Laura Ratliff

A planear as suas viagens para o novo ano? Deve, sem dúvida, contar com aqueles clássicos da bucket list, mas se procura inspiração fresca, 2026 promete um mundo de experiências totalmente novas. Desde dormir num museu ao ar livre até percorrer paisagens ancestrais em e-bikes, fazer zipline sobre magníficas reservas naturais e festejar durante um eclipse solar – sim, a sério – há dezenas de experiências fora do circuito habitual e fora da caixa a acontecer nos próximos 12 meses. Pelos quatro cantos do mundo, a Time Out escolheu as 26 coisas mais incríveis, surpreendentes e emocionantes para fazer em 2026. Recomendado: Podes vir, 2026. Temos as melhores agendas para planear o novo ano

Planning your travels for the new year? You should absolutely factor in those long-standing bucket list entries, but if you’re looking for some fresh inspiration, 2026 promises a world of brand-new travel experiences.  From sleeping over in an open-air museum to journeying through ancient landscapes on e-bikes, ziplining over glorious wildlife reserves and partying through a solar eclipse – yes, really – there’s a shedload of off-the-beaten-track, out-of-the-box stuff happening over the next 12 months. Scroll on for our handpicked selection of the 26 coolest, weirdest and most exciting things to do in 2026.  RECOMMENDED:🎶 The biggest and best music festivals in 2026🛍️ The coolest streets in the world🏘️ The coolest neighbourhoods in the world🌃 The best cities in the world right now Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out Travel newsletter for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.

South Florida doesn’t do winter. At least, not the frosty, scarf-necessary, hot-cocoa-as-survival-fuel kind. Which is why the return of real-ice skating to downtown West Palm Beach feels like a minor miracle powered by equal parts holiday spirit and serious refrigeration tech. Winter Wonderland is back at The Ben Hotel starting November 1, transforming the waterfront lawn into a glittering holiday playground with twinkling trees, Aspen-style chalets and, of course, a 50-by-66-foot rink made of the real stuff. Yes, ice. In Palm Beach. Again. Last year’s debut drew more than 30,000 skaters, proving locals are more than ready to trade sand for snowflakes, at least in theory. Around the rink, expect plenty of festive distractions: chalet vendors slinging gifts and sweets; a holiday bar for hot chocolate, s’mores, grown-up toddies and the debut of a Holiday Tree Forest created in partnership with local nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. There will also be themed events like Live Music Saturdays and Santa Sundays, ornament-making workshops and an opening-day curling exhibition (yes, Palm Beach now has curling athletes and, no, the tropics do not care about your winter stereotypes). When is Winter Wonderland at The Ben Hotel? Skating runs daily from November 1 through January 4 from 10am to 9pm. How much are tickets? Entry is free unless you’re lacing up, in which case tickets start at $25 for adults and $10 for kids 11 and

New Yorkers who regularly travel through Penn Station are getting a bit of good transit news today: One of the century-old rail tunnels beneath the East River is finally back in business after more than a year of construction. Amtrak’s Line 2 tube of the East River Tunnel reopened today, following an extensive rehabilitation that essentially involved stripping the three-mile tunnel down to its concrete shell and rebuilding it from the inside out. The tube had been closed since May 2025, as part of a massive project to repair damage dating back to Superstorm Sandy. (Yes, 2012’s Superstorm Sandy.) The East River Tunnel is one of the most important—but probably least thought-about—pieces of New York’s transit system. Its four tubes run beneath the East River between Manhattan and Queens, connecting Penn Station with Long Island and carrying more than 450 Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit trains every day. Two of those tubes were flooded with millions of gallons of saltwater during Sandy, which damaged tracks, electrical systems, signals and other infrastructure. But rather than continuing to patch things up, Amtrak launched a full-scale rehabilitation of the two damaged tubes, beginning with Line 2 last year. RECOMMENDED: Is Penn Station actually getting renamed for Trump? Here's what's going on with the iconic transit hub Crews removed 24,000 feet of running rail, 12,000 feet of third rail, 8,000 railroad ties and 8,100 tons of ballast. They also demolished roughly 2

New York has lost plenty of neighborhood institutions over the years, but this one may hit particularly hard for anyone with strong feelings about pancakes and strawberry butter. Good Enough to Eat, a longtime Upper West Side brunch favorite known for its homey American cooking and weekend crowds, is closing after 45 years in business. The restaurant at 520 Columbus Avenue will serve its final brunch on Sunday, August 30. It first opened in 1981, when chef Carrie Levin launched Good Enough to Eat on Amsterdam Avenue. Then, it moved a few blocks north to West 83rd Street before relocating to its current home on Columbus Avenue in 2013. Over the decades, it became an Upper West Side stalwart, attracting neighborhood regulars and tourists alike for plates of comfort food, including bacon-studded waffles, cinnamon-swirl French toast, omelets, buttermilk biscuits and, perhaps most famously, pancakes slathered with a signature strawberry butter. RECOMMENDED: One of the longest standing "gay restaurants" in NYC closed after 25 years The restaurant moved to its current Columbus Avenue location in 2013 after Levin partnered with restaurateur Jeremy Wladis to keep the business going when its Amsterdam Avenue lease wasn’t renewed. (Levin later retired and died in 2023 at age 65.) This time around, Wladis told I Love the Upper West Side that both business conditions and the expiration of another lease factored into the decision. He said the restaurant no longer attracts the volume of tou

There are plenty of perfectly respectable ways to eat pie: one slice at Thanksgiving, a wedge after dinner and maybe a forkful stolen straight from the fridge at midnight. But Dominique Ansel has a considerably more ambitious proposition: 90 minutes, 10 different pies and absolutely no limit on how many slices you can put away. Pie Night, the beloved annual feast at Dominique Ansel Bakery, is officially returning to Soho this September for its 12th year. The all-you-can-eat event will take over the bakery for nine nights, with three 90-minute seatings each evening—and tickets go on sale this Friday, August 21, at noon on Resy. RECOMMENDED: The 15 best bakeries in NYC right now for famous cannoli, viral cake slices and pastries worth waiting in line for This year's theme is taking inspiration from holidays throughout the year, turning everything from Valentine's Day to Thanksgiving into five savory and five sweet creations. On the savory side, expect a St. Patrick's Day pie with Irish cheddar, caramelized onion and roasted potato; a Lunar New Year pork-and-shrimp dumpling "lasagna" pie; a Fourth of July mashup of BBQ chicken and mac and cheese; a Thanksgiving pie packed with braised turkey, stuffing and green bean casserole; and a Christmas-inspired braised short rib Beef Wellington pie. View this post on Instagram A post shared by dominiqueansel (@dominiqueansel) The five sweet options include a Valentine's Day strawberry-and-vanilla rose pie; Pi Day salte

Times Square is usually better suited to dodging Elmos and tourists than practicing your backhand. But later this month, one of New York’s busiest stretches will become an actual pickleball court—and you can play for free. CityPicklePalooza will take over Times Square Plaza from Wednesday, August 26, through Sunday, August 30, bringing five straight days of pickleball to the heart of Midtown. CityPickle and the Times Square Alliance are behind the event, which will install a professional pickleball court amid the billboards and Broadway theaters. Free open play will be offered throughout all five days, giving New Yorkers and visitors the fairly surreal opportunity to grab a paddle and volley in the middle of Times Square. Beyond open play, the five-day event will include special programming, interactive games, prizes, giveaways and a live DJ. Organizers have also announced ProAm exhibition games, Beat-the-Pro sessions and nonprofit community programming. Sign-ups will open soon on CityPickle’s website. RECOMMENDED: A massive, 37,000-square-foot pickleball complex is coming to Times Square Each day brings its own lineup of events and brand collaborations: Wednesday includes Pickle Pong with Rhone, followed by On the Court with Prince on Thursday and Pickleball with Cabot on Friday. Saturday features On the Court with K-Swiss and Cabot’s Shoot Your Shot, while Sunday wraps things up with more K-Swiss programming and open play fueled by Zespri. The temporary court will also have

If you’ve ever looked at an ordinary supermarket strawberry and thought, “This could really use the luxury treatment,” Oishii has you covered. The New Jersey-based vertical farming company known for its exceptionally fancy—and famously pricey—Japanese strawberries is opening its first-ever retail destination at Chelsea Market on Thursday, August 20. The new kiosk marks the first time Oishii has created a permanent-ish place for customers to experience the brand outside the grocery aisle, with fresh berries, drinks, pastries and some Japan-sourced extras all on offer. Oishii first became known for its Omakase berry, a Japanese strawberry varietal prized for its sweetness, intense aroma and creamy texture. The company has since expanded its lineup to include the Koyo berry, which is slightly firmer with a subtly tart flavor. Both are grown year-round at Oishii’s indoor farms in New Jersey without pesticides or sprays, using a carefully controlled environment where bees handle the pollination. RECOMMENDED: The best farmers’ markets in NYC for super-fresh produce Photograph: Courtesy OishiiOishii strawberries At Chelsea Market, the shop's opening lineup includes Connoisseur Grade Omakase Gift Boxes and individual Connoisseur Grade Koyo Berries, alongside all five varieties of the company’s Premium Preserves. Oishii has tapped chef Yoshie Nakanishi and Lady M for collaborative pastries, and it will stock limited-edition Oishii merch and other finds sourced by the team during its

For three decades, Brooklyn Brewery’s big green “B” has been practically synonymous with Williamsburg. Now, the brewery is preparing to pour its last pint at the North 11th Street tasting room it has called home since 1996. Brooklyn Brewery will close its longtime location at 79 North 11th Street after service on Saturday, August 29, ending a 30-year run at the warehouse that watched Williamsburg transform dramatically around it. But no need to start panic-buying Brooklyn Lager six-packs: the brewery itself isn’t closing. It’s moving just four blocks away. The brewery’s new headquarters at 1 Wythe Avenue is nearly four times the size of its current home and is expected to begin a soft opening later this summer, followed by a grand opening celebration this fall. The sprawling new space will include a rooftop terrace bar, expanded brewing facilities, event spaces and a full kitchen—a first for Brooklyn Brewery. Photograph: Courtesy Brooklyn BreweryA rendering of the new Brooklyn Brewery. Before North 11th Street goes dark, though, the brewery is giving its original tasting room a proper send-off. On August 29, it will host “Farewell Party: One Last Night at 79 N 11th,” starting at 9 pm. The event is free with an RSVP, giving longtime regulars one final chance to raise a glass inside the space. The new brewery will have a full food menu developed with chef Michael Ayoub, founder of popular Brooklyn pizza spot Fornino, focused on Neapolitan-style pizzas and other dishes design

Pee-wee Herman fans, start pressing your gray suits and fluffing your red bow ties: Coney Island is once again turning into Pee-wee’s Playhouse for a day. Coney Island USA will host its second annual Pee-wee Herman Universe Lookalike Competition on Sunday, August 23, celebrating the late Paul Reubens and the strange universe he created around his most famous character. (Despite the name, you don’t actually have to look anything like Pee-wee to compete.) The event debuted last year as what organizers initially expected to be a one-off tribute. Instead, dozens of contestants showed up across three categories—and apparently nobody was ready to say goodbye when it was over. “We figured it was a one and done thing, everyone had fun, it’s over, let’s move on,” Coney Island USA artistic director Adam Rinn said. “But as soon as the event ended the competitors and spectators asked if we’d do it again. Well, here we are with round two!” RECOMMENDED: A wild roller coaster race is taking over Coney Island this weekend and there’s a $10,000 grand prize Photograph: ShutterstockPee-Wee Herman lookalike contest in Brooklyn, NY Competitors can enter as Best Pee-wee Herman, pulling inspiration from his iconic too-small gray suit and, for the truly committed, big white clogs. The Pee-wee’s Playhouse category opens the field to everyone from Miss Yvonne and Cowboy Curtis to Jambi, Reba the Mail Lady and the King of Cartoons. Movie fans can also dress as characters from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,

New York has plenty of book clubs, but most of them don’t end with hundreds of avid readers gathering under the stars in Central Park. On Monday, August 17, the New York Public Library’s first-ever Big Summer Book Club will wrap up with a massive celebration at the Delacorte Theater, bringing author N.K. Jemisin to the newly renovated home of Shakespeare in the Park for an evening of readings, performances and bookish conversation. Best of all, free tickets are available to the public. The event caps off NYPL’s inaugural citywide summer book club, which invited New Yorkers to spend the season reading Jemisin’s The City We Became. The 2020 fantasy novel is an especially fitting pick for a five-borough reading project: It imagines New York’s boroughs embodied as human avatars who have to work together to defend the city from an otherworldly threat. The grand finale begins on Monday at 8pm at the Delacorte and will include readings, commissioned performances inspired by the novel, and a conversation between Jemisin and WNYC host Alison Stewart. RECOMMENDED: The best bookstores in NYC, including used and specialty bookshops While the event itself is free, you’ll still need to snag a ticket. Starting at noon on August 17, tickets will be distributed outside the Delacorte in Central Park. An in-person lottery will also take place at noon at the Public Theater, while additional ticket vouchers will be handed out beginning at noon at Clason’s Point Library in the Bronx and St. George

The Mets are getting into the dating game—and for once, getting to first base at Citi Field won’t necessarily involve baseball. The hometown team is hosting its first-ever Singles Night Out on Thursday, August 27, when the Mets take on the Milwaukee Brewers at 7:10pm, teaming up with New York social-events company Hot & Social for an evening designed to help unattached Mets fans meet a potential date, new friend or future game-day partner. The event pairs a Mets game with pregame mixers, relationship-status wristbands, conversation starters and interactive experiences meant to make approaching someone IRL feel a little less terrifying. Hot & Social, founded by Liv Schreiber, specializes in events where people are encouraged to arrive solo and actually talk to one another—a concept that apparently still has some life in it despite the existence of approximately 9,000 dating apps. RECOMMENDED: Let me tell you—dating in NYC is actually awesome Schreiber started the company after struggling to find events where people could comfortably show up alone and meet new people. Her solution was to throw her own party, requiring guests to come solo and promising they’d leave with friends. Hot & Social has since expanded into pickleball parties, movie screenings, dinners, dating events and its Camp Social gatherings. (The company says its events have connected more than 100,000 people.) For the Mets event, there are four ticket packages, all of which include a game ticket and wristband. Th

New York may be a few thousand miles from the Italian coast, but a new East Village spot is hoping enough spritzes can close that Euro-summer distance. Recente, a new coastal Italian restaurant and aperitivo bar, opens today at 182 Second Avenue as the first standalone project from Willem Hock and Lukas Canan, longtime hospitality vets whose résumés include Dante, Amor y Amargo, The Surf Lodge and The Nines. The pair first met when they started working at Dante on the same day nearly a decade ago; Hock eventually became general manager, while Canan served as head bartender. The new digs are considerably roomier than your average downtown watering hole: Recente has a 60-seat dining room and full bar, plus a 30-seat courtyard garden and a 16-seat sidewalk café. Dinner runs Tuesday through Sunday, with late-night service until 2 am Thursday through Saturday. Weekend brunch will join the mix in September. Photograph: Jenna MurraySweet Vermouth and Spuma. Photograph: Jenna MurrayMartini and oysters at Recente As you might expect from two Dante alums, drinks are a huge focus: the $18 spritzes include an Al Limone with makrut lime, Meyer lemon, limoncello, Bitter Bianco and prosecco; an olive-heavy Oliva; and a hibiscus-spiked Aperol spritz. There are also three $22 house martinis, including the Martini Sozzo with olive-oil vodka, house vermouth and olives. Stick around long enough and things get decidedly more ’90s: a “Discoteca” section resurrects the Appletini, the Pornstar M

There are few things more quintessentially New York than catching world-class opera at Lincoln Center. But catching it outside, under the stars, without spending a cent? Even better. The Metropolitan Opera’s Summer HD Festival is returning to Josie Robertson Plaza next month, transforming the space outside the opera house into a massive open-air cinema for six nights from September 2 through 7. Now in its 17th edition, the annual festival will screen performances from the Met’s Live in HD series on a giant screen, with approximately 2,500 seats available each night. Every screening is completely free, with no advance tickets or reservations.  RECOMMENDED: Lincoln Center announces 2026–27 season of live programming, including a long-awaited stage reunion between Audra McDonald and Billy Porter This year’s festival technically features five operas across six nights, kicking off September 2 with Act I of Wagner’s epic Tristan und Isolde. Acts II and III follow the next night, so consider those two evenings one very dramatic date with Wagner. The rest of the lineup is similarly stacked: Bellini’s I Puritani screens September 4 at 7:30 pm, followed by Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin on September 5 at 8 pm. On September 6, the Met will show Gabriela Lena Frank’s El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, a magical-realist opera that reunites Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera on the Day of the Dead. The festival wraps September 7 with Puccini’s La Bohème, presented in Franco Zeffirelli’s famously lav

If your monthly rent already feels outrageous, you may want to sit down for this one: the average Manhattan apartment is now renting for $6,655 a month. That eye-watering figure is an all-time high and represents a 10-percent jump from the same time last year. In other words, Manhattan’s average rent is now considerably closer to $7,000 than $6,000, according to new July rental data from Corcoran, which was first covered by The New York Post. Studios now average $4,088 per month, up 8-percent year over year, while one-bedrooms average $5,486, a 7-percent increase. Need a little more space? Two-bedrooms have shot up 13-percent to an average of $8,054, while three-bedrooms are going for a frankly dizzying $12,228 per month, up 12-percent from last year. Studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms all reached record highs. RECOMMENDED: Here are the 50 most expensive neighborhoods in NYC, according to PropertyShark Median rents, which can offer a better picture of what a typical renter encounters because they’re less affected by ultra-expensive listings, are also at or near historic highs. Separate July data from real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller put Manhattan’s median rent at $5,000, up 6.4-percent from a year earlier. Corcoran’s latest figures put the median at $5,295. So exactly what is going on? The simplest answer is that New York still doesn’t have nearly enough apartments available. The city’s most recent official housing survey put the rental vacancy rate at just 1.49-perc