Rosie Hewitson

As much as we love London here at Time Out, we’re also partial to the odd daydream about a leisurely getaway to somewhere that’s not quite so big and busy. Microdose on that holiday vibe by taking a day trip to one of the many laidback, joy-inducing destinations just a few hours away from London, which pack in plenty; from historic cities and cute villages to sandy beaches and rolling countryside. If you’re wanting a quick getaway, here are 17 of the Time Out team’s favourite day trips from London, complete with our recommendations of cute pubs and ace restaurants – all close enough to the city to get there and back in one sweet day.  RECOMMENDED:✨The best day trips 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.

April is an underrated month if you ask us. Winter is finally over and we’ve all started to emerge from hibernation, ready to properly commit to socialising again. The sun has put in a few appearances, London’s parks and gardens are in full bloom and the city feels alive with all the possibilities of summer, but without all the sunburn and sweltering, sleepless nights.  There’s also a handful of spring music festivals, some cracking art exhibitions and theatre (including the first open-air shows of the year) and plenty more amazing things going on around the city.  Check out our roundup of the best of them, and start planning an amazing month now. 

Feeling hungry London? Well, great news! Over the last 12 months, Time Out’s fabulous food editor has been stuffing her face to pick out the best 50 dining spots in the city. There’s still time to book a table for this weekend at one of the hottest joints in town, which range from beloved classics and fancy Michelin star spots to local neighbourhood treasures.  When you’re not filling your face with the city’s best lip-smacking grub, there’s also a fabulous line-up of events to get stuck into. Download the Queer East Film Festival programme and start highlighting the screenings you want to book tickets for, including films showing in saunas and post-screening nature walks. Fill your eyes with spring flowers at Hampton Court Palace’s annual tulip festival, look at (and buy) beautifully crafted pottery at Ceramic Art London and fill your two days off with free eco-activities at EarthFest on the banks of the King’s Cross canal.  Still got gaps in your diary? Embrace the warmer days with a look at the best places to see spring flowers in London, or have a cosy time in one of London’s best pubs. If you’ve still got some space in your week, check out London’s best bars and restaurants, or take in one of these lesser-known London attractions. RECOMMENDED: Listen and, most importantly, subscribe to Time Out’s brand new, weekly podcast ‘Love Thy Neighbourhood’ and hear famous Londoners show our editor Joe Mackertich around their favourite bits of the city.

Running 26.2 miles (twenty six point two!) dressed as Po from ‘Teletubbies’ is something that the majority of us Londoners will probably never be brave enough to attempt. Running a marathon is a truly gruelling feat requiring countless hours of training, so the 50,000 brave souls who are taking part London Marathon on Sunday April 21 2024 very much deserve our support.  Check out our route guide below to find the best spectating spots and track down nearby pubs and bars for when all that whooping and clapping leaves you feeling nearly as thirsty as the runners. Remember: your presence at this monumental sporting occasion makes it absolutely fine to drink lager or rosé in the street at 10am on a Sunday.  It’s worth bearing in mind, too, that everyone taking part laces up pretty early. There will be a series of starts between 10am and 11.30am, with short gaps in between to allow the course ahead to clear. And if watching the runners pushing through the pain barrier leaves you inspired, check out our guide on how to enter the London Marathon. And here’s our winning guide to this year’s marathon. What landmarks can I spot on the London Marathon route? If you hadn’t noticed, the marathon route is loooooong. Starting in Greenwich Park in south-east London and finishing right by Buckingham Palace, there are loads of famous things to see along the way, especially when you’re a spectator. Here are some of the things to look out for: Mile 6: Cutty Sark Mile 12: Tower Bridge Mile 18: C

The British summer is on the horizon, and you’re probably itching to catch some rays. While there’s a lot to be said for London’s outdoor swimming spots, sometimes you can’t beat a paddle in the waves, some refreshing sea air, and a hearty portion of fish ‘n’ chips.  You’ve probably already been on a jaunt down to Brighton, but the British seaside has plenty of more secluded, photogenic destinations absolutely steeped in charm, too. And luckily, London sits within easy reach of seaside towns, scenic coastal walks and even some of the best beaches in the UK.  So, from the vast unbroken expanse of Camber Sands to the eerie other-worldly beauty of Dungeness, we’ve rounded up the best beaches within two hours of the capital. RECOMMENDED: The best day trips from LondonThe best family day trips from LondonThe best weekend trips from London

  A beer garden and a great view – it’s a simple combo, but it’s a glorious one. Perched before a blissful vista, cold pint in hand and (hopefully) soaking in some sweet, sweet rays... there are very few places we’d rather be. And now Spring has finally sprung, it’s the ideal time to throw yourself back into outdoor boozing. The UK has tons of fabulous pubs, so it makes complete sense that plenty of ‘em come with astounding views. If you’d never realised that pebble beaches, grassy plains, city skylines, vast rivers and much more could all be enjoyed from the comfort of a boozer, you’re in for a heck of a ride. Here’s our roundup of the best pub gardens with views in the UK. RECOMMENDED:🍺The best pubs in the UK🐟The best fish and chips shops in the UK🥗The best restaurants in the UK🌤️The best places to visit in the UK

Every week, a frankly stupid amount of brilliant new restaurants, cafés and street food joints arrive in London. Which makes whittling down a shortlist of the best newbies a serious challenge. But here it is. The 20 very best new restaurants in the capital, ranked.  Go forth and eat, featuring everything from hyped new Mayfair spot The Dover to French bistro bangers at Josephine in Fulham, Med sharing dishes at Morchella in Clerkenwell and Akara, a Michelin star restaurant offshoot in Borough. We also show some love for the sublime small plates at Hackney's Sune, modern Malaysian cuisine at Mambow in Clapton, tasty sausage at Bistro Freddie in Spitalfields, Italian-ish snacks at Forza Wine on the South Bank and Filipino sharing feasts at Donia in Soho.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London.

It’s a good week for London‘s gourmands. Time Out’s trusted food editor has released her official list of the 50 best restaurants in London, featuring everything from beloved classics, fancy Michelin star spots and local neighbourhood treasures. Have you ticked them all off yet? Well, there’s no time like the present.  When you’re not filling your face with the city’s best lip-smacking grub, there’s also a fabulous line-up of events to get stuck into. Download the Queer East Film Festival programme and start highlighting the screenings you want to book tickets for, including films showing in saunas and post-screening nature walks. Fill your eyes with spring flowers at Hampton Court Palace’s annual tulip festival, look at (and buy) beautifully crafted pottery at Ceramic Art London and fill your weekend with free eco-activities at EarthFest on the banks of the King’s Cross canal.  Still got gaps in your diary? Embrace the warmer days with a look at the best places to see spring flowers in London, or have a cosy time in one of London’s best pubs. If you’ve still got some space in your week, check out London’s best bars and restaurants, or take in one of these lesser-known London attractions. RECOMMENDED: Listen and, most importantly, subscribe to Time Out’s brand new, weekly podcast ‘Love Thy Neighbourhood’ and hear famous Londoners show our editor Joe Mackertich around their favourite bits of the city.

Sure, summer might not technically start until June 21. But spiritually speaking, the arrival of May’s first bank holiday feels like the beginning of summer in London, a time when we all agree to kiss goodbye to our sleeves and ditch our coats at the first whisper of sunshine.  Consider these three days off work your chance to reacquaint yourself with summer in the city. Hopefully, the sun will be out, and it’ll be warm enough to sit outside for longer than five minutes. And that means hanging out in some of the capital’s best beer gardens, cooling off with some outdoor swimming, dining out in a fabulous alfresco restaurant, exploring London’s lush green spaces or browsing one of the city’s bustling markets.  Check out our guide to the best events and things to do across London for the Bank Holiday weekend falling betweeen Saturday May 4 to Monday May 6 2024.  RECOMMENDED: Read our full guide to the bank holiday in London

April 2024: Congrats, Londoners! April is here, meaning that we’ve officially made it through the winter, the weather is warming up, flowers are blooming all over the city and the evenings are getting lighter. Pretty soon we’ll be getting aggressively sunburnt in beer gardens and rooftop bars, planning day trips to the seaside and lamenting the lack of air con on the Bakerloo line. But before then, there’s loads of wonderful springtime stuff going on around the city.  April is a great month for big new stuff on the stage, with openings including ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ starring Brian Cox, and ‘London Tide’, the National Theatre’s new adaptation of Dickens’ ‘Our Mutual Friend’ featuring music by PJ Harvey. Art-wise, there’s the Tate Modern’s Expressionists exhibition, and a solo show from British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare. The end of Ramadan mid-April means that there’ll be plenty of Eid celebrations taking place around the city, including central London’s Eid in the Square festivities. There’s also the London Coffee Festival, the London Games Festival – headed up Somerset House’s always fun annual video game exhibition Now Play This – and the 44th edition of the London Marathon to look forward to this month.  And if you’re counting down the days until festival season arrives, you’ll be pleased to know that you don’t have to wait until summer to check out some great live music line-ups. In the Round Festival and Brick Lane Jazz Festival arrive this month, and nei

As soon as June hits, London is packed with parades, parties and protests for Pride Month to mark the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots. The London Pride parade is traditionally the focus of festivities, but there are plenty of other LGBTQ+ events taking place both before and after it. Over a million people take to the streets of London for the celebration each summer. Recommended: The best gay bars in London. Recommended: London’s best LGBTQ+ club nights. When is London Pride? This year’s London Pride parade will take place on Saturday June 29. The 2024 parade route is yet to be announced, but in previous years it has started at Hyde Park Corner before wending its way down Piccadilly, then south to Haymarket and Trafalgar Square, before culminating at Whitehall Place.   How to get tickets for Pride in London 2024 Unlike other big events like Brighton Pride, Pride in London is free and unticketed. Still, it does get pretty hectic, so if you'd like to watch the action with an unimpeded view from a comfy seat, you can book yourself a spot in the grandstand on Haymarket from £50. Applications are also still open to be one of the 600 groups marching in the official parade. If you’re part of a community group, employee network or non-profit wishing to join the parade, you can apply here.  The parade also relies on a team of volunteers, who donate their time to help fundraise, steward and generally insure that the day runs smoothly. Applications to volunteer at this y

London is home to a wealth of queer bars, clubs, nights and other spaces, so it’s no wonder the city’s LGBTQ+ scene is among the most fabulous in the world. But, it’s Pride Month when the LGBTQ+ celebrations really take off, as Pride in London fills the city with LGBTQ-themed events, protests and parties. RECOMMENDED: All the London road closures for the Pride parade.  The jewel in Pride Month’s crown is the annual Pride Parade, which typically comprises of around 600 groups and over 30,000 participants. The mayor of London usually leads the parade, and there will also be a wealth of free entertainment across different stages in the city centre. The route for Pride in London 2024 is yet to be finalised. We’ll be updating this page in due course, so check back for the route map, event areas and road closures. When is the London Pride Parade 2024? This year London’s Pride parade will place on Saturday, June 29. Applications are now live here for groups wishing to take part in the Parade, while tickets for the Haymarket Grandstand are on sale here.  What time does the London Pride Parade start? The route and timings of this year’s parade are yet to be announced, but in previous years it has begun at noon at Hyde Park Corner, with a grandstand in Haymarket open from 11am.  Who will be performing in the London Pride Parade line-up?  The line-up for the 2024 stage entertainment will be announced in due course, but visitors can expect to see a wealth of LGBTQ+ talent ac

This year’s Eurovision is shaping up to be a slightly controversial one, with many of the contest’s biggest stans choosing to boycott. So if you’re looking for a way to get your dose of cheesy Europop without watching the live show this year, look no further than EuroSmash, a brand spanking new day festival at south London arts hub Woolwich Works featuring a stellar line-up of former contestants. On the bill are larger-than-life Irish twins Jedward – who represented the land of Eire in 2011 and 2012 – and this year’s Irish entry Brooke (just Brooke), plus Norway’s Subwoolfer, Bulgaria’s Kristian Kostov, and Belgium’s Gustaph. Saxophone-playing drag artist Snow White Trash and ‘Drag Race UK’ contestant Just May also feature, alongside a string quartet playing all your favourite Eurovision classics. Headlining the festival is Katrina, who won the contest in 1997 (the last time the UK was victorious) with her snappy hit ‘Love Shine a Light’. We’d certainly be giving douze points to that line-up. 

If you’re the type of person who devours each new series of ‘Chef’s Table’ as soon as it drops, you’ll have heard of Nancy Silverton, the James Beard Award-winning chef behind LA’s iconic Italian restaurant Campanile, and a host more celebrated dining spots. She’s teaming up with Sera – an exciting new platform staging truly special foodie events across the capital – for a menu of her greatest hits, as part of the  platform’s new ‘Wish you were here’ series, offering Londoners the chance to enjoy food from some of the most celebrated chefs on the planet. Available for one night only at Silverton’s London outpost of Pizzeria Mozza, the menu costs £80 a head (or £120 with wine pairing) and features plenty of her most iconic dishes, including the ‘Nancy Caesar’ and a selection of Osteria Mozza inspired pastas. An unforgettable feast, without the hassle of an 11-hour flight. 

The renowned Sundance Film Festival returns to London to give film buffs the chance to view more thought-provoking, emotion-stirring movies. The 2024 festival will open with ‘Kneecap’, the first-ever Irish language film to premiere at Sundance, which tells the story of a rising Belfast rap group and their mission to save their native language. Closing night will boast the UK premiere of ‘Dìdi (弟弟)’, Oscar-nominated director Sean Wang’s ode to first-generation teenagers in the Bay Area. Stay tuned for the full programme, which is announced in late April. 

Hackney Wick is home to one of London’s most important nightlife hubs these days, but when canalside warehouse venue No90 opened a decade ago the Wick’s bustling party scene was in its infancy. This day-to-night party on Good Friday celebrates the venue’s first decade, with a stellar line-up of selectors taking to the decks across all four of its spaces, including Manchester legend A Guy Called Gerald, Rinse FM host Scarlett O’Malley and DJs from Soho institution Phonica Records and Birmingham-based collective Selextorhood.

Walthamstow’s mahoosive brewery and beer hall Big Penny Social is throwing a big ol’ day-to-night party to celebrate the arrival of the double bank holiday this Friday. They’ll be barbecuing up a storm in the spacious garden from 2pm, with DJs spinning tunes all afternoon and On Shenanigans helping you to release your inner child via kids’ party games including limbo, musical chairs and Connect Four. Later on, the Hip Hop House Band take to the stage inside to play hip hop and RnB covers of Snoop Dogg, Dre, Biggie, Kendrick, Kanye, and plenty more, before DJs keep the party going until 2am. A dreamy start to your four days off!

Acclaimed chillwave producer Simon Green, AKA Bonobo, has become very hot property over the years thanks to his knack for mixing infectious downtempo hip hop beats with sunny electronica. His curated event series, Outlier, has been running since 2015, taking over various major international venues including east London’s Tobacco Dock, Manchester’s Mayfield Depot and NYC’s Knockdown Center. It makes its debut at Drumsheds for a day-to-night party on Easter Sunday, with a mega lineup featuring the likes of DJ Koze, Mall Grab, George Fitzgerald, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Elkka. Tottenham’s enormous new venue has a capacity of 15,000, but we reckon it’ll still sell out, so grab a ticket while you still can!

Brixton’s long-running annual disco festival will make you feel like you’re dancing in hot pants even if you’re actually wearing dad jeans. Party starters including London DJ Artwork, British house music producer Michael Gray and director of the all-vinyl female DJ Squad Girlz B Like, Marcia Carr will be spinning disco and house bangers across beloved SW9 venues like Brixton Village, Electric Brixton and Brixton Jamm. There’ll also be a live set from American lyricist Jocelyn Brown while the Talking Heads’ recently remastered concert filml ‘Stop Making Sense’ will be screened at The Ritzy Picturehouse. Category is: an amazing night out!

Munch your way through dishes from the great and the good of the capital’s restaurant scene at this sprawling culinary festival in the picturesque surroundings of central London’s Regent’s Park. Korean rabata (barbecue) restaurant Roka, South American fusion from YOPO and Big Mamma’s quintet of maximalist Italian joints (that’s Gloria, Circolo Popolare, Ave Mario, Jacuzzi and Carlotta) are among the line-up of restaurants peddling plates to celebrate the event’s 20th anniversary. If you’re not in a food coma by the end, there’ll also be kitchen masterclasses, chef talks and tastings to get involved with. Our advice? Have some Rennies on hand. 

Remember that absolutely audacious backheel double nutmeg Alessia Russo scored during the Lionesses’ victorious Euros campaign? That 4-0 semi-final drubbing was the last time England played Sweden, who they face once again this April in the inaugural round of qualifiers for Euro 2025. Sarina Wiegman’s World Cup finalists are once again expected to sell out the 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium for the Friday night fixture, which marks their first step on the road to defending the European title they won in west London back during that glorious summer of 2022. And with tickets starting at just £15, it’s a great opportunity for the whole family to witness some of England’s biggest sporting stars live in the flesh. 

Taking place across a whopping 20 venues in and around Queen’s Yard in Hackney Wick – including the likes of The Yard, Colour Factory, CRATE brewery and 9294 - this always-popular day-to-night celebration of London’s vibrant dance music scene returns for another year on the Saturday of the early May Bank Holiday weekend, for its biggest-ever celebration. More than 100 DJs or collectives feature on the whopping line-up, which ranges from beloved local selectors to more established international names playing everything from house and techno to garage and disco. But that’s not all, as there’ll be after parties kicking off at Colour Factory and Village Underground, too. Artists include: Alec Tempo, DJ Caspa, Madam X, SKETCH. Check out the full line-up here. 

We all know by now that London’s jazz scene is young, cool, underground and genre-blending. Taking place across ten venues including Rich Mix, Rough Trade East and the Village Underground, the Brick Lane Jazz Festival may be in its early iterations, but it sums up just how exciting our city’s musicians are. Better yet, the event is also teaming up with Tomorrow’s Warriors, the pioneering talent programme responsible for the success of the likes of Moses Boyd and Ezra Collective. This year’s line-up features Oscar Jermone, Ego Ella May, Tara Lily and Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange.

Chloe Kelly, Alexia Putellas and Megan Rapinoe might have become household names in recent years, but if you’re of the belief that women’s football has only recently started to enjoy big crowds, this eye-opening documentary will set you straight.  It tells the story of the inaugural Women’s World Cup, an unofficial tournament that took place in Mexico in 1971, organised by local businessmen to capitalise on the success of the Men’s World Cup hosted by the country the previous year.  Taking place in front of 110,000 fans at a packed out Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, the Copa 71 final still holds the attendance record for the largest ever crowd at a women’s sporting event. But, as narrator Serena Williams (who executive-produces with sister Venus) explains in the film’s opening credits: ‘You’ll find no mention of this event in any official history’. Told through long-buried broadcast footage, newspaper clippings and interviews with players from various participating nations, the ensuing story is fascinating, and at times genuinely shocking, viewing for anyone unfamiliar with the oft-maligned history of women’s football. It’s a fascinating and at times genuinely shocking story There’s some much needed levity in the documentary’s portrayal of the sexism faced by female players throughout the ’60s and ’70s. ‘What’s a nice girl like you doing playing football?’, a smarmy male reporter asks English player Trudy McCaffery in one local news clipping so jaw-droppingly sexist that you

The UK’s largest queer film event, not to mention a major fixture in London’s cultural calendar, BFI Flare returns to the BFI Southbank next week for its 38th edition, showcasing the best new LGBTQ+ cinema from around the world over ten jam-packed days. If you’ve not yet managed to grab tickets to some of the big hitters, be sure to check out the 'Best of the Fest’ programme on the festival’s final day. It just went on sale yesterday, and features additional screenings of all the most popular picks. But if you have missed out on the big, showy titles, don’t worry! There are still loads of great under-the-radar offerings worthy of your attention. Here are a few of our faves. Photograph: BFI Flare 1. Silver Haze Dutch director Sacha Polak’s fourth feature film sees her reunite with actress Vicky Knight, who previously won a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit award for her role as an acid attack survivor in Polak’s 2019 film ‘Dirty God’. Drawing inspiration from Knight’s own childhood, during which she survived an arson attack on her uncle’s pub, ‘Silver Haze’ is a powerful depiction of working-class Britain, in which Knight plays a 23-year-old nurse and burns victim who starts a relationship with one of her patients.  Photograph: BFI Flare 2. Don’t Ever Stop As a long-running resident at major gay nightclubs Heaven and Trade, Birmingham-born producer and DJ Tony De Vit was a hugely influential figure in London’s gay nightlife scene in the ’80s and ’90s, keeping a generation of young g

Founded by drag queens Jonny Woo and John Sizzle with their business partner Colin Rothbart back in 2014, pint-sized Kingsland Road pub The Glory is a jewel in the fabulous crown of east London’s ever-dwindling queer scene, beloved by all who pass through its unassuming blue doors.  Head down to the Haggerston venue on an average evening and you’ll find scene veterans like Princess Julia and Jeffrey Hinton on the decks, east London’s most out-there drag artists performing surreal cabaret on the tiny gold stage and a raucous crowd of spectacularly well-heeled creative types cackling in the smoking area. At least until the end of January, when the legendary venue will cease trading at its current location, as announced this afternoon. ‘It’s with much sadness that we shall be closing the doors of The Glory, as we know it, on 31st January 2024,’ its owners announced in a statement released on the venue’s Instagram page. ‘For us all, the staff, performers, DJs AND our much-valued customers, we know this is upsetting, but we have decided to relocate as our building is finally being redeveloped and we simply can’t cannot continue to operate as we'd like.’ View this post on Instagram A post shared by THE GLORY (@thegloryldn) To anyone who has spent more than five minutes on London’s queer scene, news of another LGBTQ+ venue’s closure probably won’t come as a huge surprise. While the number of queer venues in the capital has remained fairly stable in recent years,

While the goyim (non-Jews) do Christmas, Jews do Chanukah. While they have mince pies, we have sufganiyot: perfect, pillow-y doughnuts eaten as deep-fried treats during the festival of lights. The deep-fried bit is important: Chanukah is about the Maccabean revolt against the Greeks in the second century BCE, when there was only enough sacred oil in the Second Temple to last for one night, but it miraculously lasted for eight. To celebrate, Jews the world over eat oily food. It’s a very convenient excuse for scoffing a load of latkes and doughnuts. How are sufganiyot different from doughnuts? Glad you asked. They’re um… a bit lighter, basically. That’s kind of it. You could argue they’re closer to French beignets than English or American doughnuts, but what really matters is stuffing your face with some deep-fried dough and saying ‘up yours’ to the Ancient Greeks. Here are some amazing (mostly) Jewish bakeries in London where you can indulge yourself while sticking two fingers up to Antiochus.  Grodzinksi Photograph: Jess Hand London’s oldest kosher bakery was founded in 1888 by Belarussian expats Harris and Judith Grodzinski, and is still going strong across its locations today. It’s a bit complex as the owner retired and then one of the OG shops, in Golders, was sold, then bought back again. But here’s the thing: you just need to eat, in whatever shop it is, owned by whoever (Grodz or Grodzinski). Pop in for some sweet treats and you may well be tempted to dine on the im

Thurston Moore’s early music may seem synonymous with 1980s New York punk rock, but he’s been a Londoner for well over a decade. Having previously lived in Stoke Newington, the 65-year-old has moved south of the city (the exact location he keeps vague), where between making solo albums and running his record label, Ecstatic Peace, he’s embraced London’s improvised live music scene. Fitting perhaps, given the DIY nature of his work as Sonic Youth’s frontman. The band’s abrasive, free-natured sound often paired rapid guitar riffs with droning basslines and slowly clattering drums that always felt very in the moment. His new book ‘Sonic Life’ is, as he says, ‘All the musical inspirations I have from all the different ephemera, books and recordings that defined my growing years. ‘Then the advent of Sonic Youth and how we moved through the course of the 80s and 90s.’ To tie in with the launch of his new book, the musician spoke to us about his favourite London music venue, IKLECTIK, an independent space that champions new, free-form music. With the threats of closure ahead of planned redevelopment, Moore is keen to highlight the importance of this personal sacred space.  ‘IKLECTIK is found underneath the Waterloo Bridge in Old Paradise Yard. It’s been there only nine years, so right after I relocated here. I was living in Stoke Newington at the time, very close to Cafe OTO, which is sort of the critical listening room for experimental music. But I started hearing about this new pl

Fancy yourself a bit of an oenophile? Then you’ll probably already know that this coming Thursday is a pretty big day in the wine world. That’s because the third Thursday of November is Beaujolais Nouveau Day, i.e. the first day on which this year’s bottles of the good stuff are allowed to be sold. A gamay grape wine from the Beaujolais district of Burgundy, Beaujolais Nouveau is one of the few varieties of plonk that’s sold during the same year in which it’s produced. The juicy red has gained a bit of a following in London in recent years, with many of the capital’s favourite wine bars throwing special events to celebrate the cult cuvée. Here are some we especially like the look of.  Gordon’s Beaujolais Breakfast If Beaujolais Nouveau Day is the equivalent of Christmas in your world, then Gordon’s should be the first place you head to on the Big Day. London’s oldest wine bar is playing every oenophile’s St Nick, letting you sip on glasses of the good stuff bright and early from 8am on, so you can sample this year’s crop before everyone else. They’ll be serving up Full English brekkies to soak up all the booze, and nice strong coffees for anyone needing to sober up quickly. All the same, we’d probably still advise going into the office on this particular Thursday. Gordon’s Wine Bar. Thu Nov 16. Free entry. Top Cuvée Beaujolais Nouveau Masterclass If there’s a burgeoning trend on the British wine scene, you can bet that London’s most ‘banter’ wine merchants will be heavily i

Ever looked at a music festival line-up and realise, with abject horror, how desperately out of touch you are? Several of Time Out London’s editorial team felt like that when Pitchfork released the line-up for its London festival, which is taking over some of the capital’s best-loved music venues this week for its third edition.  Among big hitters like the Mercury Prize-winning jazz quintet Ezra Collective, riot grl legends Sleater-Kinney and dance music protégé Yaeji are a frankly concerning number of head-scratchers, even for us NTS-listening, ‘Crack’ magazine-reading Cafe Oto regulars.  Luckily for you, we’ve spent the last few weeks swotting up on the lesser-known artists appearing on the eclectic bill, so that we can tell you who is worth buying a ticket for. Here are some of our favourite up-and-comers to look out for.  Balming Tiger Who are they?: Balming Tiger are a South Korean multi-national alternative K-pop collective consisting of rapper Omega Sapien, DJ Abyssm director San Yawn, music video directors Jan'Qui and Leesuho, singer-songwriters Sogumm, Wnjn, Mudd the Student, and editor Henson. The hip-hop single ‘Sexy Nukim’ with BTS’s RM is a good entry point. For fans of: BTS, NewJeans, So!YoON. Village Underground. Wed Nov 8.  CHAI Who are they?: A sugary sweet experimental pop group blending elements of Tom Tom Club, Basement Jaxx and CSS to create punchy anthems inspired by female empowerment and redefining ‘kawaii’ culture.  For fans of: Confidence Man, Kero

Twenty-first century London is saturated with low-level smut. Its streets house three separate penis waffle purveyors and you can hardly walk into a gift shop without your eyes being assaulted by boob or bum-shaped novelty vases. But in times of yore, Londoners had to go to extreme lengths for a glimpse of tantalising nudity. They had to seek out statues with intriguing curves, modelled in fleshy marble, and discreetly ogle them until the nearest policeman moved them on with a swift jab of his truncheon. Here are some of the most outrageously sexy statues of yesteryear: seek them out, but bring the smelling salts in case it all gets too much. Achilles, Hyde Park Photograph: Claire Ward / Wikimedia Commons The body part that the Greek warrior Achilles was classically best known for was his heel. But that all changed when a scandalous statue of the hero was placed in Hyde Park in 1822. It was funded by Ladies of England, a patriotic women’s group who were presumably quite embarrassed by the scandal his lovingly chiselled anatomy provoked. A fig leaf was attached soon after. But it still attracted undue attention from Londoners including, allegedly, the storied actor Laurence Olivier, who once opined that the statue had ‘the best arse in London’. Time to see for yourself? Michelangelo’s David, The V&A Photograph: Shutterstock The V&A Museum’s magnificent replica of Michelangelo’s David was given to Queen Victoria as a birthday present in 1857... but only after a tasteful l

Be strong. You too can fight the seasonal siren song of pumpkin spice! The sugary blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger – there is, in a wild plot twist, no actual pumpkin in the ubiquitous autumnal flavour – has hijacked hot drinks for the past few years and we remain annoyed by it. But rather than flipping over every pumpkin spice latte we see, we’ve decided to celebrate the humble pumpkin instead, and point you in the direction of the best savoury squash dishes available in London this autumn. ‌Steamed Delica Pumpkin at Poon’s Wontoneria, Fitzrovia Photograph: Courtesy of Poon’s Wontoneria Herald the extension of Chinese restaurant royalty Amy Poon’s wonton-tastic pop-up (now running until February 2024) with this steamed pumpkin dish. Served alongside dried tofu skin also known as fǔzhú, as well as Chinese mushrooms and black bean sauce, these perfect hunks of soft pumpy are just what you need to cosy up to as the nights draw in. Yes, we did just call in ‘pumpy’. Get on board.  23 Charlotte St, W1T 1RW. £11.50. Pumpkin Arancina at Norma, Fitzrovia Photograph: Norma An oozy nugget of carb-based gold, this is pumpkin done the Sicilian way. The godfather of seasonal rice balls, this Delica delicacy comes topped with shavings of scamorza cheese and sage, and makes for the perfect edible autumn accessory. And if you really, really need that tawdry pumpkin spice hit, then scroll down to Norma’s dessert menu, and check out the pumpkin spiced tiramisu they’ll be offe

London’s LGBTQ+ scene has faced its fair share of challenges – among them: gentrification, a pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. But somehow, the city’s vibrant and defiant queer community always bounces back. In addition to some awesome LGBTQ+ clubs and bars, London has a pretty dazzling array of LGBTQ+ club nights. Here are 15 of the very best, from radical queer raves to ridiculously fun pop parties. 1. Feel It Held every Friday at London Bridge venue Omeara, this self-styled ‘queer super-party’ lives up to its billing. The genuinely diverse crowd includes plenty who like to dress up, and plenty who like to undress as the night progresses, especially in the sweaty main room. Banging house is the soundtrack there, while two other rooms are dedicated to chilled disco and pop. Brilliantly produced by London club legend Jodie Harsh and the Little Gay Brother crew, Feel It brings Berlin-style thrills and spills to south London. @feelitparty Photograph: Henri TButch, Please! 2. Butch, Please! Launched by Tabs Benjamin in 2016, this monthly club night at south London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern celebrates the butch identity and its place in queer culture. Each party has a different theme – from ‘kinky butch’ to ‘muscle butch’ – and prides itself on being fully ‘dyke-centric’ from the performers to the door policy. It’s a space for lesbian and bi women, as well as trans and non-binary people, so don’t bring your cis male mates. @butchpleaselondon 3. Horse Meat Disco Ther

If you’ve ever tried nabbing an hour-long slot at London Fields Lido on a hot July afternoon, you’ll already know that it’s somewhat akin to trying to secure tickets to Glastonbury.  The destination of choice for east London’s outdoor swimming fanatics, London Fields’ 50-metre heated pool has become progressively more popular in recent years, welcoming more than 340,000 visitors in 2022. Now Hackney Council has proposed planned improvements to the facilities that will allow even more locals to feel the wind in their hair as they consistently fail to overtake an octogenarian in the slow lane (just me?) via the addition of a new training pool where beginners will be able to learn to swim. Photograph: Hackney Council Designed by architects FaulknerBrowns – who previously worked with Hackney Council on the nearby Britannia Leisure Centre – the proposed plans feature a 13m x 7m indoor training pool in place of the previously decommissioned paddling pool, as well as accessible toilets, a moveable floor and a viewing gallery.  The proposal for the pool extension is currently in a six-week consultation stage in which local residents are invited to have their say on the project, at the end of which a planning application will be submitted. Should this be successful, construction will begin at the end of the year and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2024.  If you’re a Hackney resident and fancy weighing in (or maybe diving in?) on the plans, you can access the online sur

Remember that historic burial site in Euston that had to be excavated to make way for the new HS2 station? Archaeologists found all sorts of cool stuff during the four-year works, and it’s all on display now as part of a new exhibition at St James’s Church in Piccadilly.  Headland Archaeology and the Museum of London Archaeology worked on the project between 2017 and 2021, sensitively exhuming and documenting more than 30,000 bodies from the St James’s Burial Ground in the largest archaeological excavation of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century burials ever undertaken in the UK. The site’s clay-based soil means that the coffins interred there between 1789 and 1853 have been much better preserved than at other sites of a similar age. The project has proved to be unusually rich in discoveries as a result, with organic items including clothing articles and wooden coffins uncovered intact during the dig.   Photograph: Courtesy of HS2 Personal items ranging from clay pipes and pocket watches to hair combs and slippers can now be viewed as part of the ‘Stories of St James’s Burial Ground’ exhibition on display at the Sir Christopher Wren-designed church which conducted the majority of the graveyard’s burials. The exhibition also features these only-slightly-sinister cardboard models (above), scattered around the church’s pews, all of which depict real people who were buried at the site, from dressmaker and amputee Elizabeth Mercer, to businessman Charles Fortnum, a member of the

It might not seem like it given the miserable weather across the UK this week, but spring is officially just days away. The impending change of season is especially good news if you happen to live in London, because a new report has just named the capital as the most picturesque city in the world during springtime.  It’s not all that surprising, really. Sure, London might have a reputation for being a bit grey during the colder months, but its world-famous landmarks, gorgeous works of architecture and leafy green spaces really come into their own when the temperature starts to climb. From World Heritage sites like Kew Gardens and The Tower of London to the plethora of springtime flowers that bloom across the city each year, there are a shit ton of picture-perfect London scenes to post on socials. And plenty of people are doing exactly that according to the study conducted by Travelbag, who compiled data for over 170 destinations across the world based on hashtag usage on Instagram. The tourism website found that users of the photo and video-sharing site used the hashtag #springinlondon for over 100,000 posts, beating out every other major city for hashtag usage. Second on the list was Paris, with Instagram users posting 78,981 times using #springinparis, while Seattle came in at number three on the list thanks to the 24,220 posts made using #springinseattle. Here’s the top ten in full: London - 100,832 Paris - 78,981 Seattle - 24,220 Melbourne - 23,549 Chicago - 23,536 Sydne