positive today. Improvement works are due to begin in 2026, with a view to reopen by mid 2027. The entire pier will be refurbished, including reinforc

When you book a hotel, what are you looking for? A comfy bed? A hearty breakfast? Most people just want a good night’s sleep, but even the least fussy of travellers seem to have problems with Britannia Hotels, which has just been named the country’s worst rated hotel chain for the 12th year in a row. Every year, consumer choice site Which? undertakes a huge audit of all of Britain’s major hotel providers. It asks a panel of customer reviewers to rate each company on eight different criteria, ranging from cleanliness to quality of bathrooms to value for money, then adds in how likely people were to recommend the hotel to give each an overall score out of 100. This year, only three of the 32 chains in the study were named ‘Which? Recommended providers’, with Premier Inn losing that seal of approval due to rising costs, but one thing remained the same: customers don’t like Britannia Hotels. Britannia didn’t get more than two out of five stars in any category, achieving the dreaded one star rating for both cleanliness and bedrooms. Overall, it only had a 44 percent approval rating, making it the only company to have the majority of customers say they wouldn’t recommend it to a friend. A glance at its TrustPilot and TripAdvisor ratings tells a similar story – a recent review on TrustPilot warned potential customers to ‘avoid at all costs’, while another described it as ‘without doubt the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed at’. On TripAdvisor one customer said that the overall quality of

We’re officially in the part of the year when you’re planning for Christmas and the New Year, and starting to think about 2026. Will you make a set of resolutions? Maybe you want to eat healthier, get into baking, or travel more. If your goal is to see more of the most jaw-dropping places on Earth, we’ve got great news: you don’t need to go far, because one Scottish island was just named one of the best places to go in Europe for 2026 by posh travel publication Condé Nast Traveller (CNT). Islay is often overshadowed by some of Scotland’s more famous islands – Skye and Harris, we’re looking at you – but it’s got just as much to offer by way of stunning views. It’s also famous for being home to whisky distilleries that brew some of the best peaty drinks in the world. It’s no surprise, then, that CNT sums up the reason for visiting the island with three simple words: whisky, whisky, whisky. The magazine added that next year is the ideal time to visit because ‘openings are rare in the Hebrides, but 2026 brings a raft of exciting spots’ to explore. One such opening is the Laggan Bay Distillery, which is set to begin business sometime in the next two months. This beachfront brewery is part of an exciting collab between Edinburgh Gin and Glengoyne, making it one of ‘most newsworthy stor[ies] of the year’ for Islay. Just down the road, Portintruan, another brand new addition to the whisky catalogue, is coming soon. Photograph: Shutterstock CNT is not the first publication to recogn

You can track the passage of time by the seasons, or the rise and fall of the sun, or Capital’s summertime/winter balls. Twice every year, Capital FM takes over Wembley Stadium or the O2: once for the Summertime Ball, and another for the Jingle Bell Ball. We’ve officially reached Jingle Bell season, and earlier today (November 5) the first round of artists for this year’s festive party were revealed live on air. The ball will take place this year at the O2 Arena on Saturday December 6 and Sunday December 7, with a different star-studded line each night. Yesterday (November 5) we found out who will be playing on the 6th, and this morning (November 6) we discovered who is scheduled for the 7th. This year some huge names will be heading to the O2, Capital radio host Jordan North said to expect ‘massive surprises and more festive sparkle than ever’, so it should be a good one. Tickets will go on sale later this week (and likely sell out very quickly) – here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 Capital Jingle Bell Ball. Capital Jingle Bell Ball 2025 line-up The lineup this year is pretty huge. Ed Sheeran and RAYE (a former Time Out cover star) will headline on Saturday December 6, but there are loads of other brilliant musicians who you’ll also be able to see. Here’s everyone who has been confirmed for the Capital Jingle Bell Ball on December 6: Ed Sheeran RAYE (featuring her sisters Absolutely and Amma) Anne-Marie Leigh-Anne Rizzle Kicks Mimi Webb Moliy Sonny Fodera Ales

Pubs are at the centre of British society. Boozers are places to eat, drink, go on dates, watch sports, head after work, make new friends, or sit alone with a cold pint: basically, in the UK, community begins at the pub. For that reason you’re probably pretty loyal to your local, but if you are looking to branch out, the Good Food Guide has a few recommendations. The Good Food Guide has been ranking the best of British food and drinks since the 1950s. After more than 70 years in business, 2025 was the first year that the guide decided to rank the nation’s pubs, publishing the inaugural list of Britain’s 100 Best Pubs. The Highland Laddie, an old-school boozer in Leeds with a film-worthy backstory, came first overall, praised for offering customers ‘exactly what a pub should’. You can read more about its win here. But the Laddie is not the only place worth visiting. In fact, there are 99 other brilliant bars spread right across the UK (except Northern Ireland) that the Good Food Guide thinks you should try out. Of course, this is still a food guide, so each of these venues will also offer both good drinks and a delicious menu. Many are ‘at the forefront of the British dining scene’, and have made the cut because they come complete with ‘approachable, affordable cooking of the highest order’. In short, each has ‘real ales, wonderful warmth and brilliant cooking’. Although a lot of the entrants are in the south of England, there’s an impressive variety of locales served by the 1

Oxford is famous for being home to some of the smartest people on Earth, but not all of those clever clogses work at the ancient university. There are several other foundations and institutes based there, and one of them – the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) – is getting a brand new campus on the outskirts of the city. It will come complete with its very own train station, which is part of a new government-backed project to reopen a disused railway line. Littlemore station will form part of a wider project to bring back the Cowley branch, a suburban line in south-east Oxford which would link several local communities with the city centre, and with London. Only Littlemore station will be designed by Foster + Partners, the architects creating the new EIT campus. The EIT is a research institute with a goal to ‘[translate] scientific discovery into real world impact’ by ‘combining cutting-edge research and commercial capability’. In simple terms, it's full of a lot of very brainy people who are working to create tech for the healthcare, farming, energy, and AI industries which are profitable for businesses and good for humanity. It’s funded by Larry Ellison, an American tech giant who is currently the second richest man on Earth. Image: Foster + Partners An organisation with ambitions that lofty is deserving of an equally inspiring base, which is why the EIT has teamed up with world-famous architects Foster + Partners to design its brand new Oxford campus. For the uniniti

Got next year’s summer holiday sorted yet? Maybe you haven’t given it any thought, or maybe you’re waiting for Black Friday to grab a good deal. Either way, you could probably do with some travel inspo to get the creativity flowing, so grab a coffee (or a cocktail, if you really want to get in the mood), because Skyscanner is ready to help. The flight comparison website has dug into its own data to uncover the best-value destinations for 2026 travel. The list highlights the places that have seen a big year-on-year price drop, based on the cost of a return plane ticket in 2024 vs 2025. SkyScanner’s in-house travel experts have handpicked ten spots to curate a definitive list of the best-value holiday destinations for next year. There are a few reasons a flight might be more affordable now than in the past; new routes open up, budget airlines resume old routes, or demand just falls for some reason. Skyscanner reminds travellers to keep their eyes peeled for cheap tickets, saying ‘flight prices move like any other market. When demand dips, prices often drop to spark interest… Timing, as always, is everything’. And right now, Skyscanner recommends buying a ticket to Cologne, Germany. Flight prices have dropped a whopping 44 percent since last year for this buzzy city, described as ‘a city that fuses gothic grandeur with edgy contemporary culture’ by the airline comparison site. It also recommends you visit in February during the Carnival, ‘a pre-Lent celebration worth timing a tr

In case you’ve somehow missed it: Lily Allen is back, in a pretty explosive way. After several years without new music, the songstress returned to the airwaves last week with West End Girl, a 44-minute long chronicle, in excruciating detail, of the breakdown of her marriage. The album has been a huge hit, with fans and critics alike lauding it as a career-best, and giving gossip bloggers enough fodder to get them to Christmas. Now, Lily has announced that she’s going to be taking the album around the UK, on her first tour in seven years. Appropriately, the tour is titled ‘Lily Allen Performs West End Girl’. This tour will be slightly different – instead of traditional gig venues she’ll perform to theatres and concert halls, playing the entire album front-to-back, in order. Each venue has been personally chosen by Lily as the perfect places ‘to showcase her new material’. Want to see Lily Allen live in the UK 2026? Here’s everything you need to know. When is Lily Allen going on tour in the UK? Lily will be touring throughout March 2026, with the opening night in Glasgow on March 2 and the big finale in London on March 21. What tour dates have been confirmed so far? Fourteen UK dates have been confirmed so far, including three nights in the London Palladium where you’ll be able to see West End Girl in the titular West End. Allen initially only announced two dates in the capital, but a further night was added.  Here are all of the dates for Lily Allen’s 2026 tour: March 2: Glas

There’s a common misconception that art galleries are pretentious, stuffy places full of people who will judge you for not knowing your abstract impressionists from your pre-Raphaelites – but that’s not the case (most of the time). The art world is vibrant and constantly evolving to celebrate new styles and mediums; for example a brand new gallery is set to open in London next year dedicated entirely to illustration. The aptly named Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is coming to Clerkenwell next May, and it’s set to be the biggest venue of its kind in the world. Its founder and namesake, Sir Quentin Blake, is one of the most prolific British illustrators of all time, having drawn the covers for most of Roald Dahl’s novels and countless other children’s books over his near-60-year career. An 18th century building previously used for waterworks will house the new centre, which will be made up of three different galleries, a library, ‘learning spaces, and introductory displays to illustration’. And, of course, most important of all – there will be a gift shop and a café. The first major exhibition will be MURUGIAH: Ever Feel Like…, the inaugural solo show for one of illustration’s most exciting rising stars. The display will ‘delve into the artist’s kaleidoscopic, sometimes macabre world’ as Murugiah ‘brings together his eclectic love of Hollywood film, sci-fi, Japanese anime and 2000s era pop-punk’. Nora WalterThe terrace at the new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration M

As we all know from Legoland’s miniature recreation of London, taking normal-sized things and making them small is a winning formula. And it’s a formula that has worked for the Glenfield Railway Tunnel in Leicestershire, which has seen an increase in visitor numbers since it installed a miniature railway this June. Thrillseekers and railways lovers alike can now enjoy the tunnel on wheels, as the tiny train is actually built for humans to ride through nearly a third of the one-mile-long tunnel. Okay, this little train might not be taking customers from Alton Towers, but it is a cool way to explore a bit of local Leicestershire history. The tunnel was originally built nearly 200 years ago in 1832, and was, at that time, the longest of its kind in the world. In the 1960s Leicester City Council bought it for the bargain price of £5, and it’s now managed by the Leicestershire Industrial History Society (LIHS). Before the miniature railway came along, no passengers had travelled along the line in just under a century. Tours have proven very popular, with LIHS saying that visitor numbers have more than doubled since it started offering the pint-sized experience. The society’s chairman, Rodger Gaunt, said that interest ‘has been far beyond what we could have imagined’, adding: ‘We think the tunnel is a hidden gem, so we're all very pleased to show it off’. The tours, and railway rides, are free, but the society does ask for a donation which goes towards operating costs and keeping t