Amy Houghton

The final stretch of 2025 is upon us. And now that we’ve said so long to summer, London’s institutions have begun to enter full festive planning mode. In a matter of months, the city’s skies will be sparkling with Christmas lights, its venues will fill up with classic Christmas tunes and its streets will be lined with colourful Christmas markets. Of course, December isn’t just about Christmas, and there’s plenty more brilliant things to do besides all the festive stuff. Notably, the acclaimed Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo is making its UK debut, it’s the first full month of the Design Museum’s hotly-anticipated Wes Anderson exhibition and the last full month of the bonkers jukebox musical Titanique. Plus, there are the ice-skating rinks, the winter pop-ups and the chilly winter walks followed by cosy pub hangouts. And that’s before we even get on to New Year’s Eve!  Here’s our guide to the finest events, parties, cultural happenings and things to do in London over December 2025.  London’s best things to do in December at a glance: 🧀 Best for foodies: Future of Food, Science Museum 🎭 Best for thespians: Ballet Shoes, National Theatre 🎬 Best for cinephiles: Backyard Cinema, Bermondsey 🎨 Best for aesthetes: Wes Anderson: The Exhibition, Design Museum 🧛 Best for night owls: Christmas lights, citywide 📚 Best for families: Winter Funland, Kensington RECOMMENDED: Time Out’s definitive London events calendar.

Every year, we tend to bank on New Year’s Eve being one of the best night of our lives. But that’s a lot of expectation to put on one night out, and it can really set you up for disappointment. The solution? Ease the pressure and save your hardest partying for New Year’s Day instead.  New Year’s Day raves have taken off over the last couple of years. They tend to last longer than the events of the night before and there aren’t the same enormous NYE crowds to battle with. Of course, celebrations on Jan 1 needn’t be instead of NYE revelries – soldier through your hangover and combine the two to create one big 48-hour blowout.  The capital’s venues are ready to welcome you with open arms for the first rager of 2026, with all manner of day and night parties to check out. Because who says the fun needs to stop as soon as the countdown’s over? Here are London’s best New Year’s Day parties.      RECOMMENDED: Find New Year’s Eve parties in London.

Boxing Day might not get all the glory of Christmas Day, but if you ask us, in many ways, it’s far superior. It has all the magic of the big day, but without the stress of cooking and the pressure of keeping the whole family happy. But one of the best bits? While everything shuts down on Christmas Day, things start to tentatively open up on Boxing Day, meaning you can get up from your Quality Street-induced stupour on the sofa and get out and about on December 26.  The day after Christmas, London is mostly free of its usual crowds (except for shopping districts like Oxford Street packed with bargain hunters). That means that, should you leave your house, large parts of the capital city are yours for the taking. There are the parks and riverside paths for frosty winter walks or the Christmas lights to admire while you brave the Boxing Day sales. The city’s pop-up ice skating rinks are normally open, pantomime season is still in full swing, and there are even a few parties lined up. Here are some great ideas for how to spend your day off. RECOMMENDED: Find more festive fun with our full guide to Christmas in London.

Every week, a frankly silly amount of brilliant new restaurants, cafés and street food joints arrive in London. Which makes whittling down a shortlist of the best newbies a serious challenge. But here it is. The 20 very best new restaurants in the capital, ranked in order of greatness and deliciousness. All of them have opened in the past year and been visited by our hungry critics. So go forth and take inspo from this list, which is updated regularly. Check in often to find out what we really rate on the London restaurant scene. And look here for all the info about the best new openings in November. London's best new restaurants at a glance: 🍛 Central: Adoh!, Covent Garden 🍠 North: Belly Bistro, Kentish Town 🥟 South: Doma, Sydenham 🍝 East: Legado, Shoreditch 🥗 West: The Lavery, South Kensington November 2025: New additions include Sri Lankan fast food at Adoh! in Covent Garden, Chingford chophouse Gina, Filipino freshness at Belly Bistro in Kentish Town, indie disco turned gastropub the Macbeth in Shoreditch, Spanish smashers at Legado in Shoreditch and Balkan comfort food at Doma in Sydenham. Hungry yet? Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London. The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now to tuck in.

There are few things that we’d willingly brace the cold for during winter in London. But ice skating is one of them. From early November each year, ice rinks decked out towering Christmas trees and twinkly fairy lights start to fill London’s squares and courtyards, hosting everything from DJ takeovers and kids’ skating lessons to date nights and family outings over the festive period. Pretty soon you’ll get to pretend you’re in a festive London rom-com, as you romantically glide (or awkwardly stumble) with your loved ones under the backdrop of landmarks like Somerset House, Battersea Power Station and Hampton Court Palace.  Keen to flaunt your best ice moves? Determined to skate at least one lap without clinging onto the wall for dear life? We recommend you book a spot at your chosen rink as early as you can. We’ll be topping up this list as more rinks for the 2025/26 season are confirmed. How much does it cost to go ice skating? The cost to skate at London’s various permanent and pop-up ice rinks varies quite significantly. So far, this year’s cheapest option is Queens Skate Dine and Bowl, where adult tickets are available from £8 (during off-peak hours). The most expensive adult ticket in 2024 was £26 for peak hours at Skate at Somerset House. For cheaper tickets, consider visiting at less popular times.  London’s best places to go ice skating this winter: ⛸️ Best for the biggest rink in town: Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park 💃 Best for ice dance parties: Somerset House, Ald

  We all know travelling with the kids can be tricky, so finding a hotel that keeps everyone happy is key. From splashable pools to free breakfasts for little ones, London has plenty of spots that make family life on the go a whole lot easier. Here’s our pick of the best family-friendly hotels in the city, where parents can relax and kids can be… well, kids. The hotels we’ve selected all make travelling with kids as smooth possible. We look for places that are close to London’s top attractions, so you can zip from Hamleys to the park, without having to spend your whole day on public transport, as well as having the resources to keep the whole family entertained. How we choose our family-friendly hotels A family-friendly hotel is about thoughtful touches for children. Perhaps, there are extra cots, kid-friendly menus, splashable pools, and little surprises that make young guests feel welcome. These are hotels that go the extra mile, from milk and cookies at bedtime to a designated kids concierge services. We include luxury stays and budget-friendly finds. Finally, we consider atmosphere and accessibility: helpful staff, close to attractions and safe play spaces, and a vibe that makes both little ones and grown-ups feel at home. London’s family friendly hotels at a glance 💰 Best for a cheap deal: Good Hotel 🗓️ Best concierge service: The Berkeley 🧠 Most iconic: The Ritz ☕ Best afternoon tea for kids: Park Plaza County Hall 🖼️ Most dramatic design: The Mandarin Oriental M

Do you smell it? That faint waft of pumpkin spice latte in the air? Summer’s sunny days and balmy nights may be behind us, but now it’s time to embrace all the wonderful, cosy things autumn has to offer.  For some, this time of year is all about spooky season, for others it’s about candle-lit evenings in front of the telly with a steaming mug of hot chocolate. For others, it’s about pumpkins galore – a golden excuse to get picking, carving and cooking. As the weather drops, farms in and around London become gourd wonderlands, littered with bright yellow and flaming orange pumpkins. Often there’ll be photo opportunities, craft workshops and spooky goings on thrown in so you can make a real outing of it. Just make sure you book in advance to make sure you get a decent pick of the crop. So, whether you want to stock up on pumpkins to carve into Halloween lanterns or to make masses of soup and pies, here are our favourite places near London for pumpkin picking in 2025.  London’s best places for pumpkin picking at a glance: 🎃 Pumpkin smashing fun: Rogate Pumpkin Patch, Petersfield 🪄 Magical village vibes: Marsh Farm, Chelmsford 🧙🏻‍♀️ Best for witches on a budget: Cobbs Farm, Essex 🦇 Best for spooky night-time picking: Foxes Farm, Chelmsford ⚡️ Best for little adventure-seekers: Hobbledown Heath, Hounslow  RECOMMENDED: The best things to do in London in October 2025

Whatever your vibe (and whatever your budget), London’s got it all – and anyone will find something they love here. Historic pubs, leafy parks and gardens and an unmatched restaurant scene make this city worth visiting year-round, but before you’ve booked anything in London, you kind of have to know where you’re going to be based. To get you started, we’ve rounded up the city’s best Airbnbs available to book right now, with expert tips from our local editors.  Should I choose an Airbnb or a hotel in London? London is not short on lovely hotels, ranging from budget to luxury and just about everything in between. But it’s fair to say that even the cheaper options cost a pretty penny – and you’ll often find them in more central, touristy areas in the city. If you want to live like a Londoner, an Airbnb can allow you to properly immerse yourself in a more residential area of London – and all the locally-loved bars, pubs and restaurants that come with it. You’ll find lots of our local tips below, but for a detailed breakdown of the best neighbourhoods to stay in London, check out our ultimate area guide. More of a hotels guy? No problem. Here’s our list of the best hotels in London.  📍 RECOMMENDED: Ultimate guide to the best hotels and Airbnbs in London Who makes the cut? While we might not stay in and review every Airbnb featured, our writers have based our list on expert knowledge of the destination covered, editorial reviews, user reviews, amenities and in-depth research to

It’s no secret that London can be very, very pricey if you’re not careful. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any options if you’re on a budget. Both big chains and beloved independents offer some very affordable rooms in the Capital – you just have to know where to look. Obviously, being ‘on a budget’ is pretty subjective, but every hotel on this list has rooms for under £200, with many starting under £100 – and even some shared dorms for £12 per person.  Every hotel highlighted here by Time Out’s experts is good value; whether that be because of its location, design, or quite simply, the price. Staying in one of these will give you the kind of buzz only a good deal can deliver. So get booking and then use all the cash you’ve saved on more important stuff. Like, erm, going to the pub.  🛌 Our guide to the best Airbnbs in London Which area is best to stay in London for a good price?  Honestly, it depends on what you’re looking for. There’s cheap options in Shoreditch, just off the South Bank and even in the heart of the West End – so you can save and still be in walking distance to Theatreland or London’s best museums. Or, go further afield to find deals that way, in more residential areas further out. To get a better grip on your options, here’s our handy guide on where to stay in London.  How we curate our hotel lists Headed up by editor Joe Mackertich, our team at Time Out London spend their time reviewing hotels all over the Capital – new openings, old classics and ever

When someone utters the word ‘Wimbledon’, we’d bet big money that the first thing you think of is tennis. Normally a quieter part of town, SW19 erupts with energy every summer when it hosts the mighty Wimbledon Tennis Championships (one of the oldest and most prestigious sports tournaments in the world), with thousands of people queuing for tickets from four in the morning, roaming around in their all-white fits and guzzling down plastic cups of Pimms. When the crowds disperse, Wimbledon is once again demoted to simply being somewhere very, very far away from the rest of London.  🏘️ Ultimate guide to where to stay in London But we’re here to assure you that Wimbledon is actually worth the trek year-round, and it has loads more going for it beyond racket sports. There’s the homely pubs, the locally loved restaurants, the underrated theatres and the lush green plains. Yes, it feels a world away from the cool hordes of Hackney and the hectic hubbub of Camden, but when you need a little breather from the city without actually leaving the city, there are few places better. Go on – venture to the end of the District line and discover the best of what Wimbledon has to offer.  RECOMMENDED 🍽️ The best restaurants in Wimbledon🍺 The best bars and pubs in Wimbledon⬅️ The best things to do in west London📍 All of Time Out London’s area guides

Greece is, quite simply, king of the holidays. It’s a country full of sprawling cities, beautiful islands and some of the best beaches in the entire world, and the food? Don’t even get us started on the food. There’s a hell of a lot of islands, and our editors have been to a hell of a lot of them, but for the on-the-ground knowledge that only a local has, we’ve roped in our Greece expert Demetrios Ioannou, who grew up in Athens but has travelled all over the country. Whatever you’re looking for, here are the best places to visit in Greece.  Where should I go for my first time in Greece? We’re firm believers that everyone should go to Athens at least once in their lives. So if it’s your first time visiting the country, you should probably start there. But the good news is that in Greece, you can pretty much do it all. So don’t stay in Athens for a full week – spend a perfect weekend there before heading out on a ferry to Aegina, Poros, Hydra and more. If you’ve ticked off Athens already, consider Greece’s latest destination dupe, Paros, which is set to this year’s ‘new Santorini’ (just without the crowds).  📍 RECOMMENDED: Discover our ultimate guide to Greece Which is the best Greek island to visit? If we’re talking most popular, Santorini and Mykonos are always going to be top of the list. But Greece has more than 6,000 islands and islets, each with its own unique vibe and all worth visiting for entirely different reasons. Crete is Greece’s biggest island, in the south of th

It’s hard not to fall in love with Wales. This nation may be small but best believe it is crammed with irresistible Celtic charm, spectacular wilderness and vibrant culture. Even after growing up in Bannau Brycheiniog and spending family holidays up north and along the coast, I still cannot get enough. It’s the perfect place to rejuvenate, to give your mind a rest and to bathe in the warm hospitality of Welsh people. It’s also a hugely overlooked arts and music hub. From Michelin-star establishments, to gorgeous hikes, an official book town and several critically acclaimed festivals, whatever kind of getaway you're after, this is the very best of Cymru.  RECOMMENDED: 📍 The best places to go in Wales 🍴 The best things to do in North Wales 👀 The best things to do in Cardiff🌤️ The best things to do in the UK This article was recently updated by Amy Houghton, a writer from Bannau Brycheiniog, Wales. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

Adoh! (Sri-Lankan for ‘oi!’) is loud.  Sat on Maiden Lane in frenetic, tourist-packed Covent Garden, this Sri Lankan spot from Kolamba duo Eroshan and Aushi Meewella fits right in. While Kolamba and its sister restaurant on Liverpool Street are sleek, sophisticated haunts, this is a maximalist whirlwind. Chopped roti gets more heavenly with each chewy bite Adoh’s goal is to emulate the rapid, chaotic energy of Colombo and its street food culture. The decor is raucous – the tables a striking shade of red and the walls busy with storybook murals depicting hand-painted trucks of South Asia. As for service, it’s full speed ahead. You can very easily be in and out within an hour, and fully satisfied. In the throbbing heart of the theatreland that’s no bad thing.  The menu features a blend of authentic bits (isoo vadai, mutton rolls or roti and curry) and some milder hybrid dishes (fried chicken and curry leaf waffles are best suited to less adventurous members of your party). Shiny squares of prawn toast dolloped with tamarind sauce start us off, swiftly followed by a supple dosa spread with smoky masala, alongside a rather dry coconut roti with eye-wateringly hot lunu miris chilli paste.  The must-order main (which at £17 is the priciest item on the menu) is crab kothu, a late-night classic in Sri Lanka. The bronze mountain of chopped roti, egg and stir fried crab meat (mutton, chicken or jackfruit kothu are available too) isn’t particularly pretty, but drenched in curry sauce (p

One hundred years ago, a strange curtained box appeared on Broadway in New York City. If you went inside and slotted in 25 cents, you’d emerge with eight sepia tinged photos of yourself in a matter of minutes. It was the Photomaton – the world’s first fully automated photobooth. Fast forward to the 21st century and photobooths are in bars, train stations, cinemas, record shops and on streets all over the world. The Photographer’s Gallery is marking a century of the machines with Click!, an archival exhibition exploring their imperfections, their quirks and their most famous fans. Naturally, there’ll be a working photobooth for visitors to take their own snap.

The UK’s first major retrospective of acclaimed Ukrainian artist Boris Mikhailov is coming to the Photographers’ Gallery. A ‘kind of proto-punk’, Mikhailov has been capturing and commenting on life in Ukraine since the 1960s – from the everyday consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union to the realities of people living on the edges of society – through photography, conceptual work, painting and performance art. Ukrainian Diary brings much of that work together to illustrate the tumultuous social and political changes that have shaken Eastern Europe over the past fifty years.

In 1978, Zofia Rydet decided that was going to photograph the inside of every Polish household. Aged 67, she began knocking on doors and asking occupants if they’d be willing to partake in her project. She continued to knock on doors for the next three decades, collecting everyday stories and creating ‘one of the most important achievements in 20th century Polish photography’. More than 100 of Rydet’s prints will be on display at the Photographers’ Gallery alongside books and personal letters offering extra insight into her sociological mission.

When a place rates itself as assuredly (in huge bold letters, no less) as Good Hotel does, it’s natural to feel a little sus. But it’s true: Good Hotel really does make you feel good. Service is cheery and laid-back without being overly casual, the food leaves nothing to complain about and – maybe it’s the luxurious silence of the area or perhaps the proximity to gently lapping water – I visited in 2024, and I don’t know if I’ve ever had a better night’s sleep in the city. Aside from all that, guests can walk out of Good Hotel feeling extra gratified by virtue of its ‘do good’ DNA. Why stay at Good Hotel? As you walk along Royal Victoria Docks, this huge black shipping container is impossible to miss. Originally built as a Danish prison, this floating hotel docked in London in 2016 after sailing across from Amsterdam. Its founder, Marten Dresden, had come up with the Good Hotel concept four years prior while travelling in Guatemala. Now, each night you spend there pays for a week of school for a child in South America, with profits also going towards hospitality training for long-term unemployed locals (lots of whom become Good Hotel employees).  The hotel also hosts regular community workshops and events that guests can attend. There are comedy nights, yoga classes, salsa classes, kids art clubs and, if you’re in the mood to be extra good, litter-picking around the local area. What are the rooms like at Good Hotel? Throughout the hotel, the interiors are slick, earthy-toned

One of the more recent additions to Wimbledon Village, Good Fortune Club is bright and buzzy with a sprawling menu of Cantonese dishes, the best known of which is its handmade dim sum. Stop by with a large, hungry posse to pack your table with bamboo steamers and sample har gau (shrimp-filled dumplings,) xiao long bao (pork soup dumplings), cuttlefish cake and more.

Of its four south-west London outposts, DropShot’s Leopold Road location serves up hefty brunches on the daily. The portions here are breathtakingly generous, and the tennis-themed menu goes well beyond the standard eggs benny or avocado on toast; think mozzarella and chilli jam-filled potato pancakes andbig fat slices of French toast laden with monterey jack cheese and fresh pesto, or loaded with tiramisu cream and berries. The coffee is fantastic, too.

Crack Comedy Club brings pre-party laughs to Tunnel 267 – Wimbledon’s only nightclub – every Saturday night from 8pm to 10pm. For standup sets from four or five comics, tickets are £25 for general admission on the door or £21.50 if you book online in advance. You can also buy tickets that include dinner from a local restaurant beforehand, and if you stick around afterwards you’ll get free entry to Tunnel’s clubnight. Three in one. 

There's a real sense of fun to this deliberately rough-around-the-edges course. Party tunes blare from speakers, graffiti jazzes up the walls and it's made from ‘twisted junk, car booty and charity shop shizzle’. Junkyard Golf Club has four courses – Gary, Pablo, Dirk and Bozo – that are all fabulously chaotic and mildly freaky. Depending on which challenge you take on, you’ll be putting past pirate pigs, dishevelled nightclub urinals, terrifying giant clown heads and a UV rave room. There's also a second location in Camden for more of the same.  Prices start at £12 for nine holes at off-peak times (Sunday to Thursday) and go up to £21 for 18 holes on busier days (Fridays and Saturdays). And as any good crazy golf should, Junkyard has a menu of themed cocktails to keep lubed up before, during and after your game. 

This quirky, tiki-themed minigolf course first popped up in Dalston's Efes in April 2015. A decade later, that debut site is no more, but you can now find Plonks outdoors in London Fields and under the arches at Borough Market. The Hackney course, which recently got a big ol’ refurb, takes you through a ‘Polynesian themed putt paradise’ complete with a tiki forest, a volcano canyon and octupuses. There are plenty of satisfying holes that fire your ball onto tricksy little mechanisms, a loop the loop, and a lot of impossibly steep ramps. All in all: it’s a great place for a plonking party. Prices start from £9.35 per person per play. 

What is it?  Technically several adjoining markets, this sprawl of stalls stretching from Camden Town tube to the Regent’s Canal is London’s fourth most popular visitor attraction. In its recent heyday, around 250,000 people came here every week to shop, sample street food and soak up the distinctive, still-grungy atmosphere. Camden Lock Market is an arts-and-crafts haven while the Stables Market is a trendy spot for everything from quirky furniture to fetish clothing. Nearby Buck Street Market on Camden High Street has had a shipping container revamp. As you saunter through the different markets, don’t be surprised to see grungy teenagers and old punks on the street corners. Camden feels more mainstream than it did in the ‘90s, but it’s still one of London’s most rock ‘n’ roll neighbourhoods. Why go?  To get lost in a one-of-a-kind maze of art, garms, antiques, accessories, books and endless street food.  Don’t miss The Cheese Bar – London’s only fully fromage focused restaurant – for all manner of gooey, cheese-based delights in a classy, low lit space in Stables Market.  Ticket info  No tickets needed.  When to visit  Camden Markets are open everyday of the week from 10am until late.  Time Out tip If you find the lunch queues and options a bit too much in the main Camden Lock Market, cross the road to Buck Street Market where you’ll find food that is just as great and are more likely to find a free spot to sit.  RECOMMENDED: London’s best markets

What is it?  After 130 years, luxury department store Fenwick left its iconic outlet on Bond Street in February 2024 but its flagship store in Brent Cross Shopping Centre is still going strong.  What does it sell?  The three storey emporium offers up everything you expect from any good department store – apparel, homewear, beauty bits and accessories from classic and emerging high-end brands like Stella McCartney, Viviene Westwood, Ganni, Jo Malone and Our Place. There’s also a wee horticultral section downstairs, selling fresh plants and a bunch of tools and sprays to help your patch bloom.  Opening times  Mon-Fri 10am-8pm; Sat 9.30am-8pm; Sun 11.30am-6pm. 

The Bank of England’s grand Grade I-listed HQ on Threadneedle Street has been around for nearly 200 years. In order to survive all those decades and centuries, it’s undergone several huge overhauls. The building was first designed by Sir John Soane and completed in the 1830s, then its was demolished and rebuilt by Sir Herbert Baker in the 1930s (only its façade stayed the same) and then it given another big facelift in the 1990s. Now, it’s due its next major upgrade.  The refurb will begin in 2026 and be led by Purcell Architecture – the same firm that restored Westminster’s Elizabeth Tower and revamped the National Portrait Gallery.  The public is unlikely to see the results of the refurb, though. Most of the project will focus on replacing ageing infrastructure, rather than changing the external look of the building. It’s been called an ‘incredibly complex project’ and is expected to take until 2029 to complete. The plans include replacing ‘end-of-life heating, pumping and ventilation systems’ and redesigning the current office layout to create extra workspace.  Vivienne Grafton, the bank’s executive director of central operations, told Architects Journal that ‘the focus is very much on internal refurbishment and adaptive reuse, rather than an extensive new build’.  She said: ‘This is an opportunity to breathe new life into a legacy building, not through radical reinvention, but through thoughtful, intelligent transformation. ‘The Bank of England is more than a financial in

British rail fares have been going up and up and up over the past three decades. Every single year they’ve increased according to the retail price index (RPI) revealed the previous July – often somewhere between four and five percent. But in 2026, that’s not going to happen. In major news for commuters, the government has announced that rail fares will be staying exactly the same.   Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: ‘Next week at the Budget I’ll set out the fair choices to deliver on the country’s priorities to cut NHS waiting lists, cut national debt and cut the cost of living. ‘That’s why we’re choosing to freeze rail fares for the first time in 30 years, which will ease the pressure on household finances and make travelling to work, school or to visit friends and family that bit easier.’ The cap won’t apply to all train journeys in England, though. Here’s everything we know about the rail fare freezes in 2026.  Which train journey fares are being frozen in 2026? The freeze will apply to all rail fares that are regulated by the government, which covers around 45 percent of rail fares. That includes season tickets, day singles and returns, and off-peak and peak returns between major cities.  The government said that the cap is expected to benefit more than a billion passenger journeys. It said that commuters travelling three days a week between Milton Keynes and London will save £315 year, between Woking and London will save £173 each year and between Bradford to Leeds will sav

A traffic-free Oxford Street is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality. Sadiq Khan has been trying to pedestrianise the world-famous street since 2017 – a move that he says will give it a ‘new lease of life and make it an attractive international destination once again’.  An initial consultation found that one in 10 Londoners were in favour of making Oxford Street traffic-free. And a one-day event back in September gave locals and tourist a taste of what the stretch would be like without any vehicles. Now, TfL has launched another consultation to get feedback on newly released plans that show how traffic routes would change. Full pedestrianisation would see buses, taxis and private hire vehicles banned from the street. Cycling wouldn’t be allowed under the proposed plans either, but TfL says that it would create new ‘high-quality’ cycle routes through the surrounding area. Cars are already banned from 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday. Some locals worry that diverting traffic away from Oxford Street will make the surrounding streets noisier and more chaotic. You can take a look at the plans below and then share your two pence in the consultation (which closes January 16) here.  Sadiq Khan said: ‘These new proposals map out the potential next steps with Transport for London to make our vision of a thriving, greener Oxford Street a reality. I encourage everyone to have their say on the proposals, which would transform Oxford Street into a place Londoners and the whole c

Catching a train during the Christmas period is always a fairly chaotic experience. But add into the mix the fact that, this year, some major stations will be shut due to engineering work and that hundreds of staff members will be striking, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for travel mayhem.  Yep, you read that right. Rail staff are planning to take industrial action on some of the busiest travel days of the year.  Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) working for CrossCountry Trains are walking out across four days in December.  The planned industrial action is expected to impact routes from Scotland all the way down to Cornwall, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers journeying home for Christmas. Here’s everything you need to know.  Full list of CrossCountry strike days in December 2026 Members of the RMT union will walk out every Saturday in December. That’s December 6, 13, 20 and 27.   Which rail routes will be affected?  The majority of CrossCountry journeys that connect Scotland, England and Wales via Birmingham New Street are likely to be disrupted on strike days. That includes routes to major cities like Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Newcastle, Cardiff, and Edinburgh.  Why are CrossCountry staff striking?  The strikes are over issues to do with pay and staff shortages. Eddie Dempsey, RMT’s general secretary, said: ‘CrossCountry has not dealt with the core issues in this dispute and has come back with a proposal that is worse than w

Remember 2018’s Beast from the East? From February to March, the UK was gripped by weeks of bitterly freezing temperatures brought over by winds from Siberia. Temperatures dived as low as -14C, red snow warnings were issued, schools were closed, electricity cut out and public transport stopped running. We haven’t had a winter quite that dramatic since, but next month could give it a run for its money.  The Met Office has warned that a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event could be coming for the UK. That’s the same phenomenon that caused the brutal Beast from the East seven years ago. It’s when the Earth’s stratosphere rapidly warms up to about 50C, which can cause a knock-on effect on the jet stream in which temperatures plummet. It increases the likelihood of a cold snap in the UK up to two weeks later by 70 percent.  Aidan McGiver, a Met Office meteorologist said in a YouTube video last Tuesday that that signs of a SSW were ‘looking likely’ for this week, but that it doesn’t always result in extreme weather conditions.  Looking ahead, the Met Office said: ‘From the clash of Arctic and North African air masses to the impacts of heavy rain, flooding, and significant snow, the country is experiencing a wide range of conditions. ‘Regional differences are stark, with some areas facing substantial snow while others enjoy sunny skies and frosty nights. The outlook remains uncertain, with the potential for further cold spells and unsettled weather as the season progresses.’ IC

In case you haven’t already got the hint from all the mince pies on supermarket shelves, the pine trees in market squares and the fairy lights lining our high streets, Christmas is well on the way. And here’s another sure sign that the holidays are coming: Coca-Cola’s bright red illuminated truck is officially back for 2025.   Every year for the past 15 years, the Coca-Cola’s Christmas lorry has gone on a tour of the UK to ensure every part of the country gets in the festive spirit. It normally stops by 15 different areas across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, bringing with it games, exclusive merch and prizes, photo opportunities and, of course, ice cold cans of the fizzy stuff.  The iconic vehicle is now back on the road to mark the start of the 2025 festive season. To celebrate its return, the brand has partnered with hunger and food waste charity FareShare to donate 1 million meals to those who need it most.  Below is everything you need to know if you want to catch the Coca-Cola Christmas truck on its tour this year.  Coca-Cola truck locations and dates for 2025 We know that the truck will stop by 15 locations on it’s Christmas road trip 2025, but we don’t know all the specific stops. Coca-Cola normally keeps the route a secret until a day or two before arriving in each location.  First up for the truck is Edinburgh, where it has two stops this weekend: Friday November 21: Bothasig Residential (12pm-8pm) Saturday November 22: Fort Kinnaird, Newcraighall (

Have you checked your Uber rating lately? If you recently wolfed down a 3am kebab in the backseat, forgot your P’s and Q’s or blasted your music at full volume, you may find that your score has dropped. Even worse... you may be bringing your hometown’s average down.   Uber has just unveiled which city’s passengers have the highest and lowest ratings from its drivers – in its words, the cities that have been the ‘nicest and naughtiest’.  Belfast, give yourselves a pat on the back – you are the UK’s best behaved Uber passengers. With their Northern Irish charm, riders in the city have an impressive average rating of 4.91 (well above the national average of 4.84). It checks out – Belfast was voted the 10th friendliest city in the world in Time Out’s recent survey, with 61 percent of locals describing it ass ‘welcoming and friendly’.  Following in second place was Cambridge, where Uber users have an average rating of 4.89. Rounding out the top five was Oxford, Liverpool and Cardiff.   Now, over to the cities that have been named and shamed. Uber drivers have been the least impressed by passengers in Bristol. They’ve got an average rating of 4.7 (not that bad, but plenty of room for improvement).  Londoners had the next worst Uber etiquette with an rating from drivers of 4.75. Birmingham’s passengers were in third place, followed by Leicester and Manchester.  Uber says that the kind of things that lower passengers’ ratings are being rude or disrespectful, being late, eating in the

There’s something very British about a caravan park. They’re usually cheap, cheerful, and located in some of the most beautiful parts of the country, overlooking gorgeous coastlines, magnificent lakes and sprawling national parks. But several beloved resorts, like Pontins Pakefield Holiday Village and Baltic Wharf Caravan Club, have been forced to close in recent years, and now another string of parks are at risk. Holiday park chain Cove UK has gone into administration – a move that is set to have an impact on 11 of static caravan across the country. The parks are currently closed for the season anyway, so the good news is that no one is going to be kicked out of their caravan mid-holiday.  Solway Holiday Park in Cumbria is one of the resorts affected, alongside Gwel an Mor Resort in Cornwall and Springwood Holiday Park in Kelso, on the Scottish Borders. Eight of the parks are in Scotland and run by Argyll Holidays, which became a subsidiary of Cove UK in 2022. The chain’s largest resort, Seal Bay in West Sussex, is safe.  At this point, it’s not clear whether the parks will shut for good, or if they will be sold to another company. Adam Paxton, the managing director of the administrator Alvarez & Marsal Europe, said: ‘As administrators, our priority is to ensure a smooth transition and maintain stability across the parks. ‘We are working to ensure day-to-day operations continue with minimal disruption. Owners, residents and holidaymakers should not be impacted, and can conta

Imagine a city full of wooden towers, that’s fully 6G and is predominantly powered by the sun. That’s the vision for Forest City 1 – a new metropolis that’s been proposed for Cambridgeshire. ‘This isn’t another housing development,’ its website says. ‘It's a complete reimagining of how we can live, work, and thrive in the 21st century.’ The city has been devised by Shiv Malik, a former investigative journalist, and Joe Reeve, a co-founder of grassroots political movement Looking for Growth. They reckon it’s the solution to the housing crisis and growing disillusion across the UK. Malik told the Independent: ‘Britain needs growth, truly affordable housing and also a massive reboot on infrastructure. My generation of millennials and younger have been utterly exasperated with all these issues for over a decade.’  The pair have identified a 45,000 acre spread of land for the city, which sits on the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border between Newmarket and Haverhill. Their current plans envision a place the size of Bristol with skyscrapers made of industrial wood, a 6G network and a multi-line tram and metro system. It would be powered by solar and small modular reactors and be surrounded by 12,000 acres of deciduous woodland.  Houses in Forest City would be ‘the highest quality, four-bed, Passivhaus townhouses, all-electric, with an American style specification for appliances’ and, thanks to cheap construction, would each cost £350,000. It’s hoped that the city will eventually have 40

The UK is pretty great, if you ask us. We’ve got gorgeous seaside towns, magnificent national parks, breathtaking landscapes and thriving, world-leading cities. Of course, here at Time Out UK we may be a little biased, but we promise that it’s not just us that thinks so highly of this little island. In fact three of our metropolises have just been crowned among the best in the world by a Canadian company Resonance Consultancy. And one was named the greatest on the planet.    Every year, Resonance Consultancy unveils its comprehensive World’s Best Cities ranking. It evaluates cities based on three broad measures, which each consist of a bunch of subcategories. There’s ‘liveability’, which looks at stuff like air quality, rent prices and green spaces, ‘lovability’ which assesses nightlife, restaurants and social media engagement, and ‘prosperity’ which covers rates of unemployment, educational attainment and GDP per capita. For an unbelievable 11th year in a row, the survey named London the best city on the globe. Resonance lauded it as the ‘capital of capitals’ and said that its ‘magnetic appeal continues to draw a global audience, from students and entrepreneurs to tourists and corporate titans’.  The Big Smoke came first in the world in the prosperity category, second for lovability and third for liveability. It secured the number one spot in 34 of the study’s subcategories, including airports and the number of large companies looking to invest in the city. And it earned ex

Most of the UK’s Christmas markets stick around for the entire festive season. Some even keep the Yuletide magic alive into January. But one of Time Out’s favourite Christmas extravaganzas only pops up for one day each year – blink and you’ll miss it. We’re talking about the magnificent Beverley Festival of Christmas, which we’ve named it the third best Christmas market in the UK for 2025. The festival has been running since 1995, established by local shop owner John Bird. For one day, and one day only, the whole town centre is engulfed in Christmas songs and scents, with more than 100 stalls lined up for all your gifting needs. If you want an intense hit of a Christmas market experience, this is your best bet. You’ll leave feeling like it was all some kind of festive fever dream.  Storm Darragh forced the festival to be cancelled in 2024, but it’s due to come back with a glittering bang next month. More than 50,000 people are expected to descend on Beverley for the occasion – East Riding of Yorkshire council reckons it’s the biggest single day Christmas event of its kind in the UK. Want to see for yourself? Here’s everything you need to know.  When is the Beverley Festival of Christmas 2025?  This year, the Beverley Festival of Christmas is happening on Sunday, December 14.  What are its opening times? It’ll be open to explore from 10am until 4pm.  What are the main attractions?  The entire town will be transformed into a festive spectacle, with something worth seeing arou

Birmingham City FC is gearing up for a huge move. No, it hasn’t been promoted to the Premier League, but it has just unveiled plans for its magnificent new ground: Powerhouse Stadium.  The spectacular new stadium will sit on Bordesley Green in the east of the city and will be able to fit 62,000 fans. That’s more the double the capacity of the Blues’ current home, St Andrew’s. Once complete the venue will be the fourth largest club-owned stadium in England, after Old Trafford, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and London Stadium. The club hopes it’ll open in time for the 2030-31 season.  Developed by Heatherwick Studio and MANICA Architecture, the plans for the venue were revealed yesterday in a video starring former B’ham City player Jude Bellingham, NFL star Tom Brady and Peaky Blinders actor Paul Anderson. Twelve chimneys containing staircases and lifts, inspired by the brickworks that once stood on the site, will wrap around stadium. One of the towers will be home to a bar overlooking the city and an immersive storytelling experience.   It’ll have a retractable roof and moveable pitch, meaning it’ll be able to host music concerts, cultural experiences and sporting events like NFL and rugby, as well as football. On top of that, there’ll be a spread of markets, cafés, restaurants, play areas and social spaces to make it a year-round destination. Image: Birmingham City Tom Wagner, the Birmingham City chair, said: ‘There will be a modern-day, accessible, Colosseum – a sporting venu