The Time Out London blog team

When you’re in the mood for a wholesome day out, the National Trust has your back. From Tudor mansions to Edwardian cottages, ancient woodlands to eccentric castles, the heritage takes care of more than 500 historic sites across the country and protects them so that we, the public, get to enjoy their magnificence too.  One thing that the Trust’s properties all have in common is that they offer a lovely, peaceful respite from the never ending movement of the city. And for Londoners, there are plenty of wonderful homes and gardens within easy reach.  So, for the next time you need a breather from the Big Smoke, head to one of these top 10 National Trust properties near London, as chosen by the charity itself.  The best National Trust sites to visit near London Sheffield Park and Garden, Sussex Photograph: Shutterstock With winding paths, rare plants, charming bridges and pretty water falls, this is a Grade I-listed landscape that, in the summer, bursts with brilliant colour. Between June and September, visitors will be able to see gorgeous yellow and pink waterlilies floating on the garden’s lakes as part of its Lakes and Lilies Festival. And in July and August, there’ll be outdoor theatre performances of Romeo and Juliet and The Jungle Book.  Chartwell, Kent Photograph: Shutterstock Chartwell is the former home of Winston Churchill and was a place for the wartime PM to go to have a break from the immense stress of politics. Sixty years since it first opened to the...

With countless grand establishments to choose from – The Landmark in Marylebone, Claridge’s in Mayfair, the Shangri-La in the Shard and the Ritz in Piccadilly, to name just a few – you’d think London has no need for even more luxury hotels. Yet, there are new five-star accommodations opening in the capital every year, that are no less magnificent than their older counterparts. And now, two hotels that have opened in London in the last 12 months have been named among the best new hotels in the world.   For its list of the 100 Best New Hotels of the Year, Travel + Leisure (T+L) sent its editors and writers to test out nearly 250 properties across 40 different countries that opened (or unveiled a significant renovation) between February 2025 and February 2026. The pair of London establishments that made the cut were the Chancery Rosewood and The Newman. The best new hotels in the world in 2026 Chancery Rosewood The Chancery Rosewood is Rosewood’s second London outpost (after the Rosewood in Holborn) and launched in September inside the magnificent Grade II-listed old US embassy on Grosvenor Square. It’s home to eight restaurants and bars (including one Japanese, one Mediterranean and one British), a roof terrace, huge pool and an extremely swanky spa. T+L wrote that ‘on the terrace, you can down a martini at lunch next to the former embassy’s iconic golden eagle, a 35-foot-wide symbol of hegemony and hard power, beadily surveying all of London’. All of the Chancery’s rooms...

Good news for pet parents, bad news for those who aren’t such huge fans of man’s best friend. Pampered pooches reign the streets of Fitzrovia, flush with Georgian architecture, old-school pubs, quaint coffee shops and some not-so-secret celebrity dwellings – and soon the area could be set for a sumptuous new hotel for mutts.  The titular ‘dog hotel’ is not a wholly new establishment but new expansion plans by a luxury, welfare-focused pet grooming centre called Fido’s of Fitzrovia. The Great Portland Street business has requested permission from Westminster Council to board a limited number of dogs overnight on its basement level.  Fido's currently offers acupuncture, microbubble therapy and ‘pawdicures’ for its clientele. The boarding setup will be equally lavish, featuring six temperature-controlled sleeping pods. Photograph: Anneleen Akle With luxury treatment fit for the most royal of king charles spaniels, you’d think this neighbourhood of dog-lovers would be rejoicing at the prospect of a lavish overnight stay for their beloved pooches. However, a number of residents are reportedly frustrated with Fido’s plans, reckoning that the dog hotel will disrupt everyday life. Some objectors to the plans have said dogs staying overnight in Fido’s will cause ‘torturous and unbearable noise’ in their homes. Another resident, who has lived in the area for 25 years, has described the plans as ‘wholly incompatible with the surrounding residential use.’ ‘Residents are entitled to...