Annie McNamee

You remember the days. Assuring your friend that she definitely looks like her older cousin’s co-worker, especially with a ponytail in. Hovering awkwardly around the corner from the off-license as your one 18-year-old pal does God’s work for the rest of you. The pit in your tummy as you recite a fake birthday to the bouncer of a sticky-floored nightclub – remembering your star sign, memorising your imaginary postcode – and the elated relief when he lets you in with a raised eyebrow and a reluctant nod. Finding increasingly inventive ways to get around age-restrictions was half the fun of being 17, but today’s teens seem to be going off going out altogether. ‘You definitely see fake IDs less than you used to,’ says one bouncer at a popular student nightclub in Bristol. When he started working at the venue a decade ago, he’d encounter a load of fakes on any given night – but not so much anymore. ‘The worst one I ever saw had the back on upside down,’ he says. ‘The ones we do see are getting a lot better and it can be harder to catch them. But they’re definitely rarer now.’ Something has certainly shifted. A few weeks ago, as I walked through the Triangle, Bristol’s premier hotspot for stumbling freshers and lovers of three for two Jägerbombs, I noticed that the local Sainsbury’s was busier than all of the clubs combined. Two years ago, dancefloors would’ve been filling up at 11pm on a Monday. This wasn’t a fluke: since that night, two of the clubs in question have closed their

For all of the stick we give the UK – the grey skies, the pigeons, the Greggs sausage roll packets littering the pavements – it’s actually a pretty gorgeous country. In London alone, you can be goggling over the Barbican’s brutalist beauty one moment, the next, you might be basking in the tranquility of Hampstead Ponds. Add the turquoise coasts of Cornwall, the rugged mountains of Snowdonia and the fairytale wonder of Scotland’s highlands and islands to the mix, and you’ve got a country which is as good looking as they come.  When we set about curating this list of the most beautiful places in the UK, we called on our network of expert travel writers. These guys have have personally experienced the pinch-me moment of seeing every place on this list IRL – so we can guarantee you there is no catfishing going on here. Of course, you’ll find the usual suspects – you can’t argue with the magic of the Isle of Skye, after all – but you’ll also find some more surprising beauty spots to add to your travel bucket list. RECOMMENDED:🚂 The UK’s most beautiful train stations🇬🇧 The best things to do in the UK🏝 The most beautiful places in the world🏠 The best Airbnbs in the UK Chiara Wilkinson is Time Out’s UK features editor, based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content

Television used to be considered one of the lowest forms of entertainment. It was derided as ‘the idiot box’ and ‘the boob tube’. Edward R Murrow referred to it as ‘the opiate of the masses’, and the phrase ‘I don’t even own a TV’ was considered a major bragging right. And for a long time, it was hard to say that television’s poor reputation was undeserved.  A lot has changed. Television is now the dominant medium in basically all of entertainment, to the degree that the only thing separating movies and TV is the screen you’re watching on. Now, if you don’t own a television – or a laptop or a tablet or a phone – you’re basically left out of the cultural conversation completely. The shift in perception is widely credited to the arrival of The Sopranos, which completely reinvented the notion of what a TV show could do. But that doesn’t mean everything that came before is primordial slurry. While this list of the greatest TV shows ever is dominated by 21st century programs, there are many shows that deserve credit for laying the groundwork for this current golden age. Chiseling them down to a neat top 100 is difficult, so we elected to leave off talk shows, variety shows and sketch comedy, focusing on scripted, episodic dramas, comedies and miniseries.  So don’t touch that dial – these are the greatest TV shows of all-time. Recommended: 📺 The best TV and streaming shows of 2023 (so far)🔥The 100 greatest movies of all-time🎬The most bingeable series on Netflix

What makes a city great? Some would say it’s all about buzzing neighbourhoods, affordable food and drink and a mighty selection of things to do, from art galleries and museums to live music and theatre. Others might highlight things like the happiness of its locals, access to green space and strong community vibes. We factor in all that and more in our annual survey, which asks city-dwellers around the world to tell us what it’s like to live, work and play in their hometowns right now. Thanks to the opinions and insights of locals on the ground and our global network of city experts, we’re able to create a global ranking of the world’s best cities – and the 2024 results are in. As in previous years, the basis of the ranking remains our global survey of the people who know their city best: the locals. Working with research company Potentia Insight, we surveyed thousands of city-dwellers about the quality and affordability of food, culture and nightlife in their city. We also asked locals how their city makes them feel: are they happy there? Is it a beautiful place? Is it easy to make social connections? Their thousands of responses gave us a unique insight into the reality of living in the world’s greatest cities right now. Now that international travel is forecast to bounce back to the highest levels since 2019, many travellers will be planning a city break this year – so in 2024, we added a little extra weight to a city’s global appeal. Each survey respondent was asked which

It’s that time again. Every year, we ask thousands of city-dwellers to tell us the coolest spots in their cities. What are the places locals love and visitors flock to? Where are the exciting new openings across food, drink and culture? Where are people going out, hanging out and having fun? For the sixth year running, the results are in. Over 12,000 people had their say in this year’s shortlist, naming the neighbourhoods in their hometowns where everyone wants to be right now. Then, we narrowed down the selection with the insight and expertise of city editors and local experts who know their cities better than anyone else. To create and rank the final list, we considered factors including community and social ventures, access to open and green space, and thriving street life. In 2023, our neighbourhoods are more global than ever before. The rise and rise in post-pandemic digital nomadism has led to an explosion of brand-new community spaces, multi-purpose culture centres and more cafés than we can count on two hands. But while most of these neighbourhoods have experienced a transformation over recent years, they remain resolutely local at heart. Slick new developments and cool cafés might bring in new crowds, but neighbourhood stalwarts – from old pubs to family greengrocers – keep it real.  The world’s coolest neighbourhoods this year are, therefore, places with big personalities. Each area’s diversity is reflected in its food, culture and festivals. Community is key: local

Ever wanted to know what life as student is really like in 2023? We asked 20-year-old student-turned-amateur-anthropologist Annie to tell us her observations about the people, parties and juiciest secrets of the UK’s unis. Here’s her verdict. Universities. National institutions. Places of learning and research, incubators of intellect. Unfortunately, also the land of the ‘student’. Student is a varied species which feeds mainly on pasta and rice. British students can often be found at the nearest Wetherspoons, getting drunk on vanilla flavoured vodka because the regular one is 30p more expensive. They tend to be slightly nocturnal and the males are known for going to extraordinary lengths to attract mates that they will subsequently ‘leave on read’.   Subtypes of ‘student’ vary based on location and each British uni comes with its own set of defining characteristics. So, buckle up: this is an entirely imaginary but 100 percent accurate investigation into the private lives of students in the wild, in their most natural habitat – on what they like to call, ‘a night out’.  Newcastle Image: Genie Espinosa We start in Newcastle and encounter Georgia moments after arriving at Market Shaker, an underground bar. She promptly begins chatting about the time she almost jumped into the Tyne ‘just for laughs’, which seems common for the ‘Geordie’ student species. Other notable characteristics appear to include: studying Geography, being obsessed with the North/South divide, Nike Air Max

Enjoy an evening of modern classical music composed by Black artists whose work did not get the spotlight that it deserved in its time at this Southbank Centre concert. The night will involve three different pieces from three different composers, performed by up and coming American violinist Randall Goosby, who made his debut with the Jacksonville Symphony orchestra at just nine, and award-winning Chinese pianist Zhu Wang. 

Flying comes with a lot of ups and downs, and we’re not just talking about flying into the air (ba-dum-tss). Sorry.  Having the ability to walk into a little metal tube in Britain, sit down for a little while, and get out half way across the world is truly a wonder. We don’t give commercial flying enough credit for how much it has opened up the entire world for us all. With that said, it can be an absolute nightmare, and at times getting on a budget flight feels more like a punishment than a genius invention. Having your flight be delayed is one such nightmare. We’ve all got one horror story about a 16-hour delay followed by a flight with enough turbulence to startle a waltzer ride, but some airlines are worse for it than others. Using data from the Civil Aviation Authority, researchers have been able to conclude exactly which airlines are the most and least reliable right now by analysing statistics from 2500 flights which were due to leave, and seeing which left on time. If they didn’t manage to hit the air as scheduled, the researchers determined what the average delay time was on flights from 30 different airlines in the UK, and from there they were ranked in order of longest average wait time, to least. It will come as no surprise that budget airline Wizz Air led the pack by a good few minutes, with customers waiting an average of 31 minutes and 36 seconds longer than was planned. The airline, which is often panned by travellers for providing a less than perfect customer

Many of us have happy childhood memories in zoos and aquariums. There’s something quite magical about being a tiny human and seeing other, often also tiny non-humans roam or swim about their enclosures. If imagining the mini-you in Chester Zoo’s aquarium fills you with any nostalgia or wanderlust, we’ve got unfortunate news.  The iconic northern zoo has announced the closure of its aquarium after seventy years of dazzling fish-loving families. The zoo said in a letter to members that ‘our expert team of structural engineers agree that from 2026 our aquatic species in the aquarium will be finding new habitats to flourish in, under the care of our dedicated aquatic team.’ Why is Chester Zoo’s aquarium closing? Well, apparently the current tanks are just not up to scratch with modern standards of fish-care. The animals deserve to live in comfort and Chester Zoo cannot give them the life they need. They’ll be re-homed within the next couple of years to people who can take proper care of them. It’s not clear yet where exactly the animals will be going, but if you want to see the aquatic life at Chester Zoo you’ll still be able to until they formally close the aquarium in a couple years’ time.  You can still book a trip to the aquarium here. We hope all the fish currently in Chester find lovely new homes over the next couple of years where they can swim safely and happily to their hearts’ content, and that they continue providing wholesome memories for children for many years to co

It’s a classic crisis of the modern day. Life’s getting too much. Work is rubbish. Your friends are annoying you. All you want to do is run away from it all and set up a small commune on a remote island and emerge only when necessary to get supplies from the mainland. That dream could become a reality very soon if you have just £500,000 spare. Mullagrach, a tiny island off the north Highland coast of Scotland, is currently looking for buyers. Perfect for any off-grid fantasies, it’s so remote that viewings for the island have to be limited based on whether or not boats will be able to safely moor on a given day based on weather and sea conditions. Any and all visitors will also have to be able to climb up a ladder to get onto the rock.  Galbraith, the estate agents in charge of the sale, describes the island as ‘a haven wildlife, and the owners have created a small cabin, which is well equipped, to enable full enjoyment of the island… The setting is absolutely magical and would offer a wonderful opportunity to relax and reconnect with nature.’ The cabin in question is a cute little structure built with minimal environmental impact on its surroundings. In the daytime it would make a perfect retreat for writers or anyone with high blood pressure, but in the nighttime its extreme seclusion may feel more Blair Witch Project than Outlander. You can find the Galbraith listing for the island here, but here’s some pics of your potential haven. Photograph: Galbraith Group For only £

Next week, Taylor Swift will play her second ever show in Wales, and tens of thousands of fans will be meticulously planning themed outfits and bracelet-trading logistics.  If you’re heading to the Eras Tour at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, you’re probably also knee-deep in less exciting stuff like how to get to the venue and how to dress appropriately for this oddly-very-chilly June weather. You may also be wondering if the bag you’re hoping to bring will get ruthlessly confiscated by security.  RECOMMENDED ERAS TOUR GUIDES🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The Eras Tour in CARDIFF👑 The Eras Tour UK GUIDE Here’s all the info you’ll need to make sure you have an unforgettable and very safe time at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Cardiff.  Taylor Swift Eras tour Cardiff bag policy. The stadium’s website advises you not bring a bag at all if possible, but they do allow ‘average sized handbags’. There’s no cloakroom or place to put your bag inside the venue, so if you’re standing make sure you’re not going to get sick of holding whatever you bring – or that your bag is constantly bumping into everyone around you.  What size bag can I bring into the stadium? Like most other large venues, you won’t be allowed an ‘large’ bags into the Principality Stadium. You are allowed one small, 35cm x 40cm x 19cm bag per person. In short, small handbags are fine. This does not include any bags purchased inside of the venue, including merchandise and plastic bags for food/merch. Are there any banned items? Obvi

The general public have Glastonbury. Ravers have Creamfields. Metalheads have Download. Festival season is well underway in the UK, and this week the biggest weekend in rock and metal is returning to the fields of Donington Park in Leicestershire. Twenty one years since its inception in 2003, Download is bigger and better than ever, with a good mix of nostalgic classics and up-and-comers.  RECOMMENDED: The best music festivals in the UK. Going to a festival can be pretty hectic, so we’ve gathered together everything you could possibly need to know about this year’s Download festival, including when and where it is, the exact lineup (and stage splits), what you’re allowed to bring, and even the weather forecast. Here’s your complete guide to Download Festival 2024. When is Download Festival 2024? The countdown is almost over – gates are already open! The music will begin on Friday (June 14) and continue until Sunday (June 16). Where is Download Festival 2024 and how do I get there?  The festival will once again be held in Donington Park, Leicestershire. The nearest cities are Derby and Nottingham, both of which are a good half-hour drive away. Because of that, Download can be pretty tricky to get to. Parking is now sold out, so if you haven’t already booked that it is worth looking into alternative methods of transport. If you are planning to drive, Download’s website has loads of info about the best routes to take and live updates on nearby roads. The festival’s official trav

Life can be stressful. This summer alone will see an international football tournament, a general election, and (potentially) not great weather, so you’ll be in dire need of something to help you unwind at the end of it all. Luckily, the South London Wine Fair is returning for its second edition this August, and bringing with it more than 100 different wines from across the globe. What exactly happens at a wine fair? Well, it’s sort of like a festival for people who want to be in bed for 10pm. You’ll be given a wristband upon entry which allows you access to the site in Crystal Palace park, before heading to the ‘bowl’, where the action happens. There, you’ll have access to dozens of wines from 20 vendors and be able to ‘meet importers and winemakers, and learn about all kinds of different vino from natural to classic wines.' RECOMMENDED:London’s best wine tasting toursThe best wine bars in London for foodies The South London Wine Fair may not be a trendy wine bar in the city but it’s certainly an economical way of trying as many different wines as possible. Tickets start at £40, which is pretty good value for money if you convert it into ‘pounds-per-litre-of-alcohol’.  Each ticket is good for 1 hour and 50 minutes of unlimited sipping, followed by a 50 percent off token at one of the event’s bars. You can then sit back and enjoy the rest of the afternoon with nibbles and a drink, before peacefully heading home at 8pm when the good times come to an end. Ideal, right? Tickets

Going on holiday in peak summer season can get pretty expensive. Although the weather’s lovely and it’s great to have a mid-year break, sometimes it’s just more budget friendly to jet away on the off season. If you’re a cost-conscious traveller who happens to live in Northern Ireland, your winter holiday options are about to get bigger and better.  From October 28, easyJet is adding a brand-new route between Belfast International and Fuerteventura, flying on Mondays and Fridays. The Canary Island gets a lot of sun even in the colder  months, so it’s a good option if you’re looking for a break from our lovely winter weather this year. Fuerteventura is known for its beaches and sunshine – you can find out more about the place here.  A few days later, on November 2, easyJet will begin flying from the Northern Irish capital to Prague, also twice a week. Prague’s pretty gorgeous around Christmastime, so it’s another great option for escaping the bleak British midwinter.  Finally, on November 3, Belfast-ians will, for the first time since the pandemic, have the option of getting to Marrakech on easyJet without a stopover. These flights will operate on Wednesdays and Sundays. According to Dan Owens, CEO of Belfast International Airport, these flights will ‘extend the choice and flexibility of routes now available from [the airport] and will no doubt appeal to travellers from right across the region wanting to fly from their local airport.’ Flights start at as little as £26.99 one wa

What’s better than a train that turns up when it says it will? A cheap train that turns up when it says it will. Lumo, which currently offers journeys between London and Edinburgh for as little as £20 one way, and its sister company Hull Trains, are both cheap and (usually) reliable – and they’re both currently looking to expand their services. Both brands are owned by First Group, and both run on ‘open access’ contracts. In layman’s terms, this just means the government doesn’t give them any help. They use third party train tracks on third party routes, and aren’t given any subsidies if things go wrong. Luckily for both Lumo, things have been going pretty well. Profits are high and cancellations are low, so the group has applied to run two brand new services – London to Sheffield, and London to Rochdale.  These could become reality by 2026 and 2027 respectively, so don’t get too excited right away. There are also hopes to add to Lumo’s daily trips between London, Newcastle, and Glasgow. Hull Trains wants to increase its services between the capital and (you guessed it) Hull. If all of these go through it will double the number of open-access contracts First Group currently hold.  The company says that its business model encourages competition in the rail sector, lowering prices for consumers, but not everyone is a fan. RMT union leaders have branded the companies as parasitic to the industry, rather than helpful.  Regardless of your view on the business side of things, you

Let’s be honest: airports are often not particularly nice places to be. Typically crowded and stressful, people rarely relish the idea of spending lengthy stretches of time in airports.  If you’re jet-setting off from Birmingham Airport this summer, you may be in for even longer waits than most. The airport has been seeing some serious delays at security, with some passengers yesterday (June 10) waiting up to three hours in the rain just to get through to the terminal. These delays are ongoing, so if you’re catching a flight from the Midlands hub anytime soon we recommend you getting there early. Like, properly early. As early as you can feasibly be without arriving the day before, basically.  It’s unclear why exactly these delays are happening. The airport says that customers are unaware of new rules which mean that liquids need not be removed from bags as they are going through security, thanks to new scanners, but some argue this is not an adequate excuse.  Rob Burgess, who runs a website dedicated to tips and tricks for anyone flying, told the i that ‘the delays are primarily due to the major construction work taking place at the airport coinciding with the first wave of summer holiday traffic.  ‘It’s difficult to see it improving whilst the construction is ongoing.’ The work in question is the airport installing brand new, multi-million pound scanners. These are being brought into every airport in the UK following government guidance, but they’ve caused quite a lot of dr

It’s been a while since the Foo Fighters were in our neck of the woods. The Seattle band last graced our stages with a headline tour six years ago, so it’s safe to say that their return has been pretty highly anticipated. They’re touring in support of 2023 album But Here We Are. This time they've really upped the ante. Instead of three UK dates (two of which were in London) we’re getting seven massive stadium concerts across Scotland, England, and Wales. They don’t call Dave Grohl the nicest man in music for nothing. The first two Foo Fighters shows on this UK tour are in Manchester at Old Trafford (the cricket ground, not the football one). Here’s everything you could possibly need to know to make sure you have an excellent time.  When are Foo Fighters playing Old Trafford? The band will dazzle Manchester crowds for two nights on Thursday (June 13) and Saturday (June 15). After that the band will head to Glasgow, London, and Cardiff, before finishing off their UK dates in Birmingham on June 27.  What time do doors open? Doors open at 4pm. What with the unpredictability of concert security it’s always best to get to the venue a little earlier than you feel you need to, although there’s little need to arrive at 4pm on the dot, especially if you have a seat. The first support act starts at 5.25pm.  What time will Foo Fighters come on stage? The boys’ set is expected to begin at 7.30pm, and curfew for the arena is 10.30pm.  What’s the seating plan? If you’re wondering whether

It’s been nearly 20 years since ‘Chasing Cars’ hit our airwaves, changing the lives of Gen Xers mourning the end of Britpop forever. And a lot has happened to Snow Patrol since they shot to stardom in 2006. Singer Gary Lightbody has released songs on his own, as well as featuring on a track with Taylor Swift (who is currently embarking on a mammoth UK tour herself). He’s also now the only remaining member of the original Snow Patrol band. The band’s last album was released six years ago (2018’s Wildness) but now they’ve announced a new one. Called The Forest is the Path, it’ll be out on September 13. To support the release of that record Snow Patrol are heading out on a UK tour.  Planning on catching Snow Patrol in the flesh? Here’s everything you need to know about the band’s 2025 UK tour. When are Snow Patrol going on their UK tour 2025?  The band will be heading out next February, with their first spot in the UK being London. They’ll then hit eight major cities around the country as well as one date in Dublin before closing out with a homecoming for lead guitarist Nathan Connolly in Belfast. Here are the exact dates for the February 2025 The Forest is the Path tour. February 15 – London, O2 February 16 – Birmingham, Resorts World Arena February 18 – Cardiff, Utilita Arena February 19 – Hull, Connexin Live February 21 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro February 22 – Manchester, Co-op Live Arena February 25 – Dublin, 3Arena February 27 – Belfast, SSE Arena When do tickets go on sale? T

You remember it well. The faint smell of hot dogs mixed with popcorn and sweat, the infuriating hour spent looking for a parking spot in the heat, the lukewarm cheese sandwiches your mum packed because she swore you told her they were your favourites (they weren’t). Heading to a nearby-ish theme park is a classic British day out, but for the month of July the people of Cornwall may have to travel a little bit further to get their funfair fix. Flambards, a popular family attraction in Helston, Cornwall, has announced it has now closed until July 1 as it replaces four ageing rides. The Thunderbolt, Sky Swinger, Sky Force and the Hornet Rollercoaster will all be waving goodbye to the Cornish coast due to safety concerns.  According to the park, there’s been a shortage of the parts required to repair the coasters and get them up to date in terms of safety standards. A spokesperson for the brand said: ‘Flambards’ aim is to introduce new rides that are more suited to the younger market going forward.’ Flambards will open back up on July 1 with reduced admission charges, reflecting the loss of four of its biggest rides. Day tickets will now be only £14.95pp, with kids under the height of 95cm going free. Season pass holders will be able to apply for a full refund, or free tokens for the park’s go-kart ride on their next visit.  Hopefully when the site reopens in July it will have received some much needed TLC. For the most up to date info on the situation, check in on the park’s we