India Lawrence

November is looking like an exciting month for dance in London.  As the longer nights roll in and the post-clock-change despair starts to take hold, an evening of watching incredibly lean athletes prance around a stage in tights could be just what Londoners need to lift their dampened, wintery spirits. So it’s good news then that perhaps the most jovial ballet of all time, La Fill mal gardée is on the Royal Opera House stage this month.  Elsewhere, there are cracking productions from Nederlands Dans Theater, Sharon Eyal, and a Flamenco-inspired cabaret to look forward to.  This is the best dance in London this November.  India is in charge of dance listings at Time Out. She was first shoved into a leotard and ballet shoes aged four, and has loved it ever since. Nowadays India prefers contemporary (or dancing in a sweaty club) to ballet, but still has a soft spot for the odd grand jeté every now and again. India has been reviewing dance in London since joining Time Out in 2022.  MORE STAGE: Dance classes in London Best theatre shows this yearBest theatre shows this monthBest comedy shows this month

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

September 2025: Our latest update includes everything from udon noodle bowls and South Indian platters to Hong Kong toasted buns, as well as morning mezze and classic croissants. Of course, it wouldn't be a list of the best breakfasts in London without an appearance from Dishoom's bacon naan, so that's here too, as is old school East End hangout E Pellicci - one of the best classic caffs in London.  London's best breakfasts at a glance: 🌯 Best for a burrito: Bad Manners, Shoreditch 😎 Best for celeb-spotting: The Wolseley, Mayfair 🥓 Best for a fry-up: E Pellicci, Bethnal Green 🍛 Best for a South Indian feast: The Tamil Prince, Barnsbury 🍞 Best for Hong Kong-style french toast: Hoko Cafe, Brick Lane 🍱 Best for Japanese brekkie: Ikoi, Kings Cross Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and luckily for London, the city caters to every possible whim. These days, London isn’t just home to the fry-up, but the ubiquitous smashed avocado on toast, bowls of shakshuka and many more besides. In fact, London genuinely might be the best place to eat breakfast in the world. Whether you’re the kind of person who favours a posh restaurant over a greasy spoon, or who champions a caff over a swanky hotel, we’ve rounded up the ultimate list.  RECOMMENDED: Breakfast’s a little too early for you? Try one of London’s best brunches instead. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. The hottest new openings,

It will come as no surprise that Amsterdam is overrun with exceptional places to stay. And we mean every kind: 18th-century canalside mansions, converted bridge keepers’ houses, luxury historic hotels that have hosted royal weddings – the lot. But that isn’t to say that every stay here will blow the budget – there are plenty of affordable options in Amsterdam too, if you know where to look. On our list, we’ve made sure to include a bit of everything, all individually reviewed and rated by Time Out’s very own travel experts. Read on for five-star luxury, budget boutiques and everything in between.  What is the best neighbourhood to stay in Amsterdam?  There isn’t necessarily one answer to this, as each of Amsterdam’s districts offer something totally unique. If it’s your first time in the city, Centrum offers touristy experiences and classic Amsterdam views for days. For something more off-grid (and often more affordable), you’re best off catching the free ferry to Noord, Amsterdam’s creative warehouse district. But for a reliable all-rounder? We love hipster haven Oost, where you’ll find many of the city’s coolest bars, restaurants and hotels. For more, check out our full area guide.  🏘️ Looking for even more options? Check out our guide to Amsterdam’s best Airbnbs Amsterdam’s best hotels at a glance 👑 Best overall: The July - Boat & Co 🕰️ Best historical stay: Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam 💸 Best budget stay: Yotel Amsterdam 🍴 Best for foodies: The Hoxton, Lloyd A

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 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.

Peckham locals have always been proud of the area’s brand: a melting pot of cultural vibrancy, eccentric individuals, and an artsy, young DIY crowd thanks to nearby Goldsmiths University and Camberwell College of Arts. It rivals Dalston and all those other East End upstarts as the place to hang out, and it’s the perfect spot for new restaurants to find their feet. Here are some of the best in the area, as well as a host of notable places to eat just down the road in Camberwell, too.  RECOMMENDED: The best 50 restaurants in London. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

There has been all sorts of talk about the death of London’s nightlife. We won’t lie, it’s been sad to hear about the upcoming closures of legendary clubs like Corsica Studios and G-A-Y. However, London’s late-night scene is resilient. It will never die, only evolve. And lets not forget that the Big Smoke is still home to some absolute world-leading clubs where you can go for a proper dance. I’m talking smoke, strobe lights and an absolute stomper of a sound system. I promise you, it’s good for the soul. London’s best clubs at a glance: 🎸Best club for live music: Moth Club 🪩Best intimate club: The Carpet Shop 🏳️‍🌈Best LGBTQ+ club: Dalston Superstore   ⛓️Best techno club: FOLD  💅Best bougie club: The Box Since I moved to London, I’ve been making my way around the city’s many dancefloors, and I like to think that by now I know a thing or two about what separates an average club from a venue which will have you itching to come back week after week. From Sunday day raves at FOLD to secret line-ups at Venue MOT and no-nonsense pop nights at Moth Club, we are home to some absolutely banging nights out in this city. You just need to know where to look. That said, the best thing about going out in London is the sheer variety on offer. You can go to a huge daytime party at Drumsheds with international superstar DJs then head to an underground warehouse party in the Docklands the very same weekend. You can try your best to master Northern Soul footwork, sing your heart out to so

    While the post-Halloween party hangover might be enough to have you frightened well past Bonfire Night, sometimes what you want for Halloween is to be scared properly silly.   From classic themepark fright nights, to creepy immersive dining experiences, and real-life ghost tours, these frankly terrifying experiences will have you jumping out of your skin, crying for your mum and even questioning your sanity. For the scaredy cats among you, no worries, because there are also a few toned down options in the mix. Think of those as the spooky-lite Halloween events.   So, guys and ghouls, from family-friendly to spine-chilling events that really, really aren’t for the faint hearted, these are the best Halloween events happening across the UK this year.  RECOMMENDED: The most haunted places in the UKThe UK’s spookiest ghost townsEerily beautiful graveyards to visit

Summer is over. And while the remainder of 2025 in London will still see a few great day festivals take place, including Pitchfork and London Jazz Festival, we already can’t wait for festival season 2026.  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 lineup announcements for next year’s events are already starting to come in, with huge acts like Tyler, The Creator, Lewis Capaldi and Pitbull 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

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

We know that Londoners love to dress in hiking gear: you can’t move in east London without rubbing shoulders with a sentient Arc’teryx jacket, or stomping on a pair of fresh Salomon trainers. But how much of it has ever actually seen a muddy trail? Take your most practical clothes on a trek to remember by going on a big walk, followed by a relaxing sesh in a traditional pub that definitely won't do small plates. Yep, there are plenty of pretty walking routes in London. But there's a lot to be said for escaping the hustle, bustle and ubiquitous Lime bikes by heading out into the true countryside. There are so many stunning bits of scenery to explore, just a short train, car or bus ride from the Big Smoke.  From a bluebell-laden amble through Epping Forest, to a bracing walk along the Seven Sisters cliffs, there’s loads to choose from. So pop on your XT6s and head to one of these wonderful hikes near London. Best walks near London at a glance Best for serious hikers: The Seven Sisters and the Eastern Downs Best for kids: Epping Forest’s Oak Trail Best for easy ambling: The Kentish Coast  Best for picnic spots: Chess Valley in the Chilterns Best for wildlife spotting: Goring Gap and the Thames Path RECOMMENDED: The best walks in and around LondonThe best forests in London for woodland walksThe prettiest walks in London

The smog and stress of London can really take its toll on your skin. That’s why there’s nothing better than a regular facial (or a one-off treat) to give you that much-needed top-up, leaving you feeling glowing, fresh-faced and dewy.  Just thinking about what we put our skin through is enough to give you frown lines. That’s thanks to the combined efforts of pollution and air-conditioned offices, as well as the added bonuses of harsh weather, booze, sun exposure, dehydration and – our least favourite – the inevitable passing of time. Happily, there are loads of great spas, treatment rooms and estheticians in London who can give your face a break and a much-needed zhuzh. Whether you’re after a relaxing, soothing facial massage, some instant radiance, a total skincare overhaul or something a little more intense such as microneedling or laser treatment, read our pick of facials in London.  RECOMMENDED: The best spas in London. 

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. 

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. 

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 on May 23 2026, so get it locked in the diary. Acts are still TBA, but expect many of the best electronic producers and DJs for a day of non-stop dancing.     

Since launching in 2019, Cross the Tracks has firmly made its name for itself as London’s go-to festival for funk, jazz, RnB and hip hop heads. Its groove-heavy curation leads to a laid-back and open-arms atmosphere, which means you’ll find all sorts of people of having a boogie at the one-dayer.  When is Cross the Tracks 2026? Cross the Tracks is taking place in its usual slot on Sunday May 24, in Brockwell Park. How much are tickets? Next year’s ticket prices haven’t been revealed yet, but in 2025 General Admission started at £54.50 + booking fee, while VIP tickets were from £89 + booking fee. What’s the Cross the Tracks 2026 line up? The acts for 2026 are still to be announced, but previous iterations have been headlined by the likes of Michael Kiwanuka, Ezra Collective, BADBADNOTGOOD and En Vogue.  Find more London music festivals here!

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. Acts are still TBA, but previous years have seen the likes of Caribou, Avalon Emerson and Joy Orbison headline. 

To the layperson, high-fashion shows can be a source of confusion. Why would anyone spend thousands on a dress constructed entirely of razor blades, or a pair of decrepit shoes that have been deliberately sullied or even torched? Well, because sometimes creating unwearable garments is actually the point, thank you very much. And that’s exactly what the Barbican’s latest fashion exhibition illustrates.  From the controversial £1,400 Balenciaga destroyed trainers, to Jordanluca’s pee-soaked jeans, and dresses that have been pulled out of bogs, Dirty Looks peers at the muckier side of fashion design. Don’t expect immaculate gowns displayed solemnly in glass cases. This isn’t a historical look at haute couture, or a glossy advert for a fashion house concealed inside a gallery show. The exhibition, featuring more than 120 garments from designers including Maison Margiela, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Issey Miyake, takes a clever thematic approach to the philosophy of dirt within fashion, showing how ideas around industrialisation, colonisation, the body, and waste, can be illustrated on the runway.  One particularly icky room is dedicated to bodily fluids, showing artificially sweat and period-stained garb, others to food stains, pieces made with rubbish and to trompe l’oeil faux-grimy clothing.Stand-out pieces include a torn and muddy lace dress from Alexander McQueen’s controversial ‘Highland Rape’ collection, a creepy Miss Havisham-esque Comme des Garçons anti-weddi

You could say that Marie Antoinette was the original celebrity. The last Queen of France worked with personal stylists, had her barnet done by celebrity hairdressers, and set the agenda for the fashion of the day. She had her own personal brand – an elegant ‘MA’ monogram – which she plastered all over her jewellery, furniture, belongings, and even most intimate toiletries. Like many celebs today, the queen’s dodgy reputation, founded on obscene rumours of debauchery, promiscuity and gorging on cake, was created by tabloid sensationalism. So it’s only fitting that a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the style of the world’s most fashionable and infamous monarch should be just as fabulous, bold, sparkly and, at times, salacious. Featuring 250 objects, including loans from Versailles that have never been exhibited outside of France before now, Marie Antoinette Style takes visitors on a journey through the ill-fated queen’s forward-thinking wardrobe, dizzyingly elaborate jewellery, lavish interiors, huge hairstyles and enduring influence on fashion and art today. Alongside the myriad guffaw-inducing riches on display (a replica of the most expensive necklace ever made in France is particularly astonishing), mysteries surrounding the queen are confidently dispelled. Did she really say, ‘Let them eat cake’? (No.) Was the coupette glass actually modelled on her breast? (No, but a very realistic porcelain ‘breast bowl’ commissioned by Antoinette is on display.) What appears is a

What is it? The V&A East Storehouse is perhaps London’s best new museum, found in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Inside, you will find rows and rows of steel shelves, filled with treasures that make up the V&A’s vast archive, that is now on display for all the see.  Purpose-built to house more than 1,000 archives from the museum’s collection, comprising more than 250,000 objects and 350,000 books, the storehouse promises to offer a peek behind the scenes to show how a working museum goes about cataloguing artefacts, from vintage footie kits and Glastonbury festival ephemera to a collection of samurai swords.  It is a ‘working museum’, meaning it doesn’t have permanent displays (it doesn’t really have proper displays at all, just shelves), and every one of its objects is free to be moved around by the people at work behind the scenes at any time. Why go? This is a genuinely radical new museum offering, and it could just change the way we think about viewing artefacts forever. There are no lengthy gallery texts, instead just library-like barcodes and the odd QR code, meaning it’s all down to your own interpretation. The randomness is part of the fun, and the objects get to speak for themselves.  What’s the deal with the David Bowie Centre? The David Bowie Centre, which opened in 2025, is a massive archive of more than 90,000 objects related to the music icon. It’s free but you need to book. In it there’s a small but high quality exhibition made up on objects from t

The Curve gallery will be transformed with a kinetic light sculpture by Northern American video artist Lucy Raven. Ispired by rotating objects that use centrifugal force, Raven’s sculpture spins an electronic arm, sweeping light around an aluminium and concrete enclosure. Also on show will be her film Murderers Bar, which is the final part of her series The Drumfire. Through four moving images, Raven captures the the biggest dam removal and river restoration project in US history. A landscape in flux, videos show how the dam, the immense reservoir behind it, and the river now coursing through both, are transformed. Both works are a meditation on the cyclical violence, and unrelenting force, that were used in the formation of the Western United States.   

Everybody loves David Hockney. So it’s good news, because more colourful works from the fellow who can’t seem to stop making art will be going on display in London in 2026, this time at the Serpentine North, as the gallery welcomes its first ever Hockney exhibition. Featuring many of his iPad drawings created during lockdown, number of the artist’s recent works will be show, including ‘Moon Room’ which reflects his lifelong interest in the cycle of light and time passing, and ‘A Year in Normandy’, a ninety-metre-long frieze, inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, showing the change of seasons at the artist’s former studio in Normandy.   

This summer, history was made when DJs played at the Royal Naval College for the first time at the Labyrinth on the Thames music festival. In 2026 the festival isn’t only coming back to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it could massively increase in size.  The dance and electronic festival took place during the first two weekends of August this year, with DJs Black Coffee, Solomun and Fisher blasting out house and techno sets to thousands of punters in the historic surroundings. Band Empire of the Sun headlined too, with a live set. The 2025 series saw six sold-out shows, each with a capacity of 10,000. In 2026 Labyrinth wants to increase its number of shows by 50 percent, from six to nine.  Starting out as a club night in Notting Hill in 2017, Labyrinth threw its inaugural festival in the historic digs in 2025. However it wasn’t the first time Greenwich’s Royal Naval College has hosted concerts. The Greenwich Summer Sessions festival has been held at the site since 2011, however Trinity Laban, the music and dance college based on the campus, tried to get its licence cancelled in 2023 after complaining that noise from sound checks was disturbing the students.  For 2025 and future events a rule was imposed that Trinity Laban and the University of Greenwich would have to be consulted about the dates of the events. Local councillors will consider Labyrinth’s proposal at a licensing sub-committee hearing on November 12.  Little Simz is headlining London day festival Cross the

It’s almost Remembrance Day, and TfL – as the organisation now does every year – will be decorating London’s transport with poppies to commemorate the occasion.  In 2025, tube roundels will be decorated with a white and red poppy pattern in time for Remembrance Sunday (November 9) and Armistice Day (November 11).  Poppy roundels first appeared across the TfL network in 2018, and have been a fixture of remembrance in the capital every year since. You'll also see TfL tubes, trains, trams and buses 'wearing' poppies over the next couple of weeks. And the IFS Cloud Cable Car once again features commemorative design poppy illustrations too. Eight poppy buses will across different TfL routes until November 16. The poppies are applied to tube roundels as a vinyl sticker.  Want to see them for yourself? Here’s the full list of stations where you can spot a poppy roundel for Remembrance Day in 2025.  Every Underground and Overground station with a poppy roundel in 2025 Baker Street Balham Bethnal Green Bounds Green Canary Wharf Hackney Downs Hatch End Hoxton King’s Cross St Pancras London Bridge Shepherd’s Bush South Tottenham Tower Hill Westminster Bus stations with poppy roundels in 2025 Hammersmith Harrow Kingston Turnpike Lane Vauxhall Victoria Coach Station  When the Santa Steam Express Christmas vintage train returns to London for 2025.  London is getting the world premiere of a new musical based on the cult movie ‘Pride’.  Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke –

London foodies, assemble. The best pubs in London for 2025/26 have been crowned by the Good Food Guide.  When it comes to the Good Food Guide, the GFG is not talking about sticky-carpeted boozers with a karaoke machine in the corner (although London has a lot of great ones like that too), the guide is talking about the best pubs for food. Small plates, wood-fired concepts, nose-to-tail dining, posh Indian food – that sort of stuff.   So if you’re looking for London’s top gastropubs, read on. Below is every London pub that ranked in the Good Food Guide 2025/26’s list of the best pubs in Britain.  The 12 best pubs in London, according to the Good Food Guide The Pelican, Notting Hill  Pelican This very fancy west London gastropub ranked 7th in the UK. It serves a high-end chop house menu with dishes such as the St John-inspired bone marrow and parsley, as well as beef and Guinness pie. Read more about The Pelican, the highest-ranked pub in the GFG list, here.  The Eagle, Clerkenwell Photograph: The Eagle Opened in 1991, the Eagle is widely credited with launching the food-in-pubs revolution. It’s still going strong today, ranking 11th in the UK. The Kerfield Arms, Camberwell This foodie spot in Camberwell – the coolest neighbourhood in London in 2025 – is known for fried pizza dough and Yorkshire hogget, and it ranked 14th in the UK.  The Parakeet, Kentish Town Photograph: The Parakeet North London gastropub The Parakeet came 22nd in the UK. Time Out rates this spot in an

By now, Londoners are used to seeing the 12.5 percent service charge tacked on to the end of most restaurant bills. But what about an ‘admin fee’? There’s been a reported rise in restaurants in the capital switching out their service charge for an admin fee – still 12.5 percent – that allows the eateries to circumvent new laws that require 100 percent of tips to be given to staff.  Reported by London Centric, restaurants including L’Antica Pizzeria – which has branches in Hampstead and High Barnet – have introduced the new charge, the wording of which suggests they won’t have to give tips to staff. According to London Centric, a waiter at the pizza joint said the admin fee was to ‘cover the cost of the card machine and general restaurant costs’. ‘No matter what senior management call it, customers will assume that this charge is a tip that should go to workers but it won’t’ Bryan Simpson, hospitality lead at Unite union, told London Centric. ‘That is completely disingenuous and almost certainly a breach of the Fair Tips Act, at least in spirit if not the letter of the law.’ The admin fee isn’t the first example of a restaurant trying to squeeze extra money from its customers. The now closed dim sum chain Ping Pong started charging diners a ‘brand charge’ in 2024 just as the new tipping laws came in, while high-end eateries including the Wolseley, Sexy Fish and J Sheekey all have a £2 per person cover charge. One London resto – Bacchanalia in Mayfair – even charges an ‘ambienc

Any trendy person worth their salt in London will know about Goodhood. For 18 years the east London store has been stocking the coolest of clothes – from streetwear to rare Japanese designers.  Last year the shop closed the doors to its store on Curtain Road for good. But hipsters rejoice! Because Goodhood is back, and it’s just opened its biggest ever store on Hanbury Street in Shoreditch. The lifestyle and clothing shop has unveiled its new 5,500 square-foot space, which is made up of a variety of curated installations and displays. Enough to make any fan of Scandi homeware swoon are the installations from the minimalist Danish design house HAY and Swedish audio innovators Teenage Engineering. For the sneakerheads, Goodhood has had a custom-built footwear area installed selling every shoe brand under the sun, from Salomon to Clarks Originals. Then there’s the floor-to-ceiling T-shirt wall, stocking brands including Stüssy, Aries and Extra Vitamins. The new shop also sells Goodhood’s own brand, Goodhood Lifestore, which makes everything from bar soap, to matcha whisks.  Photograph: Goodhood The new store’s modern design features concrete floors, white brick walls and plenty of glass and metal.  ‘Expanding an independent retail store today is not only about growing a business, it’s about keeping creativity and community alive. The last few years have been incredibly tough for small retailers, Goodhood included, and it’s harder than ever to stay independent,’ said Goodhood c

Over the past few years many UK destinations have introduced measures to help cope with overtourism, from tourist taxes in Edinburgh and Manchester, to some places even banning holiday lets. Soon, the islands of Orkney could introduce a £5 visitors’ entry fee to help mitigate overcrowding in the remote Scottish location.  The archipelago is Britain’s most visited spot for cruise ships, as thousands of tourists from Germany, Italy, America and England visit every year to see its rugged beauty, neolithic sites and medieval cathedral. It’s thought that Orkney hosts around 450,000 visitors a year, 20 times the local population of 22,000. However, the small and remote islands don’t have the infrastructure to cope with the volume of tourists.  Now local authorities are calling on the Scottish government to introduce a visitors’ entrance levy to the isles. Orkney Islands Council and Shetland and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles council) have asked the government to create new legislation that would see the fee added to cruise, ferry and plane fares to the archipelago.  Photograph: Shutterstock Martin Fleet, chair of Destination Orkney, calculated that a flat rate £5 charge for every visitor could raise around £2 million a year, which could go towards building new toilets, coach parks and paths for tourists to use.  ‘Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles, which have small population numbers, have incredible sites which people want to come and see, but we’ve got to make sure th

Gen Zers are starting to romanticise CDs, iPods and wired headphones. Feel old yet? But it’s good news for those who want to be down with the kids, because after making its grand return to the high street in 2023, HMV is continuing its UK expansion. The music emporium bosses have announced that HMV is coming to Peterborough later this year.  Founded in 1921, HMV made a tearful departure from the UK high street in 2019. However, the brand has slowly been regrowing its presence in Britain, Ireland and Europe over the past couple of years.  The Peterborough branch is set to open in Queensgate Shopping Centre before the end of 2025, stocking the latest music releases on CD and vinyl, as well as DVDs, Blu-Rays, books and merch.  The retailer also plans to open physical stores in Cork in Ireland and The Hague in the Netherlands.  HMV managing director Phil Halliday said: ‘We’re constantly striving to create new homes for communities of fans to come together and share their love of music and popular culture. That’s why we’re so thrilled that, after five years of working on a deal, we’re finally able to open a new store in Peterborough and meet the strong public demand.’ He added: ‘We plan to continue focusing on opening stores in Ireland and across mainland Europe as our main targets for expansion, where it currently makes more sense to do so from a business point of view.’ Halliday had previously said that HMV planned to open 10 stores in Britain in 2025, but the expansion had to b

Plans to build a new neighbourhood in Southall have been revealed. Property developers Berkeley have unveiled proposals to create a 1,200-home district in the west London area, as the capital continues to expand along the Elizabeth line.  Called Quarter Yards, the new 9-acre development will have 1,273 new homes and more than 105,000-square-feet of commercial space. It’s part of a billion-pound regeneration of Southall and an 88-acre new town called the Green Quarter.  The first block in the new neighbourhood is going to be called Brickfields, featuring 59 ‘Manhattan-style’ studio flats and one, two and three-bedroom apartments. The homes will have open-play layouts, modern décor and private balconies. Residents in the bougie block will also have access to a botanical garden, communal lounge and co-working space, two private cinemas, a virtual golf suite (because everyone needs one of those), children’s playroom and a wellness area with a gym and studio, pool, sauna and steam room. Berkeley did not specify if any of the new homes built would be classed as affordable.  Image: Berkeley Group The new neighbourhood will also be home to a new town centre filled with shops, cafés, restaurants and flexible workspaces.  Quarter Yards will be right next to Southall Station, from which residents will be able get people into central London in 15 minutes on the Elizabeth line. Heathrow Airport will be 10 minutes away in the other direction.  The new spot is one of four neighbourhoods p

It’s nearly Bonfire Night, but before you go planning a fireworks display Guy Fawkes would die for, there are a few things you need to know first.  Namely, pyromaniacs will need to be aware that fireworks are actually banned from a certain time at night in the UK, meaning you can’t be setting off whizz bangs and Catherine wheels willy nilly throughout the night.  Giving a little bit of leeway for celebrations, the fireworks laws for November 5 are slightly different from the rest of the year. Here’s everything you need to know if you want to stage a legal firework display this year.  What time are fireworks banned on Bonfire Night? On Guy Fawkes night it is illegal to set off fireworks between midnight and 7pm.  What are the normal rules for fireworks in the UK? (non-Bonfire Night) For the rest of the year, fireworks are illegal in Britain after 11pm. That means that on November 5 Brits will have an extra hour to enjoy festive explosives.  The best Bonfire Night displays in London London certainly isn’t short on spectacular Guy Fawkes displays – here are some of Time Out’s favourites. 1. Alexandra Palace Fireworks and Drone Festival One of London’s biggest, baddest displays is, this year, also one of the spookiest. Ally Pally’s 2025 show takes place on Halloween weekend (Oct 31-Nov 1). 2. Blackheath Fireworks This year Blackheath’s beloved display is back for the first time since 2019. Lewisham Council has teamed up with Slammin Events (the company behind Ally Pally's display

Bond Street is about to get lit (sorry). If you’re a Christmas obsessive, set your alarm, because the bougie shopping destination has revealed when it will be turning on its festive lights for 2025. If you’re organised enough, you could hit up all of central London’s major displays in one go, including, Covent Garden, Carnaby, and Regent Street.  The year, Bond Street’s brilliant display will feature 93,000 LEDs inspired by the crown jewels. Think crowns, jewels, and lots of sparkles. The energy-efficient bulbs are crafted from recyclable, long-life materials, reducing energy consumption by 75 percent compared to previous installations. The festive celebration will also see the return of the Ralph Lauren giving tree. The five-metre-tall Nordmann fir will be located outside Ralph Lauren’s flagship store at 1 New Bond Street, where donations will be going towards the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity Shops including Cartier, Gucci and Rolex will also reveal their Christmas window displays.  RECOMMENDED: The best Christmas lights displays in London. What date will Bond Street’s Christmas lights turn on? Bond Street will switch its lights on on Wednesday, November 12.  RECOMMENDED: The best Christmas markets and festive fairs in London. Plus: When every major London Christmas market returns for 2025. 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

Missed out in seeing Rachel Zegler doing her for-the-people balcony performance in Evita? No worries, because the star is returning to the West End in 2026, for a very limited run. And she’s going to be joined by the triple-threat Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award-winner Ben Platt.  The musical superstars are coming to the Big Smoke for a limited run of Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, which tells the story of couple Cathy and Jamie from first meeting to their inevitable breakup (don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler). The cult musical will be on for one week only at the London Palladium, from Tuesday, March 24 to Sunday, March 29 2026, as it celebrates 25 years since its first performance in Chicago.  After premiering in 2001, The Last Five Years transferred to Off-Broadway in 2002, before being made into a film starring Anna Kendrick in 2014. It was last shown in London in 2021, with a four-week run at the Garrick Theatre.  The 2026 show will be presented by Lambert Jackson production company, with musical direction by Leo Munby, and Emma Butler as associate director. Jamie Lambert said of Lambert Jackson said: ‘This beautiful show which has impacted so many people around the world deserves this stellar cast for its 25th anniversary. Getting to work with Jason Robert Brown again, one of the greatest composers of our time, is a total privilege and his faith in Lambert Jackson is something we are forever grateful for.’ How to get tickets to the Last Five Years in London? Pre-s

Starbucks isn’t doing so well in Britain right now. The coffee chain has shut down 10 branches in the UK in just the past month, and a whopping six of them are in the capital. Londoners will have to go elsewhere for their pumpkin spice frappuccinos from now on.  The closures have come comes as Starbucks has reassessed its portfolio in Europe and the United States, citing difficult trading conditions. A spokesperson for the chain said closures were made ‘with the goal of ensuring that our stores are correctly located, generating appropriate levels of foot traffic and operating in the right formats’. The company said the sites chosen for closure were because they weren’t able to ‘create the physical environment customers want’ and were not performing financially. However, the coffee bosses have said they are still sticking to their target of opening 80 new stores across the UK before the end of the current financial year.  Locations across the Big Smoke have now lost their local Starbs, including Leyton, London Bridge and Balham. Here’s the full list of closed Starbucks sites in London.  All the Starbucks sites closed in London, October 2025 Ilford, London (225-227 High Road) – closed Thursday, October 2 Leyton Mills Retail Park, London – closed Sunday, October 19 London Bridge Station – closed Monday, October 20 Balham, London – closed Sunday, October 26 Muswell Hill Broadway, London – closed Sunday, October 26 Holland Park, London – closed Sunday, October 26 The best coffee