Eloise Feilden

In 2026, the UK’s coastline is more in the spotlight than it has been in a long, long time. The opening of the long-awaited King Charles III Coastal Path means that the entire coasts of England, Wales and Scotland are now fully walkable – giving you even more of a reason to visit this nation’s extraordinary roster of seaside towns. Of course, being an island nation, the UK has no shortage of coastal spots. Prim, proper, picture-postcard-worthy idylls? Check. Remote, blustery retreats from stormy seas?  Yep, plenty of that. Thrill-packed resort spots with something for everyone? Britain has all of the above and much more. If you’re on the hunt for British seaside towns that are worth checking out right now – the ones that should be on your radar specifically in 2026 – that’s what we’re here for. Time Out assembled our UK travel experts to pick out the country’s most exciting seaside, port, harbour and resort towns to visit this year. RECOMMENDED: 🏖️ The best beaches in the UK.📍 The best places to visit in Britain in 2026.🇬🇧 The best new things to do in the UK in 2026. Time Out’s best seaside towns, mapped Image: Time Out

A red sandstone amphitheatre. An ancient woodland on the English coast. A teeny tiny island with a black sand beach. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes – luckily, the world isn’t held to the same rigid beauty standards as humans are – and we’ve curated this list to celebrate that.  It goes without saying that Time Out’s ranking of the world’s most beautiful places is entirely subjective and by no means exhaustive, but what we can guarantee is real-life experience. Every single beach, lake, city and valley on this list has been visited and vetted by our globetrotting network of travel writers. In short, they’re all well worth making the journey to see for yourself (no social media fakery here).We update this list regularly, ensuring we’re including the big-hitters while considering the impact of overtourism and spotlighting lesser-known beauty spots. So here it is: Time Out’s guide to the most beautiful places on planet Earth. Happy travels!Updated March 2026: There are seven new additions to the list this year, including a terracotta-coloured Old Town in Italy, an opulent Renaissance-style library in New York and a compact mountain range in northern Spain.Grace Beard is Time Out’s travel editor, based in London. 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. RECOMMENDED:⛰️ The most beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites🗺 The most underrated travel destinations i

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

Warning: what we’re about to tell you is guaranteed to get your stomach rumbling. That’s because the capital’s best curry houses – restaurants serving the finest Hawker-style Malaysian classics, elevated home-style Filipino cooking and South Asian delicacies – have been revealed by a new list (see, we did try to tell you). Out to celebrate the nation’s best Ruby Murrays is the Asian Catering Federation, which intends to highlight ‘the very best Asian cuisine nationwide’ by compiling an annual list of the UK’s top 100 curry restaurants.  Curry houses in the Big Smoke took up more than a fifth of the list, which was selected by public vote and recommended by the Asian Catering Federation’s expert panel.  It’ll come as no surprise that plenty of Time Out faves made the ranking, including Indian barbecue restaurant Brigadiers. Taking cues from colonial army messes in India but with a slick modern twist, the restaurant brings a bold energy to Bloomberg Arcade. It’s known for its smoky butter chicken wings, achari beef ribs which melt off the bone, goat belly vindaloo samosas and a tray of seven different poppadums.   Brigadiers   Modern Indian restaurant Kutir also featured. The first solo project from Rohit Ghai, one-time exec chef of JKS restaurants (Trishna, Gymkhana, Hoppers), Bombay Bustle and Jamavar, serves a regularly rotating seasonal menu of dishes which represent the vast diversity of Indian cuisine. Michelin-starred Quilon, which has been serving up specialties from

Let’s face it, some cocktails just ooze cool. There are few things quite as chic as sipping on an ice-cold martini, taking a swig of a stiff negroni or rattling the ice in an old fashioned rocks glass, Mad Men style. Now, we come bearing good news for the Big Smoke’s firewater fans, because a new cocktail bar boasting the city’s most extensive old fashioned menu has opened in Clapham. Doghouse Distillery, which has been making gin, vodka and whisky at its Battersea site since 2016, has debuted its first drinking den just a mile down the road on Clapham Common Southside. Its old fashioned menu includes serves on the sweeter side, or drinks with a smokier flavour profile, plus ‘everything in between’, the bar has said. Think cherry maple, strawberry and chocoabutter and salted caramel twists. There's even a black forest old fashioned on the list. If you’re not quite sure what your signature looks like yet, flights of mini cocktails will help you pick your perfect poison. Photograph: Charlie Burgio All Doghouse Bar cocktails cost between £9 and £12 and the list also features a whisky and apple serve using juice freshly squeezed to order at the bar. As well as a range of spirits made from scratch at the distillery, it’ll be serving pints from local south London breweries including Mondo and Belleville as well as Guinness. As for food, the Doghouse Bar has gone heavy on the pickles, with jellied pickles, pickle of the week and picklebacks served with the Doghouse Moonshine. Posh

When plans for a new Treehouse Hotel in Manchester were announced in 2021, it promised to bring fresh additions to the already-buzzy Deansgate neighbourhood. Originally slated to open in 2023, the complexity of the building’s remodel (it formerly home to the Renaissance hotel) and a tough economic backdrop pushed back the £25m development. After two years of delays, the doors to Treehouse Hotel Manchester finally swung open last March. Its first stage of its opening boasted 224 guest rooms, a built-in cinema room and a playground gym. The hotel debuted with a swanky new restaurant headed by Mary-Ellen McTague, former sous chef under Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck. The Manc foodie spot has also since been added to the Michelin Guide.  If you thought that would be the end of its offering, think again. While most of Treehouse Hotel Manchester was ready last year, its 14th floor has still been under development. With construction finally complete, the final phase of its opening will be complete on June 11 – and it features a very swanky rooftop bar. You’ll be able to grab a cocktail and watch the sun go down over the city skyline at a rooftop bar called The Nest. The sky-high cocktail bar is the concept of DJs-turned-local-hospitality-veterans Luke Cowdrey and Justin Crawford, who are responsible for stellar bars including Electric Chair, Volta, and Freight Island's many entertainment centres. Photograph: Treehouse Hotel Manchester As well as the rooftop cocktail bar, Sam G

Georgian-style buildings, picturesque cottages, abundant trees, a wealth of swanky gastropubs and access to gorgeous green spaces like Waterlow Park, Highgate Wood and Hampstead Heath make Highgate one of the fancier parts of north London. So you might be surprised to hear that a local community group has made complaints about an ‘unsightly hole in the middle of Highgate Village’. They’re talking, it turns out, about the former 271 bus stop on the corner between South Grove and Highgate High Street.  The Highgate Society, which is run by local volunteers, has asked Camden Council to green-light a new scheme to transform the ‘eyesore’ into a 324 square metre square. If approved, the currently disused space could soon be home to new trees and benches, as well as a Visit Highgate board to help tourists find their way around. The glow-up would also deck it out with York stone paving and granite kerbs, as well as an electrical hook up for market stalls. The site fell into disuse when TfL axed the 271 bus route in 2023. Since 2025, a mini farmers market of just four stalls has sometimes been run there by an independent operator, but new plans would provide a more significant and permanent upgrade to the space at the heart of the village.  The local group has called the square an ‘exciting community project’ and has submitted plans to the council ‘hopefully on the basis of “what’s not to like”,’ according to Elspeth Clements, co-chair of the Highgate Society planning committee. The

If you stroll down Old Compton Street at lunchtime and spot a queue of hungry-looking people snaking down the road, chances are they’re waiting for Noodle Inn’s bowls of biang biang and knife cut noodles. When Noodle Inn launched in September 2024, its bowls piled high with steaming hand-pulled noods quickly went viral. Riding the wave of its early success, it launched a second site in Spitalfields a year later and announced a third site across the river at Battersea Power Station earlier this year. While we’re still waiting for the doors of its site darn saaf to swing open, that’s not stopped the team from moving onto yet another new opening, this time in Covent Garden. ‘Located just a 10 minute walk from our OG branch in Soho, we are opening a brand new location in the heart of Covent Garden at 13 Maiden Lane. This will be our third Noodle Inn location,’ Noodle Inn announced on Instagram in April. The two-floor space, which was formerly home to Gordon Ramsay Street Burger, will have an open kitchen serving up Noodle Inn’s signature hand-pulled noodles and traditional street food starters.  While the exact menu hasn’t been released yet, judging by its existing sites we can expect Chinese-style burgers, pan-fried dumplings and its classic oil spill noodles.  Noodle Inn Covent Garden will open on May 16 at 13 Maiden Lane, WC2E 7NE. Did you see that this viral Korean corndog brand is opening its first south London restaurant? Plus: London’s best gastropub has been crowned by Op

London’s Indian food scene is second to none. From quick curries and streetfood snacks to Michelin-starred meals, the Big Smoke is home to dishes which represent every corner of the subcontinent’s culinary majesty. Just as well, then, that we recently updated Time Out’s guide to the best Indian and South Asian restaurants in the city. And from June, there could be another diner to add to the list. That’s because Haldiram’s is launching a new restaurant next month. If you’ve ever had a craving for gulab jamun, rasgulla or besan ladoo, chances are you’ll have heard of Haldiram’s. Founded in 1937, it’s become India’s largest sweets and snacks brand, available in more than 80 countries around the world.  As well as sweet and salty nibbles, Haldiram’s owns more than 200 restaurants in India and one in Dubai, and its upcoming London opening will be the first UK addition. Opening in June 2026, the Leicester Square restaurant will sit at 19-20 Irving Street next to Jamie’s Italian. The 3,000 square foot site will seat 120 people, with a heated outdoor space offering an additional 20 seats. As for the menu, we can expect dishes like choley bhature, a north Indian chickpea curry served with fried bread pao bhaja, a Mumbai-style vegetable curry and raj kachori, a large, crisp shell with chaat fillings.  Photograph: Haldiram's The brand has also hinted at a pretty extensive chaat selection as well as some ‘infusion’-led desserts which have been designed exclusively for the London venue

If your idea of an ideal afternoon is sitting on the sofa with a steaming cuppa and a packet of biccies practicing the perfect dunk, we have good news. Posh department store Fortnum & Mason is about to debut a 200 square metre wonderland dedicated to disks of crumbly goodness. From May 14 a new ‘biscuitorium’ with 70 flavours of biscuits is taking over the mezzanine level of its Piccadilly store’s ground floor.  We can expect an interactive biscuit library with 12 different flavour profiles, where you’ll be able to select from categories like ‘buttery and traditional’, ‘dark and decadent’ and ‘gluten-free and vegan’. Fortnum’s will be divulging some of its heritage recipes, as well as new flavours, through elaborate displays which tell you everything you need to know about each bic: its flavour profile, diameter, texture, ideal dunking time and the perfect tea pairing.  Photograph: David Goymer Executive pastry chef Roger Pizey – who made a name for himself in the ’90s as the pastry chef at Marco Pierre White’s Harvey’s restaurant when it was awarded three Michelin stars – has whipped up a new ‘Made in Piccadilly’ selection. Oat & Ganache, Eton Mess and Chocolate, Peanuts & Caramel will be among the flavours available at the counter. If that wasn’t decadent enough, also among the many baked wonders will be 400g ‘Whoppalossus’ sharing biscuit. Unsurprisingly, this gargantuan treat – measuring 15.5cm in diameter – will be the biggest biccy ever made by the bougie department s

There are few things more glorious than waking up with a hangover on a Sunday morning only to remember you’ve got a pub lunch booked for 2pm. Time to roll out of bed, put on your comfiest trackies and get some much-needed hair of the dog. And all the better when it’s a top-tier gastropub, with excellent nosh to compliment a tipple. But which London gastropub is the best of the lot? We’ve obviously got our own opinions on the matter here at Time Out, but now reservation platform OpenTable has chipped in with the winners of its inaugural Restaurant Awards. Half of OpenTable’s prizes were chosen by industry experts and half were voted on by the public, with the latter crowning the city’s top gastropub.  And the prize went to (drumroll please)...The Plimsoll in  Finsbury Park. Known far and wide for its iconic Dexter cheeseburger, it’s become a mainstay of north London’s dining scene.  Photograph: OpenTable Chef Ed McIlroy is to thank for The Plimsoll’s culinary creations, having opened the pub in 2021 after a long stint at The Compton Arms with former business partner Jamie Allan. As well as its bona fide banger of a burger, The Plimsoll’s menu features a rotating mix of snacks, small plates and bigger plates. You’ll find everything from fried potatoes with aioli to merguez with mustard and grilled pigeon with mash. Other prizes in OpenTable’s awards were dished out to London’s 26 most ‘iconic’ restaurants – which you can read all about here. All the winners of the OpenTable P

Loyal Sex and the City fans will remember the scene in season three when Carrie tells Miranda she has a crush. She’s talking about Aidan, obvs, which means she’s fiiiiinally over Mr Big (spoiler: not for long). More importantly, you’ll remember the perfect pink cupcake she’s eating when she says it. Now, the bakery behind the iconic sweet treat is coming to the Big Smoke. Yep, call the Samanthas and Charlottes of the friendship group because Magnolia Bakery is popping up at Café Ciel at The OWO. Found in The Grand Courtyard of Raffles London, it’s heading here for three weeks to celebrate RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photograph: Magnolia Bakery From May 19, an outdoor kiosk will be offering a takeaway menu for the sweet-toothed among us. Carrie’s cupcake sadly hasn’t made it across the pond, but instead we can expect Magnolia Bakery's signature Classic Banana Pudding, made with layers of vanilla pudding and wafers topped with fresh bananas. As a nod to trad British fare, the bakery is also cooking up a Sticky Toffee Pud. Plus, Café Ciel will be offering a limited edition dine-in brunch menu inspired by New York featuring banoffee french toast, cinnamon swirl American pancakes, banana pudding affogato and an NYC Bagel.  Photograph: Tom Allport As for the drinks up for grabs, expect the same level of indulgence. Think iced matcha and iced coffee with a heap of banana pudding dolloped on top. Hungry yet? Yeah, us too. The pop-up officially launches on Tuesday May 19 with the kio

E17 locals are practically swimming in good beer. Industrial area-turned-brewery hotspot the Blackhorse Beer Mile just got a new addition from East London Brewing Co, complete with a late licence and indoor and alfresco gig spaces. Plus, the Big Penny Beach Club is back later this month for the summer season. And it’s not just the local brewers that have mastered the art of pouring the perfect pint. That’s because now Soho Theatre Walthamstow has opened its very own brew house.  Budding thespians among us will remember the hype when Soho Theatre finally opened the doors to its Walthamstow outpost in May 2025. Years in the making, the 1,000-seat space, with a capacity three times bigger than its Dean Street venue, has been serving up comedy and theatre ever since. The new Soho Theatre Pub, which soft launched on Friday May 1, sits next door to the 1930s art deco playhouse in the Hoe Street site formerly occupied by The Collab. Photograph: Ray Roberts The Walthamstow pub serves drinks from local beer makers Signature Brew, as well as other London booze brands like Mother’s Ruin, Burnt Faith, East London Brewery and East London Liquor Company. Drinks are currently the only thing on the menu, but once the venue fully opens on May 15, it’ll offer pre-show dining for audiences and a place to grab a bevvie after performances. It’ll also be open on non-show nights, meaning you don’t have to be a thesp to enjoy a drink at the boozer. As for food, well, that will be the domain of Gre

‘Most deprived neighbourhood’ is a prize no town wants, but Jaywick in Essex has been lumped with the title four times. The seaside village near Clacton first received the label in 2010, and its status was reaffirmed in 2015, 2019 and again in 2025.  Jaywick’s status as one of the country’s most down-on-its-luck neighbourhoods remains despite a major regeneration project. The local council launched a consultation in 2023 over plans for a £120 million makeover of the area, which is expected to take 20 years to finish.  But now Jaywick locals have something more immediate to look forward to, as the seaside village is getting its own carnival. Held on Saturday July 18, locals will gather at the Sunspot business centre at midday. A procession, which will start a couple of hours later, will weave its way down Broadway and loop back on to Meadow Way. So, what can we expect from Jaywick Carnival? Well, we’ve been told there’ll be majorettes twirling batons, plenty of food and live music from 3pm. Plus, local pubs, including the Never Say Die, will host live bands and events to take the celebrations into the evening.  Local resident Dannell Dreelan said the carnival’s organisers will use the event to ‘show everyone what Jaywick has to offer’.   Photograph: RMC42 / Shutterstock.com A carnival isn’t the only positive thing that Jaywick has welcomed in recent years. The village has also opened a new covered market and business centre, as well as unveiled a community bike scheme that

One of London’s biggest chefs has announced a new opening on Wandsworth Common this summer. Yep, Adam Byatt – chef-owner of Clapham’s Michelin-starred Trinity, British diner Bistro Union and Brasserie Constance on Fulham Pier – is bringing his knife skills to SW17. Rosina, named after his daughter Rosie, will take over the site which was formerly Brinkley’s Kitchen on the corner of Trinity Road and Bellevue Road – the same stretch that’s home to famed French food spot Chez Bruce. The place itself is a small affair with space for 50 diners indoors and 25 on the terrace. It’ll also be home to a separate bar and a private dining room with its own outdoor space. As for the menu, dishes are still being kept under wraps, but we know that Byatt’s doing something a little different with his new haunt. Announcing Rosina on Instagram, he said: ‘You know me as an English chef who cooks french gastronomy; beautiful, precise food at Trinity which I love dearly. But in all honesty it’s Italian food, it’s Mediterranean flavours, that’s what you’re going to get from me, and Rosina is all about that.’ View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adam Byatt (@adambyatt) We can expect big sharing plates with a spotlight on quality produce from the UK and Italy. Plus, the wine list will be heavy on Italian vino, obvs.  Byatt added: ‘The menu is a tribute to the most well-loved cuisine in the world, and I can’t wait to share it with this London neighbourhood.’ Rosina will