Ed Cunningham

Whether you’ve got the voice of an angel or you’re totally tone deaf, karaoke unites us all. But heed our warning: choosing the right song is crucial (aka, don’t opt for that Whitney Houston tune if you haven’t the range. And if you don't have good enough flow, steer clear of rapping. Kapeesh?) So we thought we’d help out a little bit. In our list of the best karaoke songs ever, we’ve got everyone from Adele to Toto, and from Frank Sinatra to Ricky Martin. There's even recent singalongs from Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. Something for everyone. So down that shot, grab that mic and take to the stage. Your audience awaits you. Here are the best karaoke songs ever.  RECOMMENDED:❤️ The best love songs☀️ The best summer songs🎉 The best party songs🕺 The best albums of 2025 so far  

We’re only a few months through the year and our auditory canals have already been graced with some absolutely cracking new music. We have had the long-awaited Gaga comeback (complete with a slickly choreographed, suitably weird music vid), FKA Twigs’s ethereal vocals taking on the club, high energy rap from Bad Bunny and much more.  Time Out writers and editors have rounded up our favourite music releases of the year so far, and we’ll continue adding to the list as more excellent records inevitably come in (we’re anticipating new releases from Lana Del Rey, A$AP Rocky and Harry Styles – as well as Addison Rae’s album debut, finally). So dig in, and keep coming back to this list throughout the year to refresh your listening with more fresh finds.   Chiara Wilkinson is Time Out’s Deputy UK Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED:🎥 The best movies of 2025 (so far)📺 The best TV of 2025 (so far)

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 12 months and been visited by our hungry critics. So go forth and take inspo from this list, which features everything from modern Korean cookery at Miga in Hackney, deft dosas at Tamila in King’s Cross, bawdy British fare at Rake, Brit/Thai mashups at AngloThai in Marylebone, deep fried olives at Sesta in London Fields, vegan Michelin star goodness at Shoreditch’s Plates, hip fish bar Tollington’s in Finsbury Park, and towpath dining at Inis in Hackney Wick. This list is updated regularly, so check in often to find out what we really rate on the London restaurant scene.  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 in.

London is full of perfect pizza. The finest of fast foods, this delicious staple has been elevated far beyond its humble roots by great Italian restaurants in London, pop-ups, street food vendors and pub residencies, and we know just where to find these world-class wonders, because we’ve been eating our way across London in order to discover the best. Whether it’s delivered in a cardboard box or served in a swish restaurant, excellent pizza is hard to beat. Browse our list of the best pizza places in town and try not to drool on your screen. Recent additions to the Top 20 include some nifty kitchen residencies; Dough Hands at east London pub the Spurstowe Arms (and now at the Old Nun’s Head in Nunhead) and Bing Bong Pizza at You Call The Shots in Hackney.  RECOMMENDED: The finest fish and chips in London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

The humble brunch is perhaps one of the greatest inventions of the modern age. Breakfast is too early to really get stuck into, while eating eggs and downing buckets of coffee at lunchtime seems odd. Brunch, then, is the one true morning-ish meal, especially if it incorporates pancakes, bacon and those aforementioned eggs. Or you can enjoy a totally vegan take on proceedings, like at LD's at The Black Heart in Camden or WAVE in Hackney. London is particularly well stocked with places to indulge in the famous breakfast/lunch hybrid – one of the latest additions to this list is FKA Black Axe Mangal in Highbury, which has finally started serving weekend brunch (don’t forgot to order a pig cheek and prune donut). Let us guide you to the best restaurants for a fabulous brunch, from a traditional full English to innovative twists on the majestic meal, such as a bacon bao brunch. And it’s not just a weekend treat; some of these spots serve brunch every single day.  RECOMMENDED: Like unlimited fizz with your fry-up? Here are the best bottomless brunches in London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. Want to brunch for less? Check out the awesome selection at Time Out Offers.

Need a place to stay in London? We’re here to make it easy for you. Every year, a wealth of new hotels open in the capital which is a testament to the fact that London remains one of the most desirable places to visit in the world. However, that can make it tricky to decide which hotel to choose. But worry not because we have slept our way across the city and hand-picked our favourites for the ultimate list of London hotels, which covers locations right across the city, and every category from blowout luxury (including having your own butler, might we add) to budget basic and brilliant. In this mega list, we've listed everything from our favourite five-star hotels in Mayfair to more affordable hotels outside of zone 1. Plus you’ll be able to check out one or two of the capital's many Michelin-starred restaurants because yep, loads of them call London hotels their home. But if spending a small fortune on food isn’t your bag? There’s also an ever-increasing number of good-value food options for budgeteers, too. Throw great design and architecture into the mix, plus superb bars, world-class hospitality and the opportunity to have a home-from-home in the best city in the world and, well, you’re laughing.  Which area is best to stay in London? It's not just the range of hotels that's so impressive – you're also spoilt for choice when it comes to picking a neighbourhood to stay in London. The city is made up of a sprawling network of dynamic neighbourhoods, all with their own uniqu

Every year a wealth of new hotels open in the capital which is a testament to the fact that London remains one of the most desirable places to visit in the world. But, the city can be pretty pricey if you're not careful. Whether you live or work in London or just visit, the spending can quickly add up. From the delicious food that stands on almost every corner and lines up the streets to just having a gander around the city looking for things to do, your wallet might start to feel very, very light. We don't even want to talk about how much a night out costs.  But surprisingly, the UK capital has actually got some wallet-friendly options for spending the night. Both big chains and independent hotel joints (yep, even four- and five-star ones) offer some rooms for under £200 a night – you just have to know where to look. 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.  Which area is best to stay in London for a good price?  London has so many neighbourhoods, you’re spoilt for choice. But, where should you go for the best deals? 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, whether you want t

Even on the coldest, darkest days of winter, London is always bustling with fun things to do, with a jam-packed calendar of unmissable events to keep you entertained during most people’s least favourite time of the year. And yet, even we culture-mad London superfans have to admit that every once in a while it’s nice to have a little break from it all. When the capital’s hustle and bustle leaves you feeling a little drained, you can find some escape from the crowds and hordes of tourists by getting up and getting out just for a day. In dire need of crisp country air, a relaxing spa day or a gorgeous, long walk? These day trips from London are all under two hours from Zone 1 and will give you the relief you need this winter. RECOMMENDED: The best day trips from London

Europe is incredible for festivals, make no mistake about it. And what could be better? Travelling to festivals abroad means getting to explore somewhere new and see a bunch of cracking artists, as well as maybe – just maybe – enjoy better weather and cheaper beer. Europe is certainly not in short supply of some really brilliant places to party, from tiny, lesser-known spots in the Azores to your classic, mega, headliner-packed fests in France and Netherlands and Alpine jazz weekends. So, here’s a roundup of our top picks for 2025.  What is the largest festival in Europe? Glastonbury festival in the UK is normally thought of as the biggest festival in Europe (if not the world). But though it’s certainly the most well known, in terms of numbers, it’s not even the the biggest in the UK! The biggest in Europe is actually Donauinselfest in Vienna, Austria, which sees upwards of two million visitors a year. After that, it’s probably joint between Glasto and Tomorrowland in Belgium.  RECOMMENDED: 🎪 The best UK music festivals🎤 The best music festivals in the world🌃 The most underrated destinations in Europe🌤️ The best European city breaks 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. 

It’s been a fantastic year for new music. We’ve had long-running artists finally break through (hello, Chappell Roan), what felt like the longest and most carefully calculated album roll-out of all time (Charli, we’re looking at you), as well as niche new finds and epic comebacks from old faves (The Cure).  As the year draws to a close, it’s time to share our favourite albums of 2024. From intergalactic post-punk to gritty, lyrical hip hop, dance floor-ready pop and everything in between, grab your best headphones or line up the speakers: these are the albums Time Out had on repeat this year. RECOMMENDED:The best movies of 2024The best TV shows of 2024 you need to streamThe best songs of 2024

Copenhagen has risen in popularity recently as one of the best destinations for a weekend city break. Whether you're a tourist travelling from afar or a fellow Dane looking for a change of scenery, renting an Airbnb for a few days is a great way to see the city and experience it like a true local.  The capital of Denmark, one of the world's happiest cities, is a gorgeous place with brightly coloured buildings, amazing food, lots of culture, rich history and architectural design, making it a place worth exploring with lots to do and see. And few cities offer such a resplendent selection of Airbnbs as the Danish capital. No matter your trip, whether you’re hunting for a table at Copenhagen’s fabulous restaurants, spending your days in its captivating museums or boogieing it out thanks to its exhilarating nightlife, there’s usually a phenomenal Airbnb to fit the bill. Here are our favourite Airbnbs right here in Copenhagen.  Time Out tip: The easiest – and quickest – way to get around Copenhagen is on two wheels, but if you prefer to hop on public transport, the DOT ticket app is your best friend.  Updated in March 2025: We think this list is pretty cracking already, but it's even better now that we've added this glorious townhouse in Østerbro. Recommended: 🚲See the best things to do in Copenhagen🍷Hit up the best bars in Copenhagen🇩🇰Here's how to spend a weekend in Copenhagen Who makes the cut? While we might not stay in and review every Airbnb featured, we've based our li

Want a drink? You've come to the right place. This is Time Out’s list of best bars in London, our curated guide to London’s drinking scene, featuring the buzziest booze dens in the capital right now. If it’s on this list, it’s excellent. These are the 50 places we'd recommend to a friend, because we love drinking in them and have done many times over. From classy cocktail joints to delightful dives, hotel bars, speakeasys, bottle shops, rooftops and wine bars, London's got them all. But what makes a truly good bar? Well, our critieria for inclusion on this list is simple; a menu of genius drinks is important, but so is overall vibe – there’s no point having the perfect paloma if you have to drink it in a bar that smells of bins. To make the Top 50 a bar has to be fun, full of lovely folk, be inclusive and also look the part.  The latest additions to our list include whisky wonderland Dram Bar on Denmark Street, the hypnotic Bar Lotus in Dalston, Below Stone Nest in Chinatown, Rasputin’s by London Fields, and Bar Lina, an Italian aperitivo spot underneath a famous Soho deli. Now go forth and drink. RECOMMENDED: Like bars? Then you'll love London's best pubs.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor, and she'll have a dirty gin martini if you're buying. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Prince Durairaj and Glen Leeson are good at this by now. Excellent, in fact. The pair have put together a small chain of top Indian eateries; Islington’s Tamil Prince and Tamil Crown, and the first Tamila in Clapham. Fourth time around with Tamila King’s Cross, the experience is more refined than ever. London’s second Tamila is at the other end of Caledonian Road from the Tamil Prince, and, like the Clapham edition, isn’t a ‘desi pub’ but a curry house for fast, casual dining and with an all-day menu. Without the loveable musk of an ex-pub, the space is much airier and restaurant-y, while the service is sharper and more attentive. Food-over-booze indicators don’t get much more obvious than Tamila’s massive interior window directly into the kitchen.  The dhal flashed all sorts of vegetables across your tongue, while paneer butter masala was creamy and mightily generous Our drinks flew out at an impressive pace. A bold harbinger of the strong, spiced flavours to come, the gunpowder margarita, boasting masala dust for salt and earthy smokiness, was sumptuous. The paloma had grapefruity sweetness but a proper, heaped dash of ginger that lingered powerfully.  Tamila’s dishes verge on the more generous side of ‘small plates’. On platters so spotless and shiny they’re genuinely mirrors, come miraculously un-greasy onion bhajis, each one just more than a mouthful of prickly, salty crackle. Retaining integral crispiness beneath dollops of mint chutney, one gets the impression that th

If you’re a history buff (particularly a pottery history buff), the surroundings of this DoubleTree alone will be enough to have you in awe. The hotel is attached to Etruria Hall, a neo-classical Grade II-listed structure once home to Josiah Wedgwood – renowned industrialist and the founder of Wedgwood, one of the world’s most famous pottery companies.  Etruria Hall is no longer a stately home but an events venue, and since the 1980s it’s been attached to a hotel. In 2020 that hotel opened as a Hilton, specifically of the DoubleTree brand – yet despite being part of an all-conquering global chain, it’s maintained plenty of character. Beyond the obvious (the in-house restaurant is called Josiah), the corridors and rooms come lined with nods to local heritage; bottle oven skylines, Stoke dialect phrases, that sort of stuff.  Stoke-on-Trent’s DoubleTree, therefore, not only occupies a special historical site but makes sure you fully aware just how special it is. But it’s also a comfortable, well-kitted-out place to stay. I stayed in a king guest room that was extraordinarily spacious and flawlessly clean, with a sprawling, comfortable bed, fast wi-fi, effective blackout curtains and a practical bathroom.  The staff couldn’t have been friendlier or more helpful, the common areas were bright and welcoming, and there was a very sleek indoor pool and leisure centre. There’s on-site parking, too.  Given the building’s age, some of Stoke’s DoubleTree is understandably rough around the

When Stoke’s Hilton Garden Inn opened in 2020 it was the city’s first and only Hilton. Admittedly it didn’t hold that title for long (the DoubleTree in Etruria was rebranded a month or so later) but you get the sense that this was a statement opening. A terracotta titan towering over Hanley, this Hilton Garden Inn cost £20 million and is part of the wider redevelopment of Smithfield – a mixed-use quarter named after the area’s old bottle works. Given it’s getting on for half a decade old, Stoke’s Hilton Garden Inn still looks and feels shimmeringly new. Sure, stepping into the lobby feels very much like stepping into any new-ish Hilton, anywhere, but this one is exceptionally well-kempt, making it very much a slick, shiny beacon of modern comfort.  I stayed in a ‘king room’ up on the sixth floor, a tidy and well-proportioned space with plenty of light and a bunch of amenities tidily packed in. The décor was pared back, minimalist(ish) and very much of-this-decade, and the room’s simplicity made it feel bigger. Stoke touches on the walls (images of pottery ovens and so on) reminded you where you were – as did my view, stretching out westwards towards Etruria, Burslem and Shelton. The rest was very much as one might expect of a somewhat new Hilton. The mattress was supple, the pillows and duvet ideally sink-in-able; the shower worked as required, accompanied by fragrant Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries and the flashy touch of an anti-steam mirror. The room was well insulated for so

Down the cavernous halls of Whitehall’s Old War Offices, surrounded by opulent Michelin-starred restaurants and the supremely swish Raffles hotel, lies Kioku Sake Bar – less blindingly flashy, sure, but just as high-calibre. The street-level accompaniment to Kioku’s top-floor, five-star sushi restaurant has the effortless style and homely hideaway calm of a Japanese listening bar, prim décor and lines of hundreds of sake bottles sitting beneath immaculately balanced light. And Kioku’s substance more than matches its style. There are over 140 sakes on offer, each affectionately described, plus a trim list of sake cocktails and a refined menu of innovative, Japanese-infused small plates. The drinks and food are entirely different to those of the upstairs restaurant Kioku By Endo, making the bar very much worth a separate visit.  Order this The Daikon Gibson suspends itself entirely on the front of your tongue, with silky and potent Ginjo sake ‘vermouth’ and tangy pickled daikon combining with clean Roku gin and yuzu tang. Kioku’s cocktails all exude a sense of craft – and this does even more so. Time Out tip Make the most of Kioku’s formidable sake collection and the bar’s in-house sake sommelier to explore the tipple. Discover how the vessel material affects each sake, get a taste of the many, many different styles and regional varieties – and find a new favourite.

Stepping into the atrium of The Conservatorium, it’s immediately obvious that this is a very special hotel indeed. Rich red brickwork meets sharp glass angles, heritage details fit snugly among silky modern luxury; from the fittings and furniture to the architecture, wherever you look something catches your eye. The Conservatorium’s sense of occasion is tied to the building’s history. Many of its cavernous halls date back to 1897, when it was built as a bank. In the 1980s it became a conservatoire, then it was reconfigured into a hotel by starchitect Piero Lissoni in the 2000s. It opened as a founding member of the luxurious Set Collection in 2011. The Conservatorium’s rooms, appropriately for a hotel inhabiting a building of many previous lives, vary massively – yet they share plenty of common ground. Whether one is in the basic ‘deluxe room’ or the three-floor, roof terrace-boasting ‘I Love Amsterdam’ suite, well-proportioned rooms boast plush beds, spacious bathrooms, bountiful storage and thoughtful, refined décor. My room was a ‘royal duplex suite’, with elegant double-height windows looking out onto the humming trams and cafés of Van Baerlestraat. The essentials – bed, space, storage, bathroom, toiletries – were all faultless. Little touches of Dutch-ness (decorative clogs, a Van Gogh coffee table book, Delftware ceramic plates) were unsubtle but still tasteful, restrained. Beyond the room, breakfast (served in the Lounge) was high-calibre and the staff were as helpful

What comes to mind when you think of a treehouse? Woodlice, splinters, cold – yes, probably all those things. But treehouses are also secluded and peaceful, dwellings a few feet up in the air that feel that bit away from the rabble below and closer to nature. And a treehouse, crucially, is all yours.  The treehouses of TreeDwellers in Cornbury, northeast Cotswolds, are treehouses in a spiritual sense. No, they aren’t up trees (nor do they even touch them), but they’re surrounded by them, sitting an impressive height above the forest floor. TreeDwellers takes the idea of a treehouse – as something special, private, embedded in nature – and turns it into a luxurious experience genuinely unlike anything, anywhere else. Pulling up to a TreeDwellers dwelling (a TreeDwelling?) has a supreme sense of occasion. This is the sort of architectural magnificence you thumb through in glossy mags, lustfully dreaming of one day giving it all up for. Handsomely curved tubes are perched atop stilts; inside is all sleek, clean wood and floor-to-ceiling windows, each and every convenience slotted in with impossible neatness. It’s all so stunning that you could easily be satisfied with the design and that alone, left gawping at it for days on end. But these treehouses aren’t just flashy façades: they’re comfortable and practical, too. You check-in with slick door-code entry, the heating is underfloor and toasty on your toes, everything you could possibly need is on a tablet (or on hand from delig

On the face of it, Portobello’s neat, proper Holy Carrot and Dalston’s fire-worshipping feast ACME Fire Cult share little common ground. ACME is roaring and showy, as much a swaggering religion as a restaurant; Carrot is prim as a perfume shop, soft clay surroundings fronting a menu that is plant-forward, ‘root to peel’ and sustainable.  But there’s a clear link between the two – namely Daniel Watkins. The ex-ACME founder is now executive chef at the first permanent home of Holy Carrot (previously known for its supper clubs and Knightsbridge residency), and brings his ‘fire and ferment’ ethos across the capital from one neighbourhood of cool to another.  More than just Holy Carrot’s first proper restaurant, it’s also a Watkins-helmed reboot – and it has plenty of his signature punch. From the off, the pre-starter ‘snacks’ offer a studied but unshowy sort of tastiness. Pillowy insides dramatically burst out of crisp ‘honey’ drenched Jerusalem artichokes; one couldn’t help but mop up the warming chilli ragu with ultralight koji bread. Two cold ‘smalls’ followed suit, both intricately flavoured: each mouthful of the smoked beetroot breathing freshness, each spoonful of the stracciatella with persimmon and bitter leaves with deftly measured amount of creamy tang and gentle crunch. This is innovation of a dependable, not reckless, sort Imprinted upon my memory the most, however, was one of Holy Carrot’s ‘larges’: the crispy celeriac with pickle butter. I know what you’re thinking

The Nobu brand, in a word? Dependable. Nobu Matsuhisa’s Japan-via-USA restaurant empire both draws celebrities and is a celebrity itself, but it’s best regarded for its high-quality dining: nearly 30 years after it opened, Nobu’s Park Lane spot remains one of London’s best places for sushi. These days Nobu isn’t just a restaurant chain but a hotel brand too, with two outposts in London. The Shoreditch one, which opened in 2017, was the first of these – not just London’s first Nobu hotel (since followed by Nobu Portman Square in Marylebone) but the first in all of Europe. The greatest compliment one can pay to this place is that the dependability of the Nobu name transfers seamlessly from restaurant to hotel. This is a sleek and comfortable choice, a beacon of minimalist taste in the midst of Shoreditch’s gaudy pick-me bars and tech-bro co-working spaces. Nobu as a chain is Nippon-by-’Murica, and its hotels are too – Japanese style meets American comfort and convenience. From the front Nobu Shoreditch resembles a Pacific battleship, from the side it’s a hillside Kyoto villa. And inside the hotel offers plenty of that same cultural middle ground: polished black wood, sleek furniture and a tea set in every room, but also huge plasma TVs, delightful staff and an in-house spa.  All aided, of course, by housing a Nobu restaurant, the chain’s third in London. You know exactly the deal here: a spoiled-rich clientele, sure, but also generous portions, attentive service (I did exceptio

If you plonked a point on a map denoting Stuttgart’s absolute centre, I’m fairly certain it’d be directly right on top of the EmiLu. Or it may as well be. Dead opposite the city’s Rathaus (town hall) and a few steps from Königstrasse (Stuttgart’s main shopping street), EmiLu is within easy walking distance of most city-centre sights. Just a couple of years old (it opened in 2022), EmiLu occupies an old mid-century city government building and gets its name by combining the names of its co-owner (Petra Luise Bräutigam) and her daughter (Emilia). A self-professed ‘design hotel’, it boasts 90 ‘unique and special’ rooms that range reasonably in price per night from €85 to €200 (£72 to £170). So, the good: EmiLu, with its focus on individual, tasteful design, is a handsome and neat establishment. The chic reception is kitted out with dark wooden furnishings, while the rooms are airy and uncluttered. Cuboid furniture and crisply-shaped décor work well with bare-material walls; an open shower-room (with a curtain) and a mini-bar cut into the corner wall fit the minimal, trendy vibe. In another positive, my room looked out over the atmospheric street below (with floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony) but also boasted exceptional sound insulation – an entire crowd of football fans in the space outside were reduced to noiseless silhouettes. Elsewhere, EmiLu’s staff are delightful, the rooftop space is great for taking in Stuttgart’s skyline and the ‘fitness area’ is remarkably well-eq

Over the years, London has done a fabulous job of finding new uses for its many, many historically fascinating buildings. The Bankside Power Station is now the Tate Modern. Churchill’s Old War Office is a hotel and apartments. County Hall houses restaurants, an aquarium and That Shrek Thing. Another of those retrofits is the Great Scotland Yard Hotel, a Grade II-listed building which dates back to the 1820s and was once the Ministry of Defence’s old library. Sitting at an address best known for also housing the original headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the building has been a hotel for a while – though was spruced up a few years ago with a £75 million revamp.  Admittedly, the words ‘Scotland Yard’ do not exactly scream ‘mega-luxe five-star hotel stay’, but… maybe they could? This 151-room Hyatt is as deeply, thoroughly refined as hotels in this city get.  Each step of a stay at Great Scotland Yard is virtually faultless. The neat rooms are full of light, with floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies looking out over the turrets, towers and courtyards of the Palace of Whitehall. Full of modestly luxurious conveniences (like Chromecast TVs and fancy Japanese Toto loos), the rooms are also of a satisfyingly comfortable size: neither small and cluttered nor massive and awkwardly empty.  Beyond the rooms, Great Scotland Yard is far from a copy-paste Hyatt. Playing into the history of the building and address, the doors are slathered in a deep and polished police blue. The fo

If you’ve ever spent time in Leeds, you’ll know the Queens Hotel. Quite literally on top of (part of) the Yorkshire city’s train station, it’s an art deco concrete titan and inarguably the city’s most famous hotel. Dating back to the 1930s, the Queens was the first British hotel to have air con and ensuite bathrooms in every room, and over the years it’s welcomed the likes of Cary Grant and Nelson Mandela. While the Queens could easily rest on its historical prestige, in recent years it’s attempted to keep with the times and undergone a vast refurb. A whopping £16 million has been pumped into bringing the place back up to snuff, glamming it up with communal areas, a huge new dining venue and more rooms. How does all that sprucing up actually feel? In short, pretty damn good. The moment you step into the Queens’ lobby, with its endearingly gauche décor and genially raucous ambiance, you get a proper sense of occasion that feels appropriate for somewhere so stacked with history. The Queens might have been hauled into the 21st century, but it embraces its historical glamour – and the refurb certainly hasn’t sucked out any of its soul. The Queens is entirely decked out in stuff that harks back to the art deco 1930s – and what isn’t from the Queens’ original period (or directly linked to it, like the hallways’ historic photographs) is tastefully matched. The Queens balances modern polish and historical character in a caring, detailed sort of way, ensuring all additions – everythin

Few London hotels so boldly take inspiration from their surroundings as the Ampersand. Steps from Kensington’s Museums Quarter, this boutique riffs off the studies and research of nearby world-leading institutions like the Science Museum and Natural History Museum, combining it all with many of the bells and whistles of a luxury hotel. From ornithological wallpapers and artworks to complimentary galactically-themed macarons, everything at the Ampersand plays heavily into the hotel’s neighbours. Its ‘science’ afternoon tea spectacularly involves making your own lemonade (with wacky test tubes and all) plus dry-ice and space-themed treats. Sure, this sort of stuff will no doubt be naff to anyone wanting a frilly, snooty sort of posh hotel; but it also makes everything a bit more fun, much less stuffy, and a lot more memorable. Beyond that, lots of the rest is solid, occasionally a bit more. Rooms are decked out with nice stuff: vast, comfy beds, sizeable TVs, Malin + Goetz toiletries, a standalone bath (with full view of the telly), nifty, sleek desk and huge, glitzy headboard. You’d be hard-pressed to criticise the style or function of any individual pieces within the Ampersand’s rooms, while the first three floors of Victorian ceilings are spacious and fresh.  The staff are as helpful as you’d want them to be, everything is delightfully clean, there’s a gym and two restos (one, Apero, is Mediterranean-themed). There’s also a general sense of calm. Compared to the shoulder-to-

Rugby union fans, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. The 2025 edition of the Six Nations, one of the biggest and best tournaments in the rugby world, is officially underway. And after a month and a half of competition, it’ll all be decided this weekend.  After the first weekend this year’s Six Nations went pretty much as expected, the second threw up some upsets (England notably beat France at Twickenham, the Red Roses beating Les Bleus 26-25) and the third saw some matches run much closer than expected (with Wales putting in a much more solid performance against the Irish). The penultimate round of games saw the Irish get trounced 42-27 by the French – meaning it’s all to play for in the final weekend.  Just three adrenaline-pumped matches remain, and they’ll all take place this Saturday (March 15). If you can’t get to the games in person, you can always soak up the atmosphere at your local pub – or, of course, there’s the option to watch the nail-biting contest from the comfort of your own home. Here’s everything you need to know to make sure you keep up with all the Six Nations action on TV.  RECOMMENDED:🍻 The best rugby pubs in London.🏉 The best places to watch the Six Nations in London.🍻 26 London pubs are offering ‘bottomless Guinness’ for the Six Nations. Which 2025 Six Nations matches are this weekend? This weekend the three games are Italy v Ireland, Wales v England and France v Scotland. All matches will take place on Saturday, though they won’t all kick o

The UK is home to plenty of top-tier food cities, each packed with tasty dishes. Beyond the nation’s cliché classic plates – aye, fish and chips, roast dinners, that sort of stuff – are countless gastronomic innovators. Just look at how many British restos picked up stars in this year’s Michelin Guide.  But Michelin’s inspectors aren’t the only ones keeping track of Britain’s best restaurants. This week Time Out published our list of the world’s best food cities, coming up with the list by quizzing thousands of city-dwellers around the world on factors ranging from the general quality of their culinary scene to its diversity, innovation and pure tastiness. We also surveyed them on affordability – and gave special weight to that factor. After all, what’s the point in having nice food if you can’t afford to eat it? All that info was then combined with the expertise of our network of food experts to come up with a ranking. Overall, New Orleans was named the best city for food in the whole world. But that’s not all we were looking at – the thousands of Brits that took part in the survey have helped reveal the best cities for food (and drink, and coffee) in the UK right now too. Placing top was, drum roll please, Liverpool! A whopping 84 percent of respondents rated Liverpool’s quality of restaurants, with a still-very-impressive 68 percent saying the food scene is affordable. Liverpool came the closest to Time Out’s overall global top 20 food cities, placing 26th in the worldwide

Today (March 13) Time Out published our list of the UK’s top food cities for 2025. We combined thousands of surveys of Brits up and down the land – quizzing them on everything from variety and quality to affordability – with local foodie expertise to reveal Britain’s gastronomic hotspots right now.  At the top of the list was a familiar name: Liverpool. The northwestern English city has placed top of Time Out’s foodie cities UK ranking for the second year in a row – which is mightily impressive, even if ’Pool didn’t quite make the global top 20 for 2025. So, what’s Liverpool’s secret? Well, the trick was consistency. Liverpool scored highly across the board, with an impressive 84 percent speaking out in favour of the food scene in general. A whopping 72 percent of Liverpudlians described its culinary offerings as ‘welcoming and friendly’ (higher than anywhere else). Liverpool also had the third-highest number of responses deeming its food scene ‘exciting’. The surveys also revealed Liverpool’s food scene to be the fourth-most gastronomically diverse in the UK and the joint-most ‘family-friendly’. Crucially, the city was comparatively affordable across the board (over three categories: restaurants, bars and coffee), and was the second most affordable place to eat in a restaurant – Bristol was named the first. Photograph: VisitLiverpool And Time Out’s guide to the best restaurants in Liverpool certainly reflects the city’s diverse, thrilling foodie offerings. Alice Porter, Ti

Longing for London’s glorious summer days, when life consists of afternoons spent sitting around with your buds in the sunshine, cold drink and delish street food in hand? If so, we come bearing good news, because one of London’s top venues where you can do all that (and much more) is about to return. We’re talking about the South Bank’s Between the Bridges, which is set for its grand 2025 reopening next month. The venue – which sits on the Thames and boasts phenomenal views of the London Eye – will return on April 17, just in time for the Easter Bank Holiday weekend (April 18-21).  When Between the Bridges opens in a few weeks, it’ll hit the ground running. Alongside its usual offerings of street food stalls, bars and music (both live and DJs), the pop-up already has a packed schedule of events ranging from Swiftageddon (May 25) and craft fairs (the first Sunday of every month) to drag brunches (kicking off April 19) and Barry from Eastenders returning with Barrioke (May 9).  On top of all that, for the April 17 grand opening Between the Bridges will offer the first 500 people through its doors a free drink. So, not just tasty food, a tight entertainment programme and riverside views – free booze, too. As before, entry to the main venue will be free every night. You can find out more (and buy tickets for ticketed events) on the Between the Bridges website here.  The Queen’s Walk, SE1 Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends

Radio 1’s Big Weekend, for those not in-the-know, is the radio station’s flagship live music event. It’s known for bringing the planet’s biggest musicians to UK cities that don’t normally get such superstar gigs. In the past the fest has brought Taylor Swift to Norwich, Stormzy to Exeter and the 1975 to Dundee, among many other memorable sets. Last year saw Coldplay and Sabrina Carpenter play Luton. This year Radio 1’s Big Weekend isn’t being held anywhere particularly surprising – in fact, it’s one of the UK’s most legendary music cities. Liverpool will host the event this year. Here’s everything else you need to know, from the rest of the lineup to how to get tickets  RECOMMENDED: 🎸 The best music festivals in the UK to book for 2025.🎤 Parklife has revealed this year’s massive lineup – here’s how to get tickets When and where is Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2025? The Big Weekend this year will be held in Liverpool’s Sefton Park from Friday May 23 to Sunday May 25.   How to buy tickets Tickets will go on sale this Thursday March 13. A total of 34,500 general admission tickets will be available per day and they’ll cost £33.00 (+£4.50 booking fee per ticket) per day. You can buy a maximum of two tickets per day.  A total of 50 percent of tickets will be initially reserved for Liverpool City Council residents, and 40 percent for those in the Liverpool City Region (Sefton, Halton, Wirral, Knowsley, St. Helens). The rest are unreserved.  VIP tickets will cost £95.00 (+£5.70 booking fe

Comic Relief’s annual Red Nose Day fundraising event is back for 2025 – and that means many things. Yes, lots of money will be raised for good causes like alleviating poverty and providing healthcare and education. Aye, there’ll be a star-studded fundraising marathon. But also… you get to wear a big red nose, without being mistaken for a clown!  Originally founded in 1985 by comedian Lenny Henry and screenwriter Richard Curtis as a response to famine in Ethiopia, this year Comic Relief will mark its 40th anniversary. The 2024 event raised a whopping £38 million to support causes in the UK and abroad.  Planning on supporting the cause this year by donning a big ol’ red nose? Here’s everything you need to know, from who’s selling the noses to when the big day is. When is Red Nose Day 2025?  Red Nose Day 2025 will take place on Friday March 21. There’ll be a day of fundraising followed by the TV show, which kicks off at 7pm.    Where can you buy a Red Nose for Comic Relief? You can buy them online on Comic Relief’s website and Amazon (it’s £2.50 for a single nose, £12 for a collector pack and £60 for a 30-nose schools multipack). You can also get special Red Nose Day t-shirts at TK Maxx. Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country. 

Cape Town is really having a moment. Recently crowned the world’s best city by yours truly (and with a brand-spanking-new Time Out Market to-boot), the South African capital was also named the planet’s ‘best value long haul destination’ by the Post Office. And now, excitingly, it’ll be even easier for Brits to get to on the cheap.  Norse Atlantic Airways launched its London Gatwick-Cape Town route back in 2021 and, in the years since, the carrier has pretty much always been the most affordable option between those two cities. Return London-Cape Town flights with the Norwegian airline can be found for under £500 – not bad, considering the length of the trip (over 6,000 miles and 11-and-a-half hours by plane) From April 2025 Norse Atlantic will be expanding its London-Cape Town services from three per week to four. Departures from Gatwick will take off on Saturdays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, while from Cape Town the flights will be on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  Photograph: Shutterstock Norse Atlantic’s four-a-week service will initially only be from April 1 to 27, though the same regularity will resume from December 1 2025 to April 2026 (the South African summer). You can find out more on the airline’s website here.  Time Out in Cape Town  Persuaded to book a CT trip? When you get there, we’ve got you covered. Here are Time Out’s guides to the city’s best things to do, top restaurants and most spectacular beaches. Stay in the loop: sign up to ou

British wild campers, we’ve got news that’ll get you strapping camping gear onto your backpack and itching to pitch up. A new scheme is being launched that will allow wild-camping on land across the UK that was previously off-limits. The initiative comes from CampWild (a camping booking platform) and Rewilding Britain (a rewilding charity), which are partnering to give wild campers access to nature restoration projects that previously didn’t allow overnight stays. The scheme is also designed to help get campers educated and involved in rewilding and conservation.  The scheme is open to members of CampWild – a tool that enables campers to plan and book wild camping pitches. CampWild works with trusts, custodians and landowners to create a network of over 200 places you can legally pitch-up. Membership costs £25 a year, and camping spots start from £15 per night.  The platform’s partnership with Rewilding Britain will initially open up 15 new locations to wild campers, though apparently more are planned. Each site will have an interactive map with a bunch of conservation activities concerning local species and biodiversity.  Speaking with the Guardian, CampWild co-founder Tom Backhouse said: ‘This exciting initiative gives wild campers exclusive access to wild spaces where no one has been allowed to camp before. ‘These are some of the most ecologically rich places in the UK, where ecosystems are being restored, landscapes are healing and biodiversity is returning – and those st

When it comes to choosing a favourite bookshop, everyone’s different. Do you prefer a shop with a very particular genre or niche? Are you all about vibe, with a delightful coffee shop and reading corner? Or do you go for simply the biggest, broadest bookshop – one where you’re likely to find whatever it is you’re looking for?  London has bookshops for every taste, and we know all about ranking them here at Time Out (this week we named our fave bookshop in the capital for 2025). Also in-the-know about all things books, however, are the British Book Awards, and today (March 11) they’ve just announced the 2025 winners of Independent Bookshop of the Year.  Triumphing in a 10-shop shortlist stacked with treasured names like Housmans Bookshop in King’s Cross and the Brick Lane Bookshop, Queen’s Park Books took London’s regional title. Congrats, Queen’s Park Books!  Never been to Queen’s Park Books? Perhaps this is the kick up the backside you need to trek over to northwest London and check it out. QPB boasts a vast range of books, its 10,000 titles all hand curated. It’s the second of two shops owned by the Fergiani family – the first being Hampstead’s West End Lane Books.  Image: Queen’s Park Books Far more than a dime-a-dozen bookshop, Queen’s Park Books boasts a monthly book subscription and is a partner of the Queen’s Park Book Festival. You can find out more on the shop website here.  Queen’s Park Books will now go on to compete for the title of ‘Bookshop of the Year’, with

Residents of west Walthamstow (y’know, the bit next to the wetlands, near St James Street and Blackhorse Road stations), we come bearing exciting news. The area is set to get a brand-new hub for restaurants, cafés and retail, as a project has been given the green light to revamp a series of derelict railway arches.  The arches are at Courtenay Place (under St James Street station) and there are 16 of them. The plans were unveiled last year but they were given official approval by a planning committee just last week.  So, what exactly is in store for these Stow railway arches? Well, Waltham Forest Council appointed architects Feix&Merlin and Extended Studio to ‘reimagine’ the arches as part of a wider St James Quarter regeneration project. The reinvigorated area will be a ‘green link’ between the station and Walthamstow High Street.  The project intends to improve the area as a public space (with new lighting, signage, art projects and a ‘pocket square’) as well as refurbish the arches to provide more ‘business opportunities’. One of the arches is also to be turned into an accessible toilet.  The proposals were approved last Tuesday (March 4), with five councillors reaching a decision after 13 minutes. Labour councillor Jenny Gray said the plans were a ‘really good idea’ and would ‘bring life to a dead area’. St James Street previously benefitted from the opening of shipping container market CRATE in 2019.  The project is part funded by UK Government and forms part of Waltham

It’s a tough time to be working in the aviation industry. Faced with staff shortages and huge levels of disruption, many workers at airlines and airports are facing long, stressful hours and poor working conditions. And, thanks to the cost of living crisis and pandemic-era pay cuts, loads of them are doing it all for lower wages, too. Needless to say, it’s no wonder that so many staff at airports and airlines have been going on strike. From Italy and Belgium to Greece and France, airports across Europe have seen thousands of flights delayed and cancelled by industrial action. Strikes can, obvs, have a serious impact on your holiday, so it’s best to be as informed about them as possible. Read on for our guide to who’s going on strike in Europe right now, where and when those strikes will happen – and whether you need to worry about them.   Airport strikes in Germany  A 24-hour walkout by public-sector employees, as well as ground and security staff, will impact 13 German Airports today (March 10) including major hubs such as Berlin, Dusseldorf and Munich, according to euronews.  Frankfurt is Germany’s busiest airport, and the operator said that no passenger flights will depart today. Of the 1,116 scheduled, more than 1,000 have already been cancelled and delays are expected to affect journeys tomorrow, too. Berlin airport said all departures will be affected, and Hamburg said no departures would be possible at all today.  Around half a million people face travel disruption, an

Gracie Abrams, one of the biggest pop stars of 2025 so far, comes to London this week. Before she supports Noah Kahan at BST Hyde Park in July, she’s in the capital for her own headline show at the O2 Arena.  Abrams’ The Secret of Us Tour kicked off in Madrid back in February and follows the release of her massively successful 2024 album The Secret of Us. She was forced to cancel shows earlier this week in Leeds and Nottingham due to illness but, a time of publishing, she’s still on for the London show.  Heading down to Greenwich for Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us Tour? Here’s everything you need to know, from the doors and start time to remaining ticket availability.  RECOMMENDED: The best gigs and concerts in March. When is Gracie Abrams playing at London’s O2?   The ‘That’s So True’ singer is playing on Thursday March 6 2025. What are the timings?  Doors open for the arena at 6.30pm. Judging from previous tour stops, expect Abrams on stage at around 9pm. Curfew is at 11pm.  What’s the setlist?  This is what you can expect Gracie Abrams to play at the O2, according to a Setlist.fm page on a previous tour stop in Berlin.  Felt Good About You Risk Blowing Smoke 21 I Love You, I’m Sorry Where Do We Go Now? Gave You I Gave You I Mess It Up Friend Rockland I Know It Won’t Work Camden Normal Thing I Told You Things Let It Happen Tough Love Long Sleeves Cool I Miss You, I’m Sorry us. Free Now That’s So True Close to You  Who is supporting?  Support comes from Dora Jar – expec