The 26 best things to do in London in 2026

Having closed the doors of its last home all the way back in 2022, the attraction erstwhile known as the Museum of London will finally reopen at its new Smithfield home in 2026, where it will be known as London Museum; a catchier name, for sure, but an absolute nightmare for anyone trying to find it on Google. 

The new venue will boast an underground gallery space in the old Great Northern Railway depot and a big window in the market’s old salt store allowing visitors to watch trains carry passengers through Farringdon – a feature meant to connect the museum to the ‘London of today’. A decade in the making, it’s set to arrive towards the end of the year, just on time for the museum’s 50th anniversary. 

Details of its inaugural exhibitions are being kept under wraps for now, but watch this space!

If Tate’s 2025 programme was big on the 80s – thanks to Photographing Britain and Leigh Bowery! – then 2026 is all about The 90s! Following on from a major Tracey Emin retrospective at Tate Modern, its sister gallery Tate Britain will host a blockbuster autumn show about British art, fashion, photography and pop culture in the final decade of the last millenium.

And if that isn’t already a tasty enough prospect, it’s being curated by none other than former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful OBE. Expect flashy photography from the likes of Juergen Teller, Nick Knight, David Sims and Corrine Day, iconic looks from Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, and era-defining artworks by Damien Hirst, Gillian Wearing, and Yinka Shonibare.

The opening night guestlist will no doubt give the Met Gala a run for its money.

It’s hard to think of a more prime location for a luxury hotel in central London than the Grade I-listed Admiralty Arch, which is flanked by The Mall on one side and Trafalgar Square on the other. Having been purchased for £60 million back in 2015, the grand Edwardian Baroque building will open as the first UK branch of ultra-luxe hotel chain Waldorf Astoria in spring 2026. Probably the most exciting new hotel in London since Raffles opened at the Old War Rooms in autumn 2023, the 100-room hotel will feature swish new restaurants from Claire Smyth and Daniel Boulud, who have seven Michelin stars between them, alongside a 320-cover ballroom for big occasions. If you’ve got a spare couple of grand to splurge on a fancy weekend getaway (and frankly, who doesn’t!) this will surely be the place to do it. 

The Piccadilly line’s new trains have been a long time coming. Designs for the navy blue tube line’s swanky new/were revealed back in 2021, and since then we at Time Out have been following them closely – from testing phases in Austria to their construction in Yorkshire. After initially being earmarked for arrival in late 2025, the trains should finally begin operating in the second half of 2026.

But they look like they’ll be worth the wait. With walk-through, air-conditioned carriages, the trains will have 10 percent more capacity and boast double doorways, real-time digital displays and on-board CCTV. They’ll also be lighter, more energy efficient and a smoother ride for passengers. 

The wait is almost over! Just shy of a decade after it was first announced as part of the £1.1 billion development of Stratford’s East Bank cultural quarter, and a year after the opening of its sister site V&A East Storehouse, the V&A East museum will finally open to the public on Saturday, April 18 2026.

Bringing together exhibits that speak to both east London’s creative heritage and the voices that are shaping contemporary culture across the globe today, the 7000 square metre museum will feature a twice annual creative commissions programme, plus the Why We Make Galleries, a permanent display spread across two of the museum’s five floors featuring 500 objects from the V&A’s collection, arranged into ten key themes addressing the most pressing issues in contemporary society.

There’ll also be a temporary exhibition space, and its inaugural exhibition sounds like a banger. The Music is Black: A British Story will explore how Black British music has shaped culture in Britain and beyond, featuring exhibits including Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar, looks worn by Little Simz and newly acquired photography by Dennis Morris and Jennie Baptiste. 

Keen to be one of the first visitors to see it all? Details for the museum’s grand opening are yet to be revealed, but get April 18 marked in the diary watch this space!

Located underneath two railway arches behind Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, intimate south-east London club Corsica Studios has been booking top house and techno DJs and producers from around the world on one of London’s best soundsystems since 2005, with everyone from Helena Hauff, Nina Kraviz and Bicep, to Daniel Avery, Four Tet and even Björk hopping behind the decks here over the years. 

We were gutted, then, when the legendary nightlife spot announced that it would be shuttering in March 2026, even if the club simultaneously shared that it aims to reopen at a later date. In a statement shared with us back in October, the club said that it will reopen with a refurbished and sound-proofed venue, while also having a ‘solid, long-term lease and a range of legal measures that will give the venue protection from any potential noise complaints from surrounding neighbours’. 

Even so, this no-frills sweatbox that’s played an outsized role in shaping London’s nightlife scene over the last 23 years, and certainly won’t miss the opportunity to give it a proper send-off during its final season, which features farewell nights from the likes of Rhythm Section, Wiglex, Joyride and Baba Yaga’s Hut. Stay tuned for more details. 

Kip Williams is not a massive name in British theatre (yet), but the Aussie writer-director is starting to make some serious waves over her. His dizzyingly high tech, Sarah Snook-starring one woman Dorian Gray was a big West End hit last year, this autumn he directs a version of Jean Genet’s The Maids at the Donmar. It seems questionable as to whether we’ll get part two of his one woman Victorian horror trilogy over here – a version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde received mixed notices Down Under – but part three is coming our way in the new year as his take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula lands on our shores.

In her first full London stage role since her career making turn turn in The Color Purple over a decade ago, Cynthia Erivo will return home to (hopefully) triumphantly take on 23 different roles in a tech enhanced solo romp through Dracula that plays clever visual homage to the early years of horror cinema.

Evolving from a digital archive and pop-up event established in 2015, the world’s first bricks-and-mortar museum dedicated to youth culture has been a long old time coming. Scheduled to open towards the end of 2025 after finding a permanent home in Camden, it was further delayed due to a major leak in its new venue’s basement that required extensive repairs, with its opening now set for spring 2026. 

The 6,500 square-foot site will preserve teenage life from the past 100 years, showing photography, archive video, books, zines, ephemera, objects and oral histories. Rave flyers, band tees, dub soundsystems and even school leavers shirts will be on display across its three gallery spaces. Two rolling galleries will pull highlights from the permanent collection and archive, while a dedicated free gallery space will allow young creatives to exhibit their work.

The museum will also host talks, screenings, and learning workshops, such as hands-on music production courses, and will be home to a bar, café and record store. Sounds more than worth the wait to us!

You need only look at the shelves piled high with unibrowed fridge magnets, tea towels, plant-pots and earrings in the average museum gift shop to know that Frida Kahlo is one of the 20th century’s greatest icons. 

Featuring over 130 works alongside documents, photographs and memorabilia taken from Kahlo’s archives, Tate Modern’s blockbuster summer exhibition will explore how the Mexican painter became the kind of cultural phenomenon whose likeness adorns everything from novelty socks to limited-edition eyeshadow pallets. It promises to be a fascinating exploration of the transformative role of women artists in the 20th century, as well as notions of fandom and the diverse communities who claim Frida as their own. Keep an eye out for the on-sale date as it’s sure to be a hugely popular show. 

After the overwhelming success of its South Bank outpost, which opened at the National Theatre in 2023, Rye Lane’s much-loved rooftop joint Forza Wine is expanding once more. This time, it’s Soho that will be blessed with chilled reds and Italian-ish snackage, as the hip wine bar lands in a sizeable unit with an open-air terrace just off Charing Cross Road. The team are keeping pretty hush hush about what’s in store for the new spot, but if it’s anything like its predecessors we can expect plenty of low-intervention vinos, a concise list of classic cocktails, small plates, soft serves and Custardo™. It’s due to arrive in February, just in time for you to fall off the Dry January wagon in style. Chin chin!

It’s been years since a David Hare play went to the West End – so in 2026, naturally, there are two of them. Over at the Theatre Royal Haymarket his latest Grace Pervades will star his regular collaborator Ralph Fiennes. And at the Duke of York’s one of his oldest plays – dating back to 1975 – will star an unexpected newcomer. Rebecca Lucy Taylor - aka sardonic pop star Self Esteem – did do a stint in the West End’s Cabaret a couple of years back, but she's never been in a straight up play (or, for what it's worth, had to face theatre critics before). 

You probably wouldn't have put money on her drama debut being in a Hare play. But actually Teeth 'n' Smiles makes perfect sense for her, being a late ’60s-set drama that concerns Maggie Frisbee, an embittered, alcoholic rock star left raging and washed up at the end of the decade. The role was originated by a young Helen Mirren – who based her performance on Janis Joplin – and in that context it’s not hard to see why Taylor might have been intrigued. Plus! There are songs for Maggie to perform, originally written by Nick and Tony Bicât, but with new contributions from Taylor herself. 

It’ll be directed by Daniel Raggett, who did such an excellent job with West End hit Accidental Death of an Anarchist a couple of years back.

London’s festival circuit might be an extremely saturated market, but Victoria Park’s mighty day festival series All Points East already looks set to be one of the most exciting events taking place in summer 2026, thanks to a two-day takeover from none other than Tyler, the Creator. The American rapper and former Odd Future member won’t just headline one day at APE 2026; he’s doing a two-day takeover of the whole event. Each day has a different lineup, and they’re both already stacked with huge names, with the likes of Turnstile, Rochelle Gordon, Rex Orange County, Ravyn Lenae, Daniel Caesar and Dijon have already been announced. In a very saturated market, APE is already shaping up to be one of the more exciting London festivals of summer 2026. 

Claridge’s already gives its name to one of London’s most iconic hotels and a legendary restaurant, but the central London institution will be opening an exciting new venture in 2026. Slated to open its doors in the spring, Claridge’s Bakery will be situated on Brook’s Mews in Mayfair, next to Claridge’s ArtSpace Cafe, and will specialise in British classics like jam and custard tarts, as well as Belgian buns, iced fingers and fresh-baked bloomers, granary and sourdough loaves. 

Running the ovens as executive baker and creative director is sourdough connoisseur and author Richard Hart. ‘My goal is to celebrate timeless British baked favourites in one of the most notable British institutions,’ Hart said. ‘Bread and baked goods are an everyday staple that brings people together and I can’t wait to share my take on it with Londoners and visitors to the capital.’ If it holds a candle to Claridge’s previous openings, London is in for a real treat.

The National Portrait Gallery has been on a roll over the last couple of years, not only opening its swanky new £35 million Blavatnik Wing back in summer 2023, but also curating some truly unmissable temporary exhibitions since, from its fabulous Francis Bacon show in 2025 to last spring’s brilliant offerings on 80s pop culture bible The Face Magazine.

We imagine this summer 2026 exhibition will be another hugely popular one for the Trafalgar Square Gallery, as it’s turning the spotlight on one of the twentieth century’s biggest icons. Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait will be a real blockbuster, exploring the legacy of one of Hollywood’s most alluring figures through works by some of the twentieth century’s greatest artists and photographers, including Andy Warhol, Cecil Beaton, Marlene Dumas, Milton Greene and Eve Arnold. 

You’ve seen the city from the top Primrose Hill, watched the sun set from Parliament Hill, taken in the views from the Sky Garden and maybe even looked out for landmarks while riding high above the Thames in the the IFS Cloud Cable Cars. But in 2026, a new London viewpoint that could trump them all. 

From February, thrill-seekers in London will be able to take on the highest roof walk in the UK. Alexandra Palace is launching ‘Summit: The Ally Pally Rooftop Adventure’, an experience that offers sights of the city from 130m above sea level.

Climbers head up towards the Angel of Plenty statue right at the top of Ally Pally, led by specialist guides. Once you get to the summit, you’re treated to an uninterrupted panoramic view of the city stretching 25 miles. You’ll be able to spot landmarks like St Paul’s Cathedral, the Shard, Canary Wharf and numerous major sports stadiums. 

The experience has been created by urban aerial adventure experts Wire and Sky, the same people behind the Dare Skywalk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Cutty Sark rig climb and Liverpool’s Anfield Abseil.

The experience launches on February 14 – just in time for a romantic sunset climb for Valentine’s Day – with tickets starting at £22 per person, plus £7.50 for a secure phone pouch if you want to take pictures. 

Known for her surreal and avante garde haute couture creations – often with striking silhouettes, gilded accents, and unusual appliqués – for the first time in the UK an exhibition will be dedicated to the work and legacy of the groundbreaking fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. The show will trace the origins of the house, from its first, paradigmshifting garments, through to its present-day incarnation in the hands of its creative director Daniel Roseberry, whose contemporary designs worn by the likes of Kylie Jenner and Bella Hadid have seen gowns adorned with faux-taxidermy lion heads, and a lung dress fashioned from a delicate network of golden veins. 

In his first hospitality venture since stepping back as CEO of the international members’ club in 2022, Soho House’s founder Nick Jones is set to open a fancy new hotel this year. The St Clement Hotel will arrive at 180 the Thames, sitting above Jones’ recently opened Corner Shop 180 on Arundel Street. It’s also conveniently just down the road from Soho House’s flagship 180 House. Not a huge amount has been revealed about the project so far, but we do know that it’ll have 90 bedrooms, 15 apartments, a gym and a rooftop restaurant, while the bathroom amenities will be provided by English perfumier Lyn Harris. We expect it’ll be a favourite celeb haunt from the get go.

Dara Klein’s rustic Italian kitchen Tiella was the life and soul of the Compton Arms before the super talented New Zealand/Italian chef took a well earned breather and let the lads from Rake take over food duties in the much-loved Islington gastro-boozer. But Dara’s masterplan was always thus; a restaurant of her very own. In mid-January that dream becomes a delicious reality. Opening up in an old Victorian pub space on the always-charming Columbia Road, Tiella Trattoria & Bar will pay homage to Dara’s family roots in Puglia. Expect the soul-nurturing likes of passatelli in brodo, orecchiette with cime di rapa and pangrattato, and bay leaf panna cotta with blood orange on offer. And yes, the super-fresh chicken Milanese with green apple, celery, fennel, and creme fraiche from her Compton Arms menu will be making a return.

There are only so many theatres in London big enough to stage a proper full on Broadway musical spectacular, and with MJ the Musical off, the door is open for Beetlejuice the Musical to enter.

The name ought to make it pretty clear what we’re talking about here: Beetlejuice is of course Tim Burton’s cult classic 1988 film about a young couple with a very nice house who die in a car crash and are horrifed to observe – from a very surreal, bureacracy-bound afterlife – that some ghastly new people have moved into their old gaff. So they unwisely turn to the services of the eponymous ‘bio-exorcist’ to get rid of them; unfortunately Beetlejuice (real name Betelgeuse) is a total whackjob.

Written by Scott Brown and Anthony King with music and lyrics by Australian singer-songwriter Eddie Perfect, Beetlejuice the Musical is a massive trippy goth spectacle that’s directed by Alex Timbers, best known to London audiences for his heroically OTT smash Moulin Rogue! The Musical – you can expect similar amounts of excess here.

For the first time in 900 long years, one of the world’s most famous medieval masterpieces is returning to the UK in 2026, for a major temporary display at London’s most famous museum. If you weren’t paying attention during your history lessons, the Bayeux Tapestry is a spectacular, 70-metre-long intricately embroidered depiction of the 1066 Battle of Hastings, in which William the Conquerer took the English throne.

One of about 600 items around the world that are included in Unesco’s Memory of the World register, it famously shows the moment that an arrow fatally hit England’s King Harold right in the eye, thus ending Anglo-Saxon rule of England and profoundly changing the country’s language, culture, government, architecture and social structure as Norman rule began.

For the last nine centuries, the tapestry has lived in France, where it’s been displayed at the Bayeux Museum in the town of Bayeux in Normandy since 1983. Britain has tried to loan the tapestry three times before, once in 1931, then in 1953 for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and again in 1966 for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings – but none of those requests were ever approved. The loan agreement is therefore a pretty major moment in Anglo-French history.

The priceless artefact will be on display in the British Museum’s Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery from September 2026 until July 2027, with tickets to see the once-in-a-lifetime exhibition expected to go on sale soon.  

It’s been 18 months since London’s partygoers bid a tearful farewell to Surrey Quays superclub Printworks back in May 2023, but ravers won’t have to wait much longer for the nightlife venue to return after planning permission was to turn the massive space into a  ‘permanent cultural venue’ back in autumn 2024. 

Broadwick Live, the team behind the original venue and north London megaclub Drumsheds, is partnering with property developers British Land and super fund AustralianSuper to turn the building into a hybrid office block and events space. 

Printworks’ famous press halls will be preserved to host concerts, immersive art exhibitions and corporate events, while the main dance floor will be flanked by office spaces. The second room, Inkwells, will also remain and be reserved for more gigs, art exhibitions and smaller corporate events, while there’ll be a new events space on the roof with views of the city skyline. 

And while we’re yet to hear exactly when, the first phase of the venue’s reopening has been set for 2026...watch this space for more details.

Serving up traditional British fare since 1828, beloved by literary luminaries Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and one of the first UK restaurants to earn a Michelin star back in 1974, it’s safe to say Simpson’s in the Strand is a proper London dining institution. Which is why we’re thrilled that five long years after it closed its doors, the Savoy-owned restaurant will be reopening under the auspicious direction of Jeremy King, the brains behind the likes of Brasserie Zédel and The Wolseley. 

King’s first opening since being ousted from the company he and partner Chris Corbin founded in 1981, the revitalised Simpson’s is described as a ‘big-theatre brasserie’ that will feature two restaurants, two bars (one of which hopes to acquire a 3am licence) and several private rooms, including one seating up to 100 guests.It will open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a menu of grills, roasts, pies and game. And most importantly of all, the restaurant’s infamous carving trolleys will be making a return. 

When the weather turns warmer, Londoners love nothing more than taking a plunge in their nearest lido. And in 2026, they’ll have not just one but two fancy new outdoor pools to enjoy.

The first is set to open in Ilford’s Valentines Park just in time for the arrival of warmer weather in spring 2026. The first council-run outdoor pool to be build in London for several decades, Valentines Lido will feature all sorts of swish facilities alongside the main 25-metre 6-lane swimming pool. The exact date of the lido’s opening is yet to be announced, but if everything goes swimmingly, Ilford residences will be able to take the plunge from April. 

Shortly after that, Canary Wharf’s Eden Dock is set to become home to permanent alfresco swimmiing venue Sea Lanes, just in time for the summer. Open water swimming has been a spring and summer fixture at Eden Dock for the past couple of years already, but this will see the whole area upgraded and turned into a permanent 50-metre pool with lanes, outdoor saunas and a wooden boardwalk all around the swimming area. 

Can’t wait until then? Here’s Time Out’s list of the best lidos in the city. 

Arriving in Clerkenwell in May 2026, this major new culture venue dedicated to illustration is set to be the biggest venue of its kind in the world. Its founder and namesake, Sir Quentin Blake, is one of the most prolific British illustrators of all time, having drawn the covers for most of Roald Dahl’s novels and countless other children’s books over his near-60-year career.

Blake has been trying to get a gallery dedicated to illustration off the ground for a long time. Several years and £12.5 million later, his dream to create a space where the ‘extraordinary wealth of illustration can be exhibited, discussed and celebrated’ is finally becoming a reality.

An 18th century building previously used for waterworks will house the new centre, which will be made up of three different galleries, a library and learning spaces, And, of course, most important of all – there will be a gift shop and a café.

Be sure to check out its inaugural exhibition, MURUGIAH: Ever Feel Like…, a solo show for one of illustration’s most exciting rising stars, delving into the artist’s kaleidoscopic, sometimes macabre world influenced by Hollywood film, sci-fi, Japanese anime and 2000s era pop-punk. 

London’s jazz scene has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and 2026 looks no different, thanks to the arrival of a major new late night venue in the city centre. Founded in NYC’s Greenwich Village in the 1980s, the iconic jazz club Blue Note is arriving in Covent Garden in spring of this year, taking over the basement venue beneath St Martins Lane hotel. The new outpost follows recent openings in Tokyo, Milan and Rio de Janeiro, the subterranean club will feature two performance spaces – a 250-capacity main room and a 100-capacity secondary room – and will boast a full-service kitchen open for dinner throughout the week, and a 1am late license on weekends. 

The OG venue in Manhattan bills itself as the ‘jazz capital of the world’, with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Ray Charles and Chick Corea all gracing its hallowed stage over the years, so if its London expansion attracts half as many legendary names, London jazzophiles are in for a real treat. 

It’s finally happened: human civilization has finally lasted long enough that there is a second British production of Cats. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbuster adaptation of TS Eliot’s whimsical book of feline kids’ poetry was the quintessential musical of the ’80s, and the feline perfomers’ garb of facepaint and legwarmers feels embedded in the decade’s aesthetics. And it lasted a lot longer than that: the original Trevor Nunn-directed production’s 21-year-run ended in 2002, with somewhat updated reprisals in 2014 and 2015. 

Now, though – undeterred by that film we don’t talk about – there is a new Cats. Audaciously bagged by the Open Air Theatre as its big 2026 summer musical, but embarking on a UK tour thereafter, it’ll be directed and chroegraphed by OAT boss Drew McOnie. He’s a slick, commercial director with something of a dance focus, but he’s unlikely to do a Jamie Lloyd-style deconstruction of it, but any new take will probably feel inherently radical purely by dint of trying something different in any way.

Casting etc is TBC, although in what is essentially a revue-based night of different songs about different cats, the role of Grizabella the Glamour Cat tends to be viewed as the ‘lead’ role (plus she gets to sing all time banger ‘Memory’.