Ed Cunningham

The humble brunch is perhaps one of the greatest inventions of the modern age. Breakfast is too early to really get stuck into, while eating eggs and downing buckets of coffee at lunchtime seems odd. Brunch, then, is the one true morning-ish meal, especially if it incorporates pancakes, bacon and those aforementioned eggs. Or you can enjoy a totally vegan take on proceedings at LD's at The Black Heart. London is particularly well stocked with places to indulge in the famous breakfast/lunch hybrid – one of the latest additions to this list is FKA Black Axe Mangal in Highbury, (don’t forgot to order a pig cheek and prune donut). Let us guide you to the best restaurants for a fabulous brunch, from a traditional full English to innovative twists on the majestic meal, such as a bacon bao brunch or fried eggs on chilli-cheese crumpets.  RECOMMENDED: Like unlimited fizz with your fry-up? Here are the best bottomless brunches in London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. July 2025: We've removed some of the staler options to give you only the finest brunches in London for this summer. Make the most of the warmer weather by bagging a table on the terrace at somewhere like The Laundry in Brixton, or enjoy the great outdoors at Pavilion Cafe in Victoria Park. Try Lolo in Bermondsey if you want a Spanish take on brunch. Hate the heat and would rather sulk in the dark like a massive goth? Then it's off to

Every week, a frankly silly amount of brilliant new restaurants, cafés and street food joints arrive in London. Which makes whittling down a shortlist of the best newbies a serious challenge. But here it is. The 20 very best new restaurants in the capital, ranked in order of greatness and deliciousness. All of them have opened in the past year and been visited by our hungry critics. So go forth and take inspo from this list, which is updated regularly. Check in often to find out what we really rate on the London restaurant scene.  August 2025: New additions include great Caribbean cookery at Marvee's Food Shop in Notting Hill, new school Vietnamese at Lai Rai in Peckham, plush Roman pasta at Lupa in Highbury, modern surf and turf at Island in King's Cross, pizza at Elephant in Clapton, ultra elite Asian cuisine at Shanghai Me in Mayfair and a new home for Thai legend Singburi in Shoreditch. They join fun bistro action at Hello JoJo in Camberwell, Japanese-Italian fusion at Osteria Angelina in Spitalfields, bawdy British fare at Rake in Highbury, and Iberian inventiveness at Tasca in Bethnal Green. Hungry yet? Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London. The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now to tuck in.

Amsterdam is one of the world’s best cities, no doubt about it. Every wander down a cobbled street will take you somewhere exciting, whether you're a foodie, curious about the Red Light District, or in the mood to party for 24 hours straight. And as a tourism capital, it’s no surpise that it’s overrun with exceptional places to stay, from 18th-century canalside mansions to converted bridge keepers’ houses and seriously high-grade establishments.  So if you’re looking for a tip-top place to bed down after a day of exploring the city’s best museums, attractions and coffee shops, you’ve come to the right place. From the city centre through to De Negen Straatjes, here are the best hotels in Amsterdam right now. Updated January 2025: We re-reviewed Amsterdam’s five-star Conservatorium Hotel to see if it’s up-to-scratch (spoiler: it is). See where we ranked it below! RECOMMENDED:🏠 The best Airbnbs in Amsterdam🌳 Where to stay in Amsterdam 📍 The best things to do in Amsterdam🍴 The best restaurants in Amsterdam🎀 The best boutique hotels in Amsterdam Ella Doyle and Grace Beard are Time Out’s travel editors. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by experts. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

  Imagine a properly good walk and you're probably thinking of rolling hills, mountains, forests and a rustic country pub for a celebratory pint at the end. And although you won't find that exact formula in London, you can come pretty damn close. This city is full of surprisingly peaceful, rural-feeling and very pretty corners where you can immerse yourself in nature for a few hours – without ever being more than half an hour away from a decent macchiato or a TfL station. Here are some walks that are perfect for enjoying solo, or with a gang who are equally ready to discover London's hidden wild side. Wear some sensible(ish) shoes, check the weather forecast, and make evening plans where you can show off the virtuous glow that only comes from exercising in the great outdoors. If London’s not cutting it at the moment, why not check out our properly good list of walks near (but not in) the capital? And if trees are your thing, here’s a load of walk suggestions that take in some of the best woodland around the city. RECOMMENDED: 📍 The best things to do in London

Once upon a time, the only reason to grab a bite at King’s Cross was if you were waiting for your train. But this once-grimy post-industrial area has undergone an enormous regeneration, and these days it’s packed with fine restaurants. Be it the lofty, warehouse-sized joints around Granary Square, the trendy cafés in Coal Drops Yard or the hip little spots around lower Pentonville, and a selection of Cantonese cult classics, there’s something for all tastes (and budgets, high or low). Check out our list of the best. RECOMMENDED: These are the best pubs in King’s Cross. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

It’s official: London is experiencing a fast-mushrooming plant-based restaurant boom. Across the city, creative chefs are showing off their prowess with plants, creating pitch-perfect imitations of meaty comfort food classics, or dreaming up new vegetable-based delights. Whether you’re after a lavish night of culinary theatre, a delicate Middle Eastern spread, a Michelin-star winning tasting menu, or brisket at a vegan smokehouse, you’ll find it in our list of London’s best vegan restaurants. Read on to plan your next plant-free feast. 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.

On March 25, 1925, at London’s Selfridges department store in central London, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird made the first public demo of his latest creation: a way to broadcast visual information from a camera to a screen. A full century later, Baird’s discovery has led to perhaps the most vital, creative and popular mode of artistic expression in the entire world. But it’s only in the past 25 years that television has really fulfilled its artistic potential.  The result has been the so-called ‘Golden Age of Television’, a boom kickstarted roughly around the turn of the century with the rise of shows like The Sopranos and later Breaking Bad, and continuing with awards-winners from Succession to Shōgun to Slow Horses. So while our list of the 100 greatest TV shows may pay tribute to the unmissable programs of yesteryear, you’ll find that the majority hail from our own century – meaning there’s no excuse not to watch every single one. Paring the list down to only 100 was a painful process, so we decided to omit sketch shows, talk shows, news and non-fiction in order to focus on scripted drama and classic comedy. Time to go goggle-eyed. Recommended: 🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far)🍎 The best shows to watch on Apple TV+ right now📺 The best Netflix original series to binge🎮 The best ‘90s TV shows

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, Lenny’s Apizza at The Bedford Tavern in Finsbury Park and Short Road Pizza at the William The Fourth in Leyton and Three Colts in Bethnal Green. Try also, Spring Street Pizza in Borough for pizza with a Michelin-starred cheffy touch. 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.

Who doesn’t love sunflower? Those golden, spindly, great-vibe giants are always a real treat to see in people’s gardens come the summer months, but what about sunflowers on mass?  For those not so in the-know, sunflowers usually hit their custard-yellow peak from August to September. And while, sure, you can see sunflowers in countless gardens and parks throughout London, there are few things quite so joyous as seeing an entire field of ‘em – and, obvs, picking your own to take home. There are plenty of dazzling pick-your-own sunflower fields within very easy reach of London. Before you head off on a sunny adventure, make sure to check in with these sites in advance to be sure of fresh crops and full blooms – Mother Nature is an unruly and unpredictable force. RECOMMENDED: 🐝 The best lavender fields in and around London💐 The best day trips from London for flower lovers🌸 The best places to see cherry blossom in London

Of all the many things that have been upended since 2020, office life is one of the biggest. While some of us have settled into a half-office, half-home working hybrid set-up, others have taken the opportunity to untether themselves entirely from the workplace and copped themselves a visa that enables them to live and work remotely. While there are downsides to the digital nomad lifestyle, we’re still living in an era of profound  digital nomadism. Many destinations are selling themselves as idyllic remote-working spots, with visas that allow you to live and work there for up to a year – or sometimes even longer. Here’s a guide to the countries offering digital nomad visas right now, and how you can qualify. And here’s what it’s actually like to be a digital nomad – and how to become one yourself.

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 which is a testament to the fact that London remains one of the most desirable places to visit in the world. However, that can make it tricky to decide which hotel to choose. But worry not because we have slept our way across the city and hand-picked our favourites for the ultimate list of London hotels, which covers locations right across the city, and every category from blowout luxury (including having your own butler, might we add) to budget basic and brilliant. In this mega list, we've listed everything from our favourite five-star hotels in Mayfair to more affordable hotels outside of zone 1. Plus you’ll be able to check out one or two of the capital's many Michelin-starred restaurants because yep, loads of them call London hotels their home. But if spending a small fortune on food isn’t your bag? There’s also an ever-increasing number of good-value food options for budgeteers, too. Throw great design and architecture into the mix, plus superb bars, world-class hospitality and the opportunity to have a home-from-home in the best city in the world and, well, you’re laughing.  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 neighbourhoods, all with their own uniqu

Europe is incredible for festivals, make no mistake about it. And what could be better? Travelling to festivals abroad means getting to explore somewhere new and see a bunch of cracking artists, as well as maybe – just maybe – enjoy better weather and cheaper beer. Europe is certainly not in short supply of some really brilliant places to party, from tiny, lesser-known spots in the Azores to your classic, mega, headliner-packed fests in France and Netherlands and Alpine jazz weekends. And don’t worry, if you haven’t booked yet, there’s a load of them still to come this summer. Here are the best music festivals in Europe for 2025.  What is the largest festival in Europe? Glastonbury festival in the UK is normally thought of as the biggest festival in Europe (if not the world). But though it’s certainly the most well known, in terms of numbers, it’s not even the the biggest in the UK! The biggest in Europe is actually Donauinselfest in Vienna, Austria, which sees upwards of two million visitors a year. After that, it’s probably joint between Glasto and Tomorrowland in Belgium.  RECOMMENDED: 🎪 The best UK music festivals🎤 The best music festivals in the world🌃 The most underrated destinations in Europe🌤️ The best European city breaks At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial conten

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

If you plonked a point on a map denoting Stuttgart’s absolute centre, I’m fairly certain it’d be directly right on top of the EmiLu. Or it may as well be. Dead opposite the city’s Rathaus (town hall) and a few steps from Königstrasse (Stuttgart’s main shopping street), EmiLu is within easy walking distance of most city-centre sights. Just a couple of years old (it opened in 2022), EmiLu occupies an old mid-century city government building and gets its name by combining the names of its co-owner (Petra Luise Bräutigam) and her daughter (Emilia). A self-professed ‘design hotel’, it boasts 90 ‘unique and special’ rooms that range reasonably in price per night from €85 to €200 (£72 to £170). So, the good: EmiLu, with its focus on individual, tasteful design, is a handsome and neat establishment. The chic reception is kitted out with dark wooden furnishings, while the rooms are airy and uncluttered. Cuboid furniture and crisply-shaped décor work well with bare-material walls; an open shower-room (with a curtain) and a mini-bar cut into the corner wall fit the minimal, trendy vibe. In another positive, my room looked out over the atmospheric street below (with floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony) but also boasted exceptional sound insulation – an entire crowd of football fans in the space outside were reduced to noiseless silhouettes. Elsewhere, EmiLu’s staff are delightful, the rooftop space is great for taking in Stuttgart’s skyline and the ‘fitness area’ is remarkably well-eq

Over the years, London has done a fabulous job of finding new uses for its many, many historically fascinating buildings. The Bankside Power Station is now the Tate Modern. Churchill’s Old War Office is a hotel and apartments. County Hall houses restaurants, an aquarium and That Shrek Thing. Another of those retrofits is the Great Scotland Yard Hotel, a Grade II-listed building which dates back to the 1820s and was once the Ministry of Defence’s old library. Sitting at an address best known for also housing the original headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the building has been a hotel for a while – though was spruced up a few years ago with a £75 million revamp.  Admittedly, the words ‘Scotland Yard’ do not exactly scream ‘mega-luxe five-star hotel stay’, but… maybe they could? This 151-room Hyatt is as deeply, thoroughly refined as hotels in this city get.  Each step of a stay at Great Scotland Yard is virtually faultless. The neat rooms are full of light, with floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies looking out over the turrets, towers and courtyards of the Palace of Whitehall. Full of modestly luxurious conveniences (like Chromecast TVs and fancy Japanese Toto loos), the rooms are also of a satisfyingly comfortable size: neither small and cluttered nor massive and awkwardly empty.  Beyond the rooms, Great Scotland Yard is far from a copy-paste Hyatt. Playing into the history of the building and address, the doors are slathered in a deep and polished police blue. The fo

If you’ve ever spent time in Leeds, you’ll know the Queens Hotel. Quite literally on top of (part of) the Yorkshire city’s train station, it’s an art deco concrete titan and inarguably the city’s most famous hotel. Dating back to the 1930s, the Queens was the first British hotel to have air con and ensuite bathrooms in every room, and over the years it’s welcomed the likes of Cary Grant and Nelson Mandela. While the Queens could easily rest on its historical prestige, in recent years it’s attempted to keep with the times and undergone a vast refurb. A whopping £16 million has been pumped into bringing the place back up to snuff, glamming it up with communal areas, a huge new dining venue and more rooms. How does all that sprucing up actually feel? In short, pretty damn good. The moment you step into the Queens’ lobby, with its endearingly gauche décor and genially raucous ambiance, you get a proper sense of occasion that feels appropriate for somewhere so stacked with history. The Queens might have been hauled into the 21st century, but it embraces its historical glamour – and the refurb certainly hasn’t sucked out any of its soul. The Queens is entirely decked out in stuff that harks back to the art deco 1930s – and what isn’t from the Queens’ original period (or directly linked to it, like the hallways’ historic photographs) is tastefully matched. The Queens balances modern polish and historical character in a caring, detailed sort of way, ensuring all additions – everythin

So far (and touch wood), 2025 has been blissfully free of train strikes. A long-running dispute between the government and the ASLEF and RMT unions ended last year, putting a stop to years of industrial action. But now we have an update – train strikes are coming back to Britain over the coming weeks.  This week the RMT has announced strikes dates for over the August Bank Holiday weekend on CrossCountry services. The union has cited a ‘breakdown in industrial relations’ as the reason for the walk-out, though there are a number of disagreements between the union and operator ranging from pay to catering.    As for nationwide strikes? Following the last bout of ASLEF strikes in May 2024 – quite some time ago, at this point, and which saw train drivers at 16 operators across the UK walk out over three days – no further action has been called for British train services.  Here’s everything you need to know about upcoming industrial action on the UK’s rail network.  When are the next train strike dates?   RMT members at CrossCountry will walk out on Saturday August 23 and Monday August 25. On top of that, RMT staff won’t scan tickets on trains from Sunday August 24.  On a nationwide level, there are no future strikes planned for now.  What train lines will be affected?  CrossCountry services will only be impacted by the confirmed upcoming strikes. CrossCountry, as its name suggests, runs services that span the UK, running from Penzance to Aberdeen and plenty of places in-between.

This week Aldi may have lost its crown as Britain’s cheapest supermarket, having held the title for a whole 20 months, but the German budget retailer is still going from strength to strength. Aldi has just announced that it will open one new supermarket a week until the end of the year, massively ramping up its expansion in the UK. Aldi’s latest plans have been a long time coming. At the start of 2025 the affordable supermarket brand revealed it wanted to open 30 new shops in the UK this calendar year, then it confirmed 10 openings this summer alone. It should be noted that the one-new-supermarket-a-week number is an average, rather than a weekly opening. Aldi currently has 1,050 UK shops and is aiming for 1,090 by the end of 2025. Eventually the company wants to operate 1,500 supermarkets across Britain. Commenting on the new stores, Aldi’s managing director for national real estate Jonathan Neale said: ‘At Aldi our goal is to make sure people across the UK have access to affordable, high-quality food, and opening new stores is key to making that happen.’ ‘We’re now opening an average of one new store a week for the rest of 2025, showing just how ambitious our plans are to build a store network that will help us reach millions of new customers.’ Aldi new UK supermarket locations Aldi has confirmed the following new supermarket locations, all set for the coming months. Airfields, Welsh Road, Deeside Rockingham Road, Market Harborough, Lancashire Fulham Broadway, London Pacif

It’s finally happening – Oasis’ reunion tour is officially under way. The banded started out in Cardiff for the band’s first live shows since they broke up in 2009 and continued in Manchester and London. There have been hits (obvs), there have been deep cuts not heard live since the early 2000s, there have even been hugs. There’s been a wide consensus that the Gallaghers’ comeback has been a resounding success, with spectacular visuals, top-quality sound and dependable performances. Fans have been left satisfied and critics seem pleased – but what songs have Oasis actually played? Across the tour, Oasis have played the same setlist, kicking off with ‘Hello’ and following through with a truckload of smashes from ‘Roll With It’ and ‘Some Might Say’ to ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ and ‘Wonderwall’. Minor differences have come in the lyrics, with ‘Wonderwall’ adapted in Cardiff to ‘there are many things that I would like to say to you... but I don't speak Welsh’.  Song dedications have differed, too. In Manchester the band played the same setlist, but with different dedications. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola got a shout-out, along with comedians Craig Cash and Caroline Aherne, Stone Roses bassist Mani, ‘the ladies’ and department store chain John Lewis. Man City fans and TV show The Royle Family received further dedications, as did the ticketless fans on ‘Gallagher Hill’ and generally ‘actual people from Manchester’. The same happened once again in London, with the first sh

If you’ve been into town recently, you know what’s up. You’ve seen the boarded up windows, you’ve noticed your usual haunts disappearing, you’ve benefited from an ‘everything must go – half off!’ sale once or twice. You can see that it’s a shop-ageddon out there on UK high streets, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. In 2023, we lost Wilko, and then in 2024 we got it back. Then we said goodbye to a bunch of Marks and Spencers, some Boots, a few Body Shops, and plenty more. In fact, some studies have estimated that Britain lost up to 37 shops a day in 2024. Although we all hoped that 2025 would bring good news for our high streets, it’s looking like this year is more of the same. It’s not all doom and gloom, but it’s useful to know exactly what’s coming and going so that you don’t plan an entire shopping day around a store which has closed its doors for the last time. Here’s an exhaustive list of all the big places shutting up shop this year across the country. All the UK high street closures in 2025 Poundland  Poundland was sold earlier this year, and a company-wide restructure will see dozens of sites shut by the end of 2025. Here’s a list of all the shops that either have or will shut this year.  Here are all the Poundland stores that either have already closed this year. Clapham Junction Station, London – May 2 Belle Vale Shopping Centre, Liverpool – May 6 St George’s Centre, Gravesend – May 8 Southwark Park Road – May 14 Copdock Mill Interchange, Ipswich – May 20

Fans of Poundland will know all too well that it’s hardly even Poundland anymore. Gone are the days when you knew exactly how much everything costs – you’ve got to check the labels to make sure you’re not being charged a fiver. Despite that, there is still one thing it appears you can get for just a quid: the shop itself. That’s not a joke. Earlier this summer the entirety of Poundland was sold by its owners Pepco to a US investment company called Gordon Brothers (which used to own Laura Ashley) for a ‘nominal fee’ of a single pound. Following the sale a huge restructuring was announced, with 68 stores set to close. A further 70 Poundlands could shut as a result of the brand seeking rent reductions and lease expirations, and in total more than 1,000 jobs could be at risk. Before the closures, Poundland employed over 16,000 people across 792 branches in the UK and Ireland.  The sale of Poundland didn’t come as a huge shock, as the company has been struggling from low profits for the past year. The low cost is not quite the deal that it appears at face value – it could cost the new owners up to £100 million to get the brand back on its feet. Pepco maintains that this does not mean that it’s the end of Poundland, stating that it ‘remains a key player in UK discount retail, with millions of customers annually and a well-loved brand and proposition’, and adding that this is simply a move to ‘[simplify] the group and [focus] on our successful Pepco business.’ Poundland managing dir

Cardiff and Manchester have had their fun – now it’s finally time for Oasis’ triumphant reunion tour in London. The capital’s Wembley Stadium is hosting the Gallagher brothers for a whopping seven nights across July, August and September – and the next bunch of those shows are coming up this weekend. Hundreds of thousands of Oasis fans decked in the usual bucket hats and sports jackets will head to northwest London over the coming weeks and months. Don’t already have the gear? You’ll be able to pick some up. Official Oasis merch can be bought all over the city, as well as at Wembley itself. If you’re heading to Oasis reunion shows, you can find out everything you need to know – from timings and the seating plan to the setlist – with Time Out’s ultimate Wembley Oasis guide here. If it’s specifically merch you’re after, read on to find out more. RECOMMENDED:🎤 The full Oasis tour setlist: what to expect in London.🏟️ The seating plan for Oasis’s reunion shows at Wembley Stadium.🎒 Wembley Stadium bag policy for the Oasis reunion shows.🚝 Public transport guide for getting to and from the Oasis reunion shows at Wembley. When are Oasis’ reunion shows at London’s Wembley Stadium? Here are the dates that the Gallagher brothers will be in northwest London: July 25, 2025 July 26, 2025 July 30, 2025 August 2, 2025 August 3, 2025 September 27, 2025 September 28, 2025 Where to buy official Oasis merchandise in London There will be lots of options to buy official merch at Wembley Stadi

This weekend Catfish and the Bottlemen are playing two of the biggest shows in the band’s career. Cardiff’s Principality Stadium and north London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will host Van McCann and co’s first ever stadium headline gigs. The singers of hits like ‘Kathleen’, ‘Pacifier’ and ‘Cocoon’ follow an esteemed lineup of musicians who’ve headlined in north London this summer. Spurs’ home has hosted the likes of Beyoncé, 50 Cent, Stray Kids, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, and, most recently, Imagine Dragons. Heading to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for Catfish and the Bottlemen? Here’s what you need to know about the show, including timings, the setlist and last-minute ticket availability. When are Catfish and the Bottlemen playing Tottenham Hotspur Stadium? Catfish are in N17 on Sunday August 3 2025. What time do doors open? Doors open at 4.30pm. What time will Catfish and the Bottlemen come on stage? Set times haven’t been confirmed. However, judging from previous tour dates and the curfew, you can expect the band onstage at around 8pm. Get down early to avoid disappointment (and see the support acts, more on that below). What’s the seating plan? Here’s the seating plan for Catfish and the Bottlemen at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, according to Ticketmaster. Image: Ticketmaster Who is supporting Catfish and the Bottlemen in London? Two bands are supporting Catfish at Spurs: James and DMA’s. Setlist For an idea of what Catfish and the Bottlemen could play in London, here’s the setli

The idea of having a bridge connecting Sicily to mainland Italy has been around for a while. And we really do mean a while. Apparently the Romans were the first to pitch the idea thousands of years ago, suggesting that a bridge of boats and barrels could be a way of linking Italy’s ‘foot’ to its ‘ball’.   Over the next several thousand years, a bridge between Italy and Sicily has been suggested many more times. It nearly came to fruition as recently as 2009 and while that attempt was called off in 2013, now, excitingly, it looks like work is set to start again on the Strait of Messina bridge – and it could be as early as this year. Mainland Italy and Sicily are separated by the Strait of Messina, which is a body of water that links the Ionian sea in the south with the Tyrrhenian Sea in the north. At its narrowest point the strait is 3.1 kilometres (1.9 miles) wide, with the port city of Messina on the Sicilian side and the Calabrian city of Villa San Giovanni on the mainland. The Italian government approved a decree to proceed with the construction of the bridge in 2023, and back in October, the bridge’s construction company Società Stretto di Messina and the Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency of the European Commission, signed a new funding proposal that’ll see the EU cover 50 percent of the executive design costs of the rail infrastructure (around €25 million).  Now, a source has confirmed that the Italian government will give the final green light in

Sad news for fans of family-friendly Italian restaurant chains: Gusto, a beloved restaurant chain which is mostly based in northwest England and the Midlands (but also has an outpost in Oxford) has announced that nearly half of its 13 UK sites will soon close. In recent weeks Gusto has been reportedly on the verge of collapse, with the chain increasingly likely to be sold as part of an insolvency agreement. Yesterday (July 29) that sale was officially confirmed, with Cherry Equity Partners acquiring the majority of Gusto. As part of the sale agreement, seven Gustos will remain open and 300 jobs have been saved. However, that means the remaining six restaurants will shut, resulting in 190 redundancies. Commenting on recent developments, Gusto Restaurants CEO Paul Moran said: ‘This investment marks an important step forward for Gusto, ensuring the future of the business and putting in place a strong and stable platform upon which we can start to grow the business again. ‘We are profoundly sorry to see six of our restaurants close and are tremendously grateful for the support of our staff and our loyal customers at these locations over the years.’ Which Gusto restaurants are closing? Gusto has confirmed that the following restaurants will close. Alderley Edge Cookridge Edinburgh Heswall Leeds Newcastle Which Gusto restaurants will stay open? The following seven Gustos will be staying open. Liverpool Birmingham Cheadle Knutsford Manchester Nottingham Oxford Full list of UK h

The UK’s eating, drinking and dancing scenes have had a tough few years. Rent increases, high inflation, the nagging effects of the pandemic and, recently, tax hikes have all led to venues struggling to make do. And it isn’t just hospitality that’s flailing – the British high street continues to be blighted by big name closures. In an announcement on Saturday (June 26), the government said it’s found a solution to both hospitality struggles and empty high streets. A new plan will see licensing rules transformed and the noise complaints system overhauled so that, theoretically, cafes, bars, music venues and outdoor dining options can thrive.  So, what’s the plan? In short, the government wants to slash red tape and make it cheaper, easier and quicker to open new venues. Part of this will see special ‘hospitality zones’ earmarked for fast-tracked licensing, targeting high streets and town centres with disused shops. Looser licensing Pubs, bars, cafes, restaurants, nightclubs and music venues are the sorts of places the government hopes will populate empty shopfronts – but the new licensing proposals don’t stop there. The process for getting a licence for alfresco dining, street parties and festivals – food and community festivals as well as music ones – is also being simplified. If you think that all sounds a bit like an extended, nationwide version of the Mayor of London’s Summer Streets scheme – where several areas are currently benefitting from expanded outdoor eating and dr

Oasis’ reunion shows in Cardiff and Manchester blew fans’ minds – so the hype for the duo’s first London concert in 16 years was, naturally, sky-high. On Friday July 25 Liam and Noel (plus Andy Bell, Gem Archer and Bonehead, with Joey Waronker) made a triumphant return to the capital at Wembley Stadium. Wembley is the biggest venue on the UK leg of Oasis’ Live ’25 tour. A whopping 90,000 punters – many of them donning bucket hats, sports jackets, football tops and official merch – descended on northwest London for the show, and Time Out was there to capture the occasion. Photographer Chris Bethell headed to Wembley for London’s first Oasis reunion gig. Here are his highlights.  Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell Photograph: Chris Bethell 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 for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.

Boots is one of the UK high street’s great all-rounders. Sure, you can get beauty and cosmetic products at a Boots, but you can also grab medicines, electricals, homeware and even pretty decent meal deals. But soon Boots will hone in on just one of its many offerings, opening the brand’s first-ever fragrance-first store. Called Boot Fragrance, it’ll open in the City of London this autumn. Fussy about your perfume? This may be the shop for you. Boots Fragrance will apparently showcase more than 400 ‘luxury and niche’ scents, promising UK exclusive perfumes and over 20 brands that are new to Boots – including ‘new emerging British founder-led brands and niche international labels’. The new 2,150 square-foot space will also feature a team of ‘fragrance specialists’ who’ll help you find your new smell, and within the shop will be ‘trend-led discovery zones and immersive experiences’. Chelsey Saunders, Boots’ director of fragrance, said: ‘Boots Fragrance boutique represents a bold step forward in how we bring fragrance to our customers. As the nation’s favourite beauty retailer, we’re proud to be creating a space that not only showcases the very best in luxury and niche perfumery, but also makes it more accessible, inviting and inspiring for all.’ This may be Boots’ first ever perfume-first store, but it isn’t the first time the company has experimented with new types of stores in London. Back in 2023 Boots opened a beauty-only store in Battersea Power Station, offering 11,200 squ