India Lawrence

Get your talons up to scratch with our guide to the best manicures in London – ranging from cheap and cheerful touch-ups to indulgent treatments, in fancy spas, lush hotels and cosy neighbourhood spots. Whatever you’re after, we’ve filed down the lot to the very best manicures in London. RECOMMENDED: The best spas in London

October 2026: The frankly exceptional Impala in Soho has taken the top spot as our favourite new restaurant in London, but coming up close behind is Kid, which is just around the corner. Other new additions include Kismet in Borough Market, Cloudstreet in Stoke Newington, Bar Blondie in Queen's Park, Hon's BBQ in Hackney Wick and Kinz in Notting Hill. Hungry yet? Every week, a frankly silly amount of brilliant new restaurants, cafés and street food joints arrive in London. Which makes whittling down a shortlist of the best newbies a serious challenge. But here it is. The 20 very best new restaurants in the capital, ranked in order of greatness and deliciousness. All of them have opened over the past 12 months and been visited by our hungry critics. So go forth and take inspo from this list, which is updated regularly. Check in often to find out what we really rate on the London restaurant scene. And look here for all the info about the best new openings in October 2026. London's best new restaurants at a glance: 🥩 Central: Impala, Soho 🍷 North: Cloudstreet, Stoke Newington 🦐 South: The Victory, East Dulwich 🍝 East: Hon's BBQ, Hackney Wick 🥗 West: Maai by Nikita, Fulham 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

When it comes to art and exhibitions, London has it all. From the niche spaces, to the avant garde galleries, and the massive crowd-pleasing museums, our city is packed with shows that will perplex, challenge, inspire, educate and leave you feeling awestruck.  The problem is... there’s absolutely tons to see. Too much, you could say. Lucky for you, Time Out exists. For decades, our experts have been visiting and reviewing all the sculpture, painting, performance, photography, history, fashion and other types of exhibitions on offer. You name it, we’ve (probably, most likely) seen it. If you’re wondering what’s actually worth your time, start here. Check out the best museum exhibitions and art in London right now, and be sure to come back weekly for the latest picks. Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox. RECOMMENDED: Best photography exhibitions in LondonBest free exhibitions in London

From Arts and Crafts and the pre-Raphaelites through to pop art and the YBAs, the UK has borne several of the planet’s most important visual movements. Fitting, therefore, that we’ve also got a world-leading roster of galleries. But these institutions don’t just show off British art: between them they boast a truly formidable collection of global art. You name a major artist – yep, any artist – it’s pretty much a dead cert that a UK gallery exhibits their work. Better yet, the UK’s finest art galleries are diverse in purpose and spread evenly across the land. You’ll find all sorts of exhibition spaces in major cities, sure, but there are also arty gems in smaller towns, alongside attractions ranging from blustery seaside enclaves in Scotland to dazzling sculpture gardens in Cornwall. To top it all off, plenty are free to visit.  When putting together Time Out’s guide to the best art galleries in the UK, we didn’t just take into account which places have the biggest names. We also wanted to spotlight the boldest programming and our favourite curators, as well as pick out galleries that feel like a spectacle. After all, art is even more special when you’re viewing it within another piece of art. Art-ception, if you like.  The vast majority of the list below features art galleries outside London (for the capital’s top art destinations, see this list). And if you’re looking for non-art attractions, you can find Time Out’s guide to the best museums in the UK here. RECOMMENDED: 📍

August 2026: Our latest update includes everything from an early morning Michelin-starred tasting menu to udon noodle bowls, South Indian platters and Hong Kong-style toasted buns. Of course, it wouldn't be a list of the best breakfasts in London without an appearance from Dishoom and their iconic-for-a-reason bacon naan, so that's here too, as is old school East End hangout E Pellicci - one of the best classic caffs in London. The most recent additions to the list include the return of the best bacon sarnie/bap in London, which is now available at St John Neal's Yard Wine Bar from 9am daily, and our brand new Number One in Highgate.   The best breakfasts in London at a glance: 😎 Best for celeb-spotting: The Wolseley, Mayfair 🥓 Best for a fry-up: E Pellicci, Bethnal Green 🍛 Best for a South Indian feast: The Tamil Prince, Islington 🍞 Best for Hong Kong French toast: Hoko Cafe, Brick Lane 🍱 Best for Japanese brekkie: Ikoi, Kings Cross Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and luckily for London, the city caters to every possible morning whim. These days, London isn’t just home to the fry-up, but the ubiquitous smashed avocado on toast, bowls of shakshuka and many more besides. In fact, London genuinely might be the best place to eat breakfast in the world. Whether you’re the kind of person who favours a posh restaurant over a greasy spoon, or who champions a caff over a swanky hotel, we’ve rounded up the ultimate list.  RECOMMENDED: Breakfast’s a little too e

Autumn is well and truly underway, and as you revel in the joys of wearing big jumpers, the return of Celebrity Traitors and it finally being cold enough to haul out the big duvet, chew on this: the run up to Christmas is also one of the best times to catch some culture in the capital.  After recovering from a sleepy summer in September, October is when things truly kick back into action. This month London has some crackers on stage, including Pam Tanowitz’s delightfully postmodern ‘Pastoral’ at the Barbican, the sultry adults-only ballet ‘Manon’ at the ROH, and Dance Umbrella, a stupendous contemporary dance festival taking over various venues throughout the month.  Whether you’re looking for a last-minute night out, or have been planning an evening at the theatre for months, these are the dance shows in London you should be booking this autumn.  India Lawrence is Time Out’s resident dance expert. She has been reviewing contemporary dance and ballet in London since 2022.  RECOMMENDED:🎭 The best theatre shows in London for 2026🎤 The top London comedy shows to see in June💃 Dance classes in London  

When you think of east London, you might picture a hipster’s paradise. The kind of place filled with the Tabi-wearing, Hackney Half-running, Torres crisp-worshiping acolytes of London’s most famous local meme pages (Real Housewives of Clapton, we’re looking at you).  But there’s more to east London than the run clubs of London Fields, the small plates restaurants of Hackney Central and the swarms of Lime bikes that take over the area’s streets every day during rush hour.  Each enclave of this vast area has its own unique identity. There’s the family-filled Walthamstow, the nightlife-packed Dalston, and the Bengali-influenced Brick Lane. East London packs in some of the city’s very best museums, markets, restaurants and green spaces. Plus, there are more than a few London institutions here: from teeth-stickingly chewy, late-night bagels on Brick Lane, full English breakfasts with a side of Italian/cockney banter at E Pellici and Columbia Road’s flower market (aka the best way to spend a Sunday morning in London).  There’s something for everyone out east, whether you’re looking for brilliant restaurants like Tiella and Miga, lovely green spaces like Dalston East Curve Garden and Walthamstow Wetlands, or dazzling London history like Dennis Severs’ House and the Museum of the Home. Whatever your tastes, here’s our selection of the most enticing attractions, picked by east London-loving Time Out editors. RECOMMENDED: The 50 best things to do in London This article includes affil

Whether you’re in one of the UK’s diverse, underrated cities, our picture-perfect seaside towns or anywhere in between, there’s always a museum to educate, explain, enlighten. Far from just places to hide from grim weather, Britain’s greatest museums tell stories, explore histories and get you fascinated by stuff you’d never previously spared a thought for. Here at Time Out, we are, obviously, huge museum nerds. You’ll find countless of the cultural institutions peppered throughout our UK city guides, whether that’s a mighty, storeyed national behemoth or an adorably niche local exhibition space. Even better, plenty of those museums are totally free to visit (and they remain so, despite suggestions of change). But which British museums are most essential to visit this year? Which ones are having a moment, basking in a refurb, putting on the most tantalising exhibitions? We’ve rounded up the most unmissable, all chosen by Time Out UK editors who’ve recently visited them. Before we get stuck in, a quick note. The vast majority of the list below is outside London, and that’s intentional. If you’re looking for stuff in the capital, we have an excellent guide to the city’s museums here. We’ve also steered clear of conventional art galleries – you can find our favourite art spaces here. RECOMMENDED: 📍 The UK’s top places to visit in 2026.🎵 The best music festivals in the UK.🥾 The greatest walks and hikes in the UK. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by writers who

July 2026: If you’ve had the pleasure of strolling down Exmouth Market recently, you’ll know the historic Clerkenwell strip is the buzziest pedestrianised street in London, full of al-fresco fun, convivial pintspeople and sidewalk tapas as far as the eye can see. Which is pretty much all down to the new Number 1 in our list of the best bars in London. Congratulations are due to Cafe Kick, the breezy Euro-chic sports bar about to celebrate 30 years of tricking your brain into thinking you’re on holiday. The rest of our Top 50 features bars old and new, posh and divey, and cheap and pricey, but all of them with great drinks and an unparalleled vibe. Fancy 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, which features the greatest bars in the capital right now. These are the places we’d recommend to a friend, because we love drinking in them and have done many times over. From classy cocktail counters to delightful dives, sleek hotel bars, rooftop bars and places to sip wine, London’s got them all. You’ll find historic drinking holes here as well as brand new openings. But what makes a truly good bar? Our critieria is simple; a menu of great drinks is important, but so is the overall energy of the place – there’s no point having the perfect paloma if you have to drink it in a bar that smells of bin juice. To make it into our Top 50, a bar has to be fun, friendly, convivial and inclusive, as we

We’re firmly past 2026’s halfway point and it’s already been a stacked year for excellent new music. The race for song of the summer is a packed field, big-name pop titans – Olivia Rodrigo, Madonna – have delivered lauded albums and there’s been a formidable number of breakout bands. 2026’s end-of-year round-ups are already looking like contentious business indeed.  Looking to inject something new into your mid-year listening habits? Time Out’s music geeks have got together to put together a list of the albums we’ve loved so far in 2026. Raving dance-pop, grotty death metal, stratospheric jazz-funk, paranoid techno, the year’s biggest pop records… whatever’s your jam, you’ll find it here.  Read on for the best albums of 2026 as of July, according to Time Out editors and contributors (they’re in alphabetical order – you’ll have to wait until the end of the year for the definitive ranking). RECOMMENDED: The 10 songs of the summer for 2026.

September 2026: From Asian patisseries to sourdough specialists and beigel gurus, when it comes to bakeries London is one big doughy goldmine. This means whittling down the very best bakehouses in the city is no mean feat. But, we’ve risen to the challenge and eaten our way through the lot to round up London’s yeasty royalty. The best London bakeries at a glance: 🥐 Best for croissants: Toad, Camberwell 🍩 Best for beignets: Fortitude, Bloomsbury 🍯 Best for sticky buns: Bunhead Bakery, Herne Hill 🍞 Best for bread: Dusty Knuckle, Dalston 🫓 Best for flatbreads: Babans Naan, Finsbury Park 🍰 Best for mankoushe: Edami, Hackney Whether you want fluffy naan breads from north London institutions, exquisitely-made pastries, perfectly-proved sourdough, or heritage-grain flaky goodness, there’s an oven in London cooking up something for you. Why not pair your pastry goodies with a hot drink at one of the best cafés and coffee shops in London?  RECOMMENDED: London's best cheap eats. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now.

Sometimes you want hotel beds, fluffy robes and a breakfast buffet laid out for you. But sometimes, you really just want your own space, and to live like an actual local – and for those trips, only an Airbnb will do. Our editors agree; some of our most memorable trips feature memories of playing vinyl and cooking scrambled eggs in a light-filled kitchen, and wandering out to our favourite local bar every evening.   There are endless lists out there of the most extravagant, out-there and one-of-a-kind Airbnbs in Europe – the kinds that get splashed in print magazines and featured on Airbnb’s homepage. But often these stays are booked up for the next three years or, ahem, a little out of our budget. Instead, we thought we’d show you the Airbnbs we’ve actually booked ourselves and fallen in love with lately. Some are rare finds, some are unique, and some are just exactly what we needed – filled with character, comfort and perfectly placed for exploring the city. That’s what we’re all about here at Time Out, after all. So for a bit of holiday inspo (or even your next holiday stay), read on, friends – here are our favourite Airbnbs right now.  ➡️ READ MORE: Our ultimate guide to hotels and Airbnbs in Europe Ella Doyle is Time Out’s Europe editor. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by experts across Europe. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For mo

Tim Walker is a phenomenal fashion photographer. The 55-year-old has created iconic spread after iconic spread for the likes of British Vogue, i-D and Vanity Fair, and he’s shot famous faces including Tilda Swinton, Kate Moss and Harry Styles. Walker's surreal, Alice in Wonderland-inspired style is whimsical, always surprising, and somehow still cool. So then, why is the majority of this landmark show made up of boring celebrity portraits taken on plain grey backgrounds? The premise of Fairyland: Love and Legends is simple: a celebration of queerness comprising 250 portraits, all shot by Walker, of LGBTQ+ activists, artists, actors, singers and allies, taken across six years. Walker got the idea for the exhibition when he stumbled across the plaque commemorating the first gay rights demonstration in Britain while walking in Highbury Fields. A replica of this triangular plaque is displayed proudly at the entrance to the exhibition.  Some of it is subversive and exciting Fairyland opens with stronger works, in a room dedicated to gay rights campaigners of the ‘70s and ‘80s, all defiantly posing in portraits that mimic the style of Tudor painters Hans Holbein the Younger and Nicholas Hilliard. Olivette Cole-Wilson, a founding member of Stonewall, delicately holds a blackbird in jewellery-encrusted hands that are framed by a thick gilded frame. Musician and longtime supporter of the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard Tom Robinson smirks at the camera, holding a kestrel and dress

You may not have realised, but at some point in your life you’ve probably encountered the work of Es Devlin. If you’ve been to an Adele concert, watched a Super Bowl half-time show, or tuned in to the 2012 Olympics closing ceremony, you will most likely have come face to face with creations by the British artist and stage designer.  To call Es Devlin impressive would be an understatement. The designer’s contact book is like a who’s who of the world’s biggest A-listers  – she’s conjured up ingenious staging for the Weeknd, Lorde, Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, the Pet Shop Boys and U2. Devlin has made otherworldly sets for some of the world’s most esteemed theatres and opera houses, from the National Theatre to Milan’s La Scala. She’s also the proud owner of three Olivier Awards, one Tony, three Emmys, one Ivor Novello, the London Design Medal… you get the picture.  With such an illustrious career, it’s no wonder the Design Museum has deemed Devlin worthy of a retrospective, staging her first European solo show as its big autumn opening. But how does all this awe-inspiring stage design come across when it’s not actually on a stage? We enter into a recreation of Devlin’s studio, with messy bookshelves and drawings strewn all over the place. In a video projection Devlin tells us her life story: she was named after a witch, whose name her parents found in a crossword puzzle; her great-grandfather was an architect; she studied literature at university and then her mind was awakened at art sch

A bit of a west London institution, in 2020 Falafel King found its permanent home on Golborne Road after 30 years as a food stall on nearby Portobello Road. The menu at this takeaway-only spot is simple: big falafel pita, small falafel pita, box of falafel, or a big tub of houmous. For £11, you can score a sizable pita parcel, stuffed generously with well-seasoned, aromatic falafel (no bland, dry balls here), salad, creamy houmous, chilli sauce and ample pickles, including gherkins. This all comes with a homemade lemonade on the side – it’s just sweet enough, tangy and with a refreshing hint of mint. You might get an undignified amount of chickpea on your face when biting into one of these pillowy pitas, but it will be worth it. Time Out tip Still hungry? Score some Portuguese pud a few doors down with a pastel de nata from the legendary Lisboa Patisserie. 

K-pop, K-beauty, the films of Bong Joon Ho; for the past few years, South Korea has been having a main character moment. The Korean Wave (or hallyu) has already been the subject of a major V&A exhibition in recent years, and is no doubt the inspiration for the British Museum’s new show all about the peninsula. Spanning 2,000 years, from the Bronze Age to the 2010s, Korea is the first major exhibition on Korea’s art and history at the British Museum in over 40 years. Mainly focusing on art and crafts, Korea documents the development of ideas from 300BC up to today. It begins with the golden age of Buddhism during the Goryeo Dynasty (918 – 1392 AD) and takes us right up to the present day, via the Neo-Confucian ideals of the Joseon period (1392 – 1910), and the Korean War in the 1950s. Of course, there are many stunning objects to be seen here, including more than a few treasures not usually seen outside of South Korea. Much of the display comes from the collection of Lee Kun-Hee, the late chairman of Samsung (also the exhibition’s corporate partner). Other bits are loaned from the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea.  The olden days stuff is classic British Museum fodder, with many a beautiful ceramic, chonky piece of jewellery and stunning silk painting on display. An enormous and intricate bronze temple bell from 900 AD bulges with carvings of dragons and plants. Orb-like moon jars are mesmeric in their simplicity, their gho

There’s a stretch of Kingsland Road where you’re absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to cocktail bars: there’s audiophile heaven Brilliant Corners; scene-y celeb magnet Ellie’s; and the experimental-bordering-academic mixology spot Bauhaus Warehaus. However, there’s a surprising lack of wine bars. Table at 464 is trying to remedy that.  The wine list is enough to satisfy any natty wine nerd Inside this industrial-chic watering hole (think exposed bricks and a lot of raw concrete) you’ll find a relatively niche wine list but it’s enough to satisfy any natty wine nerd. There’s an orange section that leans into lesser-known regions including Slovakia and Slovenia and they even have a Greek retsina (it’s an acquired taste). For more old-world palates, they have their Burgundy, Beaujolais and Chianti too.  A small list of cocktails is also available, or the bartender can shake you up any classic. The rosemary gimlet is bright and refreshing. You can also stuff yourself on a cheffy small plates menu. Our highlights were chonky grilled hispi cabbage drenched in a heavenly golden korma sauce; buttery walnut sourdough brioche, still warm from the oven and shinier than someone who’s just had a facial with a shitake butter glaze; and whole seabass with a smoked beurre blanc and scattered with tiny cubes of gherkin.  Order this Wine is subjective, but my personal favourite was the Bodegas Ameztoi Txakoli Rosado, a crisp, slightly sparkling rosé from the Basque country. And if you

There’s nothing bad about Bad Coffee. This yellow-hued roastery and espresso bar in what feels like a storage unit is imbued with the impish spirit of Bart Simpson: its sunshine-coloured bags of coffee beans available to buy on-site have names like ‘Nat Has Her Beans’ (after Nat Has Herpes) and ‘Hi Babes!’. Its canary coffee cups are decorated with Simpson-like cartoon eyes and its interior is plastered with stickers and graffiti. The folk working here really know their beans and whatever you order – be it a cold brew with Oatly vanilla foam, or a cortado – it’s sure to be made to perfection. Also, if you buy a bag of beans you get a free drink – pretty good value if you ask us. 

I hate the phrase ‘hidden gem’, but if there was ever a reason to use it, it would be to describe Thingy Cafe. Sat opposite a busy road and a railway line frequented by freight trains, this gorgeous little Hackney Wick oasis comprises a sweet garden, spacious cafe, co-working space and even a podcasting studio. It’s got a community vibe and inside the building filled with mismatched furniture, disco balls and Pride flags, you’ll find a dependable café serving a ‘normal’ menu (you’ll find no matcha strawberry french toast here) – bacon buns, seasonal soups and hearty sandwiches – all well made with high-quality ingredients. For coffee, it’s the classics done well.

If you’ve spent any time in Shoreditch, you’ll be well acquainted with the two graffitied tube carriages that sit on the roof of gig venue Village Underground. Once emblematic of the ‘ditch’s heyday, in all its graffitied and hipster glory, these carriages always looked cool, but were elusive to Londoners. How did they get there? What were they used for? Well, they were the offices for the Village Underground team until they decided to turn them into a cocktail bar.  This skyward spot makes good use of its quirky location without turning it into a gimmick. Inside, the locomotives are minimally decorated with mid-century style seating. Laid out like the Bakerloo line, seating is either a long banquette or a booth with a tiny table. You can even step inside the driver’s cab and go to town on the buttons and levers. On the spacious lower level there are bigger tables, the bar and a kitchen courtesy of Time Out-favourite Bad Boy Pizza Society.  All of this makes for a winning evening in the iconic east London tube carriages. My only complaint: if you are sitting in the trains you have to order drinks at the bar below and carry them up the stairs yourself – no easy feat a few bevvys in.  Order this Cocktails are the thing to get – they aren’t pretentious or overly complicated, and with most coming in at £12 it's not bad value. The Trade Winds is a delightful short concoction of pineapple-infused rum, mezcal and lemon – it’s delicately smoky, with a subtle pineapple zing. The mai t

When it was released in 1998, the response to Practical Magic was mostly negative. But slowly this charmingly oddball supernatural comedy, with its zany characters and message of female empowerment, has found its tribe. Three decades on and the original has become a quirky, feminist gem from ‘90s Hollywood. Fans have been begging for a sequel for years, and now they finally have one. Who says magic isn’t real? For this oh-so-legacy sequel, director Susanne Bier (Bird Box) has wrangled all the original Owenses, the witchy heroines of the original. They’re still living in that beautiful clapboard house in Massachusetts, and the curse they thought was broken – the one that sees any man they love die a tragic death – has continued. The cast is as stacked as ever: Gilly (Nicole Kidman), Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Aunt Jet (Dianne Wiest) all return. Even Stockard Channing has been conjured out of retirement to reprise her role as the sage and eccentric Aunt Fran. They are joined by a new younger generation of Owens sisters Antonia (Maisie Williams) and Kylie (Joey King) alongside new members of the coven who include Lee Pace – playing Ian Wright, the rugged, tattooed English professor of witchcraft – and Solly McLeod, as his brooding former apprentice.  The plot revolves around Sally reconnecting with her witchy powers after decades of suppressing them, and a quest to break the curse that leads Sally, Gilly and Kylie to quaint olde England.  The leads handle a fairly cheesy script

Rua is the kind of place that will give the high-tech coffee houses of Melbourne a run for their money, which is to say if you’re someone who likes your pours concocted as precisely as they would be in a chemist’s lab, then head here. Their expert brewers tinker behind the counter with speciality roasts (there’s a wide selection of beans to choose from) and Aeropresses, but they also have fun with it. As well as the classics, Rua operates a seasonal menu and pours cold brew slushies, cold brew tonics and mont blancs (cold brew with orange, vanilla and cold foam) in the summer. Their iced latte is frothy and fruity, while the weighty kimchi and cheese toasty comes with a generous, gooey filling stuffed inside fresh sourdough. Set under some spacious railway arches behind Holloway Road station, there’s plenty of space for both workers and the computer-averse as Rua sets up laptop-free tables littered with magazines and books. Time Out tip Visit on weekends for their legendary breakfast burritos. 

Found on the campus of Goldsmiths University, don’t be surprised if you see painfully cool students dressed artfully in charity shop garms wondering the halls of this free gallery. Designed by Turner Prize-winning architecture collective Assemble and opened in 2018, this gallery in a grade II-listed former Victorian bathhouse seems hellbent on ignoring all the usual art conventions and putting on whatever challenging shows it bloody wants. Which is a really, really good thing. Make sure to check out work of the gallery’s residents in the John Garcia Family Foundation Gallery – it’s a programme that welcomes community and student groups to create art at the CCA. 

Once dubbed ‘the queen of old ladies’, writer and curator Alison Jacques has been championing underrepresented and forgotten female artists who others might deem ‘past it’ since opening her gallery in 2004. Her swish Fitzrovia space, now based on Cork Street, can be credited for the revival of the careers of several female artists such as surrealist painter Dorothea Tanning, American performance artist Hannah Wilke and fibre artist Sheila Hicks. Jacques’ gallery – set over 3,500 square feet including two ground floor exhibition spaces – also made its name supporting young artists fresh out of art school, who have gone on to achieve international recognition, and represents the estates of groundbreaking big names like Robert Mapplethorpe and Ana Mendieta. Jacques has staged exhibitions curated by the likes of David Hockney, the Scissor Sisters and Patti Smith. 

Facial recognition: to some people it represents a terrifying Orwellian tech-addled future, to others it is the key to a society that operates on ultimate efficiency. However you feel about it, facial scanning is already a big part of every day life (ever used an iPhone?), and it’s only going to become more prevalent in the future.  Soon passengers arriving at some British airports will no longer need to show their passports when re-entering the country, as select airports will be swapping passport gates with contactless facial scanners. E-gates will use facial recognition technology to identify returning travellers, meaning they won’t have to get their passports out (though passengers will still need to carry passports when travelling).  This tech is being introduced as airports try to improve efficiency at border control and reduce queue times. The Times reported that contactless e-gates will first arrive at Birmingham and East Midlands airports in autumn 2026, before being rolled out to Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted airports early next year.  Photograph: 1000 Words / Shutterstock.comPassport control at Heathrow Airport, London Phil Douglas, director general of Border Force, told the Times that the new contactless system could cut border waiting times by 25 percent. He said: ‘It will mean we have a more secure border and a much faster transit through the airport. It’s quicker, it’s more mode

Flying out of a bad airport is the absolute pits. What do you mean there’s nowhere to sit down, nowhere to charge your phone and only one café selling extortionate, but somehow always soggy, sandwiches? Luckily for London, one of our local flight hubs has been named as one of the top airports in the world.  London Heathrow (LHR) has been named one of the planet’s best airports by the Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards 2026. Decided purely on votes from CNT’s UK readership, LHR was named the best in the world alongside only one other hub: Istanbul Airport in Turkey.  In the awards, Heathrow topped the category for best UK airports, with a score of 82.22. It beat London City, Edinburgh, Gatwick and Stansted airports, which all also featured in the ranking. Condé Nast Traveller did not reveal how airports were scored or why people voted for LHR in particular. The awards spanned categories all across travel, including best airlines, best resorts and best cruise lines.  Photograph: ShutterstockLondon Heathrow Airport Heathrow has been picking up accolades all over the place recently. At the end of last month the ‘Oscars of the aviation industry’ declared LHR to be home to one of the world’s top independent airline lounges. And earlier this year, London Heathrow was also crowned one of the planet’s best in the Skytrax’s World Airport Awards. Coming in 16th in the world, Heathrow was the highest-ranked British airport on the global list. The London flight hub also picked

Vegan food doesn’t grab as many headlines as it once did, but that doesn’t mean London’s best plant-based restos have stopped diligently pumping out delicious meat-and-dairy-free dishes to the capital’s hungry herbivores. One beloved vegan restaurant, Jam Delish, is expanding and opening a new chip shop.  The plant-based Caribbean spot started as a pop-up food business, before opening its first permanent restaurant in Islington in 2022. Founded by siblings Jordan and Chyna with Bajan-Jamaican chef Nathan Collymore in the kitchen, Jam Delish quickly became one of the capital’s top places for a slap-up vegan meal.  Soon Jam Delish will open a new pop-up at Boxhall City. Chippie by Jam Delish will open for business at Boxhall’s Kitchen No 8 from Wednesday October 14 to November 28.  Chippie will put a Caribbean twist on classic British chip shop dishes. Don’t expect to see any real fish on the menu, as it will be totally plant-based. Up for grabs will be plant-based ‘fish’ in a Red Stripe beer batter, Guyanese-style crispy ‘scampi’, jerk battered vegan sausage, triple-cut chips and oodles of curry sauce.  Photograph: Jam Delish x BoxhallJam Delish x Boxhall In a statement shared with Time Out, Jordan and Chyna, co-founders of Jam Delish, said: ‘Chippie has come from Nathan and I working closely together on how we could take the flavours and creativity people know us for at Jam Delish and apply them to something completely different. We both loved the idea of reimagining the cl

Inspired by landlords, encourages avaricious material gain, and causes generational family arguments: Monopoly is one of the GGOATs (greatest games of all time). But London, we have some sad news, because the capital’s immersive experience inspired by the board game is shutting for good. After five years, Monopoly Lifesized on Tottenham Court Road is closing down. Shuttering on January 3 2027, the next few months will be your last chance to rub shoulders with the life-sized mustachioed mascot, jump around a massive board, and make your family cry IRL when you charge them double rent for landing on Mayfair.  Photograph: Monoply LifesizedThe art challenge in Monopoly Lifesized A bit more than just a giant board game, Monopoly Lifesized involves various immersive challenges and puzzles – players compete in teams to break out of a jail escape room, dodge lasers to steal artworks, and crack codes to break into Mr Monopoly’s vault. Since opening in 2021 it’s hosted more than 20,000 games.    The Path Entertainment Group, which owns Monopoly Lifesized, did not disclose why the experience was closing.  David Hutchinson, chief executive of The Path Entertainment Group said: ‘London’s immersive entertainment scene has flourished in recent years, changing the way audiences experience their favourite games, and we are proud that Monopoly Lifesized has played a part in this exciting evolution. ‘While we are closing our London doors for now, this is not the end of the journey. We are ex

Mulled wine, twinkly fairy lights and alpine huts. There’s nothing quite like a Christmas market to get you in the festive spirit.  If you’re one of those people who go absolutely bonkers for winter holidays, then we have exciting news. Jet2 is launching tonnes of flight routes to Christmas market destinations next winter.  The airline has just unveiled its winter city break destinations, spanning 15 European cities including Vienna, Prague, Cologne, Strasbourg and Tallinn. Hold your horses, because these new routes won’t be coming into action until winter 2027/28, meaning next Christmas, not the upcoming one. But it’s good news for any Type A keen beans who like to book their holidays well in advance.  Photograph: Courtesy of Jet2Vienna Christmas markets Jet2 has already put more than 800,000 seats on sale for winter 2027/28. The airline will operate 82 routes from 13 UK airport bases, including 48 routes specifically timed to get travellers to Europe’s Chrimbo markets. The full line-up of winter city breaks spans classics like Vienna, Prague and Cologne, as well as some more unexpected choices like Barcelona, Porto and Venice.  Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2, said: ‘Holidays to visit Christmas markets are always a firm favourite with our customers. We have responded by putting more than 800,000 seats on sale across 82 routes for winter 27/28, giving customers plenty of choice and flexibility... By putting the programme on sale now, customers can get their festive pl

Doesn’t June 2025 feel like an age ago? Glastonbury took a fallow year in 2026, and there was certainly a Glasto-sized hole in our summer. But worry not, Glastonbury 2027 has been confirmed and tickets will be up for grabs this weekend (with a new virtual queue system – find out more here) If you’re already excited at the prospect of being back on Worthy Farm next summer, well, us too. Glastonbury is undeniably the UK’s greatest music festival and there’s nowhere else like it on Earth. However, Glasto’s supremacy isn’t a well-kept secret: every year millions attempt to get tickets, and most fail to do so.  In the market for tickets to Glastonbury Festival 2027? Of course you are. Here’s absolutely everything you need to know, from the confirmed festival dates to and how much tickets will cost.  RECOMMENDED: 🎤 Time Out’s ultimate guide to Glastonbury Festival. When is Glastonbury 2027? Glastonbury’s 2027 dates have been confirmed: block out your calendars for Wednesday June 23 to Sunday June 27 2027. When do Glastonbury 2027 tickets go on sale? Standard tickets for Glastonbury 2027 will go on sale at 9am on Sunday, October 4. How to register for Glastonbury 2027 tickets Registration is now closed for Glasto 2027. Can I use my old Glastonbury registration for 2027? You can use old registration details for next summer’s event. However, it’s best to check that you’re still registered.  How much will tickets cost? General admission tickets will be £408 including a £5 booking fe

Group chats across the UK were sent into a frenzy on Thursday night as hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of punters logged on hoping to cop tickets for Glastonbury 2027.  The biggest takeaway from the Glasto coach sale? There’s a new queueing system, which makes the sale a lot fairer than it has been in previous years (no more sneaky IP address hacks or multiple tabs allowed). But this also means that the ‘syndicate method’ (more on that below) may be far less successful.  If you were stuck in two-bar jail last night, here’s everything you need to know about securing tickets in the Glastonbury 2027 general sale.  When is Glastonbury 2027? Next Glasto will take place from Wednesday June 23 to Sunday June 27 2027.  When do tickets go on sale? The Glastonbury coach sale took place on October 1, with tickets selling out in 30 minutes. But don’t give up hope – the general sale, where the majority of tickets are released, takes place on Sunday October 4 at 9am. Set those alarms.  How much do Glastonbury tickets cost? Weekend tickets for Glastonbury 2027 will cost £408 (including a £5 booking fee per ticket). Glastonbury does not sell individual day tickets. If you’re lucky enough to get tickets in the sale you’ll have to pay a £100 deposit, with the rest of the balance due in April 2027.  Photograph: marietta peros / Shutterstock.comGlastonbury festival sign What is the new queue system? This year, for the first time, hopeful attendees had to complete a captcha and then ent

If you were looking forward to having a huge night out at Depot Mayfield in Manchester next year, think again, because The Warehouse Project (WHP) is taking a year off in 2027.  WHP will celebrate its 20th anniversary this November with a party at Depot Mayfield. But after the 2026 season comes to a close on New Year’s Eve, the project is taking ‘a short breather’, the founders announced in a statement via Instagram.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Warehouse Project (@whp_mcr) Once a genuinely exciting new frontier of nightlife, these days WHP is one of several big warehouse venues – places such as London’s Drumsheds, Eutopia Warehouse, and the newly opened Ironworks – that programme huge DJs. That’s why the founders have decided to take a fallow year in 2027 – just like what Glastonbury does – so they can focus on creating a new format for the event series.  ‘Those early years had a particular energy. There was huge risk at every turn and, at times, unimaginable chaos that could easily have ended the whole thing before it had really begun.’ the statement said.  ‘While we still love and obsess over the curation of every WHP season, it was never just about a line-up. In those early days, the whole format genuinely felt brand new: the venue, the sound, the production, the music, and a real industrial spirit that built a whole temporary world to contain it all.’ It added: ‘Over the last two decades, almost everything around us has changed.

The process to renationalise British railways is well underway. Next up to be taken under public ownership is Great Western Railways, with the government nationalising the operator in December. The last operator to be nationalised was Chiltern Railways in September. When Labour was elected back in 2024, one of the party’s big manifesto pledges was to renationalise Britain’s railways. Keir Starmer and co promised to bring all of England’s major railway lines back into public ownership by 2027, and we are seeing this come into effect. At the end of last year the UK government also revealed the branding for Great British Railways. Several of England’s train companies have already been brought into public ownership, as their private contracts with the Department for Transport expired. Going forward, all lines are on course to be nationalised by the end of 2027.  Here’s everything we know about the renationalisation of the railways so far.  Which train companies have already been nationalised? Here is a list of nationalised train companies and the date they were renationalised: South Western Railway (SWR), May 25 2025 c2c, July 20 2025 Greater Anglia, October 12 2025 West Midlands Trains (includes West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway), February 1 2026 Govia Thameslink Railway (includes Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink), May 31 2026 Chiltern Railways, September 20 2026 Already in the public sector: LNER Northern Southeastern TransPennine

If you have to fly, you may as well fly in style – and that’s what airport lounges were invented for. Now, a new ranking known as the ‘Oscars of the aviation industry’ has revealed the world’s 10 best lounges, and one of them is at a London airport.  The planet’s very top independent airport lounges were voted for by consumers in an annual global passenger satisfaction survey by aviation ratings site Skytrax. The shortlist was revealed at the World Airline Awards. Coming in fourth place out of 10 was the Plaza Premium at Heathrow Terminal 4. The Heathrow lounge offers a complimentary buffet, free-flowing, self-serve beer, wine, spirits, juices and coffee, a meditation room, wi-fi and shower facilities (because there’s nothing worse than a long travel day with no access to a shower).  The London lounge was beaten by the Plaza Premium Lounge Rome Fiumicino in second place, and the Chase Sapphire Lounge in Hong Kong airport in third. The top prize was awarded to the Chase Sapphire Lounge at New York LaGuardia. This bastion of pre-flight relaxation boasts two storeys, a seasonal menu featuring local bites, a craft cocktail bar and complimentary 30-minute facial treatments, which sounds hard to beat.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Plaza Premium Lounge (@plazapremiumlounge) Plaza Premium Group has airport lounges all over the world (including LHR terminals 2, 3 and 5) and was awarded the world's best airport lounge group title for the 10th year in

Franco’s, a legendary Italian restaurant that’s been plying Londoners with cooked breakfasts, lasagne and tiramisu since 1945, has unveiled its biggest redesign in over 80 years.  For the first time, the resto on Jermyn Street has opened an all-day bar on its premises. Designed by Conrad Alexander Design, the new bar in the front of the restaurant is designed to be a standalone venue that will serve coffee in the morning, aperitivo from 6pm and cocktails late into the night. The menu by head chef Stefano Turconi will span breakfast, lunch and dinner, featuring dishes like lobster roll dressed with pickled fennel and basil mayonnaise, sea urchin on toast, potato gnocchi with porcini mushrooms, and roasted venison loin with celeriac purée.  Photograph: Franco’sThe new bar at Franco’s For the drinks, Franco’s bar will serve its own takes on Italian aperitivo. Highlights include the ‘Apple Sour Spritz’, made with apple whiskey, lemon and prosecco; ‘Zest’ combines limoncello, citrus vodka, lemon and mint; ‘Tarts and Flowers’ pairs vodka and amaretto with maraschino cherry and roasted almond. (The classics including negroni and Aperol spritz are also available for the trad heads). The wine list curated by head sommelier Paolo Pellegrino will feature rare Italian vintages, champagnes and three cuvées created just for Franco’s in partnership with the Italian winery from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Le Pianure.  Jason Phillips, director at Wiltons Holdings – which owns Franco’s

You can’t beat a negroni. A simple concoction of gin, Campari and vermouth, the ruby red drink is bitter and sweet all at once, with a refreshing zing of orange bringing the whole thing together. The cocktail is so beloved it gets celebrated every year with a whole week dedicated to it. It’s Negroni Week in London right now, so we’ve put together a definitive guide to the capital’s best ones.  There’s a whole world of negronis out there. You have your trad ones, available at places like Bar Italia and Bar Etna. Then there are the experimental ones, made with mezcal, orange blossom or pink peppercorns. To help you sort the overly bitter from the watery, the inventive from the overly ambitious, Time Out’s editors and writers put their tastebuds to the test to come up with the negroni matrix – an ultimate guide to the cocktail in London across four categories: mad, trad, cheap and pricey. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Time Out London (@timeoutlondon) Coming in at both trad and cheap were Brutto and Bar Etna – both of these spots serve a slap-up classic negroni for a fiver a pop. At the other end of the scale was the Connaught Bar, which serves a vintage negroni for the eye-watering price of £130, made with Gordon’s Dry Gin 1970s, Campari Bitter 1970s and Martini Rosso Vermouth 1970s. At the cheap and mad end of the spectrum were Bancone’s orange blossom negroni (£7), Bar Termini’s ‘Superiore’ (£9) made with pink peppercorns, and Hawksmo