James Manning

Museums are one of the things that London does best. This city boasts grand institutions housing ancient treasures, modern monoliths packed with intriguing exhibits, and tiny rooms containing deeply niche collections – and lots of them are totally free to anyone who wants to come in and take a gander. And with more than 170 London museums to choose from, there's bound to be one to pique your interest, whatever you're in to.  Want to explore the history of TfL? We’ve got a museum for that. Rather learn about advertising? We’ve got a museum for that too. History? Check. Science? Check. 1940s cinema memorabilia, grotesque eighteenth-century surgical instruments, or perhaps a wall of 4,000 mouse skeletons? Check, check and check! Being the cultured metropolitans that we are, Time Out’s editors love nothing more than a wholesome afternoon spent gawping at Churchill’s baby rattle or some ancient Egyptian percussion instruments. In my case, the opportunity to live on the doorstep of some of the planet’s most iconic cultural institutions was a big reason why I moved here at the first chance I got, and I’ve racked up countless hours traipsing around display cases and deciphering needlessly verbose wall texts in the eleven years since. From iconic collections, brilliant curation and cutting-edge tech right down to nice loos, adequate signage and a decent place to grab a cuppa; my colleagues and I know exactly what we want from a museum, and we’ve put in a whole lot of time deliberating

There’s a popular saying here, that goes ‘Barcelona és bona si la bossa sona’ – roughly meaning you need money to enjoy this city. And yes, Barcelona ain’t cheap, but don’t believe all the hype: there are plenty of ways to have a holiday here for less. And every budget holiday needs to start right here – with cheap-as-possible accommodation.  But of course, cheap is selective. So to narrow it down, we’ve only included hotels in this list which come in at under €120 a night. For two people in central Barcelona, that isn’t a bad deal at all. And of course, the hostel dorm stays you’ll find on this list come in much, much cheaper than that – many of them starting at €25 or so. So whatever your vibe, you’ll find a great hotel in Barcelona. That’s a guarantee.  📍 Discover our ultimate guide to hotels in Barcelona Who makes the cut? 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. Along with our brilliant team over at Time Out Barcelona, every hotel on this list has been individually selected for a reason: we’ve been there, we think it’s great, and we’d genuinely recommend it. By the way, this article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 🏘️  Discover Barcelona’s best Airbnbs  

From the Alps in the north to the tip of Italy’s toe – plus its assorted islands – there’s a bewildering range of places to stay in this utterly enchanting country. Not surprisingly, in a land with such a long and fascinating history, it’s not too difficult to find hotels in converted Renaissance palaces, medieval towers and rustic farmhouses. Add to the rich mix some profound regional differences from north to south – in everything from architecture to food, culture and things to do – and you’ve got a country that hugely rewards those willing (and wealthy enough) to do a 21st-century style grand tour of its glorious span. We’ve picked some of the most outstanding hotels and resorts to help you do just that, and experience the trip of a lifetime.

Don’t settle for just any place to stay. Barcelona is home to whole load of hotels that offer far, far more than just a bed for the night. We’re talking about historic buildings, icons of design, showcases of contemporary architecture and lots more. On our list below, you’ll find our top recommendations for hotels in Barcelona – selected for everything they bring to the table: unbeatable views, indulgent spas, brilliant culture and outstanding food. What is the best area to stay in Barcelona? Barcelona is a pretty big place, so naturally, different areas are good for different things. But our pals over at Time Out Barcelona are big, big fans of Gràcia – especially for your first time in the city. It’s packed full of sights, beautiful buildings and one of the best hotels in the city, Casa Fuster, which you’ll find on our list below. The Raval and Eixample are well worth considering too – you can find our full guide to where to stay right here.  📍 Discover our ultimate guide to hotels in Barcelona Who makes the cut? 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. Along with our brilliant team over at Time Out Barcelona, every hotel on this list has been individually selected for a reason: we’ve been there, we think it’s great, and we’d genuinely recommend it. By the way, this article includes affiliate links. These links have no influe

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.    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 content. For more information, click here.

If any city in the world were oversaturated with hotels, it’d be Paris. So a list of the ‘best hotels in Paris’ is casting a pretty wide net. The city has over 1,600 hotels in total, ranging from tiny new boutiques to grand historic hotels charging £25,000 a night – and we wanted to make sure every kind of hotel was represented on this list: the luxurious, the downright cheap, and everything in between. Whatever your vibe in the City of Light, you’ll find a hotel for you here.  What is the best area to stay in Paris? As will surprise no one, the ‘best’ area to stay in Paris is pretty subjective across its 20 arrondissements and 80 or so neighbourhoods. But we do have some pointers. If it’s your first time in the city, you’ll probably want to be as close to the city centre as possible to tick off those major attractions, so anywhere near the 1st arrondissement – Tuileries, the Marais, St-Germain – would be a good bet. If you’re on a budget, however, you’ll find that cheaper options are usually further out in the 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th – and even on the outskirts of the city. Don’t worry, you’ll still be in on the action – this is where the locals hang out, anyway. For the full rundown, here’s our ultimate guide to where to stay in Paris.  🏘️ Discover the best Airbnbs in Paris 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,

So you like ice cream? You’re not alone. We’re all just big children waiting for a little bit of sweet, cold milk to numb the pain of navigating adulthood (even if, for some of us, it does have to be dairy-free milk). It’s no wonder there are often massive queues for our city’s best ices, especially when a heatwave hits.  Want to make sure the cone you’re standing in line for is worth the 30-minute wait ahead of you? Look no further. We've asked ice cream experts from around our office for their favourite places to lick 99ers, chomp on ice cream sarnies, feast on sundaes and neck a scoop or two of premium gelato. Go forth and get cool.  RECOMMENDED: The best brunches in London.  The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now to tuck in.

Head to Hackney and you've got a seriously exciting evening of dining ahead of you, as some of the city's boldest chefs have set up shop in this rapidly-gentrifying patch of east London. High-end restaurants sit alongside chic brunch spots, inviting gastropubs and long-established neighbourhood joints. Whatever you're after, you'll more than likely find it here. Go east(ish) and eat. The latest additions to the list include modern Korean marvel Miga, Sesta in the old shell of the much-loved Pidgin, fun with fire at Lagom, chef Abby Lee's incredible Mambow, and Bethnal Green kitchen residency Tasca.  RECOMMENDED: Here are London's 50 Best Restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor and thinks Hackney restaurants are some of the best in London (but don't tell the other boroughs, they'll only get jealous). For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. So east London it hurts? Follow our Time Out East London WhatsApp channel for the latest news, openings and goss from the coolest bit of the capital. (Yeah, we said it.) 

If you’re after a holiday that is nothing but pure chilled vibes and amazing landscapes, culture, and food, look no further than Stockholm, the mellow capital of Sweden. This Swedish city has some great restaurants, bars and a whole lot of sightseeing (hello, ABBA Museum), plus the city and surrounding areas are home to some incredible natural landscapes – best seen by boat. A trip away, however, needs a peaceful and cool place to stay and rest, and Airbnb has an array of incredible places. From swanky city apartments to quirky eco-friendly spots for groups. We’ve picked a selection of the best to help you with your planning. What is the best area to stay in Stockholm? ‘The best’ is a hard thing to choose: rather, each of Stockholm’s neighbourhoods will give you something quite different. For your first time in the city, we’d probably recommend Gamla Stan at the top, which will give you a good tourist look at the city without being unbearable (think charming cafés, historic buildings and a good amount of old-school vibes). If you’re museum-obsessed, try Djurgården. Cool kids go to Södermalm, particularly Hornstull. Here’s our full neighbourhood guide for more.  📍 Discover our ultimate guide to staying in Stockholm Who makes the cut? While we might not stay in and review every Airbnb featured, our writers have based our list on expert knowledge of the destination covered, editorial reviews, user reviews, amenities and in-depth research to find you the best stays. This artic

Dreaming of sand between your toes, wind blowing in your hair and sun beating down on your skin? You might just be due a trip to the beach. Here in the UK, we can’t quite guarantee the sunshine, but we can guarantee some seriously stunning beaches which will rival those of Mediterranean (and might even be contenders for the best beaches in the world).  We have white sand beaches, we have pebbles, we have towering chalk cliffs and rock pools galore. We pretty much have a beach for every occassion. Not sure where to go? We’ve rounded up the best beaches in the UK right here, from Scotland to Cornwall, all chosen by Time Out travel writers who have been to visit them IRL. You’ll also find our expert reccs for where to stay, so you can make the most of your beachy getaway. Enjoy.  Where are the UK’s most beautiful beaches? Pretty beaches are dotted all over the UK, but you’ll find some absolute beauties in Scotland, Cornwall and Wales, where the water is often clear, beaches are surrounded by tall cliffs and greenery and you might even find sand between your toes. On our list of the UK’s best beaches, we’ve included the prettiest and most serene stretches of coast out there, but we’ve also included those better for vibes, families and big old picnics. They might not be lookers, but they’re perfect for a seaside day out.  RECOMMENDED:🏖️ The most amazing hidden beaches in the UK🌊 The best outdoor swimmming pools in the UK🏊 The best wild swimming spots in the UK🌤️ The best place

Television has been around for 70 years, but only in the last two decades has it earned true respect as an artistic medium. Up to that point, elitists referred to TV as ‘the idiot box’ or ‘the boob tube,’ and if you worked in it, you were either a hack or an upstart hoping to make the leap into the more dignified world of movies. Was its poor reputation deserved? Sure, there were blips of brilliance between The Ed Sullivan Show and The Sopranos, but by and large, the garbage outweighed the gold. Maybe it’s unfair, but the fact that it was all being beamed directly into our living rooms made the dreck more noticeable.  That’s all changed. Television has nudged film out from the center of popular culture, to the point that some of cinema’s truest believers – Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh – are making movies specifically for the small screen. The shift may have started with HBO and The Sopranos, but the advent of streaming has made it so that hundreds of new shows are now continually flipping the script every few years, if not months. But that doesn’t mean everything before 1999 is pure dross. While this list is dominated by 21st century programs, there are hundreds of shows that deserve credit for pushing TV forward into its current golden age, and chiseling them down to a neat top 100 is difficult. So we elected to leave off talk shows, variety shows and sketch comedy, focusing on scripted, episodic dramas, comedies and miniseries. Even then, it proved to b

You’ve done the classics: the capital cities, the TikTok viral spots, the cities with their own Netflix show. And don’t get us wrong, we love the classics for a reason. But there’s a downside to these big, bustling, bucket-list-worthy travel destinations. If you’ve ever queued an hour for a pastry, spent your day’s budget on a coffee or had to book a museum three months in advance, you’ll know it as well as us: it’s the crowds.  And following a year of demonstrations and anti-tourism measures in European hotspots about overtourism, there’s never been a better time to think outside the box for your travels – especially when so many incredible European spots are getting overlooked. And hey, we’re not gatekeepers here, so we regularly update this list with places we think are being criminally overlooked, from culture-packed city breaks to under-the-radar national parks. So if you’re travelling on a budget, searching for quiet or just desperate to try somewhere new, these are the most underrated places to visit in Europe right now, according to Time Out experts.  RECOMMENDED:🏰 The best city breaks in Europe📍 The most beautiful places in Europe Ella Doyle and Grace Beard are Time Out’s travel editors. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our aff

Plenty of hotels stake a claim to being family-friendly. And sure, some of them might be happy to pop an extra folding bed in your room, or bulk-buy chicken nuggets for a tokenistic kids’ menu. But when you go somewhere that’s built for families from the ground up, it just hits different. Sonnwies certainly isn’t the only family-first hotel in the Italian Dolomites. In fact, there’s such a cluster of them that this region is probably one of the best places in the world to travel with kids. But this is such an outstandingly welcoming, friendly, we’ve-thought-of-everything kind of place that it deserves to immediately rocket to the very top of your family-trip wish list. With its epic kids’ club and playground, on-site organic farm, pools and waterslides, something-for-everyone buffets and a daily activities programme that embraces everyone from babies through to teenagers, this is truly a kids’ paradise. And it’s all done so that parents get a superb and stylish mountain break too. Why stay at Sonnwies Dolomites? This place is a family business in every sense. It’s run by the Hinteregger family, who have owned the land for more than 40 years and can still be spotted most days around the hotel and farm. And then there are the guests. This isn’t just a family-friendly hotel, it’s a family-only hotel, so forget getting judged by the child-free. The whole place is built with kids in mind, down to the platform at reception which lets little ones see over the desk and the extra, tod

This review is from 2024. Although it’s not quite in the Mousetrap leagues, The Tiger Who Came to Tea has played in the West End for long enough that members of its original audiences will be eligible to vote in the next general election. Its longevity probably owes just as much to the multigenerational impact of Judith Kerr’s original book as to the production itself, which is a valiant adaptation of some frankly pretty weird source material. The synopsis, if you need it: little Sophie and her mum are having tea. A tiger crashes the party and eats literally all the food in the house, then leaves. Sophie’s dad comes home and takes the family out to a café for dinner. The tiger never comes back. That’s about it – and it doesn’t make for a particularly satisfying stage structure, with all the tigery action in the middle third, and the beginning and end padded out with domestic slapstickery and songs. It gives the production the steady pace of a variety show. The bit with the tiger is undoubtedly the main event, and there’s some fun stagecraft here. I loved the magic tricks that made biscuits, sandwiches, cakes and strawberry milkshake disappear before our eyes (with some great guzzling sound effects). As for our striped antihero, he appears as an impressive half-costume, half-marionette which had my three-year-old whispering ‘Is it a *real* tiger?’ But neither I nor the toddler were big fans of the (possibly pragmatic but fairly major) decision to silence the tiger, who has ple

Avast ye! The National Maritime Museum devotes plenty of space to the great and good of seafaring – but this year, it’s pointing the telescope at the bad guys. This is the museum’s first major exhibition about pirates since the mid-’90s, and it’s a rollicking and sometimes surprising overview of the legends and lives of the most villainous cut-throats ever to sail the seven seas. The show kicks off with the pirate mythos: how the Caribbean buccaneers of the eighteenth century swashbuckled their way into the popular imagination. From the original Treasure Island to the Muppet remake, from The Pirates of Penzance to Captain Pugwash, and from Captain Hook to Jack Sparrow, it’s an entertaining reminder of how pirates have infiltrated everything from video games to New Romantic fashion to kids’ toys. From there, we’re plunged back into the golden age of piracy: the period of 40 years or so when this was a major industry. Colonial expansion meant a huge increase in the amount of valuable stuff floating across the oceans, and – inevitably – an explosion in the number of desperate men (and occasionally women) looking to loot it. We’re introduced to the rules and culture of life on board a pirate ship of the period, a bit of pirate lingo (from marooning to matelotage) and some of the famous figures of the time, many of them British, like William Kidd, Henry Morgan, Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Pirates have infiltrated everything from video games to New Romantic fashion Alongside the gre

After a series of past lives in various West End locations, Skoob now occupies a tunnel-like space in the basement of Bloomsbury’s Brunswick Centre. Its subterranean stacks (and a 10% student discount) draw plenty of trade from the nearby universities, but it’s a popular spot with London bibliophiles of all ages. The shop’s holdings (around 55,000 titles) are regularly refreshed with stock from the Oxford warehouse, also run by personable owner Chris Edwards and home to well over a million books. Personally, I’m a big fan of their dedicated shelf for old-fashioned orange Penguin paperbacks, but there’s also extensive non-fiction covering almost every subject imaginable – from philosophy, biography, maths and science to languages, literature and criticism, art, history, economics and politics. 

Tucked down a residential street in Camden, Walden has to be one of London’s most beautiful bookshops – especially when the wisteria over the door is in bloom. The shop has been here for more than 45 years, and its creaking shelves are always worth browsing for out-of-print oddities. Particular areas of focus include literature and art, but you can find plenty of fiction, poetry, history and travel. Bargain-hunters should head for the cheap paperbacks out the front, while serious collectors can peruse a glass case full of rarities. Their booksellers are unusually knowledgeable too.

There are plenty of places to buy new books in London, and lots of cheap secondhand options too – but Judd is a gem when it comes to brand-new bargains. The tables in its main room are stacked with remainered art and photography books, exhibition catalogues, and popular fiction both recent and classic, all heavily marked down – I’ve snagged books here for an 80 percent discount. The rest of the shop is devoted to secondhand copies, with art, philosophy and social sciences heavily represented alongside fiction, poetry and drama.

Less a shop, more a chaotic vortex of secondhand literature, Hurlingham can be found a few steps away from Putney Bridge tube. Finding specific titles is a bit of a fruitless quest here – instead, it’s all about the joy of serendipitous discovery, as you search the shelves and haphazard piles for an eye-catching title or cover. Prices are very fair, and proprietor Ray Cole, who’s run the shop since 1968, keeps the shop topped up from a nearby warehouse which apparently contains over a million books.

This review is from Christmas 2023 – The Smartest Giant in Town returns for Christmas 2024.  So totally do Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler dominate the imaginations of Britain’s under-fives that not one, not two but three Donaldson-Scheffler adaptations are playing in the West End this Christmas. But if you and your offspring haven’t already been done in by ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’ (nepo baby much?) at the Garrick or ‘Stick Man’ at Leicester Square, then it’s well worth throwing in your lot at St Martin’s Theatre with ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’. Based on a (relatively underrated, imo) early work by the reigning king and queen of kids’ picture books, ‘The Smartest Giant…’ tells the story of George: an actually rather scruffy but extremely kind-hearted giant whose attempt to smarten up his act quickly unravels as he meets five animals in need. In George’s bucolic town, giants, regular-sized humans and talking animals coexist in apparent harmony amid rolling hills and cute cottages, making for plenty of opportunities for the show to mess about with scale with Kate Bunce’s economical set and props – especially when George hands over his suddenly-giant-sized clothes to the animals. Giraffe, goat, mouse, fox and dog are played by adorable puppets – designed by Judith Hope – based faithfully on Scheffler’s illustrations, and animated with a variety of accents by an energetically multitasking pair of actor/puppeteers. (The show is a transfer from Little Angel Puppet Theatre in Is

Famous among boomer Brits as the home of furry TV eco-heroes the Wombles, the 1,140-acre Wimbledon Common is one of the biggest green spaces in London. It takes about an hour to stroll from the Green Man on Putney Hill to Caesar’s Camp (actually an ancient hill fort) on the Wimbledon side – even longer if you decide to get lost in the woods, poke around the museum at Wimbledon Windmill, or stop for a pint at the Telegraph or the Fox and Grapes. Basically, it’s a taste of the well-to-do country life without stepping outside Greater London.

When is a hostel not a hostel? When it’s a Generator. In 2018, after years serving young travellers looking for a cheap bunk and a good time, the brand formerly known as Generator Hostels trimmed off the second half of its name. At its Barcelona hostel-hotel, you can still get a bed in a shared dorm for prices as low as €20 a night, if that’s what you want. Or you can get a private hotel room with a king-size bed, en-suite bathroom, private terrace and view of the Sagrada Família, at a cost (starting from €86) significantly below what you’d pay elsewhere in the same neighbourhood. There were many good things about my stay at Generator, but I do have to start with a small warning: you don’t have to be very old to feel really old here. The hotel bit of Generator Barcelona shares a lobby and reception with the hostel bit, and the communal spaces fill up most evenings with 18-to-24-year-olds gearing up for a night on the tiles, while Daft Punk bangers leak out from the bar at the back. It’s undeniably A Vibe – but if you’re thirty-plus and in any way bothered by the unfiltered presence of the thirty-minus at play, you might want to pick somewhere else to spend the weekend. That said, once the express lift has whisked you to the uppermost floors, all is quiet. As well as being almost aggressively clean, my deluxe king room kept out any noise whatsoever from fellow guests or passing traffic. A small desk, a large bed, a compact bathroom and a few clothes hangers – as a solo travell

Twenty minutes from the sea, in the dry hills outside Essaouira, surrounded by forests of argan trees, you’ll find Le Jardin des Douars. This boutiquey Moroccan hotel bills itself as a ‘ksar d’hôtes’, roughly translating as ‘guest fort’ – and within these walls it really does feel like a one-of-a-kind retreat: a holdout against the slog of everyday life. The main hotel is a tall two storeys, with towers and domes made of terracotta-coloured mud and straw looming over the hillside gardens. Its bedrooms are clustered around two courtyards that fill with chattering birds at dusk; the dining rooms and kitchen are at one end, with a sprawling terrace outside for lunch. More rooms lie in outbuildings scattered around the gardens, alongside six villas (with their own pools) sleeping as many as 14 apiece. Miles of tiles, terracotta, carved wood and dark metal suggest a design brief that included the phrase ‘Berber chic’. The rooms are comfy rather than luxurious and generously sized – plenty also have their own terrace. But it’s the gardens that get top billing, and they’ve earned it. Towering palms and cacti; jagged aloes; tumbling bougainvillea in purple, white and orange; oleander and lantana; blue plumbago and pink trumpet vine: cascading down the hill on stone terraces, this horticultural tour de force is worth a visit all on its own, and the leaves make a beautiful noise when the famous Essaouira wind blows in (read: frequently). It’s a proper oasis that makes for a sharp contr

You’ve probably heard of hygge, the Nordic ideal of cosy comfort. Well, the Dutch version is gezelligheid – a warm, convivial, homely feeling, which the Jan Luyken hotel serves in spades. This townhouse-style hotel aims to be your home-from-home in one of the prettiest bits of the Dutch capital. You’ll find it halfway up a drop-dead gorgeous residential street, all red brick and spreading trees, sandwiched between the cultural heavyweights of the Museumplein and the designer shops of PC Hooftstraat. Step inside and you’re greeted at a massive granite table in what looks more like a posh kitchen showroom than a hotel reception. It’s part of a suite of lovely common spaces – also including a library/lounge, terrace, gym and dining room – that you’re invited to make your own while you’re here. The touches of art deco and art nouveau (plus the liberal use of brown) are quintessentially Amsterdam, as is the playful mash-up of classical and contemporary art on the walls. The dining room is a particular winner: once breakfast is out of the way, there’s a spread of pastries, snacks, fruit and yoghurt available day and night, plus all sorts of teas, a big coffee machine and cold water (still or sparkling) on tap. You can also pour yourself something stronger in the reception room. It’s all self-service, and perfect if you aren’t the kind of traveller who needs to be waited on, hand and foot. If you are that kind of traveller though, then you might get the sense that Jan Luyken is slig

Is there anything more typically French than the croissant? Ignore the fact that these doughy delights trace their origins to Vienna rather than Paris. Despite its Austrian origins, the croissant has become perhaps the ultimate symbol of the Gallic lifestyle: simple yet sophisticated, an injection of buttery luxury into the everyday business of eating breakfast. The croissant is a near-universal staple. In one study, a full quarter of respondents said they bought a croissant from a bakery at least once a week. But don’t be fooled: making the perfect croissant takes surprising amounts of skill, practice and finesse. And for one hotel brand, this icon of a pastry has become the perfect vehicle to export French culture around the world. Sofitel’s La Haute Croissanterie project kicked off last year on January 30: World Croissant Day. First, the brand embarked upon a croissant quality-control mission. Every single Sofitel hotel had its viennoiserie vetted, to ensure that its breakfast croissants were up to the standard you’d expect from a veteran French hospitality brand. Pastry pioneers from across the Sofitel hotel network became La Haute Croissanterie ambassadors, training colleagues worldwide in the art of the perfect croissant under the eye of corporate executive chef Anne-Cécile Degenne. But La Haute Croissanterie isn’t (just) about nailing the traditional croissant. It’s also about adding local flavour, and elevating the croissant while preserving its essence. Sofitel pastr

Don’t believe the haters: summer in London is mega. But everyone needs a break from the Big Smoke sometimes – and here’s one you can book right away. Out in the Chiltern Hills, just beyond the M25, there’s a place called Oxmoor Farm. Since 2022, they’ve been hosting an annual series of ‘Wild Feasts’, with top British chefs rocking up on the farm to cook up lunches and dinners using super-fresh local produce. Their creations are served at long tables, supperclub-style, in the blissfully relaxed surroundings of the Buckinghamshire countryside. Each chef serves up both a Saturday dinner and a Sunday lunch across one weekend. Previously held in tents, the feasts have now moved into a spacious, airy barn. As well as the long tables, there’s a fireplace and sofas for post-feast lounging, and a firepit and seating outdoors for alfresco aperitifs if the weather’s good. Kids aren’t invited, but dogs are very welcome. Photograph: Domi Rad I headed down to Oxmoor Farm in early May, with chef Ivan Tisdall-Downes (formerly of Native) taking over the open kitchen to serve up a menu of seasonal bangers: wild garlic flatbreads, wood-roasted beef sirloin from cows reared locally, charred asparagus and leeks and a rhubarb millefeuille. The chat along the table was very pleasant, with a crowd of mostly clued-in locals, a couple of whom lived less than a mile away. Locally-brewed beers and natural wines from a nearby supplier washed things down nicely. This year’s feasts are set to continue ri

Murder, ravens, people in funny hats: even if you've never been to the Tower of London, you know the vibe. It’s a massive, medieval castle right in the centre of town, and an absolute, nailed-on essential for tourists and school trips. I’ve stepped through its gates many times, but never after dark. So I was intrigued by the rare chance to tour the grounds at night, without the crowds – and to witness the ancient Ceremony of the Keys, a mysterious medieval ritual that has taken place every night for centuries. Seeing the Ceremony of the Keys is one of those London bucket-list experiences, and while it’s open to the public, it’s normally very tricky to book. A small batch of £5 tickets go on sale each month, and sell out at Glastonbury-esque speeds. No luck getting those tickets? Want an even bigger dose of history? Enter The Tour Guy: a company who will spirit you inside the Tower after-hours for a 90-minute after-dark tour. It's led by one of the 35 resident Yeoman Warders – one of the ceremonial Tower guards, better known as Beefeaters. Once the tour is wrapped up, you get a front-row spot for the Ceremony of the Keys. So I went along on a cold Tuesday night to try it out. Our guide for the evening was Tam Reilly: a Scottish RAF veteran with a powerful voice, excellent comic timing and a whole load of gruesome stories to tell. This place has a thousand years of torture, infanticide and botched beheadings to rattle through. Along the way, Tam gleefully pointed out bits of th

Con el Time Out Market de Barcelona a punto de abrir sus puertas, ya podéis haceros una idea de cómo será visitando el recién abierto Time Out Market de Oporto, con 2.000 metros cuadrados y 11 restaurantes (y aún queda uno más por abrir), un bar, una sala de degustación y la tienda A Vida Portuguesa. El nuevo espacio abrió al público el viernes 3 de mayo en una joya arquitectónica de la ciudad: la estación de São Bento. Además de impresionantes azulejos azules y líneas de tren que unen la segunda ciudad de Portugal con el valle del Duero, São Bento es ahora el hogar de algunos de los mejores restaurantes y chefs de la ciudad. El Time Out Market se encuentra en el ala sur de la estación, un espacio que hace años funcionaba como almacén y aparcamiento. "Nos encontramos en un espacio centenario al que los locales no podían acceder antes", ha explicado la directora general, Inês Santos Almeida. "Era una zona de almacenamiento que no estaba activa. La idea es revitalizar toda esa zona, devolviéndola a la gente de Oporto". Foto: Time Out Market Porto Además de los restaurantes, que muestran lo mejor de la escena gastronómica de Oporto, existe una nueva incorporación a la larga lista de lugares de referencia de la ciudad. La torre Time Out Market, que será pronto icónica, diseñada por Eduardo Souto de Moura y que tendrá un papel clave en la vida cultural de la ciudad. En la parte superior, con una vista privilegiada de la Torre de los Clérigos y del 'skyline' de la ciudad, se encu

Ya ha empezado la cuenta atrás para disfrutar de la mejor gastronomía de la ciudad en el nuevo Time Out Market en Barcelona, que contará con 14 chefs, un restaurante de servicio completo y cuatro bares y unas vistas privilegiadas de la ciudad. Mientras esperáis su inauguración, ya podéis visitar el Time Out Market de Oporto, con 2.000 metros cuadrados y 11 restaurantes (y aún queda uno más por abrir), un bar, una sala de degustación y la tienda A Vida Portuguesa. El nuevo espacio abrió al público el viernes 3 de mayo en una joya arquitectónica de la ciudad: la estación de São Bento. Además de impresionantes azulejos azules y líneas de tren que unen la segunda ciudad de Portugal con el valle del Duero, São Bento es ahora el hogar de algunos de los mejores restaurantes y chefs de la ciudad. El Time Out Market se encuentra en el ala sur de la estación, un espacio que hace años funcionaba como almacén y aparcamiento. "Nos encontramos en un espacio centenario al que los locales no podían acceder antes", ha explicado la directora general, Inês Santos Almeida. "Era una zona de almacenamiento que no estaba activa. La idea es revitalizar toda esa zona, devolviéndola a la gente de Oporto". Foto: Time Out Market Porto Además de los restaurantes, que muestran lo mejor de la escena gastronómica de Oporto, existe una nueva incorporación a la larga lista de lugares de referencia de la ciudad. La torre Time Out Market, que será pronto icónica, diseñada por Eduardo Souto de Moura y que tend

Ja ha començat el compte enrere per gaudir de la millor gastronomia de la ciutat al nou Time Out Market a Barcelona, que tindrà 14 xefs, un restaurant de servei complet i quatre bars i unes vistes privilegiades de la ciutat. Mentre espereu la seva inauguració, ja podeu visitar el Time Out Market de Porto, amb 2.000 metres quadrats i 11 restaurants (i encara queda un més per obrir), un bar, una sala de degustació i la botiga A Vida Portuguesa. El nou espai va obrir al públic el divendres 3 de maig dins una joia arquitectònica de la ciutat: l'estació de São Bento. A més d'impressionants rajoles blaves i línies de tren que uneixen la segona ciutat de Portugal amb la vall del Duero, São Bento és ara la llar d'alguns dels millors restaurants i xefs de la ciutat. El Time Out Market es troba a l'ala sud de l'estació, un espai que fa anys funcionava com a magatzem i aparcament. "Ens trobem en un espai centenari al qual els locals no podien accedir abans", ha explicat la directora general Inês Santos Almeida. "Era una zona d'emmagatzematge que no estava activa. La idea és revitalitzar tota aquesta zona, retornant-la a la gent de Porto". Foto: Time Out Market Porto A més dels restaurants, que mostren el millor de l'escena gastronòmica de Porto, hi ha una nova incorporació a la llarga llista de llocs de referència de la ciutat. La torre Time Out Market, que aviat serà icònica, dissenyada per Eduardo Souto de Moura i que tindrà un paper clau en la vida cultural de la ciutat. A la part

The wait is over: Time Out Market Porto has opened its doors. The 2,000-square-metre space, which houses 11 restaurants (with one more still to open), a bar, a tasting room and the A Vida Portuguesa shop, opened to the public at 12.30pm today. It’s located in a city icon: São Bento station. As well as breathtaking azulejo tiles and train lines linking Portugal’s second city to the Douro Valley, São Bento is now home to a string of the city’s best restaurants and chefs. Time Out Market has taken up residence in the station’s south wing – formerly a warehouse and car park. ‘We’re in a century-old space that locals couldn’t access before,’ explained general manager Inês Santos Almeida. ‘It was a storage area that wasn’t active. The idea is to revitalise this entire area, giving it back to the people of Porto.’ Besides the restaurants – which showcase the best of Porto’s food scene – there’s a new addition to Porto’s long list of landmarks. The soon-to-be-iconic Time Out Market tower, designed by local hero Eduardo Souto de Moura, will play a key role in the city’s cultural life. At the top, with a privileged view of the Clérigos Tower and the city skyline, is the Tasting Room, which will focus on port and other local wines under the guidance of winemaker Bento Amaral, with a menu designed by chef Luís Américo. In the middle of the tower, there’s a stage for concerts and other events. And on the ground floor is A Vida Portuguesa: Catarina Portas’s famous store featuring historic

First came Time Out Market Lisbon, serving up the best of the Portuguese capital since 2014. Then came New York, Boston, Montreal, Chicago and Dubai. Now we’ve got some big (and delicious) news: Time Out Market is coming to… Barcelona! The Time Out Market concept is simple. Our local editors and experts pick the greatest eats, drinks and cultural goings-on that the city has to offer. Then we bring them all together in one vibey space. In Barcelona, that space will be in Maremagnum: the shopping and fun complex that sits out in the waters of the city’s Port Vell, linked to La Rambla by a floating bridge. Time Out Market Barcelona will take up residence on the top floor of Maremagnum, with 14 kitchens (plus communal tables to eat at) and a full-on restaurant – all slinging the city’s best dishes, and all hand-picked by our local Time Out Barcelona team. They’ve been covering the city week in, week out since 2008, so they know the city like nobody else. Photograph: ShutterstockTime Out Market Lisbon There will also be two bars indoors, and an outdoor space with two more bars. (Plus, it should go without saying, amazing views over the spectacular Barcelona skyline.) Just the place for an afternoon vermut. And it’s not all about eating and drinking: an events space and studio will bring the best of Barcelona’s culture scene through the doors on a regular basis. So when can you plan your visit? Sooner than you think: Time Out Market Barcelona is expected to open in the first half

The Opening Ceremony of next year’s Paris Olympics is less than a year away, and the French capital is gearing up to host the world. Now an upcoming proposal from the Parisian Green Party is set to get tongues wagging at the next city council meeting. They’re suggesting that, for the six weeks of the Games – from the eve of the Olympics to the end of the Paralympics – Paris (and nearby towns affected by the event) should go totally car-free. Not only that, but the city should offer free public transport. To back up their case, the group has laid out 14 reasons, touching on everything from plain common sense to environmental and safety issues. They’re also reminding folks of commitments made by various layers of government. For instance, they point out the challenge of managing a flow of 15 million people in public spaces and on public transport; carbon emissions estimated at 1.58 megatonnes; and Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s statements about the Games being a ‘catalyst for ecological transition’. Plus, they're suggesting the whole free transport thing could be funded by an eco-levy on ecommerce deliveries. So that’s the proposal. Now comes the hard part: making it happen. When it comes to free transport, let’s be honest, it’s a bit of a long shot. The fate of the transport network is in the hands of IDF Mobilités, chaired by Valérie Pécresse, who seems more likely to hike up travel pass prices than hand out free rides. And as for getting this motion through the council, it’s a bit of

It’s always great when cities get greener, and the latest European capital to announce a major new park is Madrid. The Cuatro Caminos neighbourhood, not far from Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium, is in for a significant redevelopment. Following the approval of the project, the area is set to see an influx of residential housing, car parks, office spaces, and green areas. There will be nearly 60,000 square metres of new built-up space, and more than 9,400 square metres will be allocated for public green spaces and new community areas. The plan also aims to improve connectivity between several key streets, namely Bravo Murillo, Reina Victoria, and Pablo Iglesias. The residential spaces will be centred around a large green area, and beneath it will be railway transport facilities, particularly for metro carriage maintenance. The green space will complete Esquilache Street to connect it to Ramiro II and Reina Victoria Avenue. Additionally, a new public road will be opened to link Bravo Murillo, Esquilache, and Pablo Iglesias. Virgen de Nieva Street will also be extended to better connect with Bravo Murillo and Esquilache, making it easier to get around. On the preservation side, two buildings on Esquilache Street are to be protected. There’s also a special plan for the El Porvenir school on Bravo Murillo, aiming to improve both environmental quality and the visibility of the school’s landmark chapel from public spaces. The plan also involves preserving the heritage of old metro tun

Finding life a little tough right now? Feeling ground down by city living? Then you may – passport allowing – want to consider a move to Vienna. The Austrian capital just topped an authoritative study of the world’s most liveable cities… for the second year running. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released its annual Global Liveability Index on Thursday, and Vienna came in at number one out of 173 cities analysed. What makes it such a great place to live? According to the report: its ‘winning combination of stability, good culture and entertainment, reliable infrastructure, and exemplary education and health services.’ Which, I’m sure we can all agree, are pretty important factors. In second place was Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, followed by Melbourne and Sydney in Australia. Here’s the full top ten… Vienna, Austria Copenhagen, Denmark Melbourne, Australia Sydney, Australia Vancouver, Canada Zurich, Switzerland Calgary, Canada Geneva, Switzerland Toronto, Canada (=) Osaka, Japan and Auckland, New Zealand Some of the biggest losers were cities in the UK and USA such as London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Los Angeles and San Diego, all of which dropped way down the list compared to 2022. Vienna retained its place at the top of the ranking for the second year running, having previously dominated the list prior to the disruption of 2020 and 2021. And that’s not all: earlier this week it was also named the world’s most liveable city by Monocle magazine. Planning your trip

Yesterday morning, I woke up on a shiny metal carriage rolling through the suburbs of Berlin. I had gone to bed the night before somewhere just outside Amsterdam. In the eight hours in between, I had (mostly) slept like a baby while the wheels beneath me gobbled up the roughly 400 miles between two of Europe’s most spectacularly entertaining cities. Let’s backtrack. There was much excitement when, in 2021, a brand-new Dutch company called European Sleeper announced plans for an overnight train between Brussels and Berlin – a route that hadn’t seen sleeper trains in donkey’s years. The announcement was hailed as part of the wider revival of European sleeper trains, after decades when the rise of budget airlines had seen many overnight rail routes mothballed. After a few delays, European Sleeper’s ‘Good Night Train’ finally made its debut on May 25 2023. And just a few days later, I hopped on a Eurostar from London to see what the fuss was about. I left London bound for Brussels, where there’s an easy change to the European Sleeper service at Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid station. A Eurostar train from London to Brussels leaves at 15.04 each day, giving you just over an hour at Brussels to grab a beer, change platforms and board the Berlin sleeper in time for golden hour. Photograph: James ManningThe European Sleeper train pulls into the platform at Brussels Midi/Zuid Alternatively, you could catch a train from London to Amsterdam and catch the Good Night Train there. The last