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

Talking Heads frontman, Broadway innovator and all-around creative polymath David Byrne is once again blurring the line between art and science, this time in the middle of downtown Chicago. “Theater of the Mind” is Byrne’s latest experiment in perception, identity and theatrical immersion—and it’s happening inside a real office space. Created with writer and philanthropist Mala Gaonkar, the 15,000-square-foot experience invites audiences of just 16 at a time to explore a series of rooms designed to mess with your senses and make you question, well, yourself.

This time of year, American small talk tends to orbit two dependable topics: how freezing it is outside and how it’s somehow already dark before dinner. The good news is that one of those complaints is on a countdown. Daylight Saving Time is arriving earlier than ever in 2026, giving us longer, lighter evenings sooner than we’re used to. Post-work walks won’t feel nocturnal, dinners won’t be eaten in total darkness and there’s the psychological boost of seeing the sun after 5 pm again. It’s not spring exactly, but it’s close enough to feel like hope. In the U.S., Daylight Saving Time always begins on the second Sunday in March. In 2026, that date lands as early as it possibly can on the calendar. Here’s everything you need to know before your body clock gets mildly offended: What date do the clocks go forward in 2026? Clocks in most of the United States will spring forward on Sunday, March 8, 2026. That’s earlier than in any other year on record and earlier than in 2025, when the change happened on March 9. What time do the clocks go forward? At 2am local time, clocks will jump straight to 3am. You’ll lose an hour of sleep, but gain noticeably brighter evenings almost immediately. Do I need to change the clocks myself? Probably not. Phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, smart TVs and most modern cars update automatically. Older clocks, kitchen appliances, microwaves and some car dashboards may still need a manual nudge. Why is it happening so early this year? Daylight Savin

After a brief winter hiatus, one of Brooklyn’s most reliably electric nights out is officially back. Brooklyn Museum has announced the return of its beloved First Saturdays, kicking off the 2026 season on February 7 with a packed, after-hours celebration timed to Black History Month. If you’ve never been, First Saturdays is the museum’s long-running, community-centered series—and it’s completely free. Expect live music and performances by Brooklyn-based artists, curator-led exhibition tours, film screenings, art-making activities, pop-up talks and a local marketplace, all unfolding across the museum well after regular closing hours. It’s been a staple since 1998 and remains one of the city’s best arguments for why museums shouldn’t feel hushed or precious after dark. The February edition, called "Imitate No One," honors artists who reimagine tradition while building community. The night takes its name from poet Jayne Cortez’s rallying cry and includes a tribute to her legacy with a performance by her band, The Firespitters, alongside readings by contemporary poets influenced by her work. Much of the evening also draws inspiration from "Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens," the landmark exhibition dedicated to the influential Malian photographer. Art historian and curator Catherine E. McKinley will lead a tour exploring Keïta’s portraits of Bamako residents from the 1940s through the 1960s, exploring themes of self-fashioning, modernity and African independence. There’s also a hands-

Starting next Monday, February 2, towering 20-foot inflatable pups will begin appearing around midtown Manhattan during Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show week, turning the area around Madison Square Garden into an unexpected, highly photogenic canine takeover. The larger-than-life installations are part of a pop-up campaign by The Honest Kitchen, timed to coincide with Westminster’s return to its traditional February schedule. While the dog show celebrates elite breeding, perfect grooming and championship ribbons, these inflatables are doing the opposite: spotlighting dogs that look like the ones New Yorkers actually live with, walk and dodge on crowded sidewalks. Before landing in midtown, the giant pups will “cruise” the city’s waterways, floating past both the Hudson and East Rivers. From there, they’ll touch down at Plaza33, just steps from the Garden, where Westminster’s Best in Show will ultimately be crowned. From February 2–3, Plaza33 will effectively become a temporary dog park-meets-art installation. The inflatables will be on view from early morning through late evening, offering prime photo ops for commuters, tourists and anyone who suddenly finds themselves staring up at a cartoonishly oversized pup on their way to Penn Station. Pet parents passing through can grab free samples of The Honest Kitchen’s Wholemade dehydrated dog food, along with limited merch and accessories. On Monday evening, February 2, the plaza will also host a dog-lover meet-up at 6:30pm, invit

New York woke up today wrapped in white. A powerful winter storm dropped nearly nine inches of snow across the city yesterday, quieting streets, frosting skylines and briefly turning even the loudest corners of town into something softer, slower and even kind of beautiful. Still, New Yorkers did what they always do: some stayed in, some shoveled, some sledded and some lined up for pizza anyway. The result was a city split between grit and wonder, captured best in the moments below. Check out some awesome shots from yesterday's massive snow storm: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Q. Sakamaki (@qsakamaki) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Craig Fruchtman (@craigsbeds) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Noel Y. Calingasan • NYC (@nyclovesnyc) View this post on Instagram A post shared by New York City 4 All®️& Award-Winning Company🏆 (@newyorkcity4all) View this post on Instagram A post shared by New York City 🔹 (@mingomatic) View this post on Instagram A post shared by WhatIsNewYork (@whatisnewyork) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kim Jirawat (Movemaker) (@kim_jirawat) View this post on Instagram A post shared by White Horse Tavern (@whitehorsetavern1880) View this post on Instagram A post shar

Short answer: maybe yes, maybe no—but it’s enough of a maybe that the city is getting ready for the real thing. Forecast models are currently toying with big numbers for the New York City area as a sprawling winter storm barrels toward the East Coast this weekend. Depending on which model you trust (and that’s a big caveat), the city could see anywhere from a few inches to something much more headline-worthy, with early projections ranging from roughly 3 to 12 inches across the five boroughs. Some forecasts for the broader tri-state area go even higher. The storm’s track is driving the uncertainty. A slight shift north or south will determine whether New York gets hours of fluffy snow or whether warmer air sneaks in, turning part of the event into a messy mix of sleet and freezing rain, especially closer to the coast.  When will it snow in New York? Here’s what does seem consistent across forecasts: timing. Snow is expected to start early Sunday, intensify through Sunday afternoon and evening and taper off late Sunday night into Monday. Even if totals end up on the lower end, the storm’s peak coincides with the worst possible window for travel and forecasters are already warning that Monday morning could be rough. How much snow will fall? City officials are preparing for a wide range of outcomes. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city is planning for up to a foot of snow, with pre-treatment of streets beginning Friday. About 2,000 sanitation workers will shift to 12-hour schedule

If you’re supposed to be anywhere that requires wheels, wings or rails between now and Monday, consider this your polite-but-firm warning. A sprawling winter system, dubbed winter storm Fern, is lining up to make travel across much of the eastern half of the country deeply annoying, potentially dangerous and very delay-prone. Forecasters say the storm will stretch from Texas through the Midwest and into the Northeast, with a messy mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain and ice. More than half the U.S. population could feel its effects. Major hubs from Dallas and Houston to Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New York and Boston are seeing delays and cancellations stacking up fast. According to FlightAware, thousands of flights have already been delayed or canceled, with more expected through the weekend as conditions shift hour by hour. Most major airlines, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue and others, have issued travel waivers, meaning you can usually change your flight without paying extra fees if you act now. Airlines are also warning travelers to expect last-minute schedule changes as the storm slides east. If your flight does get canceled or severely delayed, U.S. rules are straightforward: airlines must rebook you or refund you. What they don’t have to do is pay for your hotel, meals or airport sleepover. Weather, inconveniently, isn’t their fault. Travel insurance (or coverage through a credit card) can help soften that blow.

If your social feeds have recently warned you about “exploding trees” in Chicago—sometimes accompanied by AI-generated clips of trunks detonating like fireworks—take a breath. The sounds are real, but the explosions are not. What people are actually hearing during bouts of extreme cold is a phenomenon known as a frost crack. It’s dramatic, loud and unsettling if you’ve never experienced it before, but it’s simply physics, not unexpected arboreal combustion. When temperatures plunge rapidly, especially during sharp Arctic blasts, the outer layers of a tree cool and contract much faster than the inner core. At the same time, sap inside the tree begins to freeze and ultimately expand, like water. The result makes a tug-of-war of pressure, as the outside of the tree shrinks inward while the inside pushes outward. Eventually, something gives. When the tension reaches a breaking point, the trunk can split vertically with a sudden loud crack. The noise is what’s fueling the “exploding tree” myth. But if you investigate afterward, you won’t find wood shrapnel or scorched bark, just a long, straight fissure running up the trunk. Meteorologists across the Midwest have called out the viral framing as clickbait. While rapid temperature drops can cause cracking, trees don’t randomly blow apart simply because it’s cold. In fact, in winters like Chicago’s, where subfreezing conditions have already lingered for weeks, most sap has gradually frozen, reducing the likelihood of dramatic cracks.

Miami has officially entered its driverless era. After more than a year of quietly testing autonomous taxis on local streets, Waymo has flipped the switch on public service across much of the city, launching its self-driving ride-hailing fleet in a 60-square-mile service area that covers big chunks of Miami, plus Coral Gables and South Miami.  Riders book trips through the Waymo app, much like any other ride-share, except the vehicle that pulls up is fully autonomous. The initial coverage zone stretches from Coconut Grove through Brickell, Wynwood, the Design District and West Miami, with airport runs to Miami International coming soon. According to Waymo, nearly 10,000 residents have already signed up to try the service, with new riders being invited in phases to keep things running smoothly. Miami now joins San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and parts of Austin on Waymo’s growing map—part of an aggressive national expansion as autonomous vehicle companies race to scale up ahead of competitors like Tesla. Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, has positioned itself as the most established player in the space, with more than 127 million miles driven in fully autonomous mode. The company emphasizes the safety of its rides. Waymo says its vehicles, which are guided by artificial intelligence, lidar, radar and cameras, have logged significantly fewer serious injury crashes than human drivers across its operating markets. Critics, however, argue that those cl

Air conditioning is now a basic human necessity in New York City... at least on paper. A newly enacted city law will require landlords to install and maintain air conditioning units for tenants who ask for them, with enforcement kicking in by June 1, 2030. The mandate applies to both market-rate and rent-stabilized apartments and is designed to close a life-threatening gap in housing conditions as summers grow hotter and heat waves become more frequent. The timing may feel odd given it's January, but the stakes are high. City health data shows that hundreds of New Yorkers die each summer from heat-related causes, most often in un-air-conditioned homes. Extreme heat is already the city’s deadliest climate-driven hazard and officials say that guaranteeing access to cooling is no longer optional infrastructure. “Many people don't realize, but almost 600 New Yorkers die every single year from extreme heat,” Councilmember Lincoln Restler told Gothamist. “And the most common factor among those folks is that they lack access to cooling in the home.” Under the law, tenants can opt in starting March 1, 2028, by formally requesting air conditioning from their landlord. Once that request is approved, building owners will have 60 days to comply. During the cooling season, which runs from June 15 through September 15, bedrooms must be kept at or below 78 degrees when outdoor temperatures exceed 82 degrees. While landlords must cover the cost of the unit and its installation, tenants are r

Manhattan just got its biggest behind-the-scenes glow-up in decades. This week marked the official opening of Sunset Pier 94 Studios, a 232,000-square-foot film and television production campus set right on the Hudson River—and, notably, the first purpose-built studio facility ever constructed in Manhattan. Yes, somehow it took until 2026. The massive complex occupies Pier 94 on the Far West Side and was developed by the heavyweight trio of Vornado Realty Trust, Hudson Pacific Properties and Blackstone Real Estate, in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Gensler designed the building itself and it looks the part. Photograph: Courtesy of Sunset Studios Inside, the studio offers six massive sound stages with up to 36-foot clear heights (plenty of room for ambitious sets and lighting rigs), 145,000 square feet of production offices and support space, a dedicated mill for building sets and on-site parking, a rarity in Manhattan. Offices have natural light and open onto Hudson River views, which may be the nicest backdrop a stressed-out PA has ever had. New York State recently expanded its film and television tax credits, causing demand for studio space to surge, especially for spaces that don’t require schlepping an entire cast and crew out to Queens or Brooklyn. Manhattan has long been the missing piece in the city’s production puzzle, so Pier 94 is meant to fix that. It’s already working, too. Paramount Television Studios has signed on as the f

If you’ve ever tried to introduce a kid to Broadway without wincing at the ticket price, this one’s for you. Kids’ Night on Broadway is officially back and for one night only this February, kids and teens can see a Broadway show for free—that means no lottery, no rush line and no elaborate budgeting required. The annual program, run by The Broadway League, returns on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, offering free tickets for anyone 18 and under when accompanied by a full-paying adult. The deal applies to 18 Broadway productions, including a mix of family favorites, buzzy newcomers and long-running classics. Tickets are purchased in pairs and automatically discounted 50 percent, effectively making the kid’s ticket free. Every person attending needs a ticket—there are no extras added at checkout—and participating shows are subject to change. (Two productions, The Great Gatsby and SIX: The Musical, will offer their Kids’ Night performances on Wednesday, February 25.) This year’s lineup also includes Aladdin, All Out: Comedy About Ambition, & Juliet, Buena Vista Social Club, Chicago, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Lion King, Maybe Happy Ending, MJ, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Operation Mincemeat, The Outsiders, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) and Wicked. Beyond the shows, Kids’ Night makes Broadway a full-on experience, with post-show talkbacks, sing-alongs, activity books and hands-on art projects inside participating t

With the FIFA World Cup set to descend on the region this summer, city officials announced this week that hidden hotel fees and surprise credit card holds will soon be illegal under a new rule finalized by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. The measure aims to rein in last-minute add-ons like “resort,” “destination” or “service” fees that quietly inflate room rates long after travelers think they’ve locked in a price. “Whether you’re visiting the five boroughs for the World Cup or leaving our city for a well-deserved vacation, you deserve to know how much a hotel costs up front,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani in an official statement, calling the fees “slippery” and “elusive” costs that only show up when travelers check their credit card statements. Under the new rule, hotels and booking platforms must advertise an all-in price that includes every mandatory fee. That means no more drip pricing, no more checkout-page surprises and, for the first time in the country, hotels will also be required to clearly disclose credit card holds and advance deposits, which is a long-standing issue that has left some travelers suddenly short on available credit mid-trip. “Under this rule, if you check out and suddenly there’s a fee you didn’t see before, that’s illegal,” said DCWP commissioner Sam Levine at the announcement. The rule applies not just to hotels physically located in New York City, but to any hotel or booking site that advertises prices to New York City consumers—ev