India Lawrence

When it comes to art and exhibitions, London has it all. From the niche spaces, to the avant garde galleries, and the massive crowd-pleasing museums, our city is packed with shows that will perplex, challenge, inspire, educate and leave you feeling awestruck.  The problem is... there’s absolutely tons to see. Too much, you could say. Lucky for you, Time Out exists. For decades, our experts have been visiting and reviewing all the sculpture, painting, performance, photography, history, fashion and other types of exhibitions on offer. You name it, we’ve (probably, most likely) seen it. If you’re wondering what’s actually worth your time, start here. Check out the best museum exhibitions and art in London right now, and be sure to come back weekly for the latest picks. Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox. RECOMMENDED: Best photography exhibitions in LondonBest free exhibitions in London

Even after a couple of vintage years for new music, 2025 has been special. Sure, we didn’t get a clear-cut ‘song of the summer’, but artists have been instead putting out defining works in a longer format. The past 12 (well, 11) months have featured all manner of extraordinary album releases.  Belted-to-the-rafters country pop, plunderphonic majesty, ecstatic dance music, intimate electronic world-building, history-collapsing art rock, triumphant hip-hop… these are just a few of the sounds and styles that have been executed marvellously in 2025. Here are the year’s finest 25 albums, chosen by Time Out editors and contributors.

There are an array of hotels in Dublin to suit all types of tastes and budgets. But Dublin is, quite simply, a very expensive city, up there with the likes of London and Paris, and staying here can cost a pretty penny. But don’t worry – if you know where to look, you’ll find plenty of digs for under €200 a night.  We’ve picked our favourite cheap hotels in Dublin which are on the lower end of the scale but a step up from budget hostels – and still within a short distance to the city’s top things to do, as well its best restaurants. From the oldest hotel in Dublin to modern city-centre spots, here are our favourite budget hotels in the city.  RECOMMENDED: 🏠 The best Airbnbs in Dublin🏨 The best hotels in Dublin How we curate our hotel lists Our team of writers and travel experts review hotels all over the world – new openings, old classics and everything in between – to bring you fresh, honest recommendations, all year round. We have reviewed some of the hotels featured below, but we may not have stayed at every single one. Any we haven’t stayed in have been selected by experts based on their amenities, features, pricing and more. By the way, this article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 📍 Find more places to stay at our ultimate guide to hotels in Dublin

It may only be the start of the festive period, but we are already thinking about festival season 2026. And we can’t wait.  By the time summer rolls around, Londoners will be absolutley spoilt for choice. With something taking place almost every weekend throughout the warmer months, you can forget trekking across the country to live in a field for five days; simply hop on the tube and before you know it you’re listening to your favourite artists, tinny to hand, knowing that there’s a hot shower and a cosy bed waiting for you once the day is over.  The line-up announcements for next year’s events are already coming in thick fast, with huge acts like Tyler, The Creator, Lewis Capaldi, Lorde, Lily Allen, Scissor Sisters and Deftones set to take to the London stage next summer. Plus, the future of events in Brockwell Park was thrown up in the air in 2025, however the south London park’s usual lineup of events – which includes Cross The Tracks, Wide Awake and Field Day – will all return in 2026.  Have a scroll through our comprehensive guide – which we keep meticulously updated with all the latest line-up announcements – and see what takes your fancy. RECOMMENDED: ⛺ The best UK music festivals🌍 The best festivals in Europe

The most important thing about Christmas is here: the festive sandwich. So pure. So dense. So carby. This year, the staff of Time Out London have taste-tested seasonal sarnies from 10 independent bakeries, delis and street food stalls across London in order to find the jolliest Christmas sandwich in town. From vegetarian cheese feasts to meaty marvels and vegan sourdough wedges, these are the very best Christmas sandwiches in London. RECOMMENDED: For more festive fun here’s our guide to the best Christmas markets in London.  And don’t miss the best Christmas events, either. 

As much as Christmas trees, turkey and a mildly overworked Santa have become staples of the festive season, so has the music that soundtracks this cheer-soaked time of year. Christmas songs don’t just endure – many end up becoming the crown jewels of an artist’s entire career. From golden oldies by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Bing Crosby, to ‘80s icons like Wham! and The Pogues, to modern favourites from Ariana Grande and Leona Lewis, these tunes have embedded themselves into our seasonal rituals. What is the best-selling Christmas song of all time? That honour still belongs to Bing Crosby’s 1942 classic ‘White Christmas’. With over 50 million sales, it’s not only the biggest Christmas record in history – it’s the best-selling song of all time, full stop. Guinness World Records first crowned it back in 1955, and it’s held onto the title ever since. What is the most-streamed Christmas song of all time? Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ may trail Crosby in pure sales (a mere 16 million), but streaming has turned it into a seasonal juggernaut. It finally hit No.1 in both the UK and US decades after its release and became the first Christmas song to pass 2 billion Spotify streams. Hot on its heels: Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ (1.83 billion) and Brenda Lee’s ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ (1.27 billion). Are there any new Christmas songs for 2025? The past decade has delivered plenty of modern holiday staples, from Ariana Grande to Sabrina Carpenter to Cher. As

As the nights draw in and the chill sets through the air, there’s no denying it: spooky season has officially arrived. The pumpkins are carved, the costume’s nailed and now there’s just one thing left to summon… a Halloween playlist wicked enough to get even the undead on their feet. Sure, the classic Halloween songs still reign supreme – we’re talking ‘Thriller’, ‘Ghostbusters’ and all the usual heavy-hitters. But lately, a new wave of pop phantoms has emerged to soundtrack your October nights. From Olivia Rodrigo’s ex-boyfriend bleeding her dry, to the enchanting spellwork of Lady Gaga a.k.a Mother Monster herself, with a detour through the slick, otherworldly beats of K-Pop’s most stylish demons – Halloween playlists have, quite literally, come back to life. Our favourite Halloween playlist songs for 2025 at a glance: Most iconic Halloween track: ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson Best new Halloween anthem: ‘Abracadabra’ by Lady Gaga Most dramatic Halloween song: ‘There Will Be Blood’ by Kim Petras Best Halloween anthem with a K-Pop twist: ‘Your Idol’ by Saja Boys Best Halloween track to dance to: ‘Monster Mash’ by Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers RECOMMENDED: 👻 The best Halloween movies of all time 🎤 The best karaoke songs 🎵 The best songs of 2025 so far 🕺 The best albums of 2025 so far

If you boil a sauna down to its nuts and bolts, it’s essentially just a really hot room and some water to create steam with. Wild, then, how much of a positive affect those two simple ingredients can have on our bodies, healing weary muscles, doing wonders for our skin, and helping all the horrible toxins we insist on putting in our insides get back out. Saunas originated back in Finland back in the Middle Ages, where almost every house had one – imagine! In modern London, we’re not all so lucky as to have our own personal spa, but there are a wealth of top saunas around the city. From plunge pools and infrared therapy rooms to Finnish-style homages and ones soundtracked by DJ sets, you’ll find the steam sesh for you in the capital. Check out our video of 10 of the best spas in London: RECOMMENDED:Sauna culture is heating up London’s nightlifeThe best spas in London

We know that London is the best city in the world. But like any metropolis, it can also get a bit much sometimes. Occasionally, what you want isn’t to drink cocktails in a trendy bar after seeing the hottest Gen Z bedroom popstar at the Islington Assembly Hall, but a little peace and quiet, actually. Enter: the weekend getaway, invented by the Victorians (probably), there’s a reason why Londoners have been taking sojourns to the seaside on sunny bank holidays since the 1800s.  Together, we’ve come up with a cracking list of our favourite day trip destinations near London. There’s something for everyone here, from historic cities and cute villages to sandy beaches and rolling countryside. We've included some recommendations for ace restaurants, quaint little pubs, and our favourite things to do at each destination on the list – all of which are close enough to the city that you can get there and back in one sweet day.  Best day trips from London at a glance 🍔 Best for foodies: Margate 🎭 Best for culture lovers: Stratford-Upon-Avon ⛪ Best for history buffs: Canterbury 🛁 Best for families: Bath 🐴 Best for hikers: New Forest 🍺 Best for pub crawls: Lewes 🏖️ Best for seaside fun: Brighton RECOMMENDED:✨The best day trips an hour from London👪 The best family day trips from London☀️ The best weekend trips from London🏘️ The best Airbnbs near London🌳 The best quirky Airbnbs in the UK This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial conte

January might seem like miles away right now – you’ve still got a full season of ice skating, festive markets, and panto-watching to get through. But what is ostensibly to most depressing month of the year will creep up on you before you know it.  However, it isn’t all bad. For one thing, it’s the ideal time to discover London on a budget and without the crowds, while many of city’s very best theatre and musicals, restaurants and bars – ranked definitively by Time Out's crew of expert local editors – offer discounted tickets and cheap meal deals to entice you out of the house during the coldest and darkest days of the year. Believe it or not, but January can also a time for celebration, too. London will once again be playing host to plenty of Burns Night ceilidhs, haggis suppers and poetry readings commemorating Scotland’s most famous poet, plus dinners and parades in celebration of the Lunar New Year, which falls nice and early in 2025, on January 29. If you’re someone who likes to commit to a month of sobriety or a punishing new exercise regime at the start of the New Year, London definitely has your back too. The city is home to countless excellent sports clubs and fitness classes, plus dozens of glorious parks and spectacular walking routes, and there’s arguably nowhere that better caters for the sober and sober-curious. Of course, if you’d rather just settle in by an open fire at one of the city’s cosiest pubs instead, then there’s absolutely no judgement from us! Howeve

You’re probably not even thinking about February right now. There’s still an entire Christmas party season, followed by the inevitable January hibernation to get through. But February will be coming on the horizon sooner than you think, so why not get ahead and start planning now? February’s social calendar is surprisingly busy, with a bunch of important dates packed into its short four weeks including Valentine’s Day, London Fashion Week and LGBTQ+ History Month. It’s also half-term, again. But fear not, there’s plenty to entertain the kids in London this Feb.  And there’s plenty more on besides all that. Seize your chance to have some fun this February, with our guide to the best things happening in London over the month. London’s best things to do in February at a glance: 🛏️Best for art lovers: Tracey Emin, Tate Modern 🎭Best for thespians: Dracula, Noel Coward Theatre  🪄Best for magicians: Abracadabra!, Somerset House 🏉Best for sports fans: Six Nations, various RECOMMENDED:🎨 The best art exhibitions opening in London this February 🎭 The best theatre shows opening in London this February🍽️ The best new London restaurants opening this February🎤 The best gigs happening in London in February😂 The best comedy show to see in London this February

Covent Garden is so rammed with restaurants that decision fatigue can easily threaten the quality of your dinner. Weave through the tourists and theatregoing crowds and you'll discover that this area hosts many of the best restaurants in London, including French-styled Story Cellar, and The Portrait by Richard Corrigan, as well as old faves The Savoy Grill and J Sheekey. We’ve compiled a list of the best in the area, from cutting-edge eateries and classy counter joints to party-ready and casual hangouts, with pre-theatre favourites and cheap eats among them. Think of it as your Covent Garden bucket list. The best restaurants in Covent Garden at a glance: 🍸 Best for old school glamour: J Sheekey 🥦 Best for modern British cookery: Town 🥘 Best for Spanish tapas: Barrafina, Drury Lane and Adelaide Street 🍝 Best for perfect pasta: Bancone 🍛 Best for excellent Indian food: Tandoor Chop House ⌛ Best for a fast feed: Adoh! RECOMMENDED: The absolute best restaurants in Soho. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Are you looking for something fuzzy to warm your heart this Christmastime? Then boy does the National Theatre have the show for you.  Kate Rudd’s seamless production is adapted by playwright Kendall Feaver from the Noel Streatfeild children’s novel of the same name. It follows the story of the three Fossil sisters: Pauline (Nina Casselis), Petrova (Sienna Arif-Knights) and Posy (Scarlett Monahan) who are adopted by the eccentric explorer and palaeontologist Great Uncle Matthew, aka Gum (Justin Salinger). After Gum goes missing on one of his many, many expeditions, the girls are looked after by his steadfastly loyal niece Sylvia, aka Garnie (Anoushka Lucas) and the matronly Miss Guthridge, aka Nana, played by the charming Lesley Nicol with a drawling West Country accent.  Set in the 1930s, the five women live in a tumbledown house filled with fossils on the Cromwell Road in Chelsea, until they realise they are desperately running out of money and assemble a motley crew of lodgers to take up rooms. There’s the stern but kind-hearted English professor Doctor Jakes (Pandora Colin), glamorous dance teacher Theo Dane (Nadine Higgin), and the bumbling car repair man Jai Saran (Raj Bajaj). After being booted out of every state school in the area, the girls are enrolled in the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, where luckily Dane is the teacher. Here they discover their passions for acting, ballet and er… being a mechanic. The whole plot is basically implausible – espec

Field Day tried to get back to its roots in 2025 when it up sticks from its more corporate-feeling Victoria Park set up and went to Brockwell Park. It will return to south London in May, so get it locked in the diary. On the line-up for 2026 is a dependable selection of DJs and producers, with the biggest names including Andy C, Floating Points, Honey Dijon and Joy Orbison. They’ll be joined by Anish Kumar, Interplanetary Criminal, KI/KI, sim0ne, Eliza Rose, Horse Meat Disco and others for a day of non-stop dancing.   

It’s the location that clinched it for me at the Grafton, because staying here, you are quite literally right in the middle of the action. On the corner of Drury Street and Stephen Street, this modern hotel is in the perfect position to stumble straight home after a night on the Guinness (followed by the swift consumption of a spice bag) in town. I was still licking the salt and spices from my fingertips when I rolled into bed feeling sufficiently fed and watered. Fear not though, because despite its proximity to the hubbub, the room is well soundproofed. You can easily escape the hordes of stag dos, after work drinkers and tourists in the tranquility of your room. Plus, you can watch them all below while you sip a cup of tea, swaddled in a fluffy white robe. Regal stuff.  Why stay at the Grafton? First opening in 2019, the Grafton re-emerged from the chrysalis of lockdown in 2021 with a full makeover. The vibe they are going for is very much art deco glam, with a side of Studio 54. In the lobby, glittery pillars have been dressed up like disco balls, while gold accents can be found in furniture and fittings all over the digs. It has an aura of old-school glamour that occasionally verges on the gaudy (personally, I wasn’t a fan of the rooms’ blue and gold carpets). But overall the atmosphere is lively, welcoming and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The bright lobby could easily serve as an all-day hangout or decent place to get a bit of work done – there were often people l

There was a time when being into Wes Anderson made you a proponent of quirky indie cinema. These days, liking his stuff doesn’t make you a cinephile with niche interests, or really even particularly cool. Now firmly in the mainstream, some of Anderson’s recent films are so stylised as to feel like parodies of his own work. And yet, the universe he has created is still just as wonderful as it has ever been. At the Design Museum’s massive exhibition dedicated to the director there is the chance to step into this ever-so-charming and colourful world – if you’re a fan of Anderson’s films, you are going to love it.  Through more than 700 costumes, props, handwritten notes, scripts, storyboards, behind-the-scenes photographs, and more, Wes Anderson: The Archives travels through each of the director’s 12 feature films in chronological order.  Entering the exhibition, the words ‘No Crying’ are stamped above the doorway of a crimson-painted room (all the paint swatches were approved by Anderson himself). Visitors are then greeted with a wall of BTS polaroids, which includes a shirtless Bill Murrary flexing his biceps on the set of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and close ups of a young Jason Schwartzmann. A series of Anderson’s notebooks are laid out showing his ridiculously neat and boxy handwriting. Of course he writes like that.  The Archives shows visitors just how much detail has been poured into each of Anderson’s films: this is the crux of the whole display. We learn about

Sadlers Wells launches its inaugural dance film festival, Dance Digital, in 2026. Held in the Lilian Baylis studio, the three day event will be packed with film screenings, talks, VR/XR installations, networking sessions and mentoring opportunities. The line-up of films is still TBA, but it promises to include the UK premiere of a dance feature film. Sadlers Wells is currently on the lookout for submissions to the festival, with awards to be given out for the following categories: best dance on screen; best documentary / behind the scenes; best film by young artists; best social first film; best cinematography; best dance (choreography, performance). Tickets go on sale in January 2026. 

London’s biggest pop festival returns, and this is going to be a biggie. Like every year, next summer Mighty Hoopla is presenting all of London’s gays and theys with a mighty line-up of nostalgic pop acts, disco-leaning dance music and megastars. The 2026 edition will be headlined by the one and only Lily Allen, who will be performing her searing and brutal new album West End Girl on Saturday, May 30. Allen will be joined by Jessie J, JLS, Horse Meat Disco and Agnes. On Sunday, the Scissor Sisters will bring their legendary show to the Brockwell Park stage. They’re joined on the billing by Perrie, Five, Alexandra Burke and Cascada. 

I have always had a soft spot for hotel bars. To some they may seem stuffy, but not to me. With their polished  interiors, sleek seats and lo-fi music, drinking in them always feels classy and sexy. The cocktails are usually good, they’re not too noisy, or trendy, and you can almost  always get a seat. I have also always wanted to go to Los Angeles, but alas, have never managed to make the trip. At Chet’s Bar I got to fulfill my dream of drinking in a slinky LA hotel bar, without leaving London.  The Hoxton Shepherd’s Bush has been home to Chet’s, from Silverlake-hailing chef Kris Yenbamroong, since 2023. Now they’ve opened Chet’s Bar, an offshoot of the vibrant and addictive Thai eatery, in the same building.  The Thai Sour – fragrant and frothy with banana liqueur – is a beach holiday in a glass Sitting on a dusty pink bar stool, I found the room pleasantly dim-lit, with each table kitted out with its own spaceship-looking lamp. There are also marble and chrome accents and wood panelling. Very nice. As for the crowd, it’s sort of what you’d expect from a hotel in west London – fairly middle-aged, and a decent amount of people who look like they could be business travellers. But that doesn’t mean that Chet’s Bar is boring – the trendy people simply haven’t found it yet.  To sip, you can order Chet’s classics, like the Lychee Martini – sweet and girly with a pleasingly green lychee at the bottom; and the Thai Sour – fragrant and frothy, made with Dewars 12 scotch, Thai spiri

I am staring at a machine that resembles a torture device from the future. A dozen spindly and black robot arms, each with a bright yellow light on its tip, are attached to two parallel black tracks. Suddenly, the machine starts zooming towards me, its arms squirming like a creepy spider.  It sounds like something out of Blade Runner, but the contraption is actually a kinetic robot sculpture, made as a collaboration between Wayne McGregor and art collective Random International. Separately, in a video, I see two dancers eloquently interacting with the apparatus. Simply put, the work explores the relationship between humans and machines, and you can see it for yourself now at Somerset House’s landmark dance exhibition.  Wayne McGregor: Infinite Bodies takes a look at the work of virtuoso choreographer Wayne McGregor – resident choreographer of The Royal Ballet, and the brains behind the ABBA Voyage avatar’s dance moves. Ever since the ’90s, when he created his first choreographic work inspired by robots (Cyborg, 1995), McGregor has been obsessed with the relationship between the body and technology. Over the years, he’s worked with cognitive neuroscientists at Cambridge, developed an AI choreography tool, and put a sci-fi ballet on the Royal Opera House stage. Now, an impressive display of his lofty work has been put on in London for all to see.  It’s a sensory delight; you can feel soundscapes vibrating in your body Walking through the dark space, visitors are taken through

What do an Enigma machine, an Apple AirTag and Lady Mountbatten’s silk underwear all have in common? Well, they’re all currently on display at the British Library’s riveting Secret Maps exhibition. Why are they all together? Because they all tell stories about how information is created, concealed, disseminated and controlled, via mapping. And that’s exactly what Secret Maps is all about.  Through more than 100 items, from hand-drawn naval charts gifted to Henry VIII, to Soviet Cold War-era cartographies, and modern-day satellite tracking technology (TL;DR: a whole lotta maps), the British Library illuminates how maps can be powerful political tools, create communities, and act as a form of protest.  It’s a dense, information-packed display with plenty of granular detail to get stuck into, so if you’re not, like, really into maps, then it may not be for you. But it’s sort of what you’d expect for an exhibition dedicated to maps hosted by the British Library. There are a few fun and interactive elements, too; visitors are invited to peer through secret spy holes, place their phones on a futuristic screen that tells them exactly how the tech overlords are mapping and harvesting their data (gulp), and find Wally in an original drawing from the children’s book.  For £20 you are guaranteed to see a lot of cool old shit The most compelling aspect of the exhibition is its anti-colonialist streak (other London museums could do with taking a leaf out of the British Library’s book). S

Known for her surreal and avante garde haute couture creations – often with striking silhouettes, gilded accents, and unusual appliqués – for the first time in the UK an exhibition will be dedicated to the work and legacy of the groundbreaking fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. The show will trace the origins of the house, from its first, paradigmshifting garments, through to its present-day incarnation in the hands of its creative director Daniel Roseberry, whose contemporary designs worn by the likes of Kylie Jenner and Bella Hadid have seen gowns adorned with faux-taxidermy lion heads, and a lung dress fashioned from a delicate network of golden veins. 

All of London’s hottest and hippest people will head to Peckham Rye Park for one of London’s best electronic music bonanzas in May. GALA will return after its hugely successful 10th anniversary event in 2025. The theme for 2026 has been revealed as The Floor Is Ours, which is a call for community and creative ownership, and wants to take a stand against the growing commercial tide in dance culture. The Friday of Gala tends to lean towards the bassier side of things. In 2026 it will see Benji B take over with Deviation. Also on the bill is Or:La, Mala and Charli xcx’s new hubby, George Daniel. NTS will curate a stage, as well as Dirty Hit’s electronic imprint dh2, and dubstep specialists HVYWGHT. Peach will debut her new Dreamland project on the Saturday with a takeover of the Pleasuredome. She’ll be joined on the line-up by Call Super, Prosumer, Job Jobse and Steffi x Virginia. Other takeovers will be staged by queer party starters Club Are and Berlin radio station Refuge Worldwide. Sunday will go hard on the disco and house, with a rare b2b2b from Hunee, Palms Trax and Antal. Also playing will be CC:DISCO!, Chaos in the CBD and Moxie, who will bring her On Loop party to the festival. 

BST will be back again next summer, bringing some of the world’s biggest pop stars to Hyde Park for its 13th edition. Already announced as headliners for 2026 are Lewis Capaldi, Pit Bull and Garth Brooks, with more to be confirmed. Taking place across weekends in June and July, Hyde Park will host an upmarket festival vibe complete with food, drink and a posh VIP area. Here’s all you need to know about the BST Hyde Park’s 2026 edition.  When is BST Hyde Park 2026? As in previous years, BST Hyde Park takes place over several dates in late June and early July. So far, dates have been announced for Saturday, June 27, Friday, July 10, Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12.  How much are tickets? Tickets typically range in price depending on who’s playing and what kind of access you want. The cheapest general admission tickets cost £99.95 plus booking fee, with VIP tickets costing up to £350.95 plus booking fee. Check the website for the full range of tickets and prices. There are also a number of free community events taking place throughout the weeks as part of the BST Open House series. These usually include things like Wimbledon screenings, an outdoor cinema, outdoor theatre shows, DJ sets and gigs. Who’s on the lineup? Country singer Garth Brooks will headline on June 27. This will be his only European performance in 2026. Pitbull will play on July 10, joined by Kesha, and Lewis Capaldi will headline two shows on July 11 and 12. More acts are to be announced in the future. 

The prestigious restaurant ranking La Liste has just announced its top 1,000 restaurants in the world for 2026. This year a whopping 83 British restaurants made it into the global list, which is not too shabby. But even better is that one English resto was named the second-best in the whole world. Launched in 2015, La Liste compiles thousands of publications, guidebooks and reviews, and combines them with the views of thousands of chefs. The ranking then picks out the world’s 1,000 best restaurants, giving them a score between zero and 100. The winners were announced at a glitzy awards ceremony in Paris on November 24. L’Enclume, a three Michelin-starred restaurant in the Lake District, was named number two on the planet by La Liste. The restaurant, founded in 2002 by chef Simon Rogan, scored a massive 99.0 in this year’s awards. The dining experience at L’Enclume (which is French for ‘anvil’, due to the restaurant being found inside a former blacksmiths) is based around a multi-course seasonal tasting menu that draws heavily on ingredients from Rogan’s own 12-acre farm nearby.  Photograph: L'Enclume This isn’t the first time L’Enclume has been featured on La Liste. In 2023 it was named the best restaurant in the world, scoring 99.5. This year it was beaten by 10 eateries that took the number one spot, all scoring a whopping 99.5 out of 100. Among the world’s best restaurants were Le Bernardin in New York, Gus Savoy in Paris, and Matsukawa in Tokyo.  Out of the 83 British r

We already know that London is a world-class shopping destination. The capital’s shopaholics have access to everything from trendy vintage boutiques, to cutesy stationary shops, and cult homeware destinations.  Now, it’s official: new research has revealed the UK’s top high streets for indie shops, with three London locations on the list.  A study by American Express and GlobalData looked at high streets all over the country, analysing them on the quantity of independent shops, the street’s vibrancy, and its overall aesthetic (think: Instagram friendly) appeal. The study then named the top 10 independent high streets in Britain.  So which London locations are most likely to have shoppers reaching for their credit cards? In the capital, two high streets came in fourth place on the list.  Coal Drops Yard and the nearby Stable Street, both in King’s Cross, took the joint fourth prize. In Coal Drops Yard you’ve got your bougie boutiques like Aesop, Paul Smith and APC, but there are also a heck of a lot of independent shops, selling everything from handcrafted homewares, to dried flowers and reggae records. Stable Street has kiosks that host pop-ups, events and workshops from experimental brands and emerging businesses.   Also featuring on the list was Broadway Market in Hackney, which came in sixth place overall. The compact east London street has had had a traditional fruit and veg market since the 1890s, but these days its better known for being a melting pot for all of London’

Some people might say that London already has more than enough gargantuan office buildings. But the people at JP Morgan Chase would beg to differ, because they’ve just announced plans to build Britain’s biggest ever tower block.  If the idea of 12,000 extra bankers descending on the capital fills you with horror, look away now. Everyone else, read on. The global banking giant has said it wants to build a three million square-foot (280,000 square-metre) skyscraper in Canary Wharf, which would have double the space of Britain's current tallest building, the Shard. With the space for thousands of extra employees it will become the bank’s biggest presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). It will also be the most expensive office building in London, and one of the largest in Europe.  Announced just days after the Budget, JP Morgan Chase claimed the new block would boost the UK’s economy by £1 billion. The design of the building, including its height, is yet to be finalised, however JP Morgan Chase along with architects Foster + Partners have revealed a render of what the jumbo tower could look like (pictured above).  Construction is expected to take place over the next six years, generating 7,800 jobs across construction and other local industries. Its location will be on Riverside South, on land JP Morgan bought in 2008 but then had to suspend any building projects due to the financial crisis.  Chief executive of JP Morgan Chase Jamie Dimon said: ‘London has been a t

In winter, there are few things better than hunkering down with a pint of Guinness in a cosy pub. So why not make a day of it? We’ve recently named our top day trips from London for winter 2025. Londoners have got tonnes of options, from quaint steam train outings to pretty country parks. And here’s another one for your consideration.  We named Rye in East Sussex the third best day trip to take from London this winter. This charming little town has cobbled streets, medieval houses and is absolutely chocka with cute country pubs – you can avoid the cold by spending your day crawling from one fire place-clad boozer to the next. We’ve already planned the perfect bacchanalian outing for you: grab a log-side seat and a Sussex real ale in The George (High Street) before heading to the Globe Inn Marsh (Military Road) for a toasty hour or two with a warming glass of red in hand. As the temperature plummets, trot back into town and pull up a chair beside the ancient Mermaid Inn’s enormous fireplace (Mermaid Street). Fun fact: it comes complete with priest’s hole (no sniggering, please) and is where local smugglers used to hang out in the 1700s. To get there it’s around one hour and 30 minutes by train from London St Pancras International, and around two hours and 30 minutes by car (but don’t drink and drive, please). 12 brrrilliant winter day trips from London.  The world’s best pizza chain has been crowned for 2025 – and it has two restaurants in London. Get the latest and greatest

When it comes to pizza chains, everyone has their favourite. Are you a Pizza Express die hard, collecting all the rewards on the app? Is Franco Manca your go-to? Or are you more of a Pizza Pilgrims person? Wherever your loyalties lie, ’za heads will probably be interested to hear that the world’s top 10 pizza chains have been crowned by the 50 Top Pizza guide. Lucky for us cheese and tomato loving Londoners, four of them have outposts right here in the capital.  Claiming the top spot globally was Da Michele, which was crowned the winner at a ceremony at ExCeL London on Thursday, November 27. The Italian chain – full name L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele – was founded in Naples in 1870; it now has 70 outposts worldwide and two in London, slinging proper Neapolitan pies at Baker Street and Soho (Old Compton St).  Coming in second globally was the Big Mamma Group. The European chain known for its larger than life restaurants with OTT décor has six locations in London: Barbarella, Gloria, Ave Mario, Jacuzzi, Carlotta and Circolo Popolare.  Sixth place in the global ranking went to the British chain Pizza Pilgrims. Founded in London in 2012, the chain new serves Neapolitan pizzas from 10 different London outposts, with restaurants in Shoreditch, Oxford Street and King’s Cross.  Berberè, created by Italian brothers Salvatore and Matteo Aloe, ranked 7th in the world. It’s known for its slow-fermented sourdough bases and has four London outposts in Tottenham Court Road, Marylebone, Kenti

The past five years have not been an easy time for independent music venues in London. The triple whammy of Covid-19, the cost of living crisis, and licensing issues due to noise complaints have caused operating costs to soar and led to clubs and gig venues across London shuttering for good. But things are a-changing. Now, two of London’s most legendary late-night music venues are under new ownership, and they are returning to their independent roots.  XOYO and Camden Assembly have been acquired by the newly formed Propaganda Independent Venues. The new group is formed by the creators of the popular club night Propaganda, an indie music night that takes place all over the UK. At the helm of the company are Propaganda’s founder Dan Ickowitz-Seidler, along with Richard Buck, the founder and former chief executive of TEG, a global live entertainment company that was acquired by Australian firm The MJR Group in 2019.  Now Ickowitz-Seidler and Buck have reclaimed ownership of XOYO and Camden Assembly six years after they were taken on by the international MJR Group, bringing the control of the venues back onto UK soil. Their acquisition also includes XOYO Birmingham, and Tramshed and The Globe in Cardiff.  In a press release, the new nightlife group said they wanted to help XOYO (which has hosted shows from Skepta, Fatboy Slim and Jamie XX in the past) ‘thrive under independent ownership and become a cultural hub for the area, offering opportunities and support to local artists an

Dr Martens has been making iconic shoes since the brand’s first legendary boot was made in the UK in 1960. Selling for just £2 at the time, now Docs, with their signature yellow thread and chunky soles, are instantly recognisable. Sixty-five years later the brand isn’t going anywhere, and Dr Martens has just opened its biggest ever UK flagship in central London.  The renowned shoemaker has just launched its first ‘beacon store’, a huge flagship at 39 Brewer Street in Soho. Set over two floors with 3,400 square-feet of space, this is Dr Martens largest store in Britain to date.   Photograph: TMD.Space Inside, shoppers will be able to cop all the latest DM fashion collaborations, the classic styles and in-store exclusive silhouettes. The store is arranged into different sections: Made in England, a space dedicated to Northamptonshire craftsmanship; The Shed, a rotating pop-up for exclusive collaboration drops; the Icons Wall, reserved for the four OG styles including the 1460 boot, 1461 shoe, 2976 Chelsea Boot and Adrian loafer; and a section dedicated to leather accessories. The shop also features the Alt Craft Bar, where shoe-holics can have their DMs customised or restored or visit the rotating lineup of specialist ‘crafters in residence’.    If all the shopping tires you out, you can visit the Doctors Orders in-store café, which has eats supplied by Dusty Knuckle and Luminary Bakery. The flagship will also feature a programme of creative events and partnerships with diffe

It’s been a long time coming for the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street. After being first announced as a grand plan by London Mayor Sadiq Khan back in 2017, it could be about to become a reality very soon.  Under a new phase of plans, TfL hopes that that delivery of the scheme could start in the second half of 2026. The transport bosses have just launched a consultation into the plans for traffic diversion, which will see buses, taxis and private hire vehicles totally banned from the road. Cycling wouldn’t be allowed under the proposed plans either, but TfL says that it would create new ‘high-quality’ cycle routes through the surrounding area. Cars are already banned from 7am to 7pm from Monday to Saturday. A banning of all vehicles would mean that buses that currently run along Oxford Street would have to be rerouted. According to the proposals, all buses that currently serve Oxford Street would be redirected along Wigmore Street and Henrietta Place. Sixteen routes could have to be altered, including bus routes 7, 94 and 98. Buses that only use sections of the street will also have to change their routes slightly. They are the 22 and N22 from Putney Common, the 73 and N73 from Stoke Newington and the N15 from Romford Market. TfL said that the difference in journey times would be ‘less than a minute’. Sadiq Khan said: ‘These new proposals map out the potential next steps with Transport for London to make our vision of a thriving, greener Oxford Street a reality. I encourage

Flying is expensive enough, so it’s an extra pain on top of that when you have to fork out 25 big ones just to catch the train to the airport. And that’s just one way. To that we say: no more! Because a new (cheaper) transport service is expanding its services to one of London’s busiest airports.  National Express has announced it will significantly increase its number of services from the centre of London to Stansted Airport. From December 8, National Express will launch a new timetable with more than 300 daily journeys between the capital and the Essex airport. The key changes to the service include more journeys from Liverpool Street, with the number of daily departures increasing from 49 to 86 journeys a day, providing up to four services an hour. Bethnal Green will be introduced as a stop location and services from Canary Wharf will increase from 22 to 35 per day. Tickets cost £11 for one way and the journey takes around 45 minutes.  RECOMMENDED: Why is there a campaign to shut down the Gatwick Express? Ed Rickard, Network Director for National Express, said: ‘Londoners want airport travel that’s simple, reliable and doesn’t break the bank, and we are delivering exactly that. We already operate more services to Stansted than any other coach operator, and this enhanced timetable gives travellers more choice, value and convenience, even during the busiest time of the year. ‘Demand for tickets is high ahead of the peak Christmas travel period, so we’re advising customers t

For a long time London’s Docklands were industrial and barren, occupied mainly by factories, tower blocks and the odd nightclub (see: The Cause). But that’s all about to change.  A vast housing development is going to be built along the Thames opposite the O2 (pictured above), with more than 5,000 new homes. It’s being partly funded by Dubai-based firm Arada, which has paid £225 million to buy an 80 percent stake in the Thameside West waterfront scheme that will be built at the western end of the Royal Docks. The £2.5 billion project originally received planning permission from Newham Council in 2021. With the new funding from Arada, construction is expected to begin in 2027. The first phase, delivering 1,000 homes, could be complete by 2029, with the entire development finished by 2037.  At 47 acres, the Thameside West development will be one of Europe’s biggest new regeneration areas, spanning over around 30 towers up to 25 storeys high. It’s expected that 35 percent of housing will be affordable.  Half of the land will be reserved for green spaces, including one kilometre of ‘active waterfront’, while around 10 percent will be dedicated to food, drink and retail. Arada will bring some of its owned brands to open in the first phase including a restaurant called Tashas, an Australian coffee shop called Reformatory Lab, and an Australian cookie concept Brooki’s. The north London road that is officially one of the coolest streets in the world for 2025.  Flat Iron is opening a

It’s understandable that when it comes to getting an education for their kids, parents want the best. So that’s why Savills has come to help. The estate agent has published a study of the areas in England with the highest-performing state schools. And the top spot is in London.  Using data from the Department for Education, the researchers evaluated average academic achievement at Key Stage 2 (KS2) and Key Stage 4 (GCSE level) for pupils in each parliamentary constituency to come up with a country-wide ranking for the areas with the top schools. To assess overall school quality in each area, researchers considered the proportion of schools ranking in the top 20 percent nationally, offset by those in the bottom 20 percent. Children growing up in the well-to-do neighbourhood of Richmond Park are in luck, because they are going to be getting access to a top class state education. According to Savills, the leafy southwest London borough is England’s best location for high-performing government-funded schools.  Looking at the results, affluence of the neighbourhood shows a clear impact on the quality of the schools in the area. The average house price in Richmond Park is an eye-watering £1,016,265, so if you want to send your kids to school there you better get saving.  Sutton and Cheam, also in London with an average house price of £518,988, came in second place in the national ranking. Sixty-eight percent of the areas with the best performing schools in the area were in London o

London has been through some serious change in its lifetime. Founded by the Romans in 43 AD, the capital’s 2,000 year history has seen the city go through plagues, fires, industrialisation, the Blitz, and the tech boom.  Now a new photo book has revealed London’s lost and secret histories. To be published on November 23, Panoramas of Lost London: Work, Wealth, Poverty and Change 1870-1945, features more than 300 black and white photos, 60 of which have never been seen before, showing London in the 19th and 20th centuries.   Photograph: Historic England ArchiveSt Paul’s Cathedral, 1942 Panoramas of Lost London depicts a city that Londoners of today may not recognise. It features photographs including 17th-century wooden weatherboard buildings, which were still common in early 1900s London; 18th-century cottages still inhabited in Elephant & Castle; the building of Tower Bridge in 1883; and Covent Garden in 1925, when it was still a busy fruit and flower market. Photograph: Historic England Archive6-7 Nile Street, Woolwich, c. 1900 The collection also shows how everyday Londoners lived, revealing the inside of houses of Mare Street, and shoppers on Oxford Street. It includes portraits of Victorian and Edwardian Londoners: blacksmiths, butchers, bookmakers, shopkeepers, seamstresses, pharmacists, chimney sweeps, mothers and their children. Photograph: Historic England ArchiveMare Street, Hackney, 1904 The photos span a tumultuous time full of change in the capital: from th