Around Town

The Old Truman Brewery becomes a one-stop Christmas shopping experience with independent retailers, gifts markets, designer sales and a pop-up emporium taking over the T1 space.

Sidestep the obvious high street shopping routes and look for present inspiration at winter markets, open studios and...

This annual exhibition showcases the best photojournalism of the past year, on events including the Sichaun province earthquake in China and the Beijing Olympics, as well as portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama and Dennis Hopper.

Hyde Park's seasonal makeover takes place for the third year running in late November. We may have had reservations about the ice rink last year (it was just too narrow for us to demonstrate our prowess) but the lights of the Giant Wheel added a...

London's ice-skating rinks are gearing up for the seasonal freeze

A chance to play with the toys featured on the BBC 2 series: race the presenter on a Scalextric track, make your own Morph, take part in a Meccano model building competition and marvel at furniture made for James May's Lego house.

Stock up for the festive season at this central market offering stilton from Neal's Yard Dairy, fresh oysters from McManus Brothers, handmade chocolates from Jenny Chocolate's Chocolate Bar and all sorts of other goodies, as well as...

Celebrations to accompany the switching on of the Christmas lights in Putney High Street include stalls from 30 local retailers selling food and gifts, plus carol singing and children's activities including a bouncy castle and a treasure hunt.

Curated by industrial designer Konstantin Grcic, the Serpentine Gallery's first ever exhibition on contemporary design focuses on mass-produced objects that have a practical use. It includes chairs by Ikea and Jasper Morrison, a Babybjörn baby...

Set in front of Henry VIII's picturesque old pad, this 900-square-metre rink has space for 250 skaters. Sessions last an hour, and the adjacent Frost Fayre café serves hot drinks to counteract exposure to the elements. Wheelchairs are welcome on...

A real German Christmas market along Queen's Walk (from the Southbank Centre to the London Eye) with decorated wooden chalets selling a wide range of hand-crafted gifts and German delicacies such as Glühwein (mulled wine), bratwursts and...

The grand eighteenth-century courtyard at Somerset House provides one of the most impressive skating backdrops in town. The skate school offers lessons for beginners and there are special sessions for families, students and disabled people, as...

Gaze up at Alfred Waterhouse's stunning Natural History Museum from the 1,050m square outdoor ice rink, or the smaller rink for children. Spectators can take in the scene with a hot chocolate or mulled wine from the balcony café/bar overlooking...

Take a drive into Buckinghamshire to catch Pinewood Studios' first ever public drive-in movies, projected on to Europe's largest bluescreen on the Paddock Lot, complete with refreshments delivered direct to your car. The drive-in will be...

Celebrate St Andrew's Day with our guide to the best of Scottish London, including details of special St Andrew's Day...

Crafts, toys and jewellery are on sale at this traditional, German-style market, along with Bratwurst and Glüwhein. The market is located between Bond Street and Marble Arch, opposite Selfridges.

This year's lights in the Market Building, spectacular chandeliers made from 600 LED tubes, are again designed by United Visual Artists, who worked on effects for tours by Massive Attack and the Chemical Brothers. The seasonal transformation also...

The annual bazaar offers the chance to experience Finnish Christmas traditions, meet Father Christmas and try seasonal specialties. The church will be filled with Finnish glassware, ceramics, wooden products, jewellery, confectionery and...

Offering a grand historical setting for seasonal skating sessions, the rink in the dry moat features views of London's ancient fortress. Ice guides are available for supervised group skating. As at fellow Historic Royal Palace Hampton Court,...

The National Gallery's seasonal shopping evenings are classy affairs, with present hunters plied with complimentary mulled wine and mince pies while serenaded by live classical music. On offer are Christmas cards featuring paintings from the...

In a spot surrounded by vertiginous towers, skaters can glide serenely across the ice, down a dram in the rinkside Moose Bar or just watch the action from the viewing gallery. The rink is located next to the new Park Pavilion which houses bars...

A winter theme park outside the Stratford landmark, featuring white-knuckle rides including a 30m high swing and the Reindeer Express Rollercoaster, a German market offering hot food and drink, Santa's grotto, carol singing and a vintage funfair...

Guests coming? Read our life-saving itinerary for every type of visitor

Offering something a little bit different for skating enthusiasts, the ice track at Wembley Stadium runs right around the pitch in a 360m-long promenade for speedy sprinting or careful gliding (and there's a nursery track for young skaters). The...

The bars, restaurants, sights and sounds that comprise the creme de la capital

We round up London's best bike shops - whether you're in need of a brand new bike or just need to get a puncture...

One of Britain's biggest antiques fairs, featuring more than 500 stalls selling furniture, object d'art, glassware and more. Plus a valuation roadshow with leading London auctioneers.

The two West End streets are presenting joint Christmas lights this year, themed to link in with Disney's 'A Christmas Carol'. Public events including carol singing take place on Regent Street, Oxford Street and in the City of London until Jan 5...

A treat for illustration fans, this exhibition brings together contemporary book illustrations by established artists and upcoming talent, including previously unseen work by Children's Laureate Anthony Browne, and original signed lithographs by...

Roll up for a tour on a Routemaster painted black and redecorated in a gothic vein, to hear half-factual, half-fictional tales about the sinister side of London, delivered by an on-board troupe of actors, stand-up comics and cabaret performers....

The annual present to Londoners from the people of Norway, a towering Christmas tree (usually a Norwegian spruce over 20m high and 50 to 60 years old), given each year since 1947 as a token of gratitude for Britain's support during WWII, takes...

Seventy stalls selling gifts ranging from monogrammed socks to specialty cheeses, plus activities such a human table football pitch for children to try out.

The first national art show to be curated by serving prisoners encompasses film, music and writing alongside the visual arts. The work, drawn from more than 5,000 submissions from secure establishments across the UK and abroad has been selected...

Two-hour guided tour of a romantic and overgrown Victorian cemetery featuring 1,000 ivy-clad angels and mighty Victorians buried in the green heart of Peckham. Takes place on the last Sunday of every month. The cemetery is open daily (8am-4pm in...

These open studios are a great chance to support independent designer-makers and pick up unique gifts (for Christmas or for yourself) that you won't find on the high street. Whether you're after furniture, lighting, jewellery, fashion...

Summer might be slipping away, but autumn in London won't disappoint. From art to dance and from theatre to clubbing,...

In anticipation of Carnaby's fiftieth anniversary next year, the Christmas decorations in the 12 streets of the area have a 1960s theme - the hippie concerns of Love, Hope, Joy and Peace feature strongly on distinctly non-traditional inflatables.

Moving to the O2 after a summer in Kensington Gardens, this new stage production of the JM Barrie story, adapted by Tanya Ronder, directed by Ben Harrison and designed by William Dudley, is performed in a purpose-built pavilion in the Meridian...

A small, circular outdoor ice rink tucked away behind Liverpool Street station. The rink is available for private hire on Monday to Thursday evenings (£450 + VAT per hour), and private or group lessons are available at an extra cost. Broomball...