Ed Cunningham

February 2026: It's still cold, and it's still grey - which means we're still in peak Sunday roast season. Not simply just a decent hangover cure, Sunday lunch is one of the most winter-y things a Londoner can possibly do. Our latest update to this list has prioritised the cosiest pubs in town, with extra points for roaring open fires (check out French resto Bistro Sable for a great one), as well as nooks and crannies where you can hunker down until spring returns. Try also the Macbeth in Hoxton, which offers a great Portuguese-style Sunday sesh. There are a couple of posh restaurants in the mix too, with a Nordic roast at the plush Ekstedt at the Yard near Westminster, and a serious meat feast at Quality Chop House in Clerkenwell. Our worthy Number 1 is the simple, spectacular roast at London’s OG organic pub, The Duke of Cambridge in Islington.  London’s best Sunday roasts at a glance: 🥩 Central: Duke of Cambridge, Angel 😇 North: The Angel, Highgate ⛪ South: Old Nun’s Head, Nunhead 🌈 East: The Nelson’s, Hackney 🍻 West: The Mall Tavern, Notting Hill Sunday lunch. There’s nothing quite like it. An elemental meal, one that Londoners take incredibly seriously. Debates about what constitutes the ‘perfect’ Sunday roast have been known to last for hours. There is no shortage of top roasts in London. We’ve rounded up the city’s best Sunday meals from a host of pubs, restaurants and breweries all around town. What makes a good roast? For us, it’s simple; a welcoming room is a

Updated for 2026: Whatever you think of Netflix’s theatrical strategy, it continues to produce some of television’s most formally daring works, including Adolescence, a hard-to-watch but impossible to ignore limited series about an unimaginable crime. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s HBO’s hilariously profane The Righteous Gemstones, which stuck the landing in 2025 with its final season. In addition, we have moved Andor into the top 20 after its astounding second and final season.  Television used to be considered one of the lowest forms of entertainment. It was derided as ‘the idiot box’ and ‘the boob tube’. Edward R Murrow referred to it as ‘the opiate of the masses’, and the phrase ‘I don’t even own a TV’ was considered a major bragging right.  A lot has changed. Television is now the dominant medium in basically all of entertainment. The shift in perception is widely credited to the arrival of The Sopranos, which completely reinvented the notion of what a TV show could do. But that doesn’t mean everything that came before is primordial slurry. While this list of the greatest TV shows ever is dominated by 21st century programs, from The Wire to Succession to Adolescence, there are many shows that deserve credit for laying the groundwork for this current golden age.  Chiseling them down to a neat top 100 is difficult, so we elected to leave off talk shows, variety shows and sketch comedy, focusing on scripted, episodic dramas, comedies and miniseries. So don’t touc

London’s South Asian food scene is a mosaic of flavours showcasing the culinary traditions of everywhere from India and Pakistan to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Rather than one unified cuisine, it reflects the complex cultural tapestry that has evolved through centuries of migration, trade, and gastronomic exchange across the subcontinent. For the diaspora, food goes beyond sustenance; it’s an expression of identity, memory, and community.  London’s best Indian and South Asian restaurants at a glance: 🇱🇰 Best for Sri Lankan food: Rambutan, Borough Market 🍻 Best for a big blowout: Brigadiers, City 🍛 Best for a quick curry: Tamila, Kings Cross ⭐ Best for a Michelin star meal: Trishna, Marylebone 🍚 Best for a street-food snack: Shree Krishna Vada Pav, Fitzrovia and various Rooted in philosophical teachings, including the mindful and balancing principles of Ayurveda, South Asian food in London emphasises reverence for natural ingredients and the simple joy of eating. From masala-rich Pakistani karahis and delicate vegetarian Gujarati thalis, to the spicy thrum of Bangladeshi bhortha, this list spans the diversity of the cuisine in the city. Whether it’s fine dining, street food at a community centre, trailblazing female chefs, or a family-run canteen, these establishments are love letters to their heritage, connecting Londoners through the warmth of South Asian hospitality, shared flavours and stories.  RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London. Shekha Vyas is

Another year, another stellar lineup of UK music festivals. Sure, Glastonbury – the UK’s tentpole music event, no pun intended – is taking a fallow year, but other lineups are more than making up for Worthy Farm’s absence. Established musical feasts (Reading and Leeds, Latitude) will return amid tantalising new blockbuster additions (Roundhay Festival), alongside the usual more specialised genre and scene events (Supersonic, AVA, FOCUS). While it might seem a little early (and a tad chilly) for planning a sun-glazed weekend of outdoors live music, these days the UK festival season lasts beyond the summer months. The festival calendar is pretty much a year-round affair, with events taking place not just in fields or parks but in venues across cities, from early spring all the way through to late November. Already confirmed for 2026 are several lineups that’ll have the heads drooling at the mouth. Reading and Leeds has Charli XCX, Chase & Status, Dave, Florence + the Machine, Fontaines D.C and Raye. Download has Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Guns N Roses. London’s Victoria Park, across All Points East and LIDO, will host Tyler, the Creator, Deftones, Lorde, CMAT and Maribou State. Looking beyond the major fests, the lineups get even better. The 15th anniversary of Outbreak in Manchester has Alexisonfire and Basement topping the bill; Mighty Hoopla has scooped a headline performance from Lily Allen (performing West End Girl in full); FOCUS Wales will boast Fat Dog, Idlewild and S

‘Overtourism’. It’s more than a buzzword – in the world’s most popular destinations, it’s a problem that affects almost every aspect of local life, from the environment to the cost of renting, transport and eating out. And when a place is overwhelmed by people, it’s not only locals’ quality of life that suffers; the quality of your trip does, too. But it’s not all bad. Destinations are coming up with ways to redistribute tourism from densely crowded hotspots to lesser-visited regions. Travellers are seeking cooler climes and embracing slow travel, allowing space to discover somewhere new. And they’re still riding the ‘destination dupes’ trend, where overrun holiday destinations are swapped out for less crowded, less expensive, but just-as-good alternatives. On our newly updated list of the world’s most underrated travel destinations, you won’t find your Bangkoks or your Balis, your Amalfis or your Amsterdams. What you will find is the hidden side of Yosemite, the French Riviera’s overlooked twin, a place where penguins outnumber people, and plenty more travel inspo where that came from.Why trust us? Because we’ve been to them all. Every spot on this list was picked by one of our expert editors and globetrotting travel writers, recommended because they offer great (or quiet) alternatives to the classics – and in many cases, because they’re places that actually want tourism. In other words, travelling to any of these 33 criminally overlooked destinations is a win-win situation.

When it comes to big-ticket gigs and musicians touring Britain, how do you follow up a year like 2025? Last year some of the planet’s mightiest stars graced UK stages, from Coldplay and Lady Gaga to Olivia Rodrigo, Lana del Rey and, of course, Oasis. Fortunately, 2026 is shaping up to be just as huge as 2025 – if not even bigger. Sure, we might not have the Gallaghers on the schedule (well, not yet), but plenty of others are lined up to headline British stadiums and arenas over the next 12 months. Plus, even more names are rumoured to be yet to announce a tour (BTS, we’re looking at you).  Lily Allen, Bon Jovi, Bad Bunny, Ariana Grande… the UK has all these to look forward to and more in 2026. Here are the best major tours coming to Britain this year. RECOMMENDED: 🎵 The best albums of 2025. 🎶 The best songs of 2025.

London is full of perfect pizza. The finest of fast foods, this delicious staple has been elevated far beyond its humble roots by great Italian restaurants in London, pop-ups, street food vendors and pub residencies, and we know just where to find these world-class wonders, because we’ve been eating our way across London in order to discover the best. Whether it’s delivered in a cardboard box or served in a swish restaurant, excellent pizza is hard to beat. Browse our list of the best pizza places in town and try not to drool on your screen. Recent additions to the Top 20 include some nifty kitchen residencies; Dough Hands at the Spurstowe Arms and Old Nun’s Head, Bing Bong Pizza at You Call The Shots in Hackney, Little Earthquakes at the Railway Tavern in Dalston, and Short Road Pizza at the William The Fourth in Leyton and Three Colts in Bethnal Green. You can find Ace Pizza at the Pembury Tavern in Hackney Downs, but they have also opened their first standalone parlour in Victoria Park. Try also; Spring Street Pizza in Borough for pie with a Michelin-starred chefs touch, Carmela’s on Upper Street for a cosy slice and Vincenzo’s in Shoreditch for no-flop pizza. RECOMMENDED: The finest fish and chips in London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

There’s a heck of a lot to get excited about in Britain over the next 12 months or so. Between now and 2027 Brits will gobble down platefuls of new restaurants’ grub, slurp tasty bevs in fresh bars, get cultural fixes at museum exhibitions, spectate at globally-renowned sport events and even witness moments of proper historic importance. In 2026 the UK will see the return of the Bayeux Tapestry (not seen on these isles in 900 years) and the completion of the nation-spanning King Charles III Coastal Path. Among the likes of new music festivals and theme parks will be the world’s biggest Irish cultural event, the premiere of one of this century’s most highly anticipated stage musicals and centenery celebrations for a globally-loved children’s character.  And that’s just the stuff that’s planned – who knows what else will define the year? Without further ado, here are the 16 best new things to do in the UK in 2026, chosen by Time Out editors and contributors. RECOMMENDED: 📍 The 14 best places to visit in the UK in 2026.🏛️ The 26 best new things to do in London in 2026.🌍 The best new things to do in the world in 2026.

Need a place to stay in London? We’re here to make it easy for you. Every year, a wealth of new hotels open in the capital – a testament to the fact that London remains one of the most desirable places to visit in the world. That can, however, make it rather tricky to decide which hotel to choose. But worry not: we have slept our way across the city and hand-picked our favourites, to bring you this ultimate list of London hotels, from Mayfair to Shoreditch, and from budget to blowout (butler included).  Newcomers to our list include the all-new July in Victoria, apartment-hotels which opened in July 2025, and eco-hotel 1 Hotel Mayfair, as well as a few old classics we’ve re-reviewed just for good measure (hint: The Dorchester is just about as great as we remembered). We’ve got a brand-new number one too, but we won’t give that one away just yet. For everything from genuine good value stays to all-out, Zone 1 luxury, you’ll find something on this list for every kind of trip. Superb bars, great architecture, world-class hospitality and the opportunity to have a home-from-home in the best city in the world await you – here are the best hotels in London.  🏘️ Looking for even more options? Check out our list of the best Airbnbs in London Which area is best to stay in London? It’s not just the range of hotels that’s so impressive – you’re also spoilt for choice when it comes to picking a neighbourhood to stay in London. The city is made up of a sprawling network of dynamic neighb

Copenhagen has risen in popularity recently as one of the best destinations for a weekend city break. Whether you're a tourist travelling from afar or a fellow Dane looking for a change of scenery, renting an Airbnb for a few days is a great way to see the city and experience it like a true local.  The capital of Denmark, one of the world's happiest cities, is a gorgeous place with brightly coloured buildings, amazing food, lots of culture, rich history and architectural design, making it a place worth exploring with lots to do and see. And few cities offer such a resplendent selection of Airbnbs as the Danish capital. No matter your trip, whether you’re hunting for a table at Copenhagen’s fabulous restaurants, spending your days in its captivating museums or boogieing it out thanks to its exhilarating nightlife, there’s usually a phenomenal Airbnb to fit the bill. Here are our favourite Airbnbs right here in Copenhagen.  Time Out tip: The easiest – and quickest – way to get around Copenhagen is on two wheels, but if you prefer to hop on public transport, the DOT ticket app is your best friend.  Updated in January 2026: We think this list is pretty cracking already, but it's even better now that we've added this houseboat in the heart of the city for a truly authentic experience (and one you might recognise from a certain TV show).  Recommended: 🚲See the best things to do in Copenhagen🍷Hit up the best bars in Copenhagen🇩🇰Here's how to spend a weekend in Copenhagen Who m

2026 has officially landed. An entire year of adventure awaits, with Britain set for a deluge of thrilling new things to see and do. Beyond the individual openings, however – the new bars and restaurants, museums and attractions – where should be on your radar for places to visit in the UK?  If you’re up for being inspired here at Time Out, as always, we’ve got you covered. We’ve scoured the listings of all that’s happening in Britain in 2026 and consulted our nationwide network of writers and editors, harnessing all that info to put together a guide to the places that should be on your radar over the next 12 months.  Destinations made it onto Time Out’s list for a vast range of reasons. Some have swaggered onto the scene with a quickfire burst of thrilling new attractions. Others have built their cred slower and reached a point of quiet brilliance, while others still are established spots that simply remain very much worth their rep. Several places will be made even more tempting by those aforementioned 2026 openings, whether that be delicious places to eat and drink, game-changing new transport options or unmissable cultural events.  From trendy seaside towns to revived industries cities, medieval forts to ‘the new Berlin’: here are the UK’s 14 top places to visit in 2026. RECOMMENDED: 🇬🇧 The best new things to do in the UK in 2026.📍 The 26 best stuff to see and do in London in 2026. 

Whether you’re a fully-fledged railfan or just a traveller who loves convenience, 2024 has been an unmatched year when it comes to new night services. Countries throughout Europe, in bids to make travelling more planet-friendly and affordable, have launched countless sleeper routes this year, meaning most of us now have plenty of motivation to swap flights for night trains on our next trip. In other words, sleeper trains are back, baby, and at Time Out, we’re here for it. With the option to hop on a train, journey thousands of miles and wake up in your destination (hopefully with enough energy to go out and explore), night services are kind of ideal scenarios, right? And luckily, you’ve got us train afficionados on hand to point you in the right direction. So, pack your bag, embark your cabin and settle in – here are the most exciting sleeper trains we can’t wait to ride in 2025.  RECOMMENDED:🌤️The most scenic railway journeys in Europe🗺️The ultimate Interrail itinerary for Europe🚂The most beautiful European train journeys from London🚞The best train journeys in the world 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. 

Soho, Marylebone and Mayfair – these are not London neighbourhoods that are in short supply of luxury. A hotel that sits at the intersection of all three, therefore, might be expected to be very glamourous indeed. And that the BoTree certainly is, though in a very modern and unstuffy sense, having only opened in 2023. Those familiar with this particular link between Oxford and Wigmore Streets might recognise the BoTree’s address from its previous life as home to the brutalist, geometrically-dazzling Welbeck Street car park. These days it doesn’t really resemble that structure, the eye-catching multi-storey replaced with a shiny grey-ish block – though latticed decoration on the corner does ever-so-slightly hint at the site’s previous life. Approaching the BoTree from Oxford Street, it’s miraculous – and a bit eerie – how the atmosphere shifts so quickly from the hectic stress of Europe’s longest shopping street to sleek, calm, palpably wealthy Marylebone. By the time you’ve stepped into the lobby, the blaring pedicabs, roaring buses and general hubbub of the West End are nowhere to be seen or heard. Why stay at The BoTree? The BoTree’s standout feature is its location, no contest. The primest of prime West End, stumble out of Bond Street station and you’re here – practically all of Soho and Marylebone is within walking distance, and the rest of the city is just a tube away. What are the rooms like at The BoTree? My room was the BoTree Suite, a seventh-floor space wrapping aro

art'otel and Hoxton: on paper, at least, a match made in heaven. Famously arty hotel chain meets famously arty London neighbourhood (well, if you lump Hoxton in with Shoreditch, which is fine by us). The address has arty history, too: the hotel occupies a site formerly home to the legendary Foundry, an ale bar and arts venue once described as ‘crucible of the Britart movement’. Not familiar with art'otel? Let us bring you up to speed. The brand posits its outposts as both hotels and art galleries, with your stay being a chance to encounter real pieces of art. Each location has its own ‘signature artist’, around whom not only is the hotel themed but who gets to actually design a lot of the hotel, from its wall artworks to its furniture. art'otel Hoxton’s signature artist is D*Face (Dean Stockton), titan of English street art known for his chaotic, colourful, attention-demanding works. Approaching the hotel there’s a sense of occasion fitting for D*Face’s rep: the building towers over the fork of Great Eastern Street and Old Street. Two original Banksys sit above the doorway; dramatic escalators glide past gigantic, blinding screens of video art; a human-size sculpture of ‘D*Dog’ (one of D*Face’s best-known figures) greets you at reception as a kind of concierge. It is very much like entering a proper art gallery. Why stay at art'otel London Hoxton? If you’re fond of art – specifically street art, even more specifically the work of D*Face – art'otel Hoxton is a real treat. It’s

You can spot the building that hosts Archives from miles around, a repurposed 1960s industrial tower standing tall above Tottenham Hale’s retail parks and marshland. And it’s a worthy local landmark: since opening in 2024 Archives has regularly hosted blockbuster nights, from James Blake’s CMYK to the second edition of Eastern Margins’ festival Margins United. The space itself is an 8,500-square-foot ground-floor blank canvas with thick concrete columns and capacity for 1,600; the 360-degree soundsystem is solid, the dancefloor is well-proportioned and the outdoor/rest areas are sizeable. The only downside is the bar prices. When I was last here pints were flatly priced at a very steep £8.50 (and £7.50 for cans).

A country home amid gargantuan piles of slate, Plas Weunydd sits atop a hill overlooking not just an old industrial town but the vast landscape of Snowdonia National Park. Needless to say, the hotel is all about its location: the location on a map, sure (it’s pretty much at the dead-centre of Snowdonia and surrounded by all manner of outdoorsy activities) but also its topographical location, with views galore.  For my visit to Plas Weunydd, the approach by car saw me wind my way past the hills and valleys of the national park, through old mining town Blaenau Ffestiniog and most of the way up a not-unsteep hill. The hotel is perched near the top, at the same turning as much-hyped adventure attraction Zip World and a mountain-biking course.  Why stay at Plas Weunydd? If you’re in Snowdonia for an adventure or outdoorsy holiday (and this is very much a region famous for that), Plas Weunydd is extraordinarily well-located. Hiking, cycling, mountain biking, zip-wiring and more is almost literally on your doorstep – as previously mentioned, Zip World is across the road – while countless mountains, waterfalls, lakes or rivers in Snowdonia National Park are no more than a half-hour drive away.  The building itself was built in 1870 as the home of John Whitehead Greaves, the founder of nearby Llechwed Quarry. It was turned into a hotel in 2021, and it relaunched in April 2025 following further refurbishment. Plas Weunydd prides itself on being an adventure holiday base, but also for b

Prince Durairaj and Glen Leeson are good at this by now. Excellent, in fact. The pair have put together a small chain of top Indian eateries; Islington’s Tamil Prince and Tamil Crown, and the first Tamila in Clapham. Fourth time around with Tamila King’s Cross, the experience is more refined than ever. London’s second Tamila is at the other end of Caledonian Road from the Tamil Prince, and, like the Clapham edition, isn’t a ‘desi pub’ but a curry house for fast, casual dining and with an all-day menu. Without the loveable musk of an ex-pub, the space is much airier and restaurant-y, while the service is sharper and more attentive. Food-over-booze indicators don’t get much more obvious than Tamila’s massive interior window directly into the kitchen.  The dhal flashed all sorts of vegetables across your tongue, while paneer butter masala was creamy and mightily generous Our drinks flew out at an impressive pace. A bold harbinger of the strong, spiced flavours to come, the gunpowder margarita, boasting masala dust for salt and earthy smokiness, was sumptuous. The paloma had grapefruity sweetness but a proper, heaped dash of ginger that lingered powerfully.  Tamila’s dishes verge on the more generous side of ‘small plates’. On platters so spotless and shiny they’re genuinely mirrors, come miraculously un-greasy onion bhajis, each one just more than a mouthful of prickly, salty crackle. Retaining integral crispiness beneath dollops of mint chutney, one gets the impression that th

If you’re a history buff (particularly a pottery history buff), the surroundings of this DoubleTree alone will be enough to have you in awe. The hotel is attached to Etruria Hall, a neo-classical Grade II-listed structure once home to Josiah Wedgwood – renowned industrialist and the founder of Wedgwood, one of the world’s most famous pottery companies.  Etruria Hall is no longer a stately home but an events venue, and since the 1980s it’s been attached to a hotel. In 2020 that hotel opened as a Hilton, specifically of the DoubleTree brand – yet despite being part of an all-conquering global chain, it’s maintained plenty of character. Beyond the obvious (the in-house restaurant is called Josiah), the corridors and rooms come lined with nods to local heritage; bottle oven skylines, Stoke dialect phrases, that sort of stuff.  Stoke-on-Trent’s DoubleTree, therefore, not only occupies a special historical site but makes sure you fully aware just how special it is. But it’s also a comfortable, well-kitted-out place to stay. I stayed in a king guest room that was extraordinarily spacious and flawlessly clean, with a sprawling, comfortable bed, fast wi-fi, effective blackout curtains and a practical bathroom.  The staff couldn’t have been friendlier or more helpful, the common areas were bright and welcoming, and there was a very sleek indoor pool and leisure centre. There’s on-site parking, too.  Given the building’s age, some of Stoke’s DoubleTree is understandably rough around the

When Stoke’s Hilton Garden Inn opened in 2020 it was the city’s first and only Hilton. Admittedly it didn’t hold that title for long (the DoubleTree in Etruria was rebranded a month or so later) but you get the sense that this was a statement opening. A terracotta titan towering over Hanley, this Hilton Garden Inn cost £20 million and is part of the wider redevelopment of Smithfield – a mixed-use quarter named after the area’s old bottle works. Given it’s getting on for half a decade old, Stoke’s Hilton Garden Inn still looks and feels shimmeringly new. Sure, stepping into the lobby feels very much like stepping into any new-ish Hilton, anywhere, but this one is exceptionally well-kempt, making it very much a slick, shiny beacon of modern comfort.  I stayed in a ‘king room’ up on the sixth floor, a tidy and well-proportioned space with plenty of light and a bunch of amenities tidily packed in. The décor was pared back, minimalist(ish) and very much of-this-decade, and the room’s simplicity made it feel bigger. Stoke touches on the walls (images of pottery ovens and so on) reminded you where you were – as did my view, stretching out westwards towards Etruria, Burslem and Shelton. The rest was very much as one might expect of a somewhat new Hilton. The mattress was supple, the pillows and duvet ideally sink-in-able; the shower worked as required, accompanied by fragrant Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries and the flashy touch of an anti-steam mirror. The room was well insulated for so

Down the cavernous halls of Whitehall’s Old War Offices, surrounded by opulent Michelin-starred restaurants and the supremely swish Raffles hotel, lies Kioku Sake Bar – less blindingly flashy, sure, but just as high-calibre. The street-level accompaniment to Kioku’s top-floor, five-star sushi restaurant has the effortless style and homely hideaway calm of a Japanese listening bar, prim décor and lines of hundreds of sake bottles sitting beneath immaculately balanced light. And Kioku’s substance more than matches its style. There are over 140 sakes on offer, each affectionately described, plus a trim list of sake cocktails and a refined menu of innovative, Japanese-infused small plates. The drinks and food are entirely different to those of the upstairs restaurant Kioku By Endo, making the bar very much worth a separate visit.  Order this The Daikon Gibson suspends itself entirely on the front of your tongue, with silky and potent Ginjo sake ‘vermouth’ and tangy pickled daikon combining with clean Roku gin and yuzu tang. Kioku’s cocktails all exude a sense of craft – and this does even more so. Time Out tip Make the most of Kioku’s formidable sake collection and the bar’s in-house sake sommelier to explore the tipple. Discover how the vessel material affects each sake, get a taste of the many, many different styles and regional varieties – and find a new favourite.

Stepping into the atrium of The Conservatorium, it’s immediately obvious that this is a very special hotel indeed. Rich red brickwork meets sharp glass angles, heritage details fit snugly among silky modern luxury; from the fittings and furniture to the architecture, wherever you look something catches your eye. The Conservatorium’s sense of occasion is tied to the building’s history. Many of its cavernous halls date back to 1897, when it was built as a bank. In the 1980s it became a conservatoire, then it was reconfigured into a hotel by starchitect Piero Lissoni in the 2000s. It opened as a founding member of the luxurious Set Collection in 2011. The Conservatorium’s rooms, appropriately for a hotel inhabiting a building of many previous lives, vary massively – yet they share plenty of common ground. Whether one is in the basic ‘deluxe room’ or the three-floor, roof terrace-boasting ‘I Love Amsterdam’ suite, well-proportioned rooms boast plush beds, spacious bathrooms, bountiful storage and thoughtful, refined décor. My room was a ‘royal duplex suite’, with elegant double-height windows looking out onto the humming trams and cafés of Van Baerlestraat. The essentials – bed, space, storage, bathroom, toiletries – were all faultless. Little touches of Dutch-ness (decorative clogs, a Van Gogh coffee table book, Delftware ceramic plates) were unsubtle but still tasteful, restrained. Beyond the room, breakfast (served in the Lounge) was high-calibre and the staff were as helpful

What comes to mind when you think of a treehouse? Woodlice, splinters, cold – yes, probably all those things. But treehouses are also secluded and peaceful, dwellings a few feet up in the air that feel that bit away from the rabble below and closer to nature. And a treehouse, crucially, is all yours.  The treehouses of TreeDwellers in Cornbury, northeast Cotswolds, are treehouses in a spiritual sense. No, they aren’t up trees (nor do they even touch them), but they’re surrounded by them, sitting an impressive height above the forest floor. TreeDwellers takes the idea of a treehouse – as something special, private, embedded in nature – and turns it into a luxurious experience genuinely unlike anything, anywhere else. Pulling up to a TreeDwellers dwelling (a TreeDwelling?) has a supreme sense of occasion. This is the sort of architectural magnificence you thumb through in glossy mags, lustfully dreaming of one day giving it all up for. Handsomely curved tubes are perched atop stilts; inside is all sleek, clean wood and floor-to-ceiling windows, each and every convenience slotted in with impossible neatness. It’s all so stunning that you could easily be satisfied with the design and that alone, left gawping at it for days on end. But these treehouses aren’t just flashy façades: they’re comfortable and practical, too. You check-in with slick door-code entry, the heating is underfloor and toasty on your toes, everything you could possibly need is on a tablet (or on hand from delig

On the face of it, Portobello’s neat, proper Holy Carrot and Dalston’s fire-worshipping feast ACME Fire Cult share little common ground. ACME is roaring and showy, as much a swaggering religion as a restaurant; Carrot is prim as a perfume shop, soft clay surroundings fronting a menu that is plant-forward, ‘root to peel’ and sustainable.  But there’s a clear link between the two – namely Daniel Watkins. The ex-ACME founder is now executive chef at the first permanent home of Holy Carrot (previously known for its supper clubs and Knightsbridge residency), and brings his ‘fire and ferment’ ethos across the capital from one neighbourhood of cool to another.  More than just Holy Carrot’s first proper restaurant, it’s also a Watkins-helmed reboot – and it has plenty of his signature punch. From the off, the pre-starter ‘snacks’ offer a studied but unshowy sort of tastiness. Pillowy insides dramatically burst out of crisp ‘honey’ drenched Jerusalem artichokes; one couldn’t help but mop up the warming chilli ragu with ultralight koji bread. Two cold ‘smalls’ followed suit, both intricately flavoured: each mouthful of the smoked beetroot breathing freshness, each spoonful of the stracciatella with persimmon and bitter leaves with deftly measured amount of creamy tang and gentle crunch. This is innovation of a dependable, not reckless, sort Imprinted upon my memory the most, however, was one of Holy Carrot’s ‘larges’: the crispy celeriac with pickle butter. I know what you’re thinking

The Nobu brand, in a word? Dependable. Nobu Matsuhisa’s Japan-via-USA restaurant empire both draws celebrities and is a celebrity itself, but it’s best regarded for its high-quality dining: nearly 30 years after it opened, Nobu’s Park Lane spot remains one of London’s best places for sushi. These days Nobu isn’t just a restaurant chain but a hotel brand too, with two outposts in London. The Shoreditch one, which opened in 2017, was the first of these – not just London’s first Nobu hotel (since followed by Nobu Portman Square in Marylebone) but the first in all of Europe. The greatest compliment one can pay to this place is that the dependability of the Nobu name transfers seamlessly from restaurant to hotel. This is a sleek and comfortable choice, a beacon of minimalist taste in the midst of Shoreditch’s gaudy pick-me bars and tech-bro co-working spaces. Nobu as a chain is Nippon-by-’Murica, and its hotels are too – Japanese style meets American comfort and convenience. From the front Nobu Shoreditch resembles a Pacific battleship, from the side it’s a hillside Kyoto villa. And inside the hotel offers plenty of that same cultural middle ground: polished black wood, sleek furniture and a tea set in every room, but also huge plasma TVs, delightful staff and an in-house spa.  All aided, of course, by housing a Nobu restaurant, the chain’s third in London. You know exactly the deal here: a spoiled-rich clientele, sure, but also generous portions, attentive service (I did exceptio

Masayoshi Takanaka, the Japanese king of spangly, summery jazz fusion, is headlining a massive festival in London this summer. The legendary Tokyo-born guitarist, composer and producer is set to headline the London instalment of a global festival series called City Pop Waves at Crystal Palace Bowl in August. Takanaka’s career has spanned five decades. He first found fame in the 1970s and ’80s but over the last decade or so his glam, energetic showmanship (and signature surfboard guitar) has found bigger worldwide audiences via social media algorithms. His upcoming two nights at Brixton Academy – on March 31 and April 1, part of his global SUPER TAKANAKA WORLD LIVE 2026 tour – sold out in minutes. The City Pop Waves show announcement will be welcome news for those that missed out on Brixton tickets. What’s more is that Takanaka will be playing a special extended two-hour show. The event promises An Insatiable High, indeed. Plus, Takanaka won’t be the only Japanese fusion legend playing Crystal Palace: on the same bill is keyboardist Himiko Kikuchi, who will be performing her 1987 masterpiece Flying Beagle in full. There will also be a DJ set from Californian neo-city popper Ginger Root. If you’re a fan of the jazzier end of city pop (otherwise a catch-all term for the shimmering, glamorous pop music of Japan’s bubble economy years), you won’t want to miss this. City Pop Waves has also held an events in Los Angeles (with Taeko Ōnuki), while future editions in LA and New York wi

Regular users of London’s Piccadilly line, heads up. The navy blue tube service will be severely disrupted for two weekends over the next month or so, with huge sections of the line completely down from Friday night tube all the way through to late Sunday night. On March 6-8 and then again on March 20-22, there will be no Piccadilly line trains running between Cockfosters and Uxbridge. That means the entire central London section of the line will be down (with trains only running between Acton and Heathrow on the western end). TfL says that the closures are so that the Piccadilly can get ready for its long-awaited new trains. The brand-spanking-new carriages, which were revealed back in 2021 and will be walk-through and air-conditioned, were supposed to be introduced in late 2025 but that was delayed to 2026. You can find all the features that the Piccadilly line’s new trains will – and won’t – have here. Image: TfL The March weekend closures won’t be the only disruption to Piccadilly line services in the coming months. A bunch of other closures have been confirmed for between April and July, though few are quite so severe and long-lasting as the ones in March. When will the Piccadilly line be closed in March? These are the dates on which you need to watch out for Piccadilly line closures next month: March 6 (night tube only), all day March 7 and 8. March 20 (night tube only), all day March 21 and 22 Will the entire Piccadilly line be shut? Nope, but the bulk of it will

When it comes to choosing where to jet off to on holiday, Londoners are not exactly short on options. Between Heathrow (one of the planet’s busiest air hubs), Gatwick (which counts among the biggest airports in Europe), Stansted, Luton and City, there are very few places you can’t get to from the UK capital. And this summer London is getting even more flight routes. Gatwick has revealed that new services will fly from the Sussex hub to 12 airports around the world, with those destinations spread from Europe and North Africa to the Middle East, Asia and North America. A whopping eight new carriers are coming to the airport in time for summer. So, where will you soon be able to fly to from LGW, and who with? One of those routes is from Jet2, which is expanding its London route options. Jet2 will operate a total of 29 Gatwick routes in the summer season, including a thrice-weekly service to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. In terms of further-flung destinations, Beijing Capital is launching a weekly service to Qingdao in China – all the better for making the most of the recent relaxation of visa rules for Brits. Photograph: ShutterstockQingdao in China Air Asia X is kicking off a service between Gatwick and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, which will run seven times a week, while Air Transat is kicking off a three-times-per-week route to Ottawa in Canada. Royal Air Maroc will run twice a week to Tetouan, as Air Arabia flies 14 times weekly to Sharjah. And that’s without divi

Manchester is already home to some of Britain’s greatest music festivals. The city’s festi roster includes the likes of Parklife, Outbreak and Manchester Psych Fest (which are all on Time Out’s list of the best music festivals in the UK to book for 2026) – but in May there’ll be a new kid on the block: Outwards. Outwards will be a brand-new music festival in Manchester, with the first edition taking place on May 2 – that’s the Saturday of this year’s early May Bank Holiday. The event will take place in Ardwick’s Progress Centre, which is just to the southeast of the city centre. It’ll have space for 5,000 punters across five open-air spaces, with the day-into-night event running from 12pm all the way through to 5am. Image: Outwards Outwards presents itself as ‘a gathering for electronic music culture past, present and future’, and its lineup certainly fits that bill. The poster features classic artists like Orbital, DJ Pierre, Tom Middleton (of Global Communication fame), The Orb and Factory Floor – as well as a massive b2b set from Moodyman and Carl Craig. There will also be sets from Manchester legends A Certain Ratio and Black Grape (which features Happy Mondays members Shaun Ryder and Bez). Trendier, current names include Midland, OK Williams, Danielle, Pearson Sound and Josey Rebelle. The lineup spans both DJs and live acts. Outwards 2026 lineup Here’s the full list of names confirmed for Ardwick on May 2 so far (listed A-Z) A Certain Ratio (live) Annabel Fraser Black

Ever since it held its first edition in 2021, Waterworks has been an unmissable event for London’s electronic and dance musos. Following the fest’s fifth birthday celebrations last year, in 2026 there will be even more for the heads to tuck into: Waterworks has announced that it is expanding to two days – and has revealed a fittingly huge lineup to boot. The sixth Waterworks will see the event return to Gunnersbury Park, taking place on the weekend of September 12-13. Across the festival’s five stages will be a whopping 83 sets which, as usual, will explore all sorts of progressive forces within house, techno, bass, breaks and club music. Waterworks is set to remain a who’s who of the most exciting names in dance: those 83 slots will cover DJ sets, B2Bs and live shows, with djrum, Midland and Sofia Kourtesis among the many notable names. As before, it’s the B2Bs that are the most tantalising. Saturday alone will have joint sets from Bradley Zero and Erol Alkan, Christian AB and Craig Richards, Raresh and Sonja Moonea, and OK Williams and Skee Mask, while Sunday will have back-to-back slots from Call Super and Objekt, and Sully and Special Request (among others). RECOMMENDED: The best music festivals in London to book for 2026. Photograph: Angelina Nikolayeva Festival booker and co-founder Simon Denby commented on the two-day expansion: ‘By expanding to two days, we have been excited to dig deeper and go further into the incredible breadth of talent that makes up London’s so

Every year on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday (which this year fell on Feb 17-18), a market town in the Derbyshire Dales is taken over by a medieval football game that makes even the wildest Sunday league matches look tame. It’s called Royal Shrovetide Football and it’s been played in Ashbourne every year since the 1600s So, what exactly is Royal Shrovetide Football? Well, the local tourist board dubs it the ‘world’s oldest game of football’, but it doesn’t much resemble association football. The ball can be kicked, carried or thrown but is usually moved through the town in a series of ‘hugs’, which are like giant rugby scrums. There’s no limit on team sizes, with ‘hugs’ sometimes consisting of hundreds of people.  There are two teams, the Up'Ards and the Down'Ards, and your side is decided by which part of the town you were born in. The game is started (‘turned up’) on a plinth in a town centre car park and the aim is for each team to carry the ball back to its own goal. The ball is ‘goaled’ when a player taps the team’s millstone with it three times. In terms of rules, well, there aren’t many. Cemeteries, churchyards and the memorial gardens are out of bounds but everywhere else is fair game (shops and pubs are usually boarded up). Murder or manslaughter is prohibited and excessive violence is apparently frowned upon. In other words, Shrovetide Football is one heck of a sight. This year photographer Chris Bethell went down to Ashbourne to witness the Up'Ards win with three

Deftones are on a roll right now. A whole three decades after the legendary alternative metal group formed, Chino Moreno and co remain massively popular, having gone viral on TikTok in recent years and played huge festival headline slots across Europe last summer. It helps, of course, that Deftones have a stonking catalogue of hits, from ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’ and ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’ to ‘Tempest’. And Deftones aren’t slowing down anytime soon. Not only did the Sacramento band release a new album in 2025 – Private Music – but they’re on a huge tour of the UK’s biggest arenas. Deftones have been touring the UK and Europe since the end of January 2026. Keen to see Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham and Frank Delgado when they’re next in the UK? Here’s everything you need to know about Deftones’ tour, from all the tour dates and when general sale goes live to how much tickets will cost. When are Deftones going on tour in the UK? Deftones’ UK dates are all in February 2026, specifically February 12-20. What UK tour dates have been confirmed so far? Here are all the confirmed dates on Deftones’ UK arena tour. February 12 – Birmingham, BP Pulse Live February 13 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro February 14 – Manchester, Co-op Live February 18 – Cardiff, Utilita Arena February 20 – London, O2 Arena When do tickets go on sale? General sale went live at 9am BST on Friday July 18, and you were able to get tickets on Ticketmaster. Ticket prices According to the we

J Cole’s seventh studio album The Fall-Off was released at the start of the month – and now the US rap superstar has followed it up with the announcement of a vast, globe-spanning tour. The Fall-Off Tour will see Cole hit more than 50 cities in over a dozen countries – and eight of the dates are here in the UK. The Fall-Off Tour is J Cole’s first solo headline tour in five years and his first truly global run of dates since he was touring 4 Your Eyez Only in 2017. The tour starts in North America before heading to Europe and finally Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Are you in the market for J Cole tickets? Here’s what you need to know about The Fall-Off Tour in the UK, from dates and on-sale timings to ticket prices. RECOMMENDED: The 20 best major music tours coming to the UK in 2026. When is J Cole going on tour in 2026? The tour starts in July in Charlotte, North Carolina and finishes up in Johannesburg in December. What UK tour dates have been announced so far? So far, the UK has eight confirmed dates on Fall-Off Tour, mostly in October 2026 but with one show in November. October 19 – London, O2 Arena October 20 – London, O2 Arena October 25 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena October 26 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro October 28 – Manchester, Co-op Live October 29 – Manchester, Co-op Live October 31 – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena November 2 – London, O2 Arena When do J Cole tickets go on sale? General sale for all dates starts at 9am on Friday, February 20. You’ll be able to get

Are you out and about in London this weekend taking part in the city’s Lunar New Year celebrations? You’ll want to know about the disruption that is planned for TfL services in the city. Of course, there are plenty of non-Lunar New Year things to get excited about in the city this weekend, too. Budget-conscious Londoners can enjoy Six Nations screenings and free LBGTQI+ tours of Dulwich Picture Gallery, while there’s also the Hayward’s new Chiharu Shiota show and a ‘truly extraordinary’ revival of Terence Rattigan’s Man and Boy. While TfL’s planned service alterations and cancellations aren’t expected to significantly impact travel in the city centre, there are still major changes to watch out for. Here’s the lowdown. RECOMMENDED: 📍The best free things to do in London this weekend. London travel disruption and tube closures, February 20-22 2026 Metropolitan line On Friday February 20, Saturday February 21 and Sunday February 22, no trains between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Amersham, Chesham and Watford. Also no Chiltern Railways trains between Marylebone and Aylesbury Vale Parkway DLR On Sat Feb 21 and Sun Feb 22, no trains between Bank / Tower Gateway and West India Quay / Poplar. Cutty Sark station is closed until the spring. Find out more here. Elizabeth line On Sun Feb 22, no service between Abbey Wood/Stratford and Ealing Broadway until 7.40am. On Sun Feb 15, no service between Abbey Wood/Stratford and Paddington from 7.40am to 11am. Windrush line (Overground) On

Menys mal dels Jocs Olímpics d'Hivern de Milà, que ens ajuden a suportar les últimes setmanes de fred i dies grisos. Si ets dels que segueixen aquest esdeveniment esportiu, pot ser que t'hagi cridat l'atenció un detall en el nom oficial d'una de les nacions participants: la República Txeca, o Txèquia, com se la denomina en la competició. Ha canviat el país de nom oficialment o és que el terme abreujat només s'usa en casos puntuals? T'ho expliquem. Aquí tens una guia per entendre per què la República Txeca és ara també Txèquia. Per què ara s'usa més Txèquia? El cert és que tant Txèquia com República Txeca són noms oficials des de fa anys (concretament des del 2016); el primer és, simplement, la forma curta. No obstant això, en els últims dos anys s'ha decidit que República Txeca es reservi exclusivament per a contextos institucionals, com documents governamentals, tractats legals o assumptes diplomàtics. És un cas molt similar al de França, el nom oficial de la qual és República Francesa, encara que gairebé mai la denominem així. Txèquia, en canvi, és la denominació preferida per a situacions menys formals: des d'articles periodístics i obres literàries fins a la representació dels seus esportistes. Per exemple, Txèquia és ja el nom oficial de la selecció masculina de futbol per a la UEFA i la FIFA, i cada vegada és més comú sentir-ho en boca de comentaristes i experts. Si fem memòria, en els Jocs Olímpics de París 2024 el nom oficial de l'equip ja va ser Team Czechia. Quan e

¡Suerte tenemos de los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno de Milán, que nos ayudan a sobrellevar las últimas semanas de frío y días grises. Sin embargo, puede que te haya llamado la atención un detalle en el nombre oficial de una de las naciones participantes: la República Checa, o Chequia, como se la denomina en la competición. ¿Ha cambiado el país de nombre oficialmente o es que el término abreviado solo se usa en casos puntuales? Te lo explicamos. Aquí tienes una guía para entender por qué la República Checa es ahora también Chequia. ¿Por qué ahora se usa más Chequia? Lo cierto es que tanto Chequia como República Checa son nombres oficiales desde hace años (concretamente desde 2016); el primero es, simplemente, la forma corta. No obstante, en los últimos dos años se ha decidido que República Checa se reserve exclusivamente para contextos institucionales, como documentos gubernamentales, tratados legales o asuntos diplomáticos. Es un caso muy similar al de Francia, cuyo nombre oficial es República Francesa, aunque casi nunca la llamemos así. Chequia, en cambio, es la denominación preferida para situaciones menos formales: desde artículos periodísticos y obras literarias hasta la representación de sus deportistas. Por ejemplo, Chequia es ya el nombre oficial de su selección masculina de fútbol para la UEFA y la FIFA, y cada vez es más común escucharlo en boca de comentaristas y expertos. Si hacemos memoria, en los Juegos Olímpicos de París 2024 el nombre oficial del equipo ya fue

Even though it’s only been around a few years, RALLY is already one of the UK’s finest music festivals. Despite having battled named storms in its first two editions, the Southwark Park event has carved itself a niche within London’s day festival market – and RALLY’s fourth event is shaping up to be its best yet. Back in November it was revealed that, for the first time, RALLY would be co-curated by a musician. None other than Blood Orange was confirmed to be headlining and helping to put together the lineup for the 2026 edition. Today (February 17) we know exactly who will be filling out the rest of the bill. On the August Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday August 29, to be specific) RALLY will feature all kinds of on-trend and left-field pop, electronic and dance music. There’ll be Daniel Avery performing with a full band, Time Out 2025 album and song of the year favourite james K and the legendary Optimo (Espacio). RECOMMENDED: The best music festivals in London to book for 2026. RALLY 2026 will boast the first ever UK performance from Jump Source – the project of Montréal-based DJs and producers Priori and Patrick Holland – as well as sets from GENA (another new project from Liv.e & Karriem Riggins), out-there DJ and producer Parris, a special live show from Roman Flügel, and Pitchfork-approved artists like Norwegian slinky poppers Smerz and US experimental rockers YHWH Nailgun. This year’s event theme is ‘Make Your Reality’, which will apparently see the festival ‘[foregrou