London Cocktail Week is a little like Open House London, but for boozehounds. Your objective? Drink your way through as many of the 250 bars scattered around the city as you can stomach in seven days. Give up early and concede defeat if you must. 2016 was my third round of London Cocktail Week-ing, so I’m starting to feel like something of a veteran. I’m sure my liver is too. This …
Open House London is unmistakably one of the city’s best weekends. More than 700 usually off-limits buildings let us have a peek inside for two days only every September. London Thing 397 of 1000: Be a nosy neighbour for Open House London. Open House London is one 48-hour time period that you’ll want to plan as meticulously as a holiday. How many of the 700-plus buildings can you squeeze into two days? I …
One part science museum, two parts corporate advert, Siemens’ The Crystal in Royal Victoria Dock is a so-so introduction to environmental science, so long as you like it sponsored. The new glass buildings that sprout like weeds along the revamped docklands of east London rarely conceal their true identities, their storeys-tall names calling out like sponsored beacons in the London fog. But I thought that maybe, just maybe, this squat, spear-cornered building at Royal …
Japanese cuisine has been riding London’s trendy food wave, but because ramen is the focus, Abeno‘s okonomiyaki has gracefully slipped under the radar. Dining in London is like rocking up to a buffet of the world with an empty plate. What’s to stop you from having hot pot and hamburgers in the same day, with hareeseh for dessert? Even when you think you’ve ‘done’ a country’s cuisine, you’ll find that little place tucked away in plain …
Nothing brings colour to a grey February Sunday like a cohort of clowns descending upon a church in East London to honour the father of their trade, Joseph Grimaldi. I can’t remember the last time that I was at church on a Sunday, but of course the mad city of London had just the quirky thing to get me back through the doors. LONDON THING 158 OF 1000: Peruse the Eggheads at …
Covering 2,000 years of history in one place is no easy feat, but the Museum of London Docklands does it beautifully, keeping you rolling through the story of the River Thames right up to the contentious present day. A year ago, I moved to East London, and it’s been my perfect place. Living a 15-minute walk from the River Thames and the old Docklands means that I get to experience first-hand one of the fastest changing neighbourhoods in London. …
Delight in the tranquility of the Kyoto Gardens, one of London’s best outdoor treats. Meander along the narrow gravel path past trees decked out in cherry blossoms and a cascading waterfall to feel instantly recharged. London has finally thrown off the shackles of winter, and it’s this time of year in particular that I love watching the English in their native habitat: the park. Nothing makes these folk more excited than when …
The London Stone lies hidden behind a rusting metal grate on Cannon Street, off-limits behind a dirty glass window. Oblivious office workers and tourists rush past, unaware that a piece of London’s history awaits discovery. But is this mysterious slab even worth your time in this state? I’m not going to pretend — sometimes these 1000 London Things are not glamorous. Sometimes they lead you to wander around the City, and once you …
London’s old East End is changing fast, but some fantastic traditions have stuck. One of my favourites is at The Widow’s Son pub in Bow, where we gathered on Good Friday with hot cross buns to remember a sailor who never returned from war. East London has traditionally been a working-class neighbourhood, and even though that’s being scrubbed away at an ever-increasing rate since the docks were closed, you can still …
On my shortlist of the quirkiest spots in London, Scooter Caffe is a delightful coffee house hiding out in an old Vespa repair shop in Waterloo. With resident cats, film nights, live music and Aperol sitting next to the coffee cups, it’s something of a mini cultural institution. On a Sunday on South Bank, there’s not enough room to swing a cat (though it would be nice to use it to knock out a few tourists), yet …