I enjoyed Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at NPG, although I was out in under an hour, so it may not be good value for money. Frida: The Making of an Icon at Tate Modern kept my attention for longer, and I’m glad I saw it. Both exhibitions encouraged me to order some books, so those have been arriving since I returned home.

Accessibility

Comparing the two major exhibition spaces I visited recently (NPG and Tate Modern), one was great for accessibility, and the other wasn’t. Tate gets it right. They offer free loans of wheelchairs and mobility scooters, and the exhibition galleries provide space for everyone to enjoy the artworks. At NPG, the rooms are much smaller, and there are ‘bottlenecks’ that make it hard to get past. We can all say, ‘but it’s a heritage building’. But we should also remember it was closed from 2020 to 2023 to make it a gallery for the future.

Tickets for both the Marilyn Monroe and Frida Kahlo exhibitions cost £25 (with peak prices costing even more at NPG). But did they offer the same visitor experience? While I appreciate what the NPG has to offer, Tate Modern (and Tate Britain) is easier and more enjoyable to visit.

Understanding accessibility is quite new to me, so I recommend subscribing to The Accessible Link, written by Christiane Link, who is an accessibility consultant.

The National Gallery

The National Gallery has lots of reasons to visit right now. You enter via the Sainsbury Wing, so after taking the lift up to Level 2, it’s a short walk through to Central Hall with a wonderful view ahead of Whistlejacket by George Stubbs. But when you reach Room 34, look around as there is also Scrub by George Stubbs, which is just as monumental.

This connects to Room 41, where you can currently see Monet and Renoir’s iconic La Grenouillère paintings reunited side by side for the first time in almost twenty years. This is a preview of the Gallery’s major autumn exhibition, Renoir and Love, which opens in October. I visited with a friend, and we could compare what we liked, how the artists viewed their subjects and composition, and we had different favourites – mine was the Renoir, so I should definitely see the exhibition. You can see these two paintings together until mid-September.

In Room 40, you can see one of the major loans added to the National Gallery display this summer. Portrait of Germaine (1902) is currently the only Picasso Blue Period painting by the artist on display in a London museum. And Monet’s Waterlilies (1905) can be seen in Room 46, complementing three other paintings from Monet’s celebrated series.

What’s Happening This Month?

Oxford Street pedestrianisation work starts this month, covering from Selfridges to Oxford Circus station.

On 16 September, a second-floor gallery opens at the Natural History Museum that’s been ‘hidden’ for 80 years. Key objects on display in ‘Nature and Us’ include a miniature model of a Crystal Palace dinosaur and a bryozoan-encrusted Star Wars toy from the 1980s.

Sadie Coles HQ on Bury Street hosts Catherine Murphy’s second solo exhibition in London. ‘Catherine Murphy Recent Work’ can be seen from 2 September to 7 November.

Lady in Blue by Tschabalala Self is unveiled on the Fourth Plinth on 10 September. Lady in Blue pays homage to a young, metropolitan woman of colour, reflecting many of today’s Londoners. The work was inspired by a desire to bring a contemporary ‘everywoman’ to Trafalgar Square. Made of bronze, the work is patinated with Lapis Lazuli blue, a rare and refined pigment that has been used since antiquity.

London Sculpture Week 2026 brings together the Fourth Plinth, East Bank, Frieze Sculpture, Sculpture in the City and The Line. It takes place from 19 to 27 September with free and ticketed events.

The Lambeth Palace Open Day this month, on 25 September, raises funds for the Arts for Dementia.

Have you been to the wonderful Brown Collection yet? Fail We May, Sail We Must opens on 25 September, and has six centuries of artworks including pieces by Salvador Dalí, Anthony Caro, George Romney and Walter Sickert. There are ninety works displayed over four floors. And it’s all free to see.

The Palace of Westminster has a special exhibition on until 2 October. It features artworks from six artists who were commissioned by the UK Parliament to record the Lying-in-State of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 in Westminster Hall. You can book a free ticket here.

Gagosian has an exhibition dedicated to René Magritte and his enduring influence on the art of today, opening on 24 September at the Grosvenor Hill gallery. This Is Still Not a Pipe: The Afterlife of Magritte examines the artist’s legacy through significant paintings, works on paper, sculptures, and photography from all periods of his career.

The biggest opening for this month is The Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum. But you won’t be able to see it unless you succeeded in the online ticket-buying scrum in July. I’ll be attending a preview (yes, I do realise how lucky I am), so I can share more with you soon.

Before we say goodbye to summer, the Charles Dickens Museum reveals Dickens’s views on summer in the city, his favourite holidays and ingenious efforts to cool off during a hot British summer. ‘Warm Dickens’ can be seen in his study until 27 September.

Oh, and book ahead for this one. The London Archives has a Magic Lantern Show and Exhibition Late View on 3 December.

Great British Savings Scheme

I’d not seen any news about it and only noticed the info when booking attraction tickets. The idea is that the price of a family day out will cost less this summer as the government has reduced VAT on eligible activities. That means until 1 September, it should cost less for children’s meals in restaurants, children’s tickets for theatres and cinemas and tickets for everyone for attractions such as theme parks, amusement parks, water parks, fairs, museums, soft play centres and wildlife parks.

It’s not compulsory for attractions to pass on the savings to customers. But some in London to note are the English Heritage locations, the London Eye, London Aquarium and Shrek’s Adventure where 15% off is automatically applied.

The paid-for Greenwich attractions are offering even bigger discounts. Royal Observatory Greenwich tickets are reduced from £24 to £18 for an adult ticket, with a child price from £12 to £9. At Cutty Sark, an adult ticket is now from £22 to £18 and a child ticket from £11 to £9.

Kew Gardens adult tickets are £21.85 this month instead of £25, so it may be a good time to go and see the Henry Moore sculptures.

Paint! Pattern! Print! The Textiles of Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell at FTM closes in September. You can get reduced tickets this month because of the summer savings scheme. (From £10.06 instead of £13.15.)

Some attractions are exempt, such as Buckingham Palace, because the Royal Collection Trust is a charity, so there is no VAT. (The charity-run reason also applies to the Tower of London and ZSL London Zoo.)

The reductions include restaurants. I’m told a McDonald’s Happy Meal is down to £2.99 from £3.89.

Use summersavings.gov.uk to check what’s near you.

Culture News

Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, has been extended until 18 April 2027. It’s sold out until December, so you really do need to book ahead for this one. (Do note that the ticket prices will increase for 2027.)

Trent Park House of Secrets is now open. As M@ explains, it’s a museum of two parts: stately home, and wartime espionage bunker. It looks well worth a visit. And as it’s a 20-minute walk from the nearest tube stations, a free shuttle bus is available.

Grovenor Square in Mayfair – one of central London’s largest public gardens – has reopened. Home to the US Embassy until 2018, here’s a helpful report on a visit from IanVisits. I particularly liked how he managed to include an Omen III reference.

For more outdoor exploring, Crystal Palace Park’s wonderful Victorian dinosaurs have been restored and look marvellous. They are free to see, and there’s a handy Dinosaur Visitor’s Guide.

If you’re planning a trip to the V&A East Storehouse, do note you now need a £5 ticket for The David Bowie Centre. While it was free before, it was hard to get tickets. Now you can book ahead (and also see when it’s sold out or has limited availability).

Talking of the V&A, it has announced its exhibitions for next year. Punk to Pop really appeals so I’ll book ahead for that.

Tracey Emin – A Second Life, the landmark exhibition at Tate Modern, closes at the end of this month. And I’ve heard good things about the James McNeill Whistler exhibition at Tate Britain, and that ends next month.

Hepworth in Colour at The Courtauld and Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at NPG (as we now call the National Portrait Gallery) close on 6 September.

If you are planning to see Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends at the Young V&A, be aware that they have shut early on heatwave days. So, 1) the space must be very hot, and 2) your ticket may be cancelled, so keep an eye on their stories. It was difficult to get tickets for this earlier in the year, but there seems to be plenty of availability this month.

The Royal Academy annual Summer Exhibition closes on 23 August. Also at the RA, Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam has intricate fairy tale-like scenes from the mind of a man who killed his father and spent over 40 years in psychiatric hospitals.

A bit pricey, but it does look interesting; the Titanic Exhibition is at Olympia West until 16 August.

Banqueting House reopens on 1 August. If you’ve not been before, it’s home to the magnificent Rubens ceiling. It is the last complete piece of the lost royal Palace of Whitehall, most of which perished to fire in 1698. There have been upgrades to the building’s facilities, including a lift. The summer opening is only until 20 September.

If you’re walking between Tate Modern and St Paul’s Cathedral (over the Millennium Bridge, aka the wobbly bridge), you can see this free exhibition of London workers from 1863 to 1954. It’s an outdoor exhibition with enlarged photos, prints and drawings from The London Archives.

The next Fourth Plinth artwork arrives in Trafalgar Square next month. (This is the current artwork.)

And finally, over 600 Open House London venues can now be seen on the website. Peruse now and mark your calendar as specific dates and bookings open at 12pm on Wednesday 19 August. The Open House Festival is happening 12–20 September.

Book Now!

The British Museum Bayeux Tapestry exhibition tickets go on sale today (1 July) for September to December 2026 tickets. The exhibition is on from 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027.

My alternative suggestion is a trip to Reading Museum to see Britain’s Bayeux Tapestry. Yes, we have our own full-size copy of the famous embroidery, and it’s free to visit! I went there a few weeks ago and enjoyed being able to see it all without any crowds.

Reading is on the Elizabeth Line, making it easy to reach from London, and just a 5-minute walk from the station to the museum.

Opening Date Announced

London Museum (formerly The Museum of London) has announced its Smithfield location opening will be on 28 November 2026. It’ll cover 450,000 years of history through seven million objects drawn from across all of London’s 33 boroughs.

Oh, and I reckon a lot will go just for the six-metre viewing window, where you can see live Thameslink trains rumbling through the galleries!

You can sign up for priority access here. It’s just a shame the brand marketing has chosen a pigeon with glitter poo as a symbol of this world city.

David Hockney Died

I was really sad to hear that British artist David Hockney died on 11 June. An incredibly influential artist for seven decades, he died at 88 years old.

I enjoyed his iPad paintings at A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting – the current exhibition at Serpentine Gallery North. It’s on until 23 August.

Afternoon Tea Award Winners

I had the pleasure of assisting with the judging again this year for the Afternoon Tea Awards. I experienced one of the big winners and other venues that received Awards of Excellence, too.

Museum of Youth Culture

This new museum has, at last, opened. The Museum of Youth Culture is the world's first museum dedicated to the lives of teenagers and young people. It’s in Camden and looks well worth a visit.

I lived in Camden for many years and had a lot of great nights out and a lot of fun there. I’m looking forward to reminiscing and celebrating the exuberance of youth.

London Transport Museum Transformation

London Transport Museum has announced a major transformation ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2030. There will be a new entrance opening directly onto Covent Garden Piazza, and an extra 500 square metres of space inside. The museum will remain open during the works.

My Recent London Trip

I included my trip planning in last month’s newsletter. I did get to most of the places on the list, but the one I want to highlight is Jack White: These Thoughts May Disappear at Newport Street Gallery.

I’ve read some terrible reviews of this exhibition. Really scathing stuff. But I loved it. And isn’t that great? That we can all have different opinions and the world still turns.

There’s a lot of found junk covered in poured paint and resin, which makes it a bright a colourful display. I’ve never seen a chromed wooden pallet before. And I didn’t know that Jack White used to run an upholstery business. I left feeling happy and inspired.

So, whether this contemporary art is for you or not, it’s a good reminder that a negative review doesn’t always mean it’s not worth your time.

What’s Happening This Month?

Some of the recommendations from last month are still good for July.

St Martin-in-the-Fields has 300 Years at the Heart and on the Edge – a free exhibiton in the foyer about the Trafalgar Square venue’s 300 year history.

Waldmüller: Landscapes is at the National Gallery from 2 July. It’s the first ever UK exhibition of paintings by the Austrian 19th-century artist, and it’s free to see.

Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam opens at the Royal Academy on 25 July. This Victorian artist constructed fairytale worlds and compelling compositions inspired by Shakespeare.

The most easy-going festival of the summer – The Idler Festival – is at Fenton House in Hampstead on 10-12 July. Performers this year will include Prue Leith, Irvine Welsh, Jojo Moyes and Nigel Planer.

Trent Park ‘‘House of Secrets’ opens as London’s newest museum on 20 July. The historic country house in Enfield played a key role in Britain’s intelligence in the Second World War, comparable in importance to Bletchley Park.

Alfies Antiques Market opened in a rambling old department store on Church Street, Marylebone, in 1976. It’s 50th birthday is on 9 July but you can visit London’s biggest indoor antique and vintage market Tuesday to Saturday every week.

Take the kids to Hampton Court Palace this summer as Dennis the Menace and friends have a trail to enjoy. It’s on from 25 July to 23 August.

Hampton Court Palace also has Henry VIII’s 1526 Joust on 11-12 and 18-19 July.

And finally, do you know about the Guildhall Library online events? Usually free, there are in-person and online talks, collection-focused presentations, and more.

Last month’s newsletter was pretty popular, so it seems you like to hear about my trip planning. I’ll be away again when this reaches you, so let me tell you what I’m hoping to get to.

May/June Trip

As well as a few appointments and seeing friends, I have a list of places I hope to visit.

V&A Storehouse is on my list, but it could wait until another time. V&A East Museum can definitely wait until the opening excitement quietens down. I know it’s good for regeneration to bring more attractions to this part of town, but it still feels like a challenge to reach them (although I’m told the 344 bus stops at Here East – the name of the neighbourhood on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park).

I’ve booked tickets for the David Hockney exhibition at the Serpentine North Gallery. Tickets are free but limited, so you have to plan ahead or be willing to queue outside.

Fortnum & Mason has a new Biscuitorium, which I would love to see. There’s a new Whoppalossus – a £30 biscuit meant for sharing, and a Biscuit Library. I don’t think that means we get to borrow and return them; it’s more of a vast selection to choose from.

At the Guildhall Art Gallery, I’d like to see the Jock McFadyen exhibition. Underground (and Surface) has his large-scale Tube station paintings, plus a soundscape by Jem Finer of The Pogues, composed from field recordings on the Northern and Central lines.

In the same building, there’s the City of London Heritage Gallery with the America and London exhibition. To mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the display celebrates the political, cultural and diplomatic links that have connected the United States and the City of London over more than two centuries.

And then just around the corner, the Bank of England Museum has a temporary display about tea.

Newport Street Gallery has a Jack White exhibition. Yes, he of The White Stripes. He seems to be a really accomplished interdisciplinary artist, so this should be fascinating. I might take a walk along the National Covid Memorial Wall afterwards as it’s nearby.

Over at the Barbican, 1996: 30 Years On should bring back some great memories. And, while there, I’ll go out to the Sculpture Court to see the soil installation. It’s by Colombian artist Delcy Morelos and is called Origo.

I’m hoping I’ll have time to stop by Beigel Bake on Brick Lane before I head to Essex for a family funeral. In nearby Suffolk, I’m going to try to visit Gainsborough’s House to see the Gainsborough, Turner & Constable: Inventing landscape exhibition.

Then, on my way back to Wales, I’d like to go to Reading Museum to see Britain’s Bayeux Tapestry. It’s free to visit and will be a lot less crowded than the British Museum display later this year. (PS Tickets for that blockbuster go on sale on 1st July.) I’m also considering Nantgarw China Works and Tredegar House.

What’s Happening This Month?

As well as all I’m trying to see on my trip, I recommended the Whistler and Henry Moore exhibitions in last month’s newsletter.

If you get to the Hockney exhibition (mentioned above), you could wander over to Serpentine South to see the new Serpentine Pavilion as it’s opening on 6th June.

Also on that weekend (6th–7th June) is the Great Exhibition Road Festival. This free arts and science festival turns South Kensington into a sprawling street party for everyone. I’d like to see the Crystal Palace reimagined in sand, Virtual Reality, 3D printing, and gingerbread. Plus, the London Gallery Weekend is on then too.

Anish Kapoor opens at Southbank Centre’s Hayward Gallery on 16th June. I’m expecting big, immersive installations. Kulpreet Singh: Indelible Black Marks opens at the Hayward Gallery on the same day.

A National Portrait for the National Portrait Gallery is a digital artwork created by artist Es Devlin in collaboration with everyone across the UK who would like to participate. Take a photograph of your face on Google Arts & Culture, and it’s transformed into an animated digital portrait, using a tool stylistically directed on Devlin’s previous charcoal and chalk drawings. Then you can submit your portrait to instantly become part of A National Portrait displayed at the NPG.

Harry Styles’ Meltdown at Southbank Centre (11–21 June) features a day of unsigned music talent. On 17th June, the outdoor festival stage on Riverside Terrace will host a curated day of free live music.

Over at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, Luke Jerram’s Mirror Moon installation is available to see from 12th June. We’re going to run out of space, so I also recommend Hepworth in Colour at The Courtauld, The Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at NPG, and Frida: The Making of an Icon at Tate Modern.

Answer: Which Artworks Are Mine?

No close-ups needed of my “arting” attempts, but I do have four framed on the living room walls. The other artworks are by Marion Boddy-Evans and Ronnie Hackston – two truly talented full-time artists.

The journey from Pembrokeshire to the Lake District is even longer than the journey to London, so I decided to undertake an ‘epic road trip’. It turned out to be three weeks long and over 1,000 miles. I planned the stops to be interesting and full of culture and fun. I thought you might like to hear about it.

Epic Road Trip

Did you know that the last British invasion was in 1797? And it happened in Pembrokeshire. I went to see the Last Invasion Tapestry in Fishguard. Much like the Bayeux Tapestry (which is coming to the British Museum soon), this one also chronicles the events of an historical moment.

I next saw MoMA Wales (yes, Wales has its own Museum of Modern Art), the Grosvenor Museum in Chester and The Harris in Preston. The Harris is a city-centre arts centre – you can literally walk in one door and head through to the other side, so it attracts visitors who may not think a gallery is for them. I saw shoppers and families popping in to see a favourite room, couples enjoying a free exhibition, and friends chatting while admiring the building.

I continued with the Pencil Museum in Keswick, which has quiz sheets for adults and children. (You get a prize, so it got competitive strangers chatting inside.) Then it was onto The Tullie in Carlisle. And I shouldn’t forget to mention that I trawled the charity shops in each location for random finds.

After a restful weekend with a friend in Edinburgh, I tried the L.S. Lowry Trail in Berwick-upon-Tweed. I soon realised that I saw Lowry's artworks at most of the stops on the ‘epic road trip’. And Hokusai, but that'll be explained soon.

The National Glass Centre in Sunderland was great. Interesting exhibitions, a cafe by the water, a well-priced shop and glassblowing demonstrations. It’s a real shame it’s due to close at the end of July.

I collected sea glass at Seaham Beach before reaching York Art Gallery for Making Waves. Here, I got to study one of the original prints of Hokusai’s The Great Wave. Then it was onto the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, which was a very good free city-centre gallery.

Over to Manchester and Castle Fine Art to see Picasso: A Legacy. This is a selling exhibition with nothing in the room below £25,000. It was a treat to see so many pieces that will go into private collections. The gallery also sells works by Johnny Depp, Boy George, Billy Connolly, Bob Dylan and more. Manchester Art Gallery was OK, but I might have still been on a high from the Picasso delights.

The next day was The Pankhurst Museum – the Manchester home of Emmeline Pankhurst (the political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win the right to vote). Then onto The Whitworth for Beneath The Great Wave, where I got to see two of the rare original copies of the famous Japanese woodblock print. Manchester Museum couldn’t really compete with that joy.

The final destination on the ‘epic road trip’ was Llandudno (pronounced ‘hlan-did-no’). I thought this was an excellent holiday location and I’ll definitely return. It has a Victorian seaside promenade and is kept impressively clean. There’s an Alice in Wonderland Trail around the town, Llandudno Museum, and you can go to the summit of The Great Orme – a mini-mountain next to the beach. I would have got the tram, but it was very busy, so I’ll have to return to try that.

What’s Happening This Month?

Some of the recommendations from last month are still good, especially the newly opened V&A East Museum and Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style at The King’s Gallery.

You Are Here on Sunday, 3rd May, is the centrepiece of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary. Apparently, it’s an electrifying journey through 75 years of British youth culture in an immersive fusion of performance, live music, dance, fashion and art.

Ceramic Art London is at Olympia from 8th to 10th May. And The Museum of Youth Culture opens in Camden on 15th May. The Wallace Collection has Winston Churchill: The Painter from 23rd May.

James McNeill Whistler opens at Tate Britain on 21st May. This is Europe’s largest retrospective of his work in thirty years, bringing together 150 exquisite works of art.

I’m booking for Henry Moore: Monumental Nature at Kew Gardens, which opens on 9th May. This is the largest of its kind on Moore anywhere in the world, as it will fill the entire 320-acre site. ‘Moore at Kew’ in 2007 was concentrated in a few areas. I loved that exhibition, so I’m excited for this one.

Did you try any of my recommendations from last month? I visited the National Covid Memorial Wall on the National Day of Reflection, and the free David Hockney exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery North is high on my ‘to see soon’ list.

Quirky Hyde Park

A few years ago, I wrote an article about Hyde Park that looked at the history and development of the site. But it took an illustrated map (see page 4) to make me think about highlighting the unusual finds in the famous royal park. (There are plenty of quirks in Kensington Gardens too, to the west of Hyde Park, but let’s stay focused on just one of the parks today.)

Rose Garden

You might think of Hyde Park as quite a grassy field/open space, but there has been a Rose Garden near Hyde Park Corner for over thirty years. It’s lovely in the summer, and there are a couple of impressive statues, including Diana the Huntress (as who doesn’t love a bit of naked archery?)

A section of the Rose Garden is being worked on at the mo to create an autumn garden. See, reasons to return. That’s what I love about The Royal Parks.

Pet Cemetery

On the northern edge of Hyde Park, you may spot some small gravestones. Small, because this is a Pet Cemetery. It’s in the private garden of Victoria Lodge (just to the west of Victoria Gate on Bayswater Road).

The area is not generally open to the public, but you can glimpse it through the railings from the Bayswater Road pavement. The best way, though, is on a Hyde Park Guided Tour.

I’m told the cemetery briefly features in the Peter Pan stories written by J. M. Barrie. I don’t remember that, but it could well be true, as the author lived opposite Kensington Gardens.

Hudson Memorial Bird Sanctuary

William Hudson was a 19th-century writer and naturalist. He helped to establish the RSPB. The Hudson Memorial Bird Sanctuary carving of Rima is by Sir Jacob Epstein and had some 1920s controversy. From not being appreciated when it was installed in 1924, it was daubed in green paint in 1927 and 1929. Nowadays, it’s a space for smaller birds to be safe and free (there are no bird cages here).

Reformers’ Tree

There isn’t actually a tree here anymore, as it was destroyed in a protest in 1867. The uprising led to the Reform Act of 1867 and the establishment of the “free speech zone” at Speakers’ Corner in 1872. What you can see here is a large mosaic marking the spot of the oak Reformers’ Tree. It’s near the middle of the park at a junction of multiple paths, so you can approach it from all directions.

Shop

Unusually, in my opinion, Hyde Park has a Royal Parks gift shop. It’s a bit like a National Trust shop with nice biscuits and nature-inspired gifts such as seeds, soaps and toys. It’s alongside the Boat House by the Serpentine.

What’s Happening This Month?

V&A East Museum opens on 18th April. The first exhibition is The Music is Black: A British Story, celebrating 125 years of Black music-making in Britain. There are also two free permanent galleries, where you can see over 500 objects from the V&A’s collections spanning art, architecture, design, performance and fashion.

The Hampton Court Palace Tulip Festival opens on 11th April, and the flowers should be in bloom for two weeks. (As an aside, have you seen the @palacepov.uk Instagram account? It’s run by a pro tennis player who lives in Hampton Court Palace.)

Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style opens at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, on 10th April. This marks the centenary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth with the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of the late Queen’s fashion ever mounted. (You can get a £1 ticket if receiving certain benefits.)

This one always sells out quickly. The Cosmic House reopens on 22nd April. I visited the Grade I Post-Modernist former home of Charles Jencks a few years ago and can confirm it’s an extraordinary place to see.

Kew Palace reopens on 28th March. Visitors can explore George III and Queen Charlotte’s intimate royal retreat with refreshed storytelling and newly displayed objects. You could combine a visit to the smallest royal palace with Sounds of Blossoms at Kew Gardens (on until 6th April) for flowers and music together.

Tate Britain’s Turner & Constable closes on 12th April, and The Weight of Being: Vulnerability, Resilience and Mental Health in British Art closes at Two Temple Place on 19th April 2026. And ideas from last month are available too.

And my final tip (and to see if my teen does actually read my newsletter), there’s an offer on the Student Art Pass. It’s only £10 anyway, but order by 5th April and you can get an annual pass for only £8 with code UNI20.

As I always ask, did you try any of my London recommendations last month? I’ve noticed Seurat and the Sea at The Courtauld is selling out regularly, so do book in advance for that. And Lucien Freud at NPG is getting some great reviews.

Be The Artist

I spend a lot of time admiring artwork in galleries, and I appreciate the skills of friends who are professional artists. I don’t normally attempt anything like that myself, but I’ve moved out of my comfort zone and have booked a residential art class for later this month. This got me thinking about the fun ways we can try being artists in London.

Did you know, the National Gallery often includes free life drawing sessions in the Friday Lates? On Friday, 20th March, there are two evening Drop-in and Draw sessions. Do book, but it’s completely free to attend, and all materials are provided. The sessions are even accompanied by music, as it’s an informal event meant for enjoyment.

The Royal Academy offers Drop-in and Draw on the first Friday night of the month for an evening of free drawing. Materials are provided, or you can bring your pencils. This month it’s on Friday, 6th March, 6 pm – 8 pm, and is themed around the Rose Wylie exhibition that has just opened.

If you’d prefer a more informal venue, how about sketching in a pub? In west London, there’s a regular life drawing drop-in at The Grosvenor pub in Hanwell. It’s untutored, but all abilities are welcome.

In east London, there are weekly life drawing sessions at The Clapton Hart in Hackney. It’s every Monday, and there is a tutor to guide you. And at The Prince in Stoke Newington, there’s also a tutor available for the weekly Wednesday life drawing sessions.

The Balham Bowls Club Drink and Draw sessions are on the first Wednesday of the month and are beginner-friendly. And with this one, a free drink is included.

Finally, the London Art Bar is good to know about as it describes itself as the “home of pop-up painting”. There’s painting, drawing, printing and more creativity on offer.

What’s Happening This Month?

Catherine Opie: To Be Seen opens at the National Portrait Gallery on 5th March. It’s a showcase of photographic portraits by the American artist.

From 8th March at the Florence Nightingale Museum, there’s a new display, In Focus: Nurse Catherine Pine, which has the long-lost suffragette medal for this Chief Nurse. As 8th March is International Women’s Day, it would be a good day to visit as the medal will be out of the cabinet for handling. Sunday, 8th March is also the National Day of Reflection for those who died of Covid-19. The National Covid Memorial Wall is close to the FN Museum, and is well worth seeing. I’m intending to go that day to touch up the painted heart for my dad.

Back to celebrating women, the Charles Dickens Museum is offering free entry on 8th March to all named Catherine or Katey because of the Extra/Ordinary Women display. (Catherine Hogarth was Dickens’s wife, and their artist daughter was Katey Perugini.) And keeping on the female theme, I’m Every Woman – The Chaka Khan Musical opens at the Peacock Theatre on 5th March. (Edit: Due to essential building works at the Peacock Theatre, The Chaka Khan Musical is moving to Hackney Empire for 20th–25th March.)

Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse is a free exhibition at the National Gallery opening on 12th March. Stubbs is considered an equine master, so this will be a joy to see.

There’s a free David Hockney exhibition opening at the Serpentine Gallery North on 12th March. David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting invites viewers to slow down and notice the extraordinary within the everyday.

Leonora Carrington: The Symptomatic Surreal opens at the Freud Museum on 25th March. This British-born Mexican artist is one of the most celebrated figures associated with Surrealism. The exhibition brings together material from her hospitalisation in a Spanish sanatorium (after fleeing Nazi-occupied France during WW2), placing her recurring motifs of horses and the underworld in dialogue with Sigmund Freud’s collection of antiquities devoted to these themes.

The Last Princesses of Punjab opens at Kensington Palace on 26th March. It’s the story of Punjabi princess and suffragette icon, Sophia Duleep Singh and five women who shaped her extraordinary life.

Hurvin Anderson’s first major solo show opens at Tate Britain on 26th March. And Michaelina Wautier opens at the Royal Academy on 27th March. Both were new names to me, but both exhibitions seem worth seeing.

Also opening on 27th March is Paint! Pattern! Print! The Textiles of Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell at the FTM. These sisters revolutionised textile design in the 1960s and led the market for over five decades. And another for the same opening day, Fairy Tales is at the British Library. This family-friendly show celebrates the iconic heroes, villains and fantastical creatures that populate the captivating worlds of fairy tales. And

Closing on 29th March, don’t miss Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s at the Design Museum. Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop at the FTM closes on 8th March.

Did you try any of my London recommendations last month? I shared lots of interesting galleries and ideas for 2026.

Cashless

After my trip to Paris in September, when I didn’t need any cash at all, I tried to remember when I last used cash in London. We definitely live in a contactless society these days.

My daughter uses Apple Pay to pay for everything, so she only takes her mobile and no purse when she goes out. I haven’t quite reached that level, but I don’t carry cash anymore. The only place I use it is my local charity shop and the car wash in Wales.

Even buskers on the London Underground accept contactless payments. Although I do wonder if this works out better for them than the ability to throw your loose change in a hat for them. It loses the visual cue for passersby when they see a pot of coins to add to it.

There used to be a minimum spend limit at some shops to pay by cash (usually £5), but nowadays we can ‘tap’ for a small chocolate bar without a second thought. Spending on a card does have that ‘not quite real money’ feeling, though, so it can be easier to spend more than planned, as you don’t see an empty wallet, especially as many places don’t give paper receipts any longer.

Anyway, apart from the barbers, occasional extra tipping or a trip to Wong Kei in Chinatown, when did you last use cash in London?

What’s Happening This Month?

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, there are lots of new openings in London for February.

Samurai opens at the British Museum on 3rd February. This major exhibition is a candid look at the real men and women whom we know as samurai, from the battlefields of medieval Japan to the global pop culture of today.

Shadowlands opens at the Aldwych Theatre on 5th February, starring Hugh Bonneville as Narnia author C. S. Lewis. It’s the true story of how his life was transformed by spirited American poet Joy Davidman (played by Maggie Siff).

Water Pantanal Fire opens at the Science Museum on 6th February. It’s a free photography exhibition allowing us to discover the unparalleled biodiversity of the Pantanal, a South American wetland which faces an unprecedented threat from fire.

UCL’s bicentenary launches on 11th February with UCL Illuminated – an immersive sound and light show. Across three days, see lights and animations projected onto UCL’s Wilkins Building, accompanied by music in a 12-minute show.

Extra/Ordinary Women opens at the Charles Dickens Museum on 11th February. It brings together the remarkable women in his life and some of the literary characters they inspired.

Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends opens at the Young V&A on 12th February. Celebrating the animation studio’s 50th anniversary, this family-focused exhibition has over 150 objects, including models, sets, and storyboards from Aardman’s archives featuring Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep, and Morph.

Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting is at the National Portrait Gallery from 12th February. It explores the artist’s lifelong preoccupation with the human face and figure from the 1930s to the early twenty-first century. There’s a focus on Freud’s mastery of drawing in all its forms – from pencil, pen, and ink to charcoal and etching.

Seurat and the Sea opens on 13th February at The Courtauld. Impressively, The Courtauld holds the largest collection of works by Seurat in the UK. The exhibition brings together 27 seascape paintings, oil sketches and drawings from major private and public collections, made by Seurat during the five summers he spent on the northern coast of France, between 1885 and 1890. Georges Seurat (1859–1891) died aged just 31, so there is only a small body of work and exhibitions devoted to him are rare.

From 14th February, you can walk over the roof of Ally Pally. Summit at Alexandra Palace has daytime, sunset and nighttime walks available.

Beatriz González opens at the Barbican Art Gallery on 25th February. This retrospective of the Colombian artist, curator, art historian and educator is her first solo show in the UK and her largest-ever exhibition in Europe. Bringing together six decades of González’s work, this exhibition celebrates the artist through paintings, sculptural assemblages and monumental public installations.

Tracey Emin at Tate Modern, from 27th February, is a landmark exhibition tracing 40 years of the artist’s groundbreaking practice, showcasing career-defining works alongside material never exhibited before. And, yes, the 1998 messy and unmade ‘My Bed’ will be on display.

Rose Wylie is at the Royal Academy from 28th February, showing her vibrant, large-format figurative paintings and striking drawings. This is Wylie’s largest survey exhibition ever to take place in the UK, featuring a cast of characters that include Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth I and Snow White.

Recommended Galleries

Flowers Gallery, Cork Street W1
Small is Beautiful is a fascinating collection of small artworks. Walk around with the price list and be amazed at how differently artists value their work.
Ends 10th January 2026

Museum of the Home, Hoxton E2
Winter Past is the perfect excuse to revisit what many of us still call the ‘Geffrye Museum’ for the annual festive decorating of the domestic room-sets through history.
Ends 11th January 2026

Woodfield Pavilion, Streatham SW16
Woodfield Winter Exhibition is a group show from 45 local artists. The artwork is incredibly well-priced, and you get to meet some of the creators.
Ends 1st February 2026

Barbican Music Library, EC2
Blondie in Camera 1978 is a wonderful collection of photos and memorabilia.
Ends 21st February 2026

Alon Zakaim Fine Art, Mayfair W1
Cubism: Many Angles, One Vision features big names from the movement, including Picasso. This one-room gallery has sculptures, paintings and drawings.
Ends 27th February 2026

Annely Juda Fine Art, Hanover Square, W1
David Hockney is a fabulous, two-floor exhibition. It’s bright and joyous.
Ends 28th February 2026

William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow E17
Women in Print: 150 Years of Liberty Textiles spills out of the temporary exhibition room to the upstairs galleries. It’s worth seeing, but avoid Sundays as it’s overrun with ‘family time’ visitors.
Ends 21st June 2026

The Brown Collection, Marylebone W1
Hoi Polloi is a wonderful find! Four floors of Glenn Brown’s artworks, with amazing pieces that inspired him from his own personal collection. You’ll see pieces from the 17th century next to artworks created in 2025. I’ll definitely return here.
Ends 8th August 2026

Month-by-Month 2026

January

Winter can be mentally tough, so it seems fitting to highlight Kindred at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind. It explores how community – or its glaring absence – affects people’s lives, spirits and identities. This is located at the pioneering museum at the world’s oldest psychiatric hospital, and all of the artists have been service users.

February

It’s hard to choose one recommendation because there are many new openings this month. But for the sheer joy, let’s go with Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends at the Young V&A, celebrating the animation studio’s 50th anniversary.

March

Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse is a free exhibition at the National Gallery. Stubbs is considered an equine master, so this will be a joy to see. There will also be other paintings and drawings by the artist on display.

April

V&A East Museum opens on 18th April 2026. Rooted in east London’s heritage, it’ll explore what shapes our world. Two galleries explore why we make, alongside a major exhibition space, restaurant, shops and social spaces all housed in a new building.

May

Do you remember the 2007/8 Henry Moore exhibition at Kew Gardens? It was fab, so we’re lucky to have Henry Moore: Monumental Nature this year. It’s the largest-ever outdoor presentation of his work, with over 100 pieces.

June

Tate Modern has Frida: The Making of an Icon, offering an in-depth exploration of how Frida Kahlo became one of the most influential artists of modern times. There will be Kahlo’s best-known paintings, as well as photographs and memorabilia from her archives, in dialogue with artists she inspired from future generations.

July

Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam is at the Royal Academy. It’s Victorian fairytale worlds from a man who went ‘mad’. The painstaking detail is what’s going to impress.

August

Nothing is yet notable about August openings, so I’ll recommend a visit to the Hayward Gallery to see Anish Kapoor (opens in June). This landmark exhibition focuses on the artist’s recent work alongside early seminal artworks.

September

See the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum (dates tbc). The 70-metre artwork depicts the 1066 Norman invasion and Battle of Hastings. This will be the first time that the tapestry has been shown in the UK since it was made, almost 1,000 years ago. Yeah, this one is going to be very popular.

October

Renoir and Love at the National Gallery will be the most significant exhibition of the French Impressionist’s work in the UK for 20 years.

November

Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant is at Tate Modern. It’s an exploration of the 50-year relationship and creative partnership between two celebrated modern British artists. It features over 250 works, including portraits, still lives, landscapes, decorative works on furniture, ceramics, and a once-in-a-lifetime restaging of Duncan Grant’s studio, specially relocated from his Sussex home, Charleston.

December

There’s all the obvious Christmas stuff going on every year. But to escape it all, head to the National Gallery for Van Eyck: The Portraits (opens November 2026). The exhibition brings together for the first time, from across Europe, all nine of the artist’s painted portraits.

Did you try any of my recommendations from last month? I’m heading to London in a few weeks and will visit Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, and will be doing lots of ‘arting’ (everything can be a verb these days).

Twixmas

There are lots of suggestions on what to do before Christmas, but what’s available between Christmas and New Year? Things aren’t as ‘open’ as they were before the big day, but there is plenty of fun to be had.

Transport

The tubes and buses do not run on Christmas Day, and taxis charge a premium rate. Walking or bike hire is best for 25th December. There is public transport for the rest of the week, with tubes running late into the night/morning for New Year’s Eve. (See TfL website for more info.)

Dining

Most restaurants will be shut on Christmas Day unless they are offering a pre-booked festive meal. If you haven’t planned ahead, try Chinatown or the Brick Lane curry houses. I’ve also made good use of the luxury hotels that can offer a ‘posh cuppa’ when you need to warm up.

Boxing Day

This is the day after Christmas Day (26th December). More things will be open, but it’s best to call or check websites to confirm.

Ice Skating

Somerset House Ice Rink is only closed on Christmas Day, as is Canary Wharf Ice Rink, Hampton Court Palace Ice Rink, Glide at Battersea Power Station and Skate at Leicester Square. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is closed on Christmas Day but is open for the rest of the week, including 1st January.

Decorated Attractions

The Museum of the Home is great as the room-sets throughout the ages are decorated for Christmas. Note that the Museum is closed 24th–26th December, plus 29th December (closed on Mondays) and 1st January (as it’s a Bank Holiday).

The Charles Dickens Museum is also decorated for the festive season. Christmas Eve is one of their busiest days (book here), and then it’s closed on 25th–26th December and 1st January.

Southbank Winter Market is closed on 25th and 31st December, plus 1st January if you fancy a stroll by The Thames. And Winter by The River is on near London Bridge (closed Christmas Day).

Big Attractions

The London Eye is only closed on Christmas Day and even manages to be open on New Year’s Eve until 3pm, which is impressive as it’s the focal point of the New Year’s Eve Fireworks.

Westminster Abbey is only closed on Christmas Day, although I’ve noticed the cafe is open. Kensington Palace is open on 27th, 28th and 31st December.

The National Gallery is closed 24th–26th December and 1st January. The Natural History Museum is closed 24th–26th December.

What’s Happening This Month?

Some of last month’s recommendations are still good for December. I’m hoping to see one or two of the big exhibitions, plus some fun smaller galleries too.

Small is Beautiful at the Flowers Gallery on Cork Street. All of the artworks are no more than 7 x 9 inches.

David Hockney is at the Annely Juda Fine Art Gallery. This exhibition features “some very, very, very new paintings not yet shown in Paris”.

Hoi Polloi is at The Brown Collection in Marylebone. It brings together paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures from the sixteenth century to the present. It explores how artists have represented, resisted, or reimagined the ordinary man through the lens of the spiritual.

Women in Print: 150 Years of Liberty Textiles is at the William Morris Gallery. Tracing the rich history of Liberty Fabrics, the exhibition surveys the evolving influence and status of women in textiles over the past 150 years.

Evelyn De Morgan: The Modern Painter in Victorian London is at the Guildhall Art Gallery. And Blondie in Camera 1978 is at the Barbican Music Library.

I also hope to get on the British Museum Reading Room free tour and see the decorated room-sets at the Museum of the Home.

All of that and more will take me to some wonderful museum and gallery shops so I can finish off my Christmas shopping too.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays!

Did you try any of my recommendations from last month? The Lee Miller exhibition at Tate Britain has some great reviews.

Top Tip

And if I tempted you last month to try the three-month National Art Pass, I can also add that you’ll get sent a 50% offer for the first year if you buy an annual membership after the trial. So, yeah. I got that.

Christmas Lights

No, it’s not too early. (For the Americans, Thanksgiving is not a celebration here, so we don’t have that late November marker to pass first.) This is the month all the twinkling lights are switched on in London.

Oxford Street

When? Monday 3rd November

What? 300,000 twinkly, hanging stars are back for the first switch-on date this year.

Regent Street and St James

When? Thursday 6th November

What? It’s the 10th anniversary of the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ display (big angels).

Carnaby Street

When? Thursday 6th November

What? The display is called ‘All is Bright’. Using last year’s sculptural light forms hanging overhead, there’ll be lots of colours this year.

Covent Garden

When? Wednesday 12th November

What? The huge golden bells, baubles and mirror balls are back along with a Christmas tree in the piazza.

Old Spitalfields Market

When? Wednesday 12th November

What? Music and festivities start at 3pm with the switch-on at 6pm.

Leadenhall Market

When? Thursday 13th November

What? The new Lady Mayor of London will switch the switch. (Note, it’s the first time that title has ever been used.) Come back during the season as there is snowfall at 12pm and 6pm daily.

The Shard

When? Tuesday 25th November

What? These high-rise lights were designed by a member of the Shard’s housekeeping team who happens to be a keen abstract expressionist painter.

Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree

When? Thursday 4th December

What? The tree is an annual gift from Norway and is always lit up the first Thursday in December.

Those are the headliners but there are more London Christmas light switch-ons in neighbourhoods across the city.

What’s On The Month?

Apart from seeing the city looking all sparkly, you might want to go to the William Morris Gallery as the Women in Print – 150 Years of Liberty Textiles exhibition is already open.

The Charles Dickens Museum has lots of Christmas events for the season including a magic lantern show, live performances, and a family craft workshop.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is opening earlier this year. From Friday 14th November, you can enjoy the rides, ice rink, big wheel, circus shows and more. (PS I work for Zippos Circus, so can recommend the Zippos Christmas Circus in the daytime and the Cirque Berserk Ignite! show in the evening for big kids and adults.)

Christmas at Kew is also back from Friday 14th November. It’s a lovely illuminated trail that usually culminates with an amazing light display over the water by the Palm House.

At Tate Britain, Turner and Constable opens on 27th November. It’s the first major exhibition to explore the intertwined lives and legacies of Britain’s most revered landscape artists: JMW Turner (1775–1851) and John Constable (1776–1837). Radically different painters and personalities, each challenged artistic conventions of the time, developing ways of picturing the world which still resonate today.

Wes Anderson: The Archives opens at The Design Museum on 21st November. This first retrospective exhibition of the work of film director Wes Anderson follows the evolution of his films from his first experiments in the 1990s to today, with over 600 items on display.

Art deco: the golden age of poster design opens at the London Transport Museum on 21st November. The exhibition route starts with the origins of the artistic movement, moves on to posters that capture the world of leisure and pleasure, and then explores its architecture and the role of architect Charles Holden who helped change the face of London with his remarkable designs for new Tube stations.

Enjoy!

On Route to London

I like to make the most of the journey between west Wales and London, so I stopped at the National Museum of Cardiff and The Lightbox Gallery in Woking. Both stops were inspired by having the Art Fund membership. The Cardiff museum was free to visit, but the Art Fund card got me 10% off in the shop and cafe. And the Woking stop was half price with the Art Fund card.

I know I’ve been ‘spoiled’ by many years of ‘national museums’ in London, so I had a high bar for the National Museum Cardiff, and it didn’t meet it. It felt too ‘bitty’ and didn’t have enough to hold your attention. There is a Woolly Mammoth skeleton though as their prize exhibit in the entrance hall.

The Lightbox was a much better surprise, and I’d love to return. There’s an Andy Warhol exhibition on until 2 November, and that was worth seeing. The top floor had drawings I’d never seen, and the next floor down had some iconic large artworks. I spent too long chatting to gallery assistants and didn’t get to the Woking museum gallery, so I’ll see that next time.

Oh, and I also went to the Chippenham Museum to see Lady Gaga’s headgear on display. Free for all to visit, and the Art Fund card got me 10% off in the shop.

In London

I really enjoyed Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s at the Design Museum. (50% off exhibitions with Art Fund pass.) There’s a clever section where you pull back a curtain and get to enter the club. There’s the till at the entrance, the bar and DJ booth, plus a video wall of dancers and room for you to dance too. Yes, there could have been more, but I think they’ve done a good job on this exhibition.

I also went to the Leighton House Museum as it’s nearby in Kensington and is free for Art Fund pass members. Who can resist the delight of the Arab Hall?

I had a quick visit to the William Morris Gallery – free for all to visit, plus Art Fund members get 10% off in the shop and cafe – and I met friends at God’s Own Junkyard in Walthamstow.

Paris!

The trip continued to Paris for five nights to holiday with a friend from New York. The only thing we booked in advance with the John Singer Sargent exhibition at Musée d’Orsay.

After enjoying Sargent and Fashion at Tate Britain last year, and Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits at Kenwood House earlier this year, it was lovely to get to know Sargent’s Paris years. I really enjoyed seeing the supportive relationships he had with fellow artists.

The rest of Musée d’Orsay wasn’t so great, as it was ridiculously crowded. It took over half an hour just to enter the building with a timed exhibition ticket. The Impressionist and Post-Impressionist galleries were worse than Oxford Street in December. This is not the way to view art.

After I saw a Frenchman punch a young woman’s arm as he couldn’t get through, I decided it was time to leave.

I totally avoided The Louvre as I expected it to be too crowded to enjoy. But finding Musée d’Orsay still like this at 4pm was disappointing.

Art Fund Small London Museums

I promise I’m not on commission to sell Art Fund membership. I’ve just found the three-month trial to be such a good deal, I wanted to encourage you to get the most out of it too. These are some of the London museums you might want to see, as they would be free:

2 Willow Road – National Trust modernist property in Hampstead

Carlyle’s House – National Trust property in Chelsea

Apsley House – Duke of Wellington's house at Hyde Park Corner (English Heritage)

Charles Dickens Museum

Chiswick House (English Heritage)

Eltham Palace (English Heritage)

Foundling Museum

Household Cavalry Museum

Keats House

Red House (National Trust)

The Courtauld Gallery

Brunel Museum

You can also get 50% off British Museum exhibitions, and 50% off Churchill War Rooms entry (I’m sure they keep the price high to try to deter visitors, and yet there’s always a queue outside).

There are lots more offers, but these would keep you busy for a three-month trial membership. I wanted to inspire you, not overwhelm.

What’s On The Month?

The Spotlight on Music Hall display at The London Archives opens on 6 October, and they have a Magic Lantern Show at the end of the month.

Tate Britain has the largest retrospective of photographer Lee Miller ever staged. Open from 2 October, you can see 230 vintage and modern prints, including works on display for the first time.

The Housekeeper exhibition at the Freud Museum is inspired by Paula Fichtl, the longtime housekeeper of the Freud family. Paula was the live-in housekeeper in Vienna and then came to London with the family when they escaped on the eve of the War.

Gilbert & George: 21st Century Pictures is at the Hayward Gallery from 7 October, highlighting the evolution of their work over the past 25 years.

Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World opens at the National Portrait Gallery on 9 October. It will showcase Beaton at his most triumphant – from the Jazz Age and the Bright Young Things, to the high fashion brilliance of the Fifties and the glittering, Oscar-winning success of My Fair Lady.

Annual Events

The biggie is the Open House Festival. This year, it’s running from 13th to 21st September, allowing us access to hundreds of places that are usually off limits to the public. There are walks and talks and plenty of fun to be had right across London. You need to book for some places, and for others, you turn up and queue outside.

I’ve been to some really fascinating locations over the years, including windmills, building sites, fire stations and gardens. It can take a bit of planning, but Open House is well worth it.

Heritage Open Days are similar but cover more than just London. From 12th to 21st September, you could go to a crypt, learn about hot chocolate, join a family-friendly workshop, go on a bat walk, and so much more.

The Totally Thames Festival runs for the whole month. The large-scale fire installation in Royal Victoria Dock sounds cool. A Mudlarking exhibition in the Roman Amphitheatre does too. And the Classic Boat Festival at St Katherine’s Dock is back and recommended.

The Illuminated River Boat Tours are back every Saturday evening. Nine Thames bridges have special lighting to admire from the water.

More water-themed free ‘fun’ is the annual closure of the Thames Barrier on 7th September from 7:15am to 5:15pm. While not the height of entertainment, it is interesting to watch.

The London Design Festival can be a bit hit or miss, but it is worth knowing about. It’s on from 13th to 21st September and has some interesting installations planned.

The Sheep Drive is a joy to watch each year. You can see it on Southwark Bridge (not London Bridge) this year on Sunday, 28th September. It’s literally what you think it might be: sheep being herded across a central London bridge.

New Exhibitions

I’m going to make sure I see Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s exhibition at the Design Museum. This inspirational Covent Garden nightclub was frequented by the ‘cool kids’ who have gone on to influence the world.

Bonhams on New Bond Street is holding a Downton Abbey auction. And while we may not all be able to purchase something, we can all see the items for free in a lovely exhibition until 16th September. You need to book a free ticket in advance for this one as it’s popular.

Theatre Picasso opens at Tate Modern on 18th September. The exhibition marks the centenary of Picasso’s painting The Three Dancers 1925, and brings together around 50 works by one of the most influential figures of the 20th century.

The new Space gallery at the Science Museum opens on 20th September. It features the spacesuit of Britain’s first Astronaut, Helen Sharman; a full-size model of BepiColombo, which is on its way to Mercury; and a three-billion-year-old piece of the Moon. 

Radical Harmony – Helene Kröller-Müller's Neo-Impressionists opens at the National Gallery on 13th September. This includes paintings by artists including Seurat, Van Gogh, Signac and Pissarro.

America’s Kerry James Marshall: The Histories opens at the Royal Academy on 20th September to mark his 70th birthday.

Building the Bank opens at the Bank of England Museum on 16th September to mark 100 years since the Threadneedle Street building we know today, by Sir Herbert Baker, began to emerge, after Sir John Soane's building was demolished.

The Fashion & Textile Museum has Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop from 26th September. It’s an excellent collection of film, TV and theatre costumes from A Room with a View and Pirates of the Caribbean to Downton Abbey and Peaky Blinders.

Back on Downton Abbey again, Kew has its Fleurs de Villes flower show on from 22nd September with a Downton Abbey theme.

Continuing with more fashion, Dirty Looks: Desire and Decay in Fashion at the Barbican opens on 25th September. Featuring icons like Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood, this seems to be about rebellion.

And still on clothing, the David Bowie Centre opens at V&A East Storehouse on 13th September. This is the new permanent home for David Bowie’s archive. There are 90,000 items from stage outfits to hand-written lyrics, so the collection display will change often as there’s not room for it all to be out at once.

You’ll find lots more September events listed on Ian Visits and Londonist.

Looking Ahead

Here are some ideas to plan for in 2026:

Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon
Tate Modern, 25 June 2026 to 3 January 2027

Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art
V&A, opens 21 March 2026

Henry Moore: Monumental Nature
Kew Gardens, 9 May to 27 September 2026

The Bayeux Tapestry
British Museum, opens September 2026

Renoir and Love
National Gallery, 3 October 2026 to 31 January 2027

Final Tip

By joining the Friends of Anglotopia Club, you could see the article I wrote for them about my move to Wales. It’s a well-priced membership schedule that keeps the ads off the Anglotopia site.

I know this is long, but don’t miss the good stuff at the end!

National Art Pass

I bought a 3-month trial membership of the National Art Pass as I knew it covered some of the things I wanted to do on this trip. I got a £15 offer but it’s usually £20. It gives free or reduced-rate entry to loads of places, plus money off in the cafes and gift shops too.

I used the Pass at:

• Kenwood House – Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits (saving £12)

• Wallace Collection – Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur (saving £7.50)

• Braintree Museum, Essex (saving £5)

• Lydiard House Museum, Swindon (saving £6.70)

All of that would have cost me £31.20, so I’ve saved £16.20 already. And I still have months more to use it further.

What Exhibitions Did I See?

Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits at Kenwood House is worth a visit. I enjoyed it, although it is only two rooms. It’s about getting to know more about the lives of the American women who were sitters for the artist, and it was good to see his drawings as well as the spectacular paintings. There were times, though, I felt the captions were written from a male perspective because of their judgment of some aspects of the women’s lives.

London Art For All runs free, affordable art shows. I went to one in Balham and got some fun prints, including this one that’s now up in my kitchen.

On the same day, I went to The Paxton Centre in Crystal Palace, which is a cafe with lots of lovely art on show that’s also for sale.

I’d wanted to see Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur at the Wallace Collection since it opened, so I’m glad I got there. He has created a fictional artist with a full backstory, which is best explained by the audio guide.

I’m a fan of Grayson Perry, so I enjoyed this exhibition a lot. But while I want to like the Wallace Collection, it always finds a way to annoy me. This time it was no ticket desk with a cursory point towards a QR code to book online as the best welcome they could offer. Then I was told to move while trying to book, so the phone signal got weaker further into the building. Honestly, pointlessly annoying tactics.

At Liberty, there is an enormous textile house to admire by The Patchwork Collective. It’s free to see, and there was also a free history of Liberty exhibition available. I AM. WE ARE. LIBERTY. ended on 25 July, but the patchwork house is on show until 12th August.

At Serpentine South Gallery in Kensington Gardens, I saw Giuseppe Penone: Thoughts in the Roots. This is free and on until 7th September. In the room pictured below, there are ‘cages’ of leaves from floor to ceiling on all sides – and it smells amazing.

Nearby, I stopped to see the Diana statue near Kensington Palace. All around me, I could hear excited American voices asking where Diana was, so it’s definitely well-visited. But, even though she may have been the most photographed woman in the world, the statue looks nothing like her.

At the Royal College of Music, I saw Kurt Cobain Unplugged. It’s an opportunity to see the Nirvana singer’s acoustic guitar and green mohair cardigan from the MTV Unplugged performance in November 1993. There’s also a room where you can put on a similar cardigan and have some fun with guitars for photos. Your £5 entry ticket includes the ground-floor permanent collection, so take the free audio guide to hear some unusual instruments. I really enjoyed this, and it’s been extended until 18th November.

Outside of London, but as part of this trip, I went to Braintree Museum in Essex. Housed in a Victorian primary school building, it covers local history (including prehistoric), local businesses and a school room. It has a very good gift shop including fabric from the Warner Textiles Archive and old postcards.

I stopped at Lydiard House Museum in Swindon as it was on the way back to Wales. The House is stunning, so it’s worth seeing, and there’s lots more to do on the estate.

And I saw Tyntesfield House near Bristol too. Tyntesfield is a National Trust-managed property and has a lot to see and do.

Free Bonus Idea in London

I recommend being outside The London Palladium around 9pm to see Rachel Zegler sing from the balcony. She performs ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ to the street while the Evita The Musical ticketholders inside the theatre see a video screen. Be warned, it gets really crowded! I had a ‘lovely’ view of a lamppost, but she sounded fabulous.

Cafe Recommendations

The cafe at the Royal College of Music was good, so do stop by after seeing Kurt Cobain Unplugged.

Somewhere I’ve walked past for years but will now return to often is Fika Regent Hall at 275 Oxford Street. It’s in a Salvation Army building, but head inside and you’ll reach a bargain-priced cafe. I almost don’t want to share this tip as it was such a great find. But I like you, so head there and enjoy.

The Nest is a rooftop bar at the Treehouse Hotel. It’s near to BBC Broadcasting House at Oxford Circus. Before the hotel came back in this incarnation, I remembered it was a good place to drink tea and see the sights. It’s now more rich drinking and loud music, but you can go for tea/coffee. And on a good day, there are the terraces for the rooftop views.

Where Did I Stay?

I stayed at The Columbia at Lancaster Gate (opposite Hyde Park) and would highly recommend it. The hotel is known for its unique blend of Victorian architecture and 1970s-style interiors (I had an avocado-coloured bathroom suite!) It’s popular for photo shoots as the interiors are great. I saw a bridal fashion shoot on the way to my room, and a film crew outside doing a commercial.

I remember the hotel as a popular after-show party location for lots of bands. Iggy Pop, Amy Winehouse and the Stereophonics have stayed there. Oasis got themselves banned for life in 1994. I’ll definitely return. The happy hour cocktails are only £7, and I forgot to show my daughter Leinster Gardens, which is just around the corner.

What’s Happening This Month?

It’s the last month to see Leigh Bowery! at Tate Modern as it closes on 31st August.

Between Sleeping and Waking opens at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind on 14th August. It reflects on 200 years of artists’ fascination with the experiences of sleep and dreams, and features works by artists who were patients of Bethlem Hospital.

Millet: Life On The Land is free to see at the National Gallery from 7th August. The show coincides with the 150th anniversary of Jean-François Millet’s (1814–1875) death. The exhibition ranges from Millet’s last years in Paris through to his images of workers on the land during the 1850s.

And don’t forget, you can visit the Houses of Parliament during the summer, and see the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace.

Hot in The City

The recent heatwave has got me thinking about where to go to escape the city's heat. I could suggest you go swimming outside at London Fields Lido or Hampstead Heath Ponds. There’s a beach out west in Ruislip and there’s clean, heated, all-year outdoor swimming near Covent Garden at the Oasis Sports Centre.

There are also lots of fountains and splash parks these days, or you could go for a shady woodland walk in Epping Forest or Lesnes Abbey Woods.

But I thought it would be better to actually be inside when the temperatures have been at ‘risk to life’ hot. We won’t go through the whole “It feels different in London” and “But it’s much hotter where I live” comments. Just know that 30C/90F is hard to cope with in the capital. The advice is to keep out of the sun at the hottest time of the day, between 11am and 3pm. This is such an issue that the Mayor of London has produced a Cool Spaces map for places to get relief from the heat. The map mostly has libraries and community centres so it is very ‘Londoner-focused’ but not all are necessarily appealing places to be.

Thinking back to the summer of 1990, it was hot when I moved to London. The coolest places I found then were the freezer section of the supermarket and the V&A. I enjoyed one a lot more than the other. This was back when you had to ‘donate’ to go in the museum. As I hadn’t yet got a job, I ran the gauntlet regularly to get past the persuasive welcome staff at the entrance.

Nowadays, all large galleries and museums have air-conditioning making the National Gallery, Tate Modern, the Natural History Museum, etc a good choice for staying cool and enjoying culture.

Many of the smaller museums have A/C too. The Bank of England Museum is good as is the nearby Guildhall Art Gallery. The Postal Museum has the double-win of the cool museum and Mail Rail which doesn’t get the high temps of the London Underground.

The Ice Bar is now permanently closed, but the bars and restaurants in quality hotels are great on hot days.

If you fancy being sporty, you could go skating at Lee Valley Ice Centre or Queens in Bayswater. And my daughter went to Lane 7 Bowling near Victoria and thought it was cooler than outside so whether that means it has A/C or not, we can’t be sure.

If you prefer a more passive idea, many of London's theatres now have air-conditioning and cinemas do too.

Shoppings Malls are a big thing so you’ve got Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City as the obvious choices. Canary Wharf has five malls and there’s the upmarket choice of Battersea Power Station.

Back to culture, remember churches are always cold inside, so it’s a good time to visit Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral.

And for a place that is always icy cold (as it’s under the Thames!), take a walk through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel. Connecting Greenwich and Island Gardens, be aware the lifts at each end aren’t always working but you can check the status before heading there.

What’s Happening This Month?

More Than Human opens at the Design Museum on 11 July. Bringing together art, science and radical thinking, this exhibiton asks how design can help our planet thrive by shifting its focus beyond human needs. And Somerset House has Virtual Beauty from 23 July exploring the impact of digital technologies on definitions of beauty today.

You can see where royalty entertain as it’s the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace from 10 July when we get to wander around the state rooms. And The National Portrait Gallery has the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award from 10 July celebrating the best in contemporary portraiture.

Future of Food is a new free exhibition at the Science Museum from 24 July looking at how food must change to protect the planet. And on 26 July, Jeremy Deller’s performance The Triumph of Art reaches Trafalgar Square outside the National Gallery.

I’d like to say I was out having fun when the virus found me. But I was actually sitting on the sofa watching telly with a friend. Rock ‘n’ roll, eh?

I’ll next be back in London in July, so let’s see how much of this ‘wish list’ I can get through.

London Wish List

The Wallace Collection

Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur is on at The Wallace Collection until 26 October. It has 40 new works by Grayson Perry displayed alongside masterpieces from the collection.

Kenwood House

Heiress: Sargent’s American Portraits is at Kenwood House until 5 October. It reveals the real stories behind the fascinating American women who crossed the Atlantic to marry British aristocrats in an exchange of money for titles.

Royal College of Music

See Kurt Cobain’s guitar at Kurt Cobain Unplugged at the Royal College of Music until 18 November. The exhibition reunites the Martin D-18E guitar, uniquely adapted for his left-handed play, with his famous olive-green mohair cardigan, worn during the MTV Unplugged performance.

Design Museum

Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style is at The Design Museum until 17 August. The 200+ objects on display includes Pamela Anderson's iconic Baywatch swimsuit.

Tate Modern

I’ve seen it once already but would love to see Leigh Bowery! at Tate Modern again before it ends on 31 August. I can recommend Sue Tilley’s book Leigh Bowery: The Life and Times of an Icon.

Guildhall Art Gallery

When I get to see Evelyn De Morgan: The Modern Painter in Victorian London at the Guildhall Art Gallery, I mustn’t forget to see La Ghirlandata as it’s a beautiful painting.

The London Archives

London in the Second World War is on until 30 October. It looks at the experiences of Londoners using Council bomb damage maps, plus personal diaries and photographs.

British Museum

Hiroshige: artist of the open road is at the British Museum until 7 October. And I’d like to combine a visit with a free tour of the Reading Room (Tuesdays only).

National Covid Memorial Wall

And, finally, I’d like to see my dad’s heart on the National Covid Memorial Wall and touch up the wording if needed.

Afternoon Tea Awards Winners

I was honoured to be a judge again for this year’s Afternoon Tea Awards. The winners have been announced and I’m pleased to say I judged one of them. Honestly, Corinthia London is outstanding, so that’s my tip for you for posh tea and cakes.

Open-Air Entertainment

Right, let’s get onto ideas for you to have fun outside in London.

Canary Wharf has Summer Screens from 29 May to 27 September. You can see plenty of sporting events and lots of films. In June, July and August, Canary Wharf also has free music on Wednesdays, and there’s open-air swimming available too.

Everyman on the Canal offers free outdoor cinema on the canal steps by Granary Square in King’s Cross. From 30 June to 17 August, you can see sporting events and blockbuster movies including The Princess Bride and Wicked.

Opera Holland Park is everything you would expect and more. Performances run from 27 May to 22 August. I took my daughter to an Alice in Wonderland performance for families and it was marvellous so this is recommended for families too.

The most well-known outdoor theatre is Regent’s Park Open-Air Theatre. On from 10 May to 7 September, there are five productions this year.

For more music, there’s Kew the Music at Kew Gardens in July with plenty of big-name headliners. And even bigger names are at BST Hyde Park including Sabrina Carpenter and Stevie Wonder. Open House at BST Hyde Park is eight days of free fun so that’s worth knowing about.

The London Symphony Orchestra will perform a free night of classical music in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 15 June for BMW Classics.

If you fancy being more active, Treasure Trails have popular treasure hunts around lots of areas of London.

Or you could just explore the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park or one of the Royal Parks.

What’s Happening This Month?

As if I haven’t given you enough ideas, here are more ideas that may appeal this month.

The Summer Exhibition opens at the Royal Academy on 17 June. This is the 257th year of the world’s largest open submission contemporary art show.

Also at the Royal Academy, Kiefer/Van Gogh opens on 28 June featuring works by Vincent van Gogh and Anselm Kiefer Hon RA.

2025 marks 350 years since the foundation of the Royal Observatory, the first state-funded, purpose-built scientific institution in Britain. 22 June 1675 was the actual date Charles II established the Royal Observatory.

The Courtauld Gallery has Abstract Erotic from 20 June with extraordinary sculptures by Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and Alice Adams. There’s also Louise Bourgeois: Drawings from the 1960s on from 20 June too.

Edward Burra opens at Tate Britain on 13 June. This runs parallel with Ithell Colquhoun – an overlooked figure in British Surrealism. One ticket gets you into both exhibitions.

And Little Simz’s Meltdown at Southbank Centre is on from 12 to 22 June. Each year the Southbank Centre invites a different cultural figure to act as curator and select performers and events of their choosing for the longest-running artist-curated festival in the world.

Alleyways

There’s a lot more joy to London’s alleyways than many news sources would suggest. Obviously, heading down a narrow path at night may not be the best move, but a daytime spontaneous turn into an unknown backstreet can bring wonder and discovery.

When I discussed this with friends, everyone mentioned Brydges Place, WC2 (near Trafalgar Square). As you can see, this is incredibly narrow at the St Martin’s Lane junction. At the narrowest point, it’s just 1 foot 3 inches (0.38 m) wide. You can find it next to The London Coliseum where you can see some lovely ballet or opera.

The alleyway widens about halfway down and connects to the edge of Covent Garden at the junction of Bedfordbury and Chandos Place (near the back of the police station).

Covent Garden has more of these evocative passages. Goodwin’s Court is just a few minutes walk away (off Bedfordbury, near New Row junction). The entrance is opposite an old gas street lamp which only adds to the ‘olde worlde’ Harry Potter vibes of the Court. The bow-fronted windows do make it look like Diagon Alley but there’s no evidence this was used for inspiration. Nearby Cecil Court used to make this claim but has got fed up with the tour groups.

Do you follow Jack Chesher, better known as Living London History? He regularly posts wonderful snippets of London knowledge that are enjoyable to share. He has a new book out: London: The Hidden Corners For Curious Wanderers which I’m looking forward to getting soon. (The link is from Jack’s account so he may get commission on sales.)

Before I even knew about Jack’s book, I wanted to recommend Ian’s excellent series on London’s Alleys and Passages. The research he adds is fascinating making a short, unnoticed path into a story. And providing lots of inspiration for exploring new areas.

So, do you have a favourite London alleyway? Locals use many as simple cut-throughs to reduce a journey but it’s always enjoyable to find out more about why it’s still there.

What’s Happening This Month?

There are two large London art and cultural celebrations this month – and they happen on the same weekend.

The National Gallery is reopening the Sainsbury Wing after transformation work for its 200th anniversary. A major redisplay of its collection has been announced too. When it opens to the public on 10th May 2025, the National Gallery’s redisplay will feature rooms dedicated to individual artists including Titian, Rembrandt and Monet.

The other biggie is Tate Modern’s 25th Birthday Weekender – a free celebration of art, music, making and performance. Running from Friday 9th to Monday 12th May, there’s live music and DJs, talks, workshops, tours and a host of free experiences alongside special food and drink offers and more.

In other news, the British Library has Unearthed: The Power of Gardening opening on 2nd May. It explores the transformative, enriching and sometimes radical power of gardening in Britain and how it impacts people, communities and the environment.

This month’s ‘Archives on Show’ at The London Archives is London in the Second World War. This free event on 9th May allows you access to curated documents from the archives with Archivists available so you can ask lots of questions.

8th May marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe Day to end the Second World War) so there are a lot of celebrations happening across the UK. Beacons are being lit in many locations at 9.30 pm that day. I won’t have to travel far, as the church next door to my new home in Wales will have a beacon on top of the tower.

Back to things to do in London, Encounters: Giacometti at the Barbican looks good. One of the most significant European sculptors of the 20th century, Alberto Giacometti is known for his distinctive, elongated sculptures which experiment with the human form. And it’s not just his works as three female artists have their work presented alongside.

This month is your last chance to see the current Space Gallery at the Science Museum. After almost 40 years, the Exploring Space gallery will close on 2nd June with a new Space gallery opening in autumn 2025.

An anniversary the kids might want to join in on is the 80th anniversary of Tove Jansson’s iconic Moomins. Moomin 80: Open House is at Southbank Centre from 23rd May to 1 June. I’m a Moomins fan so may borrow a small child so I can visit.

I’ve been busy judging fancy tea and cakes for the Afternoon Tea Awards (these were the 2024 winners). There’s so much more to it than a three-tier cake stand with sandwiches, scones and cakes. Judging makes me hyper-critical of so many details but we are looking for the best of the best. I’ll let you know when the winners are announced. I have high hopes for one of the venues as it was amazing.

Things I’ve never done in London

By the time this newsletter arrives in your inbox, I will have moved out of London. I’ll still be back often though (probably two times this month).

But it got me thinking about the things I haven’t done in London. I’ve never…

… been to the St Patrick’s Day Parade.

… watched the New Year fireworks in real life.

… ice skated at Somerset House.

… had a sleepover at the Natural History Museum.

… seen the light switch-on at the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree.

… watched tennis at Wimbledon.

… chosen to go to the Notting Hill Carnival although I did live on the route one year.

… gone to the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.

… eaten at Rules although I am vegetarian so it’s not aimed at me.

… visited the Fan Museum.

I mean, some of those are because I didn’t want to. But it’s a reminder that however long you have in this city, London still has lots more to offer.

But having the pleasure of writing about London for a couple of decades has meant I have had many excuses to be a tourist in my home town. And being a writer has given me lots of amazing opportunities such as watching William and Kate’s wedding arrival at Westminster Abbey from the London Eye. Or a stay in a five-star hotel suite with a butler. London is great and I’ve done a lot here.

My daughter joined me on London adventures from 2 weeks old. We would explore the capital at least 3 days a week. I remember her first school trip when she was four years old. We sat with the class in Trafalgar Square and asked the kids what they knew about where they were. One had seen pictures with her dad the night before and another had been for the St Patrick’s Day Parade. No one else knew the area. Except my daughter who stood up like a London tour guide and pointed out Nelson’s Column, told the kids about her favourite paintings in the National Gallery and pointed out the route down Whitehall to the Houses of Parliament.

London isn’t going anywhere and I’ll still get to enjoy the city. So, what have you never done in London?

What’s Happening This Month?

Anthony McCall – Solid Light at Tate Modern was due to close in April but has been extended until 29 June 2025.

Women & Freud: Patients, Pioneers, Artists at the Freud Museum is on until 5 May 2025, as is The 80s: Photographing Britain at Tate Briain so this would be a good month to see both.

The Natural History Museum has an extra free gallery opening on 3 April 2025. Fixing Our Broken Planet is the first new permanent gallery in a decade. (The gallery looked like this in 1911 but will look a lot more modern for new visitors.)

Over at the London Museum of Docklands, Secrets of The Thames opens on 4 April 2025. It’s the UK’s first major exhibition dedicated to mudlarking.

The Edwardians: Age of Elegance opens at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace on 11 April 2025. It explores the lives and tastes of two of Britain’s most fashionable royal couples: King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and King George V and Queen Mary.

And Evelyn De Morgan: The Modern Painter in Victorian London opens at the Guildhall Art Gallery on 4 April 2025. Admission for this one is ‘Pay What You Can’ so you can pay as much or as little as you like for your ticket or visit for free.

London on Screen

I was talking to a friend in New York recently who told me she enjoyed watching TV programmes filmed in London. Her current favourite is C.B. Strike – a television drama based on the book series Cormoran Strike by JK Rowling. The private investigator has an office on Denmark Street – a central London street best known for its music industry connections as a British ‘Tin Pan Alley’.

I do savour the inner smugness when I see the hint of a location on telly and I know where it is. (For example, Danny Robbins leaving Warren Street station to go to The Ship pub in the latest series of Uncanny but the station name can’t be seen. I just know it from so many times using that side exit.)

A fellow London writer once told me he only reads books with a London connection. Not necessarily by boycotting every other topic but because this is what interested him the most.

I have to confess, as I’m moving to Wales soon, I’ve noticed I’m watching more films and TV programmes with a Welsh connection and my chosen audiobooks at the moment often have a story set in Wales. So it seems we do use different methods of popular culture to expand our knowledge as well as for enjoyment.

Back to London, do you follow @SteppingThroughFilm on Instagram? Thomas goes to a filming location and holds up a photo to line up perfectly. He does travel but as he’s based in London, there are a lot of London posts.

Seeing Hugh Grant here, made me think of the Bridget Jones filming locations – the most well-known being Borough Market. There’s a restaurant in what was ‘Bridget’s flat’ so you can go there.

If you enjoy seeing London on screen, I recommend having a look at Film London as they post regular updates on the movies and shows that have used the capital. Visit London has a helpful article too.

What’s Happening This Month?

The Royal Academy has Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo from 21 March. Victor Hugo was a leading public figure in 19th-century France. His books Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame were printed worldwide. In private, his refuge was drawing. Hugo’s ink and wash visions of imaginary castles, monsters and seascapes are as poetic as his writing.

Victor Hugo, The Town of Vianden, with Stone Cross, 1871, Brown and black ink, brown and purple wash, graphite and varnish on paper, 25 x 34.5 cm. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.

Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 ‒1350 at the National Gallery reunites paintings by some of the greatest Italian artists of the 14th century. Open from 8 March, you can see some of the most innovative works in the Western painting tradition. Many were part of larger ensembles before they were separated and are being brought back together.

Also at the National Gallery, José María Velasco: A View of Mexico is the first UK exhibition of Mexico’s much-loved artist. This is actually the first ever exhibition dedicated to a Latin American artist at the National Gallery. Open from 29 March, this one is free to see.

Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur opens at The Wallace Collection on 28 March. The exhibition to mark Perry’s 65th birthday is in a museum that has inspired him throughout his life.

Edvard Munch Portraits opens at the National Portrait Gallery on 13 March. Regarded as one of the great portraitists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this will be the first exhibition in the UK to focus exclusively on this aspect of his work.

Dress Codes at Kensington Palace examines the traditions and standards of royal attire. Starting from 13 March, visitors can see two coordinating floral cotton dresses from Liberty, worn in 1936 by Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, during their childhood in London. The exhibit also features numerous other royal garments worn by Diana, Princess of Wales and by Queen Victoria.

And finally, see Pamela Anderson’s Baywatch swimsuit at the Design Museum in Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style. Open from 28 March, this exhibition dives into design’s role in shaping our relationship with swimming over the past 100 years.

As a side note, if you’re interested in why Pamela Anderson no longer wears makeup, this recent interview with Drew Barrymore is worth seeing.

Best things to do in London in the Winter

As February is rather well known for its challenging weather, I thought some ideas on things to do in London at this time of year might help. I actually have an alert in my electronic diary that appears around mid-January to remind me not to travel near my birthday (early February) as the weather will get in the way. Think storms such as ‘Beast from the East’, flash flooding, unexpected snowfall, etc.

So, if you’re in London during the winter, what can still ‘spark joy’ as Marie Kondo once said?

Theatre Deals

I’m sending this newsletter a day early so you can get bargain London theatre tickets in the ‘See It Live’ offer as it ends on 31 January 2025. Tickets are reduced to £10, £20, £30, £40, £50 & £60 for select performances throughout 2025. The discounted tickets include a mixture of matinée, evening, and weekend performances.

Winter Light Trails

To bring light into your life while the evenings are still dark, a winter light trail is an excellent idea. You’ll have to be spontaneous today to see Canary Wharf Winter Lights as it ends on 1 February, but The Light Festival at Battersea Power Station is on until 23 February 2025. It’s free to visit and is on daily from 8 am to 11 pm.

If you’d prefer your light to be indoors, Helios is in the Painted Hall in Greenwich until 25 March 2025. Enjoy this seven-metre winter sun by Luke Jerram.

Decent Pubs

Pub culture may have declined in recent years but there’s still something glorious about relaxing on a pub sofa with friends watching a roaring open fire.

My faves are The Mayflower in Rotherhithe on the south side of The Thames and The Prospect of Whitby in Wapping on the north side. The Grapes in Limehouse is great and The Spaniards Inn in Hampstead is too.

Image by Klaus Heller from Pixabay

Galleries

I love losing hours wandering aimlessly in the National Gallery or the National Portrait Gallery. Both are big enough to enjoy many hours of cultural exploring.

I also recommend Two Temple Place as it’s a glorious building. The current exhibition is Lives Less Ordinary: Working-Class Britain Re-seen. It looks at the overlooked richness and diversity of working-class life and creative expression from the 1950s to now. And it’s free to visit with no booking required.

What’s Happening This Month?

As well as all the good stuff above, The Courtauld Gallery has Goya to Impressionism. Masterpieces from the Oskar Reinhart Collection opening on 14 February 2025. The exhibition has a selection of major paintings by artists who preceded the Impressionists plus some of the greatest paintings of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.

Edouard Manet, Au café, 1878. Image: The Swiss Confederation, Federal Office of Culture, Oskar Reinhart Collection “Am Römerholz”, Winterthur

You could time your visit to also see The Somerset House Spring Courtyard Commission: Salt Cosmologies by Hylozoic/Desire. This 80-metre-long and 2-metre-high open-air installation can be seen from 20 February 2025.

The National Portrait Gallery has The Face Magazine: Culture Shift on from 20 February celebrating iconic fashion images and portraits from the youth style magazine. From 1980 to 2004, musicians featured on its covers achieved global success and the models it championed – including a young Kate Moss – became the most recognisable faces of their time.

Dickens in Doughty Street: 100 Years of the Charles Dickens Museum opens on 5 February 2025. It is a celebration of both the life of Dickens and of a Museum which now holds the world’s most comprehensive collection of material related to the great author.

If you’re looking for all the thrills without leaving the city, Zip World is opening its first permanent city-based site on 14 February 2025. Zip World London is based at the iconic ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture located in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. You can get tickets for the views or whizz down the world’s longest and tallest tunnel slide – now called Helix. I tried the slide years ago and it is fun!