The Time Out London blog team

If you ride a bike in London, you’ll know that the city could do with a few more cycle routes – it’s not fun having to share a lane with a double-decker bus, a black cab and an angry van driver. So, it’s good news for north London cyclists, Lime bikers and Tadej Pogačar wannabes, because a huge new cycling route has been proposed for the north of the city.  Enfield Council has revealed a plan to create a safe walking and cycling link between Palmers Green and New Southgate. The council has recently concluded a public consultation on the scheme, which would see the introduction of new cycle lanes and traffic-calming measures.  The council wants to use quieter residential streets and traffic control to guide cyclists and walkers between New Southgate, Palmers Green and Arnos Grove stations. The proposed route would run along the boundary of the Fox Lane low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN), connecting to the border of Barnet via a cycle path through Arnos Park while also using existing cycling infrastructure along the A406 North Circular. Busy roads like Alderman Hill, Wilmer Way and Bowes Road would see segregated cycle lanes built, while the rest of the routes would be ‘on-carriageway’, which means a cycle lane would be marked but not segregated from the rest of the traffic. A southbound bus gate is proposed in Palmers Road near Arnos Grove Station, which would block most general traffic while allowing buses, cyclists and vehicles with exemptions to continue. Ashridge Gardens,...

Opulent evening gowns by Norman Hartnell, Harris Tweed suits and the wedding dress worn by the Queen Elizabeth II are just some of the things visitors will be able to see at a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace in 2026, as the palace has announced plans to stage the biggest exhibition of the late Queen’s fashion ever displayed.  Marking the centenary of the late Lizzie’s birth, in the new year more than 200 items from the Queen’s wardrobe will be displayed at the palace for the landmark exhibit.  Photograph: Courtesy of Buckingham Palace Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style will comprise garments from all 10 decades of Her Majesty’s life, from off-duty style at Balmoral to regal ball gowns. Also on display will be never-before-seen design sketches, fabric samples and handwritten correspondence, showing how the Queen was dressed behind the scenes.  Highlights on show will include the Queen’s 1947 Norman Hartnell wedding dress, her 1953 coronation gown, a Balmoral tartan kilt, and a 1934 bridesmaid dress worn by the Queen as a child. Clothing by contemporary designers – Erdem, Richard Quinn and Christopher Kane – will highlight the Queen’s later wardrobe and her continued influence on the fashion industry. Visitors will get to gawp at a selection of the Queen’s many hats, shoes, accessories and jewellery, while other gems on show will include photographs by Cecil Beaton.  Photograph: © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2025 / Royal Collection Trust / Paul Bulley ...

Whether you reckon self-driving cars are the peak of modernity or a harbinger of a sinister robotic future, there’s one thing we know about them for sure: they’re arriving in London very, very soon. It’s now been revealed which London boroughs will have driverless cars on its streets in 2026, as the first photos of Waymo’s self-driving Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in the capital have just dropped.  Waymo, which operates under Google’s parent firm Alphabet Inc, is currently trialling its vehicles in the Big Smoke before they take their first passengers in the new year. The company posted an image on social media showing one of its self-driving Jaguar I-Pace cars on the Abbey Road zebra crossing. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Waymo (@waymo) According to the company’s website, Waymo Drivers ‘never get drunk, tired, or distracted’. The vehicles employ a mix of cameras, radar sensors, and lidar sensors – a 3D scanning system – within its autonomous fleet. This enables the cars to detect overlapping fields of vision in every direction up to 500 metres away, the company claims. The vehicles are intended to operate without any driver, but currently human ‘safety drivers’ remain behind the wheel as the cars are tested in London.  Waymo currently operates in the US and has done since 2020. It’s available in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.   In a statement, Waymo said: ‘We will soon begin conducting extensive trials...