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An unparalleled music scene, world-leading restaurants, endless cultural offerings, glorious green spaces, wholesome community hubs, outstanding clubs keeping nightlife alive, – London really does have it all. It should come as little surprise to those that live here that the UK’s capital city has been voted one of the best on the planet right now. London landed in fourth place on Time Out’s Best Cities with Intrepid Travel 2026 (one spot above its place last year).
More than 24,000 people from 150 different cities around the world had their say in our survey, giving us their opinions on everything from their city’s nightlife and dating scene to its restaurants and cultural hubs. We then combined their opinions with expert insight from Time Out’s global network of experts to create the final ranking.
Every year brings a huge wave of new things to see and do in London. Over the next nine months, the most exciting of those new things include the long-awaited opening of both V&A East (April 18) and the London Museum (late 2026), a major exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Frida Kahlo and the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in the UK for the first time in 900 years. On top of that, there’s new Piccadilly line trains (well, hopefully), two new lidos and, of course, an unrivalled festival season to look forward to as well. This summer, the likes of Lorde, Tyler, the Creator, Little Simz, Lily Allen and Twenty One Pilots will lead the lineups.
And as always, over in London’s theatreland, there’s a world-leading string of shows in the calendar. Michael Sheen is starring in the Welsh National Theatre’s revival of Our Town, there’s the UK debut of Broadway smash-hit John Proctor is the Villain and popstar Rebecca Lucy Taylor - aka Self Esteem – will follow in Helen Mirren’s footsteps to star in David Hare’s classic 1975 play Teeth ‘n’ Smiles.
Time Out London’s editor Joe Mackertich, said: ‘London’s great because it’s still, objectively, the most London-y city in the world. You'd struggle to find a place more varied, idiosyncratic and exciting anywhere on Earth.
‘If you’re talking culture, food and fun, then nowhere else in the world can compete with the British capital’s free museums and galleries, infinite restaurant varieties and irrepressible pub culture.’
The numbers speak for themselves. London got a near-perfect score from its residents for its art and culture scene, with 99 percent agreeing that its ‘good’ or ‘amazing’. Ninety-four percent of locals voted the city’s plethora of green spaces ‘good’ or ‘amazing’ and 96 percent rated its restaurant scene highly. Next to Tokyo, London received the highest number of votes from Time Out’s global staff as the the world’s greatest city right now.
See Time Out’s Best Cities with Intrepid Travel 2026 in full here.
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