Annie McNamee

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.

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

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 it's 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 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. 

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

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 what makes a neighbourhood truly cool. From formerly overlooked sub

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

Ever wanted to know what life as student is really like in 2023? We asked 20-year-old student-turned-amateur-anthropologist Annie to tell us her observations about the people, parties and juiciest secrets of the UK’s unis. Here’s her verdict. Universities. National institutions. Places of learning and research, incubators of intellect. Unfortunately, also the land of the ‘student’. Student is a varied species which feeds mainly on pasta and rice. British students can often be found at the nearest Wetherspoons, getting drunk on vanilla flavoured vodka because the regular one is 30p more expensive. They tend to be slightly nocturnal and the males are known for going to extraordinary lengths to attract mates that they will subsequently ‘leave on read’.   Subtypes of ‘student’ vary based on location and each British uni comes with its own set of defining characteristics. So, buckle up: this is an entirely imaginary but 100 percent accurate investigation into the private lives of students in the wild, in their most natural habitat – on what they like to call, ‘a night out’.  Newcastle Image: Genie Espinosa We start in Newcastle and encounter Georgia moments after arriving at Market Shaker, an underground bar. She promptly begins chatting about the time she almost jumped into the Tyne ‘just for laughs’, which seems common for the ‘Geordie’ student species. Other notable characteristics appear to include: studying Geography, being obsessed with the North/South divide, Nike Air Max

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

Enjoy an evening of modern classical music composed by Black artists whose work did not get the spotlight that it deserved in its time at this Southbank Centre concert. The night will involve three different pieces from three different composers, performed by up and coming American violinist Randall Goosby, who made his debut with the Jacksonville Symphony orchestra at just nine, and award-winning Chinese pianist Zhu Wang. 

It’s often said that kids these days spend too much time in their rooms on their phones and not enough time outside playing – but is it their fault? According to the charity London Sport, there are over 7,000 ‘No Ball Games’ signs in London. But it says that these are not just signs, they are barriers to children getting outside and being active, and part of a wider issue of over half of young Londoners failing to ‘meet recommended activity levels’. Because of this, London Sport is campaigning to get rid of every single ‘no ball games’ sign in the capital – or turn them into basketball hoops. ‘No Ball Games’ signs are more common in council-owned estates, so children from lower-income backgrounds are disproportionately affected. And the movement is gaining momentum – Lambeth Council has already removed more than 100 signs throughout the borough. Ben Kind, council member for children and families told the BBC that the notices are ‘a hangover from the '70s and the '80s’ and that ‘By taking them down, we're able to make sure that Lambeth is a great place for young people to grow up ‘This is their estate too and they should be able to get out and play where they want to.’ Haringey has also begun work and gotten rid of 130 signs in the past few years in response to criticism. Parents across the city have voiced support for the scheme, with one mum in Lambeth telling the BBC that she thinks ‘the kids won’t have so much fear of being out playing’ with the signs gone. London Sport es

Seaside breaks are supposed to be calming. And most of the time they are – but there’s nothing serene about a holiday in ‘Blackpool after a neutron bomb’ has gone off. That damning description was a review of the Welsh town Rhyl, which has been named one of the worst beach towns in the UK by various people, including the Telegraph. But is it really that bad? Its council says no, and that plans are currently in the works to give the entire town a million pound facelift which will put Rhyl back on the map. This is part of an ongoing project – in fact, £200 million has already gone into protecting Rhyl from coastal flooding. The final bit of the ‘sea defence’ project is due to be completed this summer, a brand new children’s play park has already been constructed, and the pavilion has had a £2.4 million cash injection which allowed it to add a restaurant and bar to its site. Speaking to the Mirror, a spokesperson for the local Denbighshire County Council said that there are ‘exciting’ things ahead for Rhyl, adding that future plans ‘could include a mixture of developments to support tourism, employment and economic growth’. A total of £12 million has been earmarked by the council for ‘improvement projects in the town centre and central promenade’. Most of the money comes from the previous government’s levelling up scheme, which was set up to give ‘forgotten’ towns a much needed boost. One of the main proposals we do know about would see the Queen’s Market building in the centre

Do you know how gorgeous a place has to be for one of the most successful and important artists of the 20th century, who spent their entire life thinking about beauty, to call it the ‘most beautiful village in England’? The answer is very. Those are the words William Morris used to describe Bibury in the Cotswolds, a town of just 700 people known for being very pretty, full of centuries-old cottages and windy country paths. It’s become, understandably, somewhat of a tourist hotspot. According to the Independent, nearly 50 coaches arrive in Bibury every day, full of eager tourists escaping to the English countryside idyll. That’s all fine and well, except for the fact that those visitors apparently aren’t always entirely respectful of the serenity that makes Bibury so special. Some have been reported to scale private walls for optimal selfie shots, and the Chair of the Bibury Parking Working Group was actually physically assaulted during an incident with the coaches. Clearly, things are getting a bit out of hand. Residents have voiced concerns about overcrowding and the damage it could be doing to their tiny village, and have been trying to come up with solutions that will work for everyone. The main idea? No more coaches. Well, sort of. Locals don’t want to ban coaches entirely, but a proposal from Bibury Parish Council would see the coach parking moved slightly out of the centre of town. Cars and buses would instead park in a nearby lay-by on the B4425 and then walk into the

Sometimes brands are so huge that their names become synonymous with an entire product. Think ‘Hoover’ instead of vacuum cleaner, ‘Biro’ instead of ballpoint pen, or ‘Eurostar’ instead of cross-Channel rail service. Eurostar currently has a monopoly on train journeys between the UK and Europe underneath the English Channel. But that monopoly may soon be coming to an end. In recent years several rail operators have revealed plans to compete on the same route – and now yet another Eurostar competitor has thrown its hat into the ring. This one’s called Gemini.  If you’re new to this saga, let’s catch you up. In short, Eurostar is currently the only passenger rail operator currently licensed to use the Channel Tunnel. However, several competitors, including Virgin, Deutsche Bahn and Evolyn, have announced they plan to bid to join the tracks. For regular people like us, Eurostar competitors could mean cheaper fares and more choice as to where and when you ride. There’s even been talk of potential new destinations, with London potentially being linked to the likes of Zurich, Milan and Frankfurt.  Which brings us to now. Gemini Trains says it wants to offer tickets ‘at a competitive price to Eurostar’, and that it has engaged ‘extensively with industry stakeholders’ for the past two years. In other words, the company means business.  Gemini is led by Labour peer Tony Berkeley, which some reckon could give the firm an ‘edge’ when it comes to negotiations. The editor of RailTech.com,

Crispy. Flaky. Sometimes sweet, sometimes savoury. In many ways pastries are one of life’s greatest joys, and they’re certainly central to British culture. From steak pie to apple crumble, we can thank bakeries for some of our very best national meals. Not all bakeries, however, were created equal. That’s not to slate a certain Geordie sausage roll vendor – there’s a time and a place for a cheese and bean bake – but sometimes you’re after something a little more artisan. That’s where the Good food Guide (GFG) comes in. The GFG does exactly what is says on the tin. The publication is dedicated to finding the very best of British cuisine, whether that be fancy restaurants, pub grub, or bakeries. The GFG just released its top 50 bakeries in the UK for this year, and there’s some great picks on there. Some of the picks are so great, in fact, that here at Time Out we also put them on our list of the 21 best bakeries in London. Dusty Knuckle, Bunhead Bakery, Toad, Toklas and E5 Bakehouse; we’re looking at you. The list takes you right across the UK, right from the fields of Cornwall to the top of the scenic highland mountains. No matter where you are in the nation, there’s a near 100 percent chance that you’re within an hours’ drive of one of these bakeries. Unless you’re in Northern Ireland, where there are zero. Sorry, NI. Better luck next time. Eight of the 50 are in London (read more about those here), and there’s also a surplus in and around Bristol. It seems the south is the

If you’ve been into town recently, you know what’s up. You’ve seen the boarded up windows, you’ve noticed your usual haunts disappearing, you’ve benefited from an ‘everything must go – half off!’ sale once or twice. You can see that it’s a shop-ageddon out there on UK high streets, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. In 2023, we lost Wilko, and then in 2024 we got it back. Then we said goodbye to a bunch of Marks and Spencers, some Boots, a few Body Shops, and plenty more. In fact, some studies have estimated that Britain lost up to 37 shops a day in 2024. Although we all hoped that the new year would bring good news for our high streets, it’s looking like 2025 might just be more of the same. It’s not all doom and gloom, but it’s useful to know exactly what’s coming and going so that you don’t plan an entire shopping day around a store which has closed its doors for the last time. Here’s an exhaustive list of all the big places shutting up shop this year across the country. All the UK high street closures in 2025 Morrisons Supermarket chain Morrisons is shutting dozens of Morrisons Daily convenience stores and Morrisons Cafés, as well as Market Kitchens, florists, meat counters, fish counters and pharmacies. Here are the store and café closures, and you can find the full list (including Market Kitchens, florists and pharmacies) here. Morrisons stores Bath, Moorland Road Exeter, 51 Sidwell Street Goring-By-Sea, Strand Para Gorleston, Lowestoft Road Great Barr, Queslet

Waitrose is not everyone’s first choice of supermarket, but the people who like it love it. If you’re a Waitrose regular you probably have very specific snacks/pastries/deli counter cuts that you like and just can’t get anywhere else. If that sounds like you, we’ve got news you will want to hear. As part of plans to get to 100 Little Waitrose’ across Britain by 2028, the grocer has announced the locations of two brand new stores which will open this summer. The shops, which will both be smaller versions of the supermarket for locals, will be in West Sussex and Bristol. This will become the second local branch, and third Waitrose store in Bristol. This announcement comes only a few months after Waitrose’ first new convenience store in six years opened last November in London. This was their 47th location, meaning that if its aspirations are met, we could be seeing the amount of Little Waitrose in this country more than double before the decade is over. There are no official opening dates yet, but as the locations have been announced we can assume it won’t be too long before these shops are up and running. We also don’t know when or where we can expect to find the rest of the remaining 51 convenience stores necessary in order to meet that goal of 100. Full list of confirmed new Little Waitrose locations Southwick Square, Southwick –West Sussex 1-3 Gloucester Road, St Andrews – Bristol Beloved British brands and Time Out As the custodian of British city life with all its ups

Has all this lovely weather got you excited for summer? If you’re starting to plan your 2025 holidays, we’ve got good news: you won’t need to go far to experience something unforgettable. Each year, TIME Magazine compiles a list of the greatest places in the world. This list encompasses all seven continents, every country, every city and nook and cranny to find the absolute best places you could possibly visit on Earth. This is like the ultimate bucket list, if you had unlimited time (and an unlimited budget). From traversing deserts in Namibia to treetop residences in Peru, you have to offer a pretty life changing experience to be featured on this list. And as it turns out, not one but two such experiences can be found right here in the UK – and they’re both in Scotland. Last year, Raffles at The OWO hotel in London was one of the UK’s two entries in the list, but this year, both of them are much, much farther north. Where exactly? The island of Islay, and the Flow Country on the northern tip of mainland Britain. On Islay, TIME recommends Port Ellen, a gorgeous whisky distillery. Until last year it had been out of action since 1983, but now it has ‘roared back to life, ushering in a new era of luxury tourism’, according to TIME. You can visit the brewery on a tour, complete with a taste of 46-year old malt and floor-to-ceiling views of the island. TIME explains that ‘the experience reveals, at once, the source of the property’s cherished past and the promising future of an e

What’s the meaning of life? It’s a big question. Some might say it’s the question. Should we dedicate ourselves to religion? Perhaps we should focus on raising the future generations. Or, maybe, life is just about being happy. We’re not philosophers, we don’t know the answer. But we do know that if happiness is the name of the game, the UK is losing. No, that’s not just a guess based on how much us Brits like to complain. It’s based on an annual publication called the World Happiness Report (WHR), in which we seem to be getting lower scores every year. Last year a different report, this one from think tank Sapien Labs, named the UK as the world’s second most miserable country, so it’s no surprise that we aren’t exactly shooting up the WHR’s charts. But happiness isn’t exactly something you can measure with a ruler or a scale. So how do the WHR get data on it? The short answer is by asking a lot of people in a lot of countries a lot of questions. They work with international pollsters who help them gather their info, then with data scientists to analyse it and create their final ranks. They compare nations across six key criteria: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. They don’t just end up with information on happiness, they look into how culture can directly impact a person’s mood; for instance this year, it was found that sharing meals can be an ‘exceptionally strong indicator’ of happiness in an individ

Did you know that the UK passport is one of the strongest in the world? It’s the fifth most powerful, in fact. That means it can get you into over 190 completely visa-free, but that doesn’t come without a cost. Getting a passport is essential if you ever want to leave UK soil, and they come in handy even if you aren’t travelling when it comes to things like proving your right to work or live in the UK. Plus, they’re now famously a beautiful blue colour, if that’s something that excites you. It might have been a while since you got your passport renewed, in which case you might’ve forgotten that they aren’t actually cheap to buy at all. A UK passport for an adult currently costs £88.50. Kids ones, which need renewing more often, are slightly less, at £57.50. This cost is supposed to cover the administrative labour and physical materials that go into making the document. The home office has stated that ‘the government does not make any profit from the cost of passport applications.’ But, like everything else, the cost of a passport has gone up quite a bit in the past couple of years. In fact, in April it will have risen by a total of nearly 25 percent in 24 months. Here’s everything you need to know about upcoming passport price increases. How much are passport fees going up? The amount your passport will cost depends on two things. Your age and how you apply for it.  The cost for an online application for an adult passport will go up £6 to a total of £94.50. For children’s dig

So you want to meet your friend for a casual meal, but breakfast is way too early and you’ll be too hungry if you wait until lunch. That is precisely why brunch is so magical. Some popular brunch spots require you book well in advance, or prepare for a pretty long wait. It’s annoying, but for a properly good midday meal, it’s worth the fuss. Knowing exactly where is worth your time, however, is tricky. Pretty much every restaurant or cafe tries their hand at brunch these days, and in a big bustling city like Edinburgh, there’s going to be a spectrum of offerings ranging from ‘this fry-up has literally changed my life’ to ‘in what world is this worth £23?’. That’s where we come in. To put it simply, Time Out knows food. We’ve got experts across the country constantly trying new dishes at new places, including for brunch. We recently named Edinburgh’s best eatery for brunch, and we’re pretty confident you’ll love it as much as we do. So where exactly do we recommend you try in Scotland’s capital? Above all else: Chorito Cantina! This Mexican joint on Leith Walk has a dedicated brunch menu which offers breakfast burritos, fried-egg tacos, and, of course, delicious margaritas. Hey, it’s never too early to treat yourself. Our local expert Dayna McAlpine described Chorrito as ‘laid back counter dining at its absolute best’. She specifically recommends ‘their huevos rancheros, fried egg tacos and chicken mulitas’ which ‘are enough to pull anyone back from the dead.’ If that wasn’t e

It always happens when you least want it to. When you’re already late for work, or when it’s raining and you forgot your umbrella. It always feels like train cancellations are out to get you personally, but, it turns out, some stations really do have it worse than others. According to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), just over 5 percent of train journeys between October and December 2024 were cancelled. That’s not great as far as national averages go, but at some stations that rate is much, much higher. The ORR has never openly stated whereabouts you’re statistically most likely to be left stranded on the platform. It produces data, which is then presented to each national transport board which usually chooses to keep it to themselves, but this year, the Department for Transport has decided to publicise the ORR’s English findings. The Welsh and Scottish transport boards, however, are keeping as tight lipped as ever. So who are the least lucky commuters? Anyone going to or from Ince and Elton station in Cheshire, where a whopping 22 percent of services never turn up. That’s nearly a one in four chance that any given train will be cancelled. Our hearts go out to the residents of Ince and Elton. We hope you have a reliable bus service. In second (worst) place was Gathurst, near Wigan. Sixteen percent of their journeys in that time period ended up being cancelled. Definitely less than a quarter, but still not great odds. The data also revealed that in a four week period earlier