The Time Out London blog team

Can you guess how often someone buys a bottle of perfume at London Heathrow? Ok, we’ll tell you – it’s every 20 seconds. That’s a lot of eau de toilette. It’s no wonder, then, that the west London aviation hub has been named a high-flyer when it comes to retail services. In fact, Heathrow has been ranked the best airport in the world for shopping opportunities at this year’s Skytrax World Airport Awards.  Every year, Skytrax surveys travellers on everything from baggage delivery times to airports’ cleanliness and staff friendliness, assessing more than 575 airports across 100 regions. Now, the shopaholics have spoken. Heathrow claimed the title over airports including Singapore Changi (which ranked second) and Abu Dhabi (which came sixth).  As for the London hub’s credentials, it’s home to 57,000 square metres of retail space – equal to around 10 football pitches – and more than 300 shops. Bougie brand names abound, from Louis Vuitton and Hermes to Burberry and Harrods. There’s also a dedicated Toblerone store, because what overseas trip would be complete without a bar of triangular chocolate? Photograph: Photo Nature Travel / Shutterstock.com As well as claiming the top spot when it comes to retail therapy, Heathrow also ranked 16th on Skytrax’s list of the best airports in the world in 2026. Pretty good going for an airport which was also one of the busiest on the planet last year.  And if you thought Heathrow’s retail offering couldn’t get any better, think again....

When you think about London icons, the things that come to mind are probably Big Ben, the late Queen Liz, David Bowie or the London Eye – people and landmarks that had a huge part to play in the making of the city as we know it today. London is also one of the best places in the entire world for food and so there are a number of restaurants here that are deserving of ‘icon’ status, too. To give those places their dues, restaurant reservation platform OpenTable has put together a list of 26 places that it reckons are defining the capital’s restaurant scene.  The list of 26 icons and ‘powerhouses’ was compiled with help from industry insiders who know the London dining landscape like the back of their hand – people like Good Food Guide owner Adam Hyman, food content creator Seema Pankhania and critic Jimi Famurewa. It was revealed as part of the first ever OpenTable Restaurant Awards, which also gave out Restaurateurs' Choice and People’s Choice prizes.  Laura Gallant for Time Out Trad British spot, ‘goddamn institution’ and Time Out favourite St. John features on the list (and was named Neighbourhood Gem in the People’s Choice category), as does our former number one restaurant in the city Mambow. Naturally, a couple of pubs made the cut too, including The Plimsoll in Finsbury Park (also voted Gastropub of the Year by OpenTable users) and The Ledbury in Notting Hill (which also received the Bucket List award).  Photograph: The Plimsoll Laure Bornet, senior vice...

London offers pretty much everything you could possibly want. Incredible restaurants, top-notch boozers, world-leading theatres, galleries and museums, acres of gorgeous green space, loads of places to swim and even a bunch of adorable city farms. So, we wouldn’t blame you if you told us that you’ve never stepped foot outside of the capital. But we would tell you that you’re missing out.  The Big Smoke is home to a dozen or so major train stations, meaning that we have extremely convenient connections to almost every other part of the UK. So, to help you switch your weekends up a bit, Time Out has put together a ranking of the best places in the UK for a two-or-few-day break from London. In first place is none other than the country’s second city: Birmingham. B’ham is around a tenth the size of London, but is still full to the brim with brilliant stuff worth travelling for. So much, in fact, that you’ll certainly struggle to fit it all into one weekend.  Photograph: Shutterstock The city is an easy hour and half train journey from Euston. If it we were heading to Brum, we'd spend at least an afternoon roaming around Digbeth (which we named the UK’s second coolest neighbourhood last year). You can while away the time in the former industrial district digging through through vintage gems at Redbrick Market, browsing titles at indie bookshop Voce Press, trying a filthy burger at Original Patty Men, catching a niche movie at Mockingbird Cinema, sinking pints at The Ruin dive...