Lose your preconceptions and tap into your inner dork at the London Museum of Water and Steam, one of the city’s most underrated museums. London Thing 157 of 1000: Visit the London Museum of Water and Steam. Believe me, I too was a skeptic. I was afraid that the London Museum of Water and Steam would be too niche, and that’s saying a lot for me. Sure, this museum ticked several of …
The New River Path is an easy walk around the wilds of north London, the perfect excuse to get into green when your bank balance says no to going further afield. London Thing 52 of 1000: Follow the New River Path. Is there an easier country to walk in than the UK? So much of London and its green belt are crisscrossed with paths, sometimes even helpfully signed ones. Most of the trails start near a train …
Brixton’s Crown & Anchor is a worthy craft beer watering hole in this otherwise unloved, off-the-beaten-track part of south London. London Thing 257 of 1000: Drink deep at the brew bar of Crown & Anchor. As time goes by, poor Time Out’s 1000 Things to do in London is really starting to show its age. Restaurants and especially pubs open and close faster than the average Londoner blinks, and keeping up with …
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 …
A tradition since 1864, the Peter Pan Cup at the Serpentine in Hyde Park is the (only?) thing to do in London on Christmas Day. London Thing 36 of 1000: Watch – but don’t join in – the competition for the Peter Pan Cup. I’ve been waiting about five years for these five minutes. Being in London on Christmas morning always seemed like such a double-edged sword: so depressing yet so invigorating. What would it …
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 …
What do you get if you cross Banksy’s Dismaland with a Victorian penny arcade? Behold the genius that is Novelty Automation, a brilliant collection of homemade satirical arcade games that are waiting for you to drop a token in. London Thing 220* of 1000: Play the arcade games at Novelty Automation. I’m a 90s kid. If I counted the number of hours I’ve spent playing video games in dingy, nearly abandoned malls or …
When London life gets to be too much, relaxation could be a salt-water filled pod away. Forget your worries at Floatworks, a floatation centre in Vauxhall. London Thing 18 of 1000: Float at Floatworks, a floatation centre. If this blog says anything about me, it’s probably that I don’t have the faintest idea how to relax. So I was more than a little skeptical of how I was supposed to chill out …
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 …