Ed Cunningham

For nine years, Time Out has been publishing guides to the world’s coolest neighbourhoods. The annual list is a celebration of the planet’s most exciting spots: places with booming dining scenes, thriving local businesses, a plethora of cultural options – from nightlife to theatre, art to shopping – and, vitally, an unbreakable sense of community. Every year, several British neighbourhoods make the global ranking. But the UK is so cool that, naturally, it requires its own list. In that regard, we asked our network of regional contributors, people who know their cities and towns inside-out, to choose their coolest locales in Britain right now.  Everyone has a different idea of ‘cool’ – and so, appropriately, there’s great diversity in our 2026 guide to the UK’s trendiest ’hoods. Some have experienced a rapid burst of exhilarating new openings; others have reached a pinnacle after decades of steady growth. Some exude a more traditional sense of cool; others are at the cutting edge of British culture. These are great, chic, trendy places to live, sure, but they’re also underrated for visitors and packed with stuff to eat, drink, see and do. RECOMMENDED: 🌅 The most beautiful places in Britain.🍻 The greatest pubs in the UK.🖼️ The finest art galleries in the UK.

September 2026: Across the city, creative chefs are showing off their prowess with plants, and dreaming up new vegetable-based delights or creating pitch-perfect imitations of meaty comfort food classics. Whether you’re after a lavish night of culinary theatre, a massive Middle Eastern spread, Ital food from Jamaica or a Michelin-star winning tasting menu, you’ll find it in our list of London’s best vegan restaurants. Read on to plan your next meat-free feast. London’s best vegan restaurants at a glance: 🔥 Best for spicy Sichuan dishes: Facing Heaven, Hackney 🏆 Best for Michelin star dining: Plates, Shoreditch 🌴 Best for Caribbean classics: Jam Delish, Angel 💐 Best for date night: Holy Carrot, Notting Hill 🥪 Best for a swift sarnie: Coven of Wiches, Brixton RECOMMENDED: London’s best restaurants for vegetarian food. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

From Arts and Crafts and the pre-Raphaelites through to pop art and the YBAs, the UK has borne several of the planet’s most important visual movements. Fitting, therefore, that we’ve also got a world-leading roster of galleries. But these institutions don’t just show off British art: between them they boast a truly formidable collection of global art. You name a major artist – yep, any artist – it’s pretty much a dead cert that a UK gallery exhibits their work. Better yet, the UK’s finest art galleries are diverse in purpose and spread evenly across the land. You’ll find all sorts of exhibition spaces in major cities, sure, but there are also arty gems in smaller towns, alongside attractions ranging from blustery seaside enclaves in Scotland to dazzling sculpture gardens in Cornwall. To top it all off, plenty are free to visit.  When putting together Time Out’s guide to the best art galleries in the UK, we didn’t just take into account which places have the biggest names. We also wanted to spotlight the boldest programming and our favourite curators, as well as pick out galleries that feel like a spectacle. After all, art is even more special when you’re viewing it within another piece of art. Art-ception, if you like.  The vast majority of the list below features art galleries outside London (for the capital’s top art destinations, see this list). And if you’re looking for non-art attractions, you can find Time Out’s guide to the best museums in the UK here. RECOMMENDED: 📍

October 2026: The latest additions to this list come from across the city, with Romy Gill at The Pem showcasing her fine-dining regional flavours in a posh Westminster hotel, Tamila in Kings Cross (and now with another outpost in Soho) doing an all-day menu of south Indian smashers, Kokum laying on some seriously high-end cooking in East Dulwich and the imposing Oudh 1722 giving Borough a taste of double Michelin starred Brummie chef Aktar Islam.  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 quick curry: Tamila, Kings Cross ⭐ Best for a Michelin star meal: Trishna, Marylebone 🍚 Best for a street-food snack: Shree Krishna Vada Pav, Fitzrovia 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Best for a family feast: Kokum, East Dulwich 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 vegetaria

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. London’s best pizza at a glance: 🍞 Best in central London: Carmy’s, Covent Garden 🌋 Best in north London: Bar Etna, Newington Green 🚗 Best in east London: Short Road Pizza, Leyton and Bethnal Green  🌸 Best in south London: Spring Street Pizza, Borough 🇮🇹 Best in west London: Napoli on the Road, Chiswick and Richmond Recent additions to the list include some nifty kitchen residencies; Dough Hands at the Spurstowe Arms and All My Friends in Hackney Wick, Fresh Hot Pizza at The Fox in Haggerston, Hot Saint at the Old Queen’s Head in Angel, 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 also have a standalone parlour in Victoria Park. Try as well Spring Street Pizza in Borough for pie with a Michelin-starred touch, Carmela’s on Upper Street for a cosy slice, Vincenzo’s

Another year, another stellar lineup of UK music festivals. Sure, Glastonbury – the UK’s tentpole music event, no pun intended – has taken a fallow year, but other lineups are more than making up for Worthy Farm’s absence. Established musical feasts (Reading and Leeds, Latitude) returned amid tantalising new blockbuster additions (Roundhay Festival), alongside the usual more specialised genre and scene events (Supersonic, AVA, FOCUS). 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 have been even better. The 15th anniversary of Outbreak in Manchester had Alexisonfire and Basement topping the bill; Mighty Hoopla scooped a headline performance from Lily Allen (performing West End Girl in full); FOCUS Wales boasted Fat Dog, Idlewild and Shame. Still deciding which festivals are for you this year? Look no further than our guide. Time Out knows the UK’s festival sc

October 2026: Sunday roast season has finally returned to London. A boozey, end-of-the-weekend lunch is what we're all about in this city, and as well as more unique takes on the roast from the likes of the Macbeth in Hoxton and Buster Mantis in Deptford, we're all about celebrating the classic meat-spuds-and-gravy variety of Sunday lunch. Enjoy masterful takes on the roast at The Golden Tooth on Green Lanes, The Duke Organic in Islington, and The Camberwell Arms in south London. And we're happy to announce the return of two of our favourite roasts; the all-vegan slap-up roast at LD's Kitchen, now at the Imperial Palace of Big Red in Camden, and Ling Ling's Chinese-inspired roast at Godet in Islington.  London’s best Sunday roasts at a glance: 🥩 Central: Quality Chop House, Clerkenwell 😇 North: The Golden Tooth, Newington Green ⛪ 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 and Sunday lunch options 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 good start, maybe in a pub with an open fire during the winter months. Then it comes to the plate –

After a year off, we’re even more eager than usual for Glastonbury to return next summer. Glasto 2027 is officially confirmed for June 23 to Sunday June 27 2027. General sale has taken place and tickets are sold out. The second batch of non-coach-package options sold out on October 4 in just over 40 minutes. But all is not lost. You can find ways to get in by volunteering and through resale here. Glastonbury is the UK’s biggest music festival, attracting more than 200,000 music lovers to over 100 stages. It’s also notoriously difficult to get tickets for, with prospective festival-goers attempting all sorts of tips and tricks to improve their chances.  Glastonbury 2025 was a stonking edition well worthy of being followed by a year off. Headliners The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo led an all-conquering weekend that was at the centre of political debates but overall ruled by standout pop performances. You can read Time Out’s review of Glasto 2025 in full here. Glastonbury has already confirmed most of the key details about its 2027 edition. Here’s what you need to know. RECOMMENDED:🎪 The best festivals in the UK☀️ The best festivals in Europe When is Glastonbury 2027? The dates for the next Glastonbury Festival were officially confirmed a while back. The dates to keep free are Wednesday June 23 to Sunday June 27, 2027. Glastonbury 2027 lineup rumours Currently it’s too early for Glasto to have revealed any of its next lineup. However, the following artists are bookies’

October 2026: The frankly exceptional Impala in Soho has taken the top spot as our favourite new restaurant in London, but coming up close behind is Kid, which is just around the corner. Other new additions include Kismet in Borough Market, Cloudstreet in Stoke Newington, Hon's BBQ in Hackney Wick and Kinz in Notting Hill. Hungry yet? 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 over the past 12 months 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 October 2026. London's best new restaurants at a glance: 🥩 Central: Impala, Soho 🍷 North: Cloudstreet, Stoke Newington 🦐 South: The Victory, East Dulwich 🍝 East: Hon's BBQ, Hackney Wick 🥗 West: Maai by Nikita, Fulham 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.

Whether you’re in one of the UK’s diverse, underrated cities, our picture-perfect seaside towns or anywhere in between, there’s always a museum to educate, explain, enlighten. Far from just places to hide from grim weather, Britain’s greatest museums tell stories, explore histories and get you fascinated by stuff you’d never previously spared a thought for. Here at Time Out, we are, obviously, huge museum nerds. You’ll find countless of the cultural institutions peppered throughout our UK city guides, whether that’s a mighty, storeyed national behemoth or an adorably niche local exhibition space. Even better, plenty of those museums are totally free to visit (and they remain so, despite suggestions of change). But which British museums are most essential to visit this year? Which ones are having a moment, basking in a refurb, putting on the most tantalising exhibitions? We’ve rounded up the most unmissable, all chosen by Time Out UK editors who’ve recently visited them. Before we get stuck in, a quick note. The vast majority of the list below is outside London, and that’s intentional. If you’re looking for stuff in the capital, we have an excellent guide to the city’s museums here. We’ve also steered clear of conventional art galleries – you can find our favourite art spaces here. RECOMMENDED: 📍 The UK’s top places to visit in 2026.🎵 The best music festivals in the UK.🥾 The greatest walks and hikes in the UK. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by writers who

July 2026: If you’ve had the pleasure of strolling down Exmouth Market recently, you’ll know the historic Clerkenwell strip is the buzziest pedestrianised street in London, full of al-fresco fun, convivial pintspeople and sidewalk tapas as far as the eye can see. Which is pretty much all down to the new Number 1 in our list of the best bars in London. Congratulations are due to Cafe Kick, the breezy Euro-chic sports bar about to celebrate 30 years of tricking your brain into thinking you’re on holiday. The rest of our Top 50 features bars old and new, posh and divey, and cheap and pricey, but all of them with great drinks and an unparalleled vibe. Fancy a drink? You’ve come to the right place. This is Time Out’s list of best bars in London, our curated guide to London’s drinking scene, which features the greatest bars in the capital right now. These are the places we’d recommend to a friend, because we love drinking in them and have done many times over. From classy cocktail counters to delightful dives, sleek hotel bars, rooftop bars and places to sip wine, London’s got them all. You’ll find historic drinking holes here as well as brand new openings. But what makes a truly good bar? Our critieria is simple; a menu of great drinks is important, but so is the overall energy of the place – there’s no point having the perfect paloma if you have to drink it in a bar that smells of bin juice. To make it into our Top 50, a bar has to be fun, friendly, convivial and inclusive, as we

We’re firmly past 2026’s halfway point and it’s already been a stacked year for excellent new music. The race for song of the summer is a packed field, big-name pop titans – Olivia Rodrigo, Madonna – have delivered lauded albums and there’s been a formidable number of breakout bands. 2026’s end-of-year round-ups are already looking like contentious business indeed.  Looking to inject something new into your mid-year listening habits? Time Out’s music geeks have got together to put together a list of the albums we’ve loved so far in 2026. Raving dance-pop, grotty death metal, stratospheric jazz-funk, paranoid techno, the year’s biggest pop records… whatever’s your jam, you’ll find it here.  Read on for the best albums of 2026 as of July, according to Time Out editors and contributors (they’re in alphabetical order – you’ll have to wait until the end of the year for the definitive ranking). RECOMMENDED: The 10 songs of the summer for 2026.

Russell Square’s Imperial Hotel is looking more handsome than ever. While the current structure was somewhat divisive in the 1960s when it replaced Charles Fitzroy Doll’s elegant 1905 neo-gothic building, these days it’s a celebrated piece of modernist design – and a vast decade-long, multi-million-pound revamp has left the place quite literally gleaming. Up close you see why: shimmering gold tiles light up its polished, sharply lenticular façade. The reopened, revived Imperial might maintain the exterior of the old hotel, but otherwise it little resembles that institution. The place was gutted to a shell – not even its plumbing or electrics were spared – and it now boasts an entire new floor. It’s still run by the local, family-owned Imperial Hotels Group, which has seven establishments in Bloomsbury. The Imperial has repositioned itself as more upmarket than its previous iteration. And that’s not just in the gold tiling: a vintage Jaguar in the entrance beckons visitors into a cavernous foyer with a grand marble reception, curvy furniture and a palette of forest greens and burnt oranges. The mid-century-modern-inspired décor is very appropriate for C Lovett Gill & Partners’ brutalist structure. What are the rooms like at The Imperial? There’s good variety in the Imperial’s 357 rooms and suites, but all are well-proportioned, well-equipped spaces with sizeable windows. As you’d expect given that the hotel only reopened a week prior to my visit, everything was very clean and

Spies! Betrayal! James Bond! Few London hotels have such intriguing history as St Ermin’s. Named after a medieval chapel that once stood on the site, it opened in the 1890s and became a haunt of the intelligence services – whose offices were at one point inside the building – in the 1930s. Intelligence operatives, including the likes of Bond author Ian Fleming and ‘Cambridge Five’ double agent Kim Philby, have been regulars. But a history of double-crossing secret agents isn’t St Ermin’s only intrigue. Its flamboyant foyer gives away that the hotel was designed by John Priestley Briggs (otherwise best-known as a theatre designer). The place was also crowned TripAdvisor’s top hotel in the entire UK in 2025, as well as named second-best place to stay in Europe and sixth-best in the world. Those are big gongs – not least for an independent establishment (St Ermin’s Hotel is part of Marriott’s indie-operated Autograph Collection). At the time of my stay, St Ermin’s Hotel’s TripAdvisor rating sat at a very healthy 4.7. And it made a great first impression: comprised of classic towering 19th-century mansion blocks shaped like a horseshoe, entry is via an elegant, tree-enclosed courtyard and a chandelier-adorned reception. What are the rooms like at St Ermin’s Hotel? St Ermin’s oozes old-school class: cosily narrow stairway lifts, floral carpets down long cream hallways, grand rooms with bay windows and high ceilings. You may assume these halls haven’t changed much over the past cen

With its patterned patio flooring, leafy greenery and vast streams of sunshine, Kinz has the Eastern Mediterranean in its soul. More than just a place for Lebanese food, the triple-height space encourages a celebratory atmosphere as far as can be from the building’s previous life as a cold-hearted bank. Creamy, slick hummus was dappled with tickly spice Founded by Jad Lahoud, Karim Lahoud and Rasha Khouri Bruzzo (co-owner of nearby Palestinian restaurant Akub), Kinz is an all-day brasserie with Lebanese dishes and wine from independent producers, lavishly spiced cocktails and transportive photographs of the country. Dinner is a offering of classic small dishes (fatayer, rikakat), larger plates (fatteh, kibbeh), salads and mashawi grilled skewers. In true mezze style, food arrived just minutes after being ordered, our table suddenly populated with over half a dozen handsomely-presented plates: elegant swirls of hummus, plump discs of pitta, neat parcels of pastry, a rich, green bowl of tabouleh, cheese impaled on grand skewers.   Any worries that speed might equal slapdash were quickly hushed. Highlights of Lebanese cuisine are often humble, and so were Kinz’s most impressive dishes: the creamy, slick hummus was dappled with tickly spice and baba ganoush combined earthy aubergine with tart pomegranate. Fat chunks of halloumi were miraculously un-squeaky, complemented by a fresh coriander dip, and the cheese rikakat and spinach fatayer were fragrant, well-crisped and just grea

Treehouses don’t seem to be as popular among young ’uns as they used to be, but the idea of a treehouse is as vivid as ever. A place of independence, adventure, exclusivity, cosiness and getting away from it all – it’s a clever inspiration for a hotel. Well, assuming you leave the splinters, leaks and critters behind, of course. Treehouse Hotels is a mini-chain founded on the ‘ideas that inspire a child to build a treehouse’. With a heavy focus on local sourcing, handmade goods, found objects and general eco-friendliness, it’s a cousin of American boutique brand 1 Hotels (and shares the same parent company, SH Hotels & Resorts). Treehouse Hotel London opened in 2019 and was the first in a chain that has since expanded to Manchester and Silicon Valley (and has plans for future locations in Miami, Adelaide and more). Treehouse Hotel London is viewable from Oxford Circus, though it doesn’t stick out. It occupies floors nine to 16 of an old office block that is remarkable simply for how unremarkable it is: a great big hulk of dreary grey. Up close, however, a grand sculpture of a robin at ground level is a teaser of the character within. What are the rooms like at Treehouse Hotel London? A ‘treehouse’ doesn’t have to be at canopy height, but this one is – and that’s very much part of the appeal. I stayed in a ‘lookout king’ on the 12th floor (the Treehouse’s rooms are on levels nine to 14) and the views were among the finest of any London hotel. Boosted by the lack of skyscrapers

Just how much of a Parisian brasserie can you transplant to London? Plenty have tried, with varying degrees of success, but Brasserie Olivia feels different. It is, after all, from actually-French restaurant group Nouvelle Garde, which boasts locations all over L’Hexagone.  Onion soup was as good as anything I’ve had in the motherland Much of Brasserie Olivia is uncannily Parisian. Fitted neatly beneath the entire length of an angular block just off Sloane Square, it beams with handsome red-and-white striped awning and matching wicker chairs. Stepping through the door is transportive: an energetic crowd, Euro-disco on the speakers, and a tastefully eclectic mishmash of gold picture frames and gleaming light fittings. It’s the sort of place that doesn’t want you to think it’s put an exceptional amount of effort into curating a vibe, but has – and that’s fine. The result is naturally appealing. After all, who wouldn’t rather be in an arrondissement? Food-wise, Brasserie Olivia succeeds most in its Frenchest dishes. The onion soup was as good as anything I’ve had in the motherland, its baked top spilling out over a china chalice, and a rich, sweetly stringy pot of ale-enhanced onion and gloopy comté within. Elsewhere, cuts of meat were plump and fries were crisp and substantial right down to the bottom of the bowl, with mustardy mayo and fresh, tangy ketchup. As you’d expect, the wine list is superb. Nouvelle Garde is known for its cellars and an entire corner of Brasserie Oliv

You can spot the building that hosts Club 360 from miles around, a repurposed 1960s industrial tower standing tall above Tottenham Hale’s retail parks and marshland. Under its previous moniker as short-lived but much-loved nightclub Archives, it hosted blockbuster nights, from James Blake’s CMYK to 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).

Plenty of bars are below ground, reached via narrow, dark, perilously steep staircases, but few subterranean hideaways go so far out of their way to be as welcoming as Lowcountry. Beneath an Old Street corner building that was once a handsome Victorian pub called the Duke of Wellington, Lowcountry is inspired by the American South. That it has a resplendent whiskey selection tracks, but also means it thrives off its own hospitality. Beaming staff, chic boudoir décor, and squealing rock belters on the speakers. But Lowcountry doesn’t rest on its outward charms – its drinks are so boldly, fascinatingly flavoured they can end up blocking out everything else. The seasonally-shifting cocktail menu eye-catchingly name-drops classic American things, from Kool-Aid to banana pudding, and each item is something not just to savour but be actively fascinated by. Popular choice the Jam Sour was a glinting exhibition of different sweetnesses: sharp and silky, tart and creamy. But my standout was the Chow-Chow Martini, crisp and potent with an icy blast of fresh veg. And that’s not even touching on the whiskies, of which Lowcountry has hundreds of bottles. Order this The Banana Pudding Sazerac grabs your nose with a waft of fruit, cloaks your tongue with earthy, vanilla-flecked butter-washed rye, then offers a swift kick up the rear with a dash of absinthe. Time Out tip Visit during the opening hours of street-level restaurant Appalachia, which sends down truly elite bar snacks. The cornb

Calle Colón is arguably Valencia’s premier shopping destination, an elegant stretch running from the bullring to Puerta del Mar with countless big-name fashion retailers and a vast El Corte Inglés department store. Sandwiched between a Bershka and a Brazilian café, you’ll find the Hotel NH Collection Valencia Colón. One of several central Valencia outposts of NH (but the only upscale ‘Collection’ hotel), the Colón is in a 19th century building once used by the city’s regional government. It catches you a bit off-guard. One minute you’re on one of the city’s most heaving, high-footfall areas, the next you’ve slipped into a tall-ceilinged reception with a classy chequered floor, flashy mirrored panels and taxidermy busts ogling you from the walls. NH Collection Valencia Colón almost goes out of its way to be at odds with the shopping mania outside. Valencia’s blazing summer sun is countered by cool and dim décor. Roaring traffic is replaced by ambient jazz in the corridors. Street fumes are blocked out by powerful – but obviously more pleasant – smells from various diffusers. What are the rooms like at NH Collection Valencia Colón? An historic building fashioned into a modern hotel, there is good variety – and no shortage of character – in the selection of rooms at NH Collection Valencia Colón. Lower-floor options have juliette balconies, while mine had a hatch overlooking Calle Colón. A slight lack of light was more than made up for in the charisma of the suite, which was thou

Calle Colón is arguably Valencia’s premier shopping destination, an elegant stretch running from the bullring to Puerta del Mar with countless big-name fashion retailers and a vast El Corte Inglés department store. Sandwiched between a Bershka and a Brazilian café, you’ll find the Hotel NH Collection Valencia Colón. One of several central Valencia outposts of NH (but the only upscale ‘Collection’ hotel), the Colón is in a 19th century building once used by the city’s regional government. It catches you a bit off-guard. One minute you’re on one of the city’s most heaving, high-footfall areas, the next you’ve slipped into a tall-ceilinged reception with a classy chequered floor, flashy mirrored panels and taxidermy busts ogling you from the walls. NH Collection Valencia Colón almost goes out of its way to be at odds with the shopping mania outside. Valencia’s blazing summer sun is countered by cool and dim décor. Roaring traffic is replaced by ambient jazz in the corridors. Street fumes are blocked out by powerful – but obviously more pleasant – smells from various diffusers. What are the rooms like at NH Collection Valencia Colón? An historic building fashioned into a modern hotel, there is good variety – and no shortage of character – in the selection of rooms at NH Collection Valencia Colón. Lower-floor options have juliette balconies, while mine had a hatch overlooking Calle Colón. A slight lack of light was more than made up for in the charisma of the suite, which was thou

Stepping off Rambla de Catalunya (not to be confused with Barcelona’s iconic central street La Rambla) into NH Collection’s Gran Hotel Calderón feels more like entering an art gallery or bank headquarters than a hotel in the city’s heaving tourist heart. It isn’t just the bright white furnishings, shiny full-length glass windows and vast screen, it’s the sense of calm. The Calderón may not be Barcelona’s most traditional hotel stay, but it is an effective remedy to what can be a manic, intense city. The Gran Hotel Calderón is part of the NH Collection, a Spanish brand that is part of a wider international group called Minor Hotels. It was built in the 1970s on the site of the old Teatro Calderón, which was once one of Barcelona’s biggest theatres, and had a major refurb in 2016. What are the rooms like at NH Collection Gran Hotel Calderón? It’s easy to see how the Calderón may once have been a beacon of modern hotelling, full of neat capsules designed to accommodate Barcelona’s hordes of visitors. These days its rooms are showing their age – 2016 is, after all, a decade ago – with no shortage of scuffs and wonky fittings (and a very dated looking mini-fridge). That said, there were plenty of positives. My room, a ‘superior with terrace’, had most things you need from functional city-centre accommodation. Amenities were slotted into a tidily sized space, with a few wardrobe fronts’ worth of storage and a bathroom kitted out with fragrant toiletries, a bidet, hairdryer and a sh

Stepping off Rambla de Catalunya (not to be confused with Barcelona’s iconic central street La Rambla) into NH Collection’s Gran Hotel Calderón feels more like entering an art gallery or bank headquarters than a hotel in the city’s heaving tourist heart. It isn’t just the bright white furnishings, shiny full-length glass windows and vast screen, it’s the sense of calm. The Calderón may not be Barcelona’s most traditional hotel stay, but it is an effective remedy to what can be a manic, intense city. The Gran Hotel Calderón is part of the NH Collection, a Spanish brand that is part of a wider international group called Minor Hotels. It was built in the 1970s on the site of the old Teatro Calderón, which was once one of Barcelona’s biggest theatres, and had a major refurb in 2016. What are the rooms like at Gran Hotel Calderón? It’s easy to see how the Calderón may once have been a beacon of modern hotelling, full of neat capsules designed to accommodate Barcelona’s hordes of visitors. These days its rooms are showing their age – 2016 is, after all, a decade ago – with no shortage of scuffs and wonky fittings (and a very dated looking mini-fridge). That said, there were plenty of positives. My room, a ‘superior with terrace’, had most things you need from functional city-centre accommodation. Amenities were slotted into a tidily sized space, with a few wardrobe fronts’ worth of storage and a bathroom kitted out with fragrant toiletries, a bidet, hairdryer and a shower with grea

Mid-century modern is such a thing at the mo. The interior design style, which was established in the middle of the 20th century and is known for its distinctly sleek, boldly curved, earthily coloured and fashionable-but-functional furnishings, is currently dominating everything from TikTok’s design algorithm to Ikea’s latest collections. While plenty attempt to blend MCM with the mod-cons of the 2020s, hardly anywhere does so well. All too often the style requires too much attention to detail, too much flair (and, usually, too much money) to effectively pull off. Sir Devonshire Square is an example of mid-century modern (plus the influence of a few other design schools) pulled off with marvellous panache. The first London hotel from Amsterdam-based boutique chain Sircle Collection – which also has Sir outposts in Barcelona and Prague – boasts rooms that are exquisitely put-together. Whether you’re an academic design-head or a casual social media admirer, there’s plenty to gawp at (and take inspo from) in this handsome Liverpool Street/Shoreditch establishment. What are the rooms like at Sir Devonshire Square? Plenty of hotel rooms are perfectly pleasant. Very few do I get serious home envy from quite like I did at Sir Devonshire Square. I spent a fair amount of time just sitting back and admiring the handsome corner space, its dog-leg an exhibit of carefully chosen fittings, furniture pieces, colours and textures. Soft greens and rich oranges, papery cream lampshades and cou

Irish pop legends Westlife are currently on a massive 25th anniversary tour – and this weekend it’s in London. Westlife 25: The Anniversary World Tour is at the O2 Arena in Greenwich for three dates on October 9-11. Westlife formed in the late ’90s and have since sold a whopping 55 million records. Here in the UK they’ve been one of the most successful pop groups of all time with 14 UK number one singles (only Elvis and the Beatles have had more chart-topping hits). Westlife 25: The Anniversary World Tour kicked off in Dublin (where else?) at the start of September. Can’t wait to hear hits like ‘My Love’, ‘If I Let You Go’, ‘Uptown Girl’ and ‘You Raise Me Up’ performed to a packed O2? Here’s everything you need to know about Westlife’s shows, from the timings and setlist to last-minute ticket availability. SKIP TO: ⏱️ Westlife start time 🏟️ Seating plan 🎟️ Last-minute tickets 🎤 Setlist 🚇 Transport When are Westlife playing London’s O2? Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne (Mark Feehily is sitting out the tour) are in southeast London on the following dates: Friday October 9 2026 Saturday October 10 2026 Sunday October 11 2026 What time do doors open? Here’s when gates open on each date: Friday October 9 – 6.30pm Saturday October 10 – 6.30pm Sunday October 11 – 6pm It’s worth noting that while the venue only opens at the above times, the O2’s bars, restaurants and shops will be open earlier. What time will Westlife come on stage? Judging from previous tour stops, yo

Time Out just published the Coolest Neighbourhoods in the UK 2026. The list, which was assembled with the expertise of our nationwide network of city contributors, is a guide to the nation’s chicest, trendiest, most happening places. What makes a place cool? Well, a whole range of things. Vibrant eating, drinking and shopping options, a strong roster of local independent businesses, a diverse selection of cultural attractions and a palpable sense of community are all factors. What’s more is that the chosen areas aren’t just top places to live – they’re also underrated spots to visit. You can check out the full list here. In brief, the list features the three UK neighbourhoods that made the global coolest neighbourhoods ranking: Glasgow’s Govanhill, Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter and London’s Newington Green. The other eight ’hoods range from famous visitor areas (like Liverpool’s Georgian Quarter and Bristol’s Old Market) to postcodes that have seen an influx of game-changing new openings in recent years (like Heaton in Newcastle and Crookes in Sheffield). Photograph: @thewalkleyfox for Marketing SheffieldCrookes, Sheffield Top spot went to Govanhill. Writer Annie McNamee said: ‘Gen Z are migrating from West End bars and brunch spots to trendy new spots in Govanhill, giving this once-overlooked sandstone suburb quirkiness and energy. ‘Thankfully the area, which has been Glasgow’s most diverse for a century, hasn’t lost its background amongst all the hype.’ Previous areas that

One night down, one more to go: New York rockers The Strokes are in London this week for two nights at the O2. The band are touring in support of their seventh studio album Reality Awaits, which was released at the start of the summer. The Reality Awaits Europe 2026 Tour features Julian Casablancas, Nikolai Fraiture, Albert Hammond Jr and Fabrizio Moretti, with guitarist Nick Valensi sitting out the dates. The Strokes are only playing four nights in the UK on this tour, and half of them are in North Greenwich. Heading to the O2 to see hits like ‘Last Nite’ and ‘Reptilia’ blasted out at arena-level volume? Here’s everything you need to know about the shows, from the timings and setlist to last-minute ticket availability. SKIP TO: ⏱️ The Strokes start time 🏟️ Seating plan 🎟️ Last-minute tickets🎸 Support acts 🎤 Setlist 🚇 Transport When are The Strokes playing London’s O2? Julian and co are in southeast London on the following dates: Tuesday October 6 2026 Wednesday October 7 2026 Photograph: SuppliedThe Strokes What time do doors open? For both shows, gates to the main arena open at 6.30pm. The O2’s bars and restaurants will be open earlier. What time will The Strokes come on stage? Official timings haven’t yet been confirmed. Based on previous tour stops, expect the band to take to the stage at around 9pm. On the first night (October 6), The Strokes’ set started at 9.10pm. What time does the Strokes concert finish? Previous tour stops have seen sets range in length fr

Classic rock fans, we’ve got big news. Rod Stewart has announced his final ever UK tour. Titled The Final Encore, it’ll stop by major British cities in April and May 2027. Sir Rod has said that the tour is ‘most definitely my last’ – and so, appropriately, it’ll see him play a solid number of UK cities. He’ll be supported on all dates by ‘What is Love?’ and ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ singer Howard Jones. Don’t want to miss saying goodbye to Rod Stewart on his final UK tour? Here’s what you need to know about tickets, from presale information to pricing. When is Rod Stewart going on tour? Sir Rod’s Final Encore starts in April 2027 and will finish in July 2027. The UK dates are in April and May. What UK tour dates have been announced so far? The following British arenas have been confirmed for the tour: Tuesday April 27 – Belfast, SSE Arena Thursday April 29 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro Saturday May 1 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro Tuesday May 4 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena Thursday May 6 –Manchester, Co-op Live Saturday May 8 – Manchester, Co-op Live Tuesday May 11 – London, The O2 Friday May 14 – London, The O2 When do Rod Stewart tickets go on sale? General sale went live at 10am on Friday October 2 2026. You can buy on Ticketmaster here. Ticket prices According to Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, regular, non-VIP prices range from £78.30 to £220.15. Premium options will start at £278.80 and go up to £318.80. Support Howard Jones, best known for hits like ‘What is Love?’ and ‘Things Can Only Get Bet

London burger fanatics, listen up. Zula, the Istanbul-born ‘elevated burger’ joint, has revealed it is opening a second location in the capital. The Big Smoke’s second Zula will open in Spitalfields this November – and it won’t just be a copy-paste of the debut outpost in Marble Arch. Instead it will be a ‘fast-service concept’ designed for local office workers and visitors to the nearby market. The new location will have an exclusive dish, too. The Spitalfields Wagyu Burger will boast a wagyu patty with double cheddar, rich French mayo, spicy sambal, black pepper, gherkin and onion, all in an in-house-baked brioche bun. There’ll also be established Zula classics like The Basic, The B.I.G. and The Fake Mac. Zula was founded in 2017 by Cihan Kıpçak, who was previously a chef in Michelin-starred restaurants. Named after the Turkish word for ‘hidden corner’, Zula’s first international outpost opened here in London – at Marble Arch – in October 2024. Kıpçak has kept touch with his fine-dining roots through guest burger collabs, recently working with Elliot Hashtroudi of Camille (which is currently Time Out’s favourite restaurant in London). Photograph: Zula BurgerZula Burger Zula will take over an address on Lamb Street previously home to Italian street food spot Indegno. As well as being designed with takeaways in mind, it’ll have a leaner bar for customers to eat in. Zula Spitalfields will open on Sunday November 1 at 2e Lamb Street, E1 6EA. The best burgers in London, accord

Doesn’t June 2025 feel like an age ago? Glastonbury took a fallow year in 2026, and there was certainly a Glasto-sized hole in our summer. But worry not, Glastonbury 2027 has been confirmed and tickets will be up for grabs this weekend (with a new virtual queue system – find out more here) If you’re already excited at the prospect of being back on Worthy Farm next summer, well, us too. Glastonbury is undeniably the UK’s greatest music festival and there’s nowhere else like it on Earth. However, Glasto’s supremacy isn’t a well-kept secret: every year millions attempt to get tickets, and most fail to do so.  In the market for tickets to Glastonbury Festival 2027? Of course you are. Here’s absolutely everything you need to know, from the confirmed festival dates to and how much tickets will cost.  RECOMMENDED: 🎤 Time Out’s ultimate guide to Glastonbury Festival. When is Glastonbury 2027? Glastonbury’s 2027 dates have been confirmed: block out your calendars for Wednesday June 23 to Sunday June 27 2027. When do Glastonbury 2027 tickets go on sale? Standard tickets for Glastonbury 2027 will go on sale at 9am on Sunday, October 4. How to register for Glastonbury 2027 tickets Registration is now closed for Glasto 2027. Can I use my old Glastonbury registration for 2027? You can use old registration details for next summer’s event. However, it’s best to check that you’re still registered.  How much will tickets cost? General admission tickets will be £408 including a £5 booking fe

The first round of Glastonbury tickets have gone on sale and sold out. On Thursday evening coach-and-ticket packages went live, with all tickets selling in 30 minutes. The rest of the tickets go on sale this weekend and there’s a new virtual ticket queue, which you can find out more about here. Glasto 2027’s dates are confirmed for June 23-27 2027 and the general admission price has been revealed as £408 (including booking fee). There are plenty of reasons why it’s so difficult to get a spot at Glastonbury. Many – including plenty in the Time Out office – would go as far as to say it’s the best music festival in the world. And it’s not only a music lovers’ paradise: Glasto is also a 24-hour city of entertainment, with all sorts of cinema, circus, art and performance on offer for five days straight.  As far as the 2027 festival goes, there’s already been a fair amount of speculation as to who might be playing: Sam Fender, Harry Styles and Charli xcx are bookies’ favourites to headline. The full line-up won’t be revealed until late spring next year. Festival ticket price for next year will be the highest ever, breaking the £400 barrier. Still keen to go? It’s going to be a mission, that’s for sure. But if you’re up for it, here are some tips that may well improve your chances of scooping tickets.  RECOMMENDED: The best music festivals in the UK Tips for how to get Glastonbury 2027 tickets 1. Be registered Pre-registration is the crucial first step to securing tickets – so cruci

Victoria line passengers will no doubt have noticed that the light blue tube line has been hampered by delays all week. The good news is that the problem is being fixed this weekend. The less-good news is that the line will partially close so that engineering works can take place. And that isn’t the only disruption that Londoners will have to navigate on October 3-4. Much of the Jubilee line – specifically the section that goes through the city centre – will be down, while Windrush line services in southeast London will be hit by closures on Sunday. Worried about getting around the city? Time Out’s definitive weekly travel guide is here with everything you need to know. Read on for our guide to TfL train and tube closures on October 3-4 2026. London travel disruption and tube closures, October 3-4 2026 Victoria line From Saturday October 3 at 7.30pm to Sunday October 4 at 10am, no service between Victoria and Brixton. Photograph: Pav-Pro Photography Ltd / Shutterstock.comVictoria line tube station at Brixton Jubilee line From 4.30am on Sat Oct 3 until 1.30am on Sunday Oct 4, no trains between Green Park and Canary Wharf. On Sat Oct 3, no night tube trains between Finchley Road and Stratford from 1.30am to 4.30am. From 5.30am on Sun Oct 4, no trains between Green Park and Canary Wharf. On Sun Oct 4, no night tube service between Stratford and Green Park from 1.30am to 5.30am. DLR On Sun Oct 4, no service between Shadwell and Tower Gateway. Windrush line On Sun

Have you had Niall Horan’s new album Dinner Party on rotation all summer? Well, you won’t want to miss the former One Direction star’s solo tour, which is coming to London this weekend. Dinner Party Live On Tour is at the O2 on two dates. Horan’s last major run of dates was 2024’s The Show: Live on Tour, during which he played London twice, albeit at two different venues (Wembley Arena and the O2) on dates which were six months apart. This time around he’s performing twice in quick succession, on October 2 and 3 2026. Heading to Greenwich to see Niall Horan? Hoping to get last-minute tickets? You can find everything you need to know about the shows below, from the start time and setlist to tickets. SKIP TO: ⏱️ Niall Horan start time 🏟️ Seating plan 🎟️ Last-minute tickets 🎤 Setlist 🚇 Transport When is Niall Horan playing London’s O2? The ‘This Town’ singer is in London on the following dates: Friday October 2 2026 Saturday October 3 2026 Photograph: suppliedNiall Horan What time do doors open? For both dates, gates for the main arena will open at 6.30pm. However, the O2’s shops, restaurants and bars will open earlier. What time will Niall Horan come on stage? Timings haven’t yet been confirmed. However, Niall has been very consistent in his stage timings across the tour. Expect his main set to start at around 8.30pm. As always, get down early to avoid disappointment. What time does the Niall Horan concert finish? Expect the shows to finish by around 10.30pm each night.

North/east London staple the Dusty Knuckle is set to bring its scrumptious loaves and splendid sarnies to Finsbury Park. One of Time Out’s favourite bakeries – and our bakery of the year 2025 – will open its third location on Blackstock Road in November. Yep, DK’s packed sourdough sandwiches, perfectly baked pastries and boldly flavoured pizzas could well be coming to N4. We’re currently a bit light on details for exactly what Dusty Knuckle Finsbury Park will contain – will it have pizzas? sit-in café space? something totally new? – but we do know the address: 81 Blackstock Road (N4 2JW). The Dusty Knuckle is one of London’s most hyped bakeries, but it certainly hasn’t rushed into expanding to new sites. Founded by Max Tobias, Rebecca Oliver and Daisy Terry, it opened a first location in Dalston in 2014 and a second on Green Lanes in 2021. Dusty Knuckle has had a van café in Highbury Fields since around 2024. The Dusty KnuckleThe Dusty Knuckle More than just a place for tasty baked goods, the Dusty Knuckle also runs a trainee programme for young people who face barriers to employment. The company mentors ‘at-risk’ youth with on-the-job training. Dusty Knuckle Finsbury Park, 81 Blackstock Road, N4 2JW. Opens November. The best bakeries in London, according to Time Out. Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel. Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter 

Tickets to Oasis’ huge 2027 reunion tour are officially sold out. Ticket sales went live on September 25, 26 and 27 2026 and, in contrast to the 2025 tour, the band and Ticketmaster confirmed ticket prices in advance. General admission prices ranged from £71.50 to £266.60. Better yet, the confirmed pricing included booking fees. What you were quoted in advance is what you paid when you got to the front of the ticket queue. All dates have general admission options, as well as packages including VIP, hotels and coach travel to and from the gig. VIP tickets go all the way up to £571. Find all the information you need to know about Oasis’ 2027 ticket prices below, including the breakdown for each date and VIP, coach and hotel packages. Oasis UK tour dates in 2027 Glasgow, Celtic Park – May 21, 23, 25, 28 and 29 Manchester, Etihad Stadium – June 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 15, 18, 19, 22, 25 and 26 Knebworth – September 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26 Oasis 2027 ticket prices by venue Pricing varies slightly per venue. Here’s the lowdown: Glasgow Celtic Park Standing – £170.50 and £203.50 Seated – £71.50, £104.50, £170.50, £203.50 and £263.50 VIP packages – £303.50 (‘front standing’), £363.50 (‘best seat’), £508.50 (‘Oasis pre-show fan experience – front standing’) and £568.50 (‘Oasis pre-show fan experience – premium seating’). Hotel packages – £470, £475, £485 and £495 Coach packages – £225.50, £228, £234.50 and £236.50 Manchester Etihad Stadium Standing – £173.60 and £206.60 Seated – £74.6

Tickets for Oasis’s 2027 reunion tour are now sold out. Pre-registered punters were able to buy tickets last weekend (September 25-27) in specific timed slots.  While there are no shows at Wembley this time around (in summer 2025 the Gallaghers played seven shows in northwest London), Londoners won’t have to trek all the way up to Glasgow or Manchester to see the band next summer. The ‘Wonderwall’ legends are making a grand return to Knebworth, which is a very short distance from London. After the initial announcement, the band added more dates. The band are in Hertfordshire for six dates, triple the number of their iconic 1996 run. Richard Ashcroft has been confirmed on support. Knebworth has a special place in Oasis lore. In August 1996 the band headlined two days of music in the grounds of the Hertfordshire country estate. A whopping 125,000 people attended each night, with support from Charlatans, the Prodigy, Manic Street Preachers, the Chemical Brothers, Ocean Colour Scene and more. Oasis’ 2027 Knebworth gigs won’t just be special because of the location. The gigs will also mark the first time that Knebworth has had a ‘camping village’, while Great British Railways will provide late-night trains to London King’s Cross until 1.30am each night. Another first will see the introduction of grandstand hospitality seating and the venue’s biggest accessible viewing platform ever.  Keen to get tickets to see Oasis at Knebworth in September 2027? Here’s everything you need to kn