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48 Hours In Funchal: A Weekend In Madeira’s Atlantic Capital

Editorial Team
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48 Hours In Funchal: A Weekend In Madeira’s Atlantic Capital

Six hundred miles from mainland Portugal, closer to Morocco than Lisbon, Funchal clings to the hills above its harbour like an amphitheatre. Madeira’s capital sits where white houses with terracotta roofs cascade down through subtropical greenery to the Atlantic, and the island’s geography shapes everything here. Streets rise at gradients that would defeat most cities. Cable cars connect neighbourhoods that would otherwise require mountaineering. And the climate hovers in a state of perpetual spring, warm enough for banana plantations but rarely oppressive.

Funchal

The city’s compact centre rewards walking, though your calves will have opinions about this by day two. The Old Town (Zona Velha) occupies the eastern flank, its narrow cobblestone streets lined with buildings dating back five centuries to Madeira’s earliest Portuguese settlement. The grand civic centre spreads west from here, all black-and-white paving stones and baroque churches. Above everything sits Monte, the hillside suburb where wealthy families once escaped the summer heat and where the famous wicker toboggans still hurtle downhill at speeds that feel inadvisable.

A weekend here divides neatly between the pleasures of the city itself and a single excursion into Madeira’s interior – day one in Funchal, day two in the mountains, with enough time left over to drink more poncha than is strictly advisable.

Day One: Markets, Toboggans & Madeira Wine

Morning: Mercado dos Lavradores & the Old Town

Start at the Mercado dos Lavradores before 9am, when the flower sellers in traditional costume arrange their strelitzias and the fruit vendors are still setting out produce rather than hawking it to tourists. 

The 1940 art deco building houses Funchal’s main market across three floors. Upstairs you’ll find tropical fruits in colours that seem digitally enhanced: passion fruit, custard apples, tamarillos, and the local banana-pineapple hybrid that tastes better than it sounds. Downstairs, the fish hall displays the day’s catch, including the black scabbard fish (espada) that appears on menus across the island. The creature looks genuinely alarming, all teeth and dark eyes, but grilled with banana it becomes one of Madeira’s signature dishes.

A note on the fruit vendors: they can be pushy about offering samples and vague about prices. Accept samples if offered but confirm prices before purchasing anything, or simply enjoy the visual spectacle and buy nothing. The building itself, with its tile panels depicting regional scenes, justifies the visit regardless.

From the market, walk east into the Old Town along Rua de Santa Maria, Funchal’s oldest street. The ‘Arte de Portas Abertas’ project has transformed over 200 doors into painted artworks, turning the thoroughfare into an open-air gallery. The street ends near the 15th-century Capela do Corpo Santo and the fort of São Tiago, built in 1614 after pirate attacks devastated the city.

Just beyond the fort, the Barreirinha Bathing Complex is built against a rocky cliff overlooking Funchal’s bay. It’s the closest swim to the city centre and a good reason to pack a towel in your bag for the morning. The Blue Flag complex has sea access via ladders and a small pebble beach, a solarium, changing rooms, showers, lockers, and a bar for post-dip coffee. It opens at 09:30 in winter and 08:30 in summer, so an early start at the market followed by a walk through the Old Town puts you here at the right time. Even a brief swim sharpens the appetite for what comes next.

Lunch: Rua de Santa Maria

The Old Town contains some of the best restaurants in Funchal. Kampo, on Rua da Alfândega, serves a tasting menu built around seasonal Madeiran ingredients that’s inventive and fulfilling. For something more casual, Rustikus on Rua da Conceição serves a prato do dia for around €9 that draws queues of locals at lunchtime.

Afternoon: Cable Car to Monte & the Toboggan Ride

The Teleférico da Madeira departs from the waterfront near the Old Town and rises 560 metres to Monte over approximately 15 minutes. The views during the ascent are extraordinary: Funchal’s terracotta roofs receding below, the harbour shrinking to model-village scale, and the mountains opening up ahead. At the top, the village of Monte spreads across the hillside, its centrepiece the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte, where Emperor Charles I of Austria-Hungary lies buried after dying in exile on Madeira in 1922.

The Monte Palace Tropical Garden occupies 70,000 square metres around a former hotel, combining azulejo tile panels, Japanese gardens, and plants from across the Portuguese empire. It’s one of the best gardens on an island known for them.

The wicker toboggans have been sliding down Monte’s streets since the 1850s, originally as a practical transport solution for residents heading to Funchal. Two drivers in white suits and straw boaters steer each carro de cesto using their rubber-soled boots as brakes, pushing passengers downhill for two kilometres at speeds reaching 48km/h. The ride costs €35 for two people and lasts about ten minutes. Is it touristy? Absolutely. Is it worth doing? Without question. You can find more information from the Carreiros do Monte website.

Evening: Blandy’s Wine Lodge

Madeiran wine needs tasting on Madeira. The Blandy’s Wine Lodge, housed in a historic building in central Funchal, has been ageing the island’s finest fortified wines for seven generations. The standard tour (€16, approximately 45 minutes) covers the history of the Blandy family, the canteiro ageing rooms, and a tasting of two wines. The four noble grape varieties (Sercial, Verdelho, Bual, Malmsey) produce wines ranging from bone-dry to richly sweet. All share Madeira’s distinctive oxidised character, the result of a production method developed accidentally when barrels survived long sea voyages and emerged improved by the heat.

For dinner, return to Kampo if you only had lunch elsewhere, or book ahead at Desarma on the rooftop of The Views Baía Hotel. Chef Octávio Freitas holds a Michelin star and the panoramic views over Funchal add considerably to the experience.

Read: Why Madeira is 2026’s IDEAL honeymoon destination

Day Two: Mountains, Nuns & Poncha

Morning: Curral das Freiras

The Valley of the Nuns lies 17 kilometres from Funchal but feels like another world entirely. Curral das Freiras (its Portuguese name) sits inside what appears to be a volcanic crater, though scientists now believe erosion carved this natural amphitheatre. The surrounding mountains rise so steeply and completely that the valley cannot be seen from the sea, a fact that proved decisive in 1566 when French pirates attacked Funchal. The nuns of the Santa Clara Convent fled into the mountains, carrying their treasures along paths that took hours to traverse. They found this hidden valley and made it their refuge. The settlement remained isolated for centuries, accessible only on foot until a tunnel opened in 2004.

Stop first at Eira do Serrado, the viewpoint at 1,095 metres that overlooks the entire valley. The village appears impossibly small below, cradled by peaks including Pico Ruivo (1,862 metres) and Pico Grande (1,654 metres). In the village itself, the small Museu da Castanha (free entry) explains the importance of chestnuts to local cuisine and economy.

Lunch: Sabores do Curral or Santo António

Sabores do Curral has a rooftop terrace with views of the surrounding mountains and offers the full range of local specialties. Start with chestnut soup, which sounds simple but demonstrates why the nuts define this valley’s cooking.

The espetada, one of Madeira’s defining dishes, where thick cubes of beef are threaded onto a skewer, seasoned with garlic, coarse salt, and bay leaf, then grilled over open flame makes a good main course. Finish with chestnut cake and a small glass of chestnut liqueur, and accept that you’ve now eaten enough chestnuts to qualify as a local.

Alternatively, just have coffee and some chestnut cake (maybe that glass of chestnut liqueur too – you’re on holiday after all) and save your appetite for the drive back to Funchal. Restaurante Santo António in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos sits among the Malmsey wine terraces on the road back down and is a popular with locals and tourists alike. It has been grilling espetada over open flame since 1966. Order the milho frito, chips, bolo do caco with garlic butter too and wash it all down with plenty of local coral beer.

Afternoon: The Cathedral & Praça do Município

Return to Funchal for the civic heart of the city. The Sé Cathedral dates to the early 16th century, featuring Gothic arches, a Moorish carved cedar ceiling, and a vermeil crucifix gifted by King Manuel I. Praça do Município, a few minutes’ walk away, centres on black-and-white wave-patterned paving stones surrounded by the 18th-century Town Hall, the Church of St John the Evangelist, and the former Jesuits’ College. The square offers a sense of Funchal’s civic ambitions, all whitewashed facades and carefully maintained grandeur.

Late Afternoon: Ponta da Cruz & Doca do Cavacas

From the city centre, head west along the seafront promenade towards the Lido district. The walk takes around 20 minutes at a pace that allows for the views, passing the Pestana Carlton and the Forum Madeira shopping centre before the road narrows to Rua da Ponta da Cruz. The viewpoint here looks west towards Cabo Girão, the highest sea cliff in Europe, with Praia Formosa stretching below. In late afternoon the light turns the cliff face amber and the whole coastline softens into something worth standing still for.

Rua da Ponta da Cruz,

Below the road, Doca do Cavacas is Funchal’s only south-coast natural swimming pool, a small bathing complex carved into volcanic rock where the Atlantic fills a series of pools at varying depths. Waves crash over the outer wall and shower anyone brave enough to lean against it. The complex is open year-round (10:00–18:00 in winter, 08:30–20:00 in summer) and has changing rooms, showers, and a small bar. Even if you skip the swim, the tunnel at the entrance leads through to the Praia Formosa promenade, and the whole area catches the evening sun in a way that the city centre, tucked into its east-facing bay, simply does not. It’s a ten-minute walk from here to Horta, making this a natural prelude to dinner.

Evening: Poncha Bars & Dinner at Horta

No weekend in Funchal is complete without poncha, the traditional Madeiran drink made from aguardente de cana (sugar cane rum), honey, and citrus juice. The drink originated in fishing villages as a warming tonic and hangover cure, and it remains deceptively strong, with the sweetness masking an alcohol content that creeps up on the unwary.

The old town is the best place to head to enjoy a pre or post dinner drink. Rei da Poncha on Rampa do Cidrão, near the cathedral, offers an extensive menu of flavours and a lively atmosphere. For something more traditional, seek out Venda Velha, which recreates the atmosphere of old village bars while adding DJ sets at weekends.

For a final dinner, Horta in the Lido area focuses on ‘healthy comfort food’ using locally sourced ingredients. The restaurant earned a Michelin recommendation within a year of opening. Book ahead.

Where To Stay

The Cliff Bay occupies a headland west of the city centre with direct sea access and views across Funchal’s bay. The rooms are spacious and contemporary, and Il Gallo d’Oro, the hotel’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant, makes a compelling reason to stay in for dinner. Rates from €250 per night.

Reid’s Palace, a Belmond property, has been receiving guests since 1891 and remains the grand dame of Madeiran hospitality. Winston Churchill painted here; George Bernard Shaw learned to tango on the terrace. Rates from €400 per night.

Castanheiro Boutique Hotel offers a more central option in the Old Town, with a rooftop pool and views across the city. Rates from €150 per night.

For best private pool villas in Madeira, the hills around Funchal contain numerous rental properties with pools and views that would cost three times as much on the Amalfi Coast.

Getting There

By air: Direct flights from the UK reach Funchal in approximately 3 hours 45 minutes. BA, easyJet, Jet2, and TUI all operate routes. The approach to Madeira Airport is famously dramatic, threading between mountains before landing on a runway extended over the sea on concrete pillars.

From the airport: Funchal lies 20 kilometres west, roughly 25 minutes by taxi (approximately €30) or 45 minutes by Aerobus (€5).

Getting around: Funchal is walkable, though the hills demand reasonable fitness. The cable car to Monte costs €16 return. For exploring beyond Funchal, car hire is recommended. Exclusive holiday rentals in Madeira often come with parking.

The Bottom Line

In just 48 hours in Funchal you can eat at restaurants that would hold their own in any European capital, ride a wicker toboggan down a mountainside, taste fortified wines that have been aging for decades, and stand in a valley so hidden that nuns once fled there from pirates. The city offers both urban sophistication and access to genuine wilderness, often within the same afternoon. The combination is difficult to replicate elsewhere.The Atlantic shapes islands into something distinctive, and Madeira is no exception. If Portugal’s mainland appeals more than its Atlantic outposts, discover our guide to the best restaurants in Lisbon for another side of Portuguese hospitality. The competition for your appetite is fierce.

Where To Find The Best Pintxos In Bilbao

Joseph Gann
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Where To Find The Best Pintxos In Bilbao

The Basque Country runs on pintxos. These miniature culinary compositions, lined up along bar counters in gleaming rows as the bar’s only marketing, are a big part of the reason why the region is considered one of the best places to eat in the world. And at a couple of euros a pop, one of the most affordable for the quality, too. 

The word comes from ‘pinchar’ (to pierce), though not everything gets skewered. That said, in some of the more traditional pintxos bars, you’ll want to keep those sticks for an easy totting up of your bill. You’ll see napkins accumulating on the floor of the best places, too; not a sign that they’re understaffed, but a tradition – the mark of a good bar busy with locals who’ve been coming for years.

Pintxos eating is a ritual, known locally as txikiteo. You lean at the bar, point at what looks good and eat it in a bite or two, then move on to the next place with your cuadrilla (the Basque term for your group of friends), digesting as you stroll, ready for what’s next by the time you arrive.

Getting to know the rhyme, reason and rhythm of pintxos bars will help you order with the necessary efficiency. Cold pintxos, usually stacked on a slice of baguette, sit ready on the counter; hot pintxos get ordered and cooked fresh, and arrive on a plate. A txikito (small wine), zurito (small beer) or glass of txakoli, the local slightly sparkling white poured from height, washes each one down. These are small pours, mind; a zurito barely fills a quarter of the glass, and ciders come in similar thimblefuls. The idea is to keep moving, not to settle in with a pint by the fire.

Bilbao, the Basque Country’s largest city and industrial heart turned cultural heavyweight, is where most visitors get their first taste of txikiteo. The scene here clusters around four distinct zones. The Casco Viejo (Bilbao’s medieval quarter, known locally as the Siete Calles or Seven Streets) is where you’ll find the highest concentration, with Plaza Nueva serving as the epicentre.

Cross the river to the 19th-century Ensanche district and you’ll discover the Diputación area, a small square behind the provincial government palace where bilbaínos gather after work, children play underfoot, and the pintxos – though perhaps less flamboyantly appointed – rival anything in the old town. Further west, the residential neighbourhood of Indautxu serves more locals than visitors, with prices and atmosphere to match. And Abando, home to the Guggenheim, offers a scattering of specialists worth seeking out.

With all that in mind, here’s where to find the best pintxos in Bilbao.

Diputación (Ensanche District)

The old town (Casco Viejo) might be where the majority of the most popular pintxos bars are found, but venture away from the main square and its tributaries and you’ll be richly rewarded.

Moyua metro station sits at the centre of the Ensanche, the elegant 19th-century district built across the river as Bilbao’s wealthy expanded beyond the medieval old town. A few minutes’ walk from the station, the small square on Diputación street – tucked behind the provincial government palace – is where suits and young parents congregate after work, drawn by two of the city’s finest pintxos bars and the rare luxury of space for children to run around while parents enjoy a glass of wine in relative peace.

El Globo

El Globo opened in 1997 – the same year as the Guggenheim, a ten-minute walk away, and the completion of Moyua metro station basically just outside the bar. Perfect timing, and whether deliberate or not, it does feel like the stars aligned to make El Globo the definitive Bilbao pintxos bar. They’ve since opened a second branch in Plaza Nueva, but the original Diputación location is our favourite.

Served warm, the txangurro gratinado (spider crab gratin) is their flagship: brown crab meat mixed with a light béchamel, piled onto crusty bread, and gratinéed until the top turns golden and the interior stays molten. It’s won them the txapela – the Basque beret awarded as a prize at regional pintxo competitions – for best traditional pintxo in the past, and rightly so. It’s the essential Bilbao pintxo, in our view.

El txangurro gratinado (crab gratin pintxo)

But don’t stop there. You’ll see curled, inviting tentacles of calamari on slabs of bread, too, and they’re just so good with a crisp, perfectly formed little beer. They arrive lightly battered and squeaky-fresh, tangled with some caramelised onions and requiring nothing more than a squeeze of lemon to see them on their way. 

Since it’s so convivial here, both inside the admittedly humid bar and outside in the square, you should stick around and order the pintxo de ensaladilla de atún (tuna and potato salad with a cross of red pepper strips) too. It initially looks overwhelming in its heft, but is featherlight and fulfilling.

Website: barelglobo.es

Address: Diputazio Kalea, 8, Abando, 48008 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

La Viña del Ensanche

Three generations of the same family have run La Viña del Ensanche since 1927, and walking through the door feels like stepping into a preserved piece of history. The original furniture remains. Letters from travelling Basques still cover the walls, sent to the stamp-collecting founder. Hams hang from the ceiling like stalactites, glistening with salt and smelling, well, great.

The focus here is on premium products rather than elaborate preparations. The Joselito jamón ibérico de bellota (acorn-fed Iberian ham from one of Spain’s most prestigious producers) gets sliced on a vintage 1907 Berkel, the hand-cranked carbon steel blade working slowly to avoid heating the fat.

But La Viña isn’t just a standing-at-the-bar affair. Grab a seat and order from an actual menu, if you’re keen to take a load off. The warm pintxos, prepared upon request, are worth the short wait. Espárragos en tempura (tempura asparagus) arrives light and greaseless, served with three types of aioli, all looking identical but tasting quite distinctive. The hake, grilled on the plancha with Bizkaina red pepper sauce, is another highlight – the fish flaky and sweet, the sauce rich and deeply savoury.

This is a bar for sitting with good wine (the eminently affordable house red does the job nicely) and premium ham, or indeed something larger, watching the room fill with people who’ve been coming here for decades, and cooking up a plan to someday stand amongst them.

Website: lavinadelensanche.com

Address: Diputazio Kalea, 10, Abando, 48008 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

The Casco Viejo & Plaza Nueva

The Casco Viejo, Bilbao’s medieval quarter, is a tangle of narrow lanes winding between centuries-old buildings, opening onto squares where the evening ritual plays out nightly.

The neoclassical Plaza Nueva, completed in 1851, is the heart of Bilbao’s pintxos scene. Its arcaded perimeter houses perhaps a dozen bars, all coming alive from 7pm when locals descend for their txikiteo.

The Basque Country keeps earlier hours than the south – the cooler climate means there’s no need to wait out the heat – so things wind down at around 11pm rather than into the small hours, which is still late enough to confound most British visitors, to be fair. But they start earlier too: many of these bars open at 7am for coffee, and by mid-morning the first pintxos are already on the counter.

On Sundays, a flea market fills the square, but on any given evening, the terraces fill with drinkers and the cacophony of conversation carries across the cobblestones. Do bear in mind that the early pajarito gets the worm – arrive late and the good stuff’s often gone.

Plaza Nueva

Gure Toki

‘Gure Toki’ translates as ‘our place’ in Basque, and given the near four decades this corner bar has occupied Plaza Nueva, the name feels earned. The current owners’ mother created the recipes still used today, including their celebrated oxtail croquettes, but we’ve found even more joy in the huevo poché con patatas (poached egg with chips), a real showstopper. Runny yolk coats stubby batons of golden potato and wild mushroom in something approaching textural alchemy, the kind of deceptively simple dish that separates competent kitchens from exceptional ones. 

They’ve a wicked way with eggs here, it’s got to be said. Morcilla con huevo de codorniz y jamón ibérico (black pudding with quail’s egg and Iberian ham) stacks the pudding beneath a tiny fried egg and wisps of cured ham, while the brocheta de cerdo glaseado (glazed pork skewer) comes lacquered and sticky, stood in a shot glass of mashed potato, for some reason. 

The accolades tell part of the story: Best Pintxo Bar in the Basque Country (2016), champions of the Casco Viejo rabas competition (2012), and, over the years, various single dish awards for pintxos like their Idiazabal cheese soup and their oxtail with candyfloss.

But it’s not awards that capture the essence of a Saturday evening here. Gure Toki is small and fills quickly, but there’s terrace seating overlooking the arcaded square, and frankly half of Plaza Nueva functions as their overflow dining room, ideal for when locals pack three-deep at the bar and the perimeter outside is just as boisterous. That’s where the real magic of Gure Toki lies.

Website: guretoki.com

Address: Pl. Berria, 12, Ibaiondo, 48005 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Sorginzulo

The name Sorginzulo means ‘witch’s hole’, a nod to the infamous Basque witch trials of 1609, in which the Spanish Inquisition targeted Navarrese villages and the caves used for alleged aquelarres (sabbaths).

The toad in the bar’s logo represents the creatures that accused witches supposedly kept as supernatural servants. Dark subject matter for a pintxos bar, and they’re missing a trick by not having frog on the menu, but Sorginzulo still does some of the best pintxos in Bilbao.

Chef Iñaki Lazkano has led the kitchen here for over twenty-five years, and his tortilla de patata, made with revered ágata potatoes and Euskaber eggs, the potatoes confited with red Biscayan onion, reached the final of the Bizkaia Tortilla Championship in 2024. The rabas (battered, fried squid) are essential, and Sorginzulo is one of the few bars serving them all day, every day, not just on Sundays, as is sometimes the tradition elsewhere. 

Website: sorginzulo.com

Address: Pl. Berria, 12, Ibaiondo, 48005 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Café Bar Bilbao

Behind the blue-tiled façade (practically a landmark in itself) lies a Belle Époque interior that hasn’t changed much since Café Bar Bilbao opened in 1911; checkerboard flooring, ornate mouldings, mosaics, and a horseshoe-shaped bar that’s seen over a century of elbows. 

The bacalao al pil pil (salt cod in emulsified olive oil and garlic sauce) is the house speciality. By 10:30pm on weekends, you can hear the bar from across the square, voices rising, napkins accumulating on the floor in the time-honoured fashion.

Instagram: @cafebarbilbao

Address: Pl. Berria, 6, Ibaiondo, 48005 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Antxoa Taberna

If anchovies are your thing (and after a few hours in Bilbao, they will be) then you’ll be in heaven at this specialist bar, as Antxoa Taberna stocks salted fillets from more than twenty different canneries, from Santoña to Getaria and beyond. Each is cleaned and hand-packed by expert artisans, and we’re convinced you can taste that dedication in the glorious anchovy-based pintxos on offer. 

The octavillo tradition has been revived here: a special tin containing exactly eight anchovy fillets, served as an individual portion alongside regional wines. So settle in; there’s much more seating inside Antxoa Taberna than most Plaza Nueva bars, which counts for a lot when you want to linger a little longer and really savour your pintxos experience.

The matrimonio pairs boquerón (white anchovy, vinegar-cured) with antxoa (brown anchovy, salt-cured) and sweet piquillo pepper on the same bite: a marriage of two preparations, hence the name. The spicy pintxo de bonito (seared tuna with anchovy) with chipotle and gratinated aioli, is luxurious, and our favourite bite here. A glass of txakoli is the thing to drink against the salt and gentle pungency; a winning combination, if ever there was one.

Instagram: @antxoataberna

Address: Pl. Berria, 1, Ibaiondo, 48005 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Bar Zuga

Tucked into a corner of Plaza Nueva, Bar Zuga draws a more local crowd than some of its neighbours. There’s rock music on the stereo, and the vibe is relaxed and unpretentious, letting the pintxos (and the gently inebriated regulars) do the talking.

Chef David Asteinza has built a reputation for pintxos that balance innovation with tradition, and the bar has been recognised by the Academia Vasca de Gastronomía for both its classic and creative offerings.

The foie a la plancha (grilled foie gras) comes with a Pedro Ximénez reduction that suits the lobe’s inherent richness perfectly, the foie decadent and caramelised, the sharp-sweet interplay of the reduction cutting through the liver’s intensity. 

Their Carolina de Roquefort is famous, too, taking the city’s traditional cream-filled pastry and reimagining it as a savoury cheese pintxo. The taco de bonito (tuna) is another regular order, and one that sells out as soon as it hits the counter.

Address: Goikolau Cueva Kalea, s/n, Ibaiondo, 48005 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Bar El Globo (Plaza Nueva)

At the Plaza Nueva branch of El Globo, the morcilla de León balls (a big ol’ ball of black pudding that’s been coated in peanuts) is excellent, and grilled txistorra sausage sandwich – semi-cured Basque sausage made from pork – delivers a spicy, oily kick.

There’s plenty of room for sitting down in the Plaza Nueva rendition too, with a larger dining room out back. Once you’re settled in your seat, order the version txangurro au gratin that forgoes the bread in favour of being served in the shell. It’s even more opulent than the original.

Website: barelglobo.es

Address: Pl. Berria, 1, Ibaiondo, 48005 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Elsewhere In Casco Viejo

Mercado de la Ribera

Mercado de la Ribera, the Art Deco market building beside the Nervión River, has traded food since medieval times, though the current structure dates to 1929. At over 10,000 square metres, it held the Guinness World Record as Europe’s largest covered market. The 1983 floods devastated the interior; subsequent renovations added a gastro plaza on the ground floor where several pintxos bars now operate beneath the original stained glass.

La Bodeguilla specialises in the OG pintxo, the gilda (guindilla pepper, anchovy, and olive on a skewer), named after Rita Hayworth’s seductive character in the 1946 film for its/her salty, spicy, slightly provocative kick. They offer more than thirty variations on the theme, playing with different types of chilli, fish, cheese and other accompaniments while respecting the original’s essential character. The artichoke version is particularly enjoyable.

Vermuteka operates as a display area for Bacardi Martini products, which sounds more sterile than the reality. Instead, it’s one of the livelier spots on the gastro floor, with food that punches above its corporate backing. The tosta de bacalao al pil pil (salt cod in emulsified garlic sauce) is superb, while the crispy squid tentacles on a thick smear of aioli make for excellent drinking food alongside a well-poured vermouth. 

It’s at this point that we should mention that you don’t always need to eat the bread. That squid can be hoiked right off its baguette bed and inhaled without the carbs, if it be your will.

Website: mercadodelaribera.biz

Address: 20 Bis, Erribera Kalea, Ibaiondo, 48005 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Berton Bukoi

One of three Berton premises in Bilbao’s old town, Bukoi occupies a stone-fronted building on Calle Jardines, a quieter street in the old town away from the Plaza Nueva crowds that runs south from the cathedral area and attracts a slightly more refined clientele, with bars that lean toward restaurant-quality pintxos rather than quick bites at the counter.

Bukoi boasts a small terrace for watching the street life drift past. Inside, the yellow walls and exposed brick give way to the kind of curated nostalgia you find in long-running family bars: a vintage Derbi moped suspended from the wooden beams, industrial pendant lamps, a 1907 Berkel slicer that handles the ham with a rotation almost as unhurried as the service here. The closed holm oak charcoal oven is the real draw, though – it gives grilled dishes an intensity that gas flames can’t replicate, and the chuletón, sold by the kilo, arrives with a proper char accordingly.

But we’re here for the pintxos. Foie features prominently: served with apple compote, served with padrón peppers, served atop sirloin in their signature txapelas de solomillo con huevo de codorniz (sirloin ‘berets’ crowned with quail egg).

But honestly, the best thing on the menu is the most humble. The pimientos del piquillo con ajo (red peppers with garlic) are rich and sweet and just wonderful. Running on a theme of ultra simplicity, small grilled prawns, lightly salted, require nothing more than fingers and napkins. The atmosphere is more refined than the typical pintxos bar – proper tablecloths, unhurried service – but the portions remain generous and the prices fair. There’s some ripe, ropey house red for just a couple of euros a glass too, which feels just right for a mid afternoon pitstop, somehow.

Website: berton.eus

Address: Jardines K., 11, Ibaiondo, 48005 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Indautxu

West of the centre, Indautxu is a residential neighbourhood where tourists are less likely to venture. They’re missing out, as here, the pintxos bars serve locals rather than visitors, with lower prices and relaxed ambience to match. This is where you go when you want to eat like a bilbaíno.

Bodega Indautxu

Established in 1945 and now in its third generation, Bodega Indautxu describes itself as ‘ajena a modas y modernuras’, which translates roughly as immune to fashions and modernities. This is a genuine neighbourhood bar in residential Indautxu, well off the tourist trail, frequented by locals who’ve been coming for years, and the pintxos have a more rustic quality that is really appealing in the context.

The anchoas rebozadas (egg-battered anchovies known locally as ‘pajaritos’ or little birds for their shape) won first prize at the Bilbao Classic Pintxo Championship. Served with padrón peppers, they’re extraordinary: the batter light and crisp, the anchovy rich and saline inside, the whole juicy. There’s a particularly bruising gilda too, which features ibérico ham and a huge wedge of manchego alongside the usual olive, and excellent pintxo de atún picante, the spicy tuna slicked across bread generously.

The vibe here is resolutely old-school, tiny pours of sagardoa, the local cider, are just a euro or so, and Bruce Springsteen is playing on the crackling tele that hangs above the door. We could stay here forever, quite honestly…

Website: Gregorio de la Revilla Zumarkalea, 18, Abando, 48009 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Abando

The Abando district sits between the Casco Viejo and Indautxu, home to the Guggenheim, the train station and some of Bilbao’s busier commercial streets. The pintxos options here tend toward specialists rather than all-rounders.

Café Iruña

The Jardines de Albia is a leafy square in the Abando district where Bilbao’s bourgeoisie once strolled. The grand cafés here date from the early 20th century and retain an elegance that the old town’s taverns never aimed for.

At Café Iruña, the extraordinary Mudéjar-inspired interior (300 square metres of polychrome ceilings, arabesque murals, and tilework that belongs in Andalusia rather than the Basque north) has barely changed since the café opened on San Fermín day in 1903. Miguel de Unamuno drank here. So too, Pío Baroja and Indalecio Prieto. We imagine they would today, were they still going. The 2020 restoration maintained what they call “the essence of 1903″, and honestly, not a lot has changed. Phew.

The pinchos morunos (Moorish lamb skewers) have been grilled on the same parrilla for over fifty years, and remain the headlining order, but be warned; they’re only available in the evening. The tartaleta de txangurro (spider crab in a shortcrust tart case) offers a different take on Bilbao’s beloved crustacean, and appears throughout the day, the perfect snack while you wait for those skewers to start turning. 

Do note that the pintxos arrive in batches here, and there are quite significant lulls throughout the day when there’s barely a slice of bread on the counter. Time your visit wisely to catch a more bountiful affair.

Website: cafeirunabilbao.com

Address: Colón de Larreátegui K., 13, Abando, 48001 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Perita

From Inaz Fernández, who opened Bilbao’s first oyster bar El Puertito to bring affordable bivalves back to a city that had forgotten them, Perita applies the same single-minded focus to prawns and crustaceans from Huelva – the Andalucian province whose Gulf of Cádiz waters produce Spain’s most prized shellfish.

The décor (green and white, nautical touches) evokes the Spanish south rather than the Basque Country, but it works with what’s on the plate. Whilst not strictly pintxos, it’s a small space with bar stools and a terrace on the pedestrianised street, open from noon until late every day, and despite the lack of cocktail sticks and display cabinets, the ritual is the same: standing at the bar, a cold drink, messy fingers, another round.

The gambas blancas (white prawns), gambas rojas (red prawns), and carabineros (giant scarlet prawns) are lightly cooked to preserve their natural sweetness. This is not a pintxos bar but for pure prawn pleasure, nowhere in Bilbao comes close. It deserves an honorary mention, then.

Website: peritabar.es

Address: Diputazio Kalea, 1, Abando, 48009 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

Bascake

We simply had to end on something sweet. The burnt Basque cheesecake has conquered the world, but eating one fresh from the oven in its homeland remains a different experience entirely. 

Bascake bakes their tarta de queso on site using locally sourced ingredients, serving slices warm so the centre stays soft and molten – actually collapsing – as it should. The space lacks the charm you’d expect of an establishment serving one of Bilbao’s best Basque cheesecakes, but this place isn’t a cafe – it’s designed for picking up your order and eating elsewhere (how about in the Jardines de Albia, just across the way?).

The classic version is essential; the pistachio variation is excellent too. Whole cakes require 24 hours’ notice.

Website: bascake.es

Address: Colón de Larreátegui K., 23, Abando, 48001 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain

The Bottom Line

Bilbao’s pintxos scene rewards both the systematic and the spontaneous approach. You could map out a route hitting every award-winner and beloved institution, or you could simply wander the Casco Viejo at 8pm on a Saturday and let the crowds guide you. Either approach works. The bars have been here for decades; most aren’t going anywhere. And you can taste that sense of history and pride in every pintxo. 

For a taste of the Basque Country back in London, you can’t get much better than Lurra. Care to join us there?

7 Ideal Places To Go Sea & River Kayaking In Europe

Editorial Team
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7 Ideal Places To Go Sea & River Kayaking In Europe

Ideal for a holiday of wet’n’wild adventure…

We’ll level with you; we’ve been spending far too long staring at screens lately. The cure? Getting as far from a desk as physically possible, ideally in a vessel, looking out at the expanse of the open sea or the hypnotic motion of a river, with nothing but the spirit of adventure on the agenda. That sounds alright to us. If you’re keen to feel that freedom too, then read on; here are 7 IDEAL places to go sea and river kayaking in Europe.

Sea Kayaking Around the Isles Of Scilly

We’re starting close to home, as this little archipelago off the Cornish Coast is ideal for those wanting a more sedate start to their sea kayaking adventure.

Enjoying the UK’s only subtropical climate and boasting a wonderfully temperate ocean too, kayaking around the Isle of Scilly and setting up camp in the evening is a fantastic way to explore this largely overlooked part of Britain.

Do be aware that a tour of the islands can take four days or more. The most popular route starts at St Mary’s then travels onwards to The Eastern Isles which are home to the Grey Atlantic seal colony. Then, head onto St Martins, which boasts the beautiful Par Beach, before making your way to Bryher island and Tresco and finally heading back to St Mary’s.

Whilst this is a fairly laid back affair – no canyons and intimidating descents here – the more adventurous in your group might like to try rowing all the way back to mainland Cornwall, to Lamorna, which is around 30 nautical miles in distance.

Read: The IDEAL weekend in Newquay

The Zrmanja River In Croatia

Wild river kayaking and even wilder camping in Croatia’s Velebit Nature Park? Sign us up! Not for the faint of hearted, the route down the Zrmanja River is framed on either side by gorgeous forest and punctuated by rapids and waterfalls. Yep, we said this one would raise the adrenaline, right?

In fact, there are some more sedate stretches, particularly at the beginning of the course, with no experience strictly necessary; but you do need to know how to swim. The route concludes in the picturesque Muskovci village, where a change into dry clothes and a hearty feed awaits!

Whilst we wouldn’t want to put you off, there’s a risk of injury along this route. Getting yourself covered for injury in advance is essential, since if your chosen sport isn’t covered by your travel insurance, you won’t be able to make a claim if you have an accident.

Kit matters too; the folks at Equipment Guide UK have plenty of useful advice on choosing the right kayak and gear, which is worth a browse before you tackle anything with rapids and waterfalls on the itinerary. With the added chance of your kayaking equipment getting lost or damaged, it’s best to be safe rather than getting caught up a creek without a paddle.

Soca Valley In Slovenia

The 70 mile stretch of river known as Soca is one of Europe’s premier kayaking bodies of water. Shared between Italy (25 miles) and Slovenia (65 miles), today our focus is falling on the Sunny Side of the Alps. If you don’t have your encyclopedia handy, we mean Slovenia by the way.

The Soca is characterised by a striking emerald green hue to its waters, which remarkably remains that shade for the entire stretch of the river. All difficulty levels are catered to here, making Slovenia a great choice if you’re travelling in a group of kayakers with different confidence levels.

In terms of the best time of year to visit, the Soca is largely dependent on the melting of snow of the Alps. As a consequence, April and May are the top times to hit the water (as long as the prior months have been blessed with snow, that is) as the rivers will be full and the climate pleasant.

Winter Kayaking In Lofoten, Norway

Norway is famous for its glaciers, fjords and rugged wilderness, and such dramatic scenery makes for awesome kayaking, make no mistake. Perhaps the premier kayaking here centres around the Lofoten archipelago, with the waters close to shore making for breezy, easy kayaking amongst fishing villages, inlets and bays. Magic! If you fancy something more treacherous, then simply head further out to sea, where the waters of Moskenesøya are seriously challenging.

But for perhaps the quintessential Norwegian kayaking experience, it has to be winter kayaking along Lofoten’s shoreline, when waters are crystal clear and the snow capped mountains just behind the fishing villages revealing scenes of utter magic. It’s generally recommended that kayakers embarking on winter kayaking here be in good physical health; rowing through slushier conditions can be demanding!

The Coastline Of Western Crete, Greece

If you’re after sun, sand and sea with your paddling, Crete has you well and truly covered. The largest of the Greek islands has almost 650 miles of coastline to play with, and the western stretch near Chania is where things get particularly interesting for kayakers.

Launch from the famously pink-sand Elafonisi Beach and trace the rocky coastline southwards, where you’ll discover sea caves, dramatic rock formations and secluded beaches that are only accessible from the water. Another brilliant route runs from Sougia to Agia Roumeli, an isolated village you can only reach by boat or on foot via the Samaria Gorge.

The water is warm, the crowds are thin, and the swimming stops between paddles are as good as it gets anywhere in Europe. Crete’s western coast is developed enough to find a cold beer and a plate of mezze at the end of the day, but wild enough to feel like you’ve earned it.

Read: 48 hours in the Crete capital, Heraklion

The Algarve Coast, Portugal

Southern Portugal’s Algarve coast is best known for its golf courses and package holidays, but get out on the water and you’ll find a completely different side to the region. The stretch around Albufeira and Lagos is riddled with sea caves, towering limestone cliffs and hidden grottoes, all of which look their very best from the low vantage point of a kayak.

The famous Benagil Cave, with its cathedral-like dome and natural skylight, is the headline act, but there are dozens of smaller caves and arches to nose into along the way. The waters here are sheltered and calm for much of the year, making this a great option for beginners or families, and there’s no shortage of rental outfits and guided tours operating along the coast. Time your paddle for early morning or late afternoon and you’ll have the cliffs glowing gold all to yourself.

Loire Valley, France

A tranquil kayaking experience to finish us off, the Loire Valley is ideal for a laid back (though not too horizontal, you do still have to man a kayak) appreciation of a simply gorgeous part of the world.

The Loire is France’s longest river and the valley itself is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, describing The Loire as “France’s last untamed river”. Sail down this stream of water and you’ll discover some of the best things the French countryside has to offer; vibrant vineyards, charming old farming villages and stunning châteaus.

The valley is a vast area, and the epicentre is the ‘Valley of the Kings’ which many use as a touring base. The Loire is wonderful for independent canoeing, particularly, free from a guide, and as such, the pace is low, slow and perfectly suited to beginners.

Along the river here there are numerous canoe rental companies offering hire from a single afternoon to multi-day journeys, with many of these companies set up so you can rent your canoe from one place and leave it at another place along the river. And speaking of leaving, our journey meandering through Europe’s rivers is now done, too. Have a great trip!

Many of the continent’s great rivers also

10 Top Tips For A Skiing Holiday To Alpe d’Huez

Travel Team
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10 Top Tips For A Skiing Holiday To Alpe d’Huez
Ideal for a holiday filled with snow, slopes and après-ski…

Preparing for a skiing holiday to Alpe d’Huez requires careful planning as this French Alps location is not your average ski destination. Indeed, Alpe d’Huez boasts impressive ski slopes, optimal sunshine, and consistent snowfall, making it a prime skiing location that’s popular with those shaky on their skis and those confident tearing down a black run alike. 

Regardless of your skiing proficiency, this guide will provide imperative insights into the mountain’s terrain, local cuisine, and après-ski activities. This comprehensive review of Alpe d’Huez is designed to ensure that your ski trip is both enjoyable and memorable. 

Understand The Ski Season

Alpe d’Huez’s ski season typically starts in early December and runs until late April. The resort boasts 300 days of sunshine a year and is known as the ‘Island in the Sun’, offering skiers excellent weather conditions across the season.

Typically, mornings are considered the best time for skiing. Snow conditions tend to be optimal from about 9:00 AM until noon.

During this time, the snow has had a chance to recover from the previous day’s skiing and the overnight temperatures usually help to keep it in a good, skiable condition. As the day progresses and the sun’s rays get stronger, the snow can become slushy, particularly in the spring season.

It’s always recommended to check the daily weather and snow reports for the most accurate conditions on the mountain. Check out the live snow forecast from Piste Pro to ensure you’re hitting the slopes at the ideal time.

Best Time To Visit

Alpe d’Huez has a reputation for having good snow conditions from early December to late April, thanks to its high-altitude slopes and sophisticated snow-making capabilities. However, the best time to visit for skiing typically depends on what you’re looking for in a ski holiday.

If you’re eager to experience ample snowfall, the period from late January to March usually offers the most reliable snow conditions. For those who prefer milder weather and longer daylight hours for skiing, visiting from mid-March to April is ideal. The resort is also less crowded during these periods.

For those who love the bustling holiday season, Christmas and New Year periods are festive and popular, though it can get quite crowded. Similarly, the February half-term holiday sees an influx of families, so it’s an exciting time to visit if you don’t mind the crowds. 

That said, if you’re seeking skiing right now, then do yourself a favour and check out this guide on the European ski resorts that are open for summer skiing.

Acclimatise

Alpe d’Huez, situated at an altitude of 1860m, requires a period of acclimatisation. Take it easy for the first few days to adjust to the altitude. Staying well-hydrated is crucial as the air is much drier at higher altitudes which can lead to dehydration. Drinking plenty of water and minimising intake of diuretics like alcohol and coffee (yep, we know the pre and apres ski somewhat demands it!) can help prevent this.

Photo by Eirik Uhlen on Unsplash

Skiing Lessons

Hiring a ski instructor is recommended, especially for beginners. Alpe d’Huez features several high-quality ski schools, such as ESF Alpe d’Huez and Ski Cool, which offer group and private lessons. For adults, 6 half day lessons will set you back around €200.

School & Group Trips

Alpe d’Huez’s wide, gentle nursery slopes and reliable snow record make it a strong contender for organised school and youth group trips. The resort’s ski schools have plenty of experience handling large bookings, and the compact village layout keeps everything within easy reach – handy when you’re responsible for a group of excitable teenagers.

Accommodation options range from catered chalets to residence-style apartments suited to bigger parties, and the resort’s pedestrian-friendly centre means less time herding and more time on the mountain. If you’re a teacher or parent helper wondering where’s the best skiing in Europe for school groups, Alpe d’Huez should be high on the shortlist.

Best Runs For Beginners

Alpe d’Huez is a beginner-friendly resort, that’s for certain. The area around the village of Villard Reculas is perfect for beginners with a number of easy green runs. Both Eclose and Bergers also offer clusters of green runs ideal for those starting their skiing journey. Here are a few popular beginner’s runs in Alpe d’Huez:

  • Les Jeux: This is a convenient green run located just above the resort. It’s an excellent choice for beginners or families skiing together to start with as it’s quite wide and gentle.
  • Signal: This run offers stunning views and is wider than the average green run, making it easier for new skiers to navigate.
  • Grand Tronçon: Technically a blue run, it’s a long and sweeping run so beginners looking to challenge themselves a bit should consider this one.
  • Eclose: This aforementioned green run is perfect for beginners and located near the resort. It’s a quiet, peaceful area which makes for a relaxed skiing experience.
  • Rif Nel: A blue run, it’s another good challenge for beginners ready to increase their skill level. It’s a long and spacious run located on the other side of the mountain, offering a different view from the resort’s main area.

Intermediate Skiers

For intermediate skiers, Alpe d’Huez offers an impressive range of terrain and long, sweeping blue and red runs. Here are a few that are often recommended:

  • DMC: This is a long blue run, which is accessed by the DMC gondola. The run itself provides stunning views and a good level of challenge for intermediate skiers.
  • Tunnel: This run is a famous black that morphs into a red as you get further down the mountain, providing an exciting challenge for intermediates.
  • La Sarenne: Known as the longest black run in Europe, it’s more a test of endurance than steepness. After the initial steep section, it eases off and becomes akin to a blue run for the second half of the descent.
  • Villard Reculas: This is a beautiful red run leading down to the village of Villard Reculas, offering stunning panoramic views.
  • Chamois: This blue run begins at the top of the Pic Blanc and ends at the bottom of Les Rousses. It’s a great opportunity for intermediates to practise their skills on a longer descent.
  • L’Alpette: This is a blue run in the Vaujany sector of the resort that is often less crowded, providing a good intermediate challenge with terrific views.

Expert Skiers

Alpe d’Huez is also noted for its challenging terrain that expert skiers can enjoy. Here are some runs that are frequently recommended:

  • La Sarenne: Although not the steepest black run, it is the longest in the world and will test your endurance. The top part of the run can be quite challenging and steep, a real thrill for expert skiers.
  • Tunnel: This is an iconic black run that starts with a steep, mogul-filled slope. After that, it becomes less steep but still offers a good challenge for expert skiers.
  • Le Pic Blanc: This black run is one of the steepest in the resort, providing a thrill for advanced skiers. It’s exposed and often icy, so proper equipment and preparation are essential.
  • La Fare: While technically a red run, it’s considered appropriate for advanced skiers due to the variety of terrain and the length of the run. The terrain varies from wide open spaces to narrow and steep sections.
  • The Couloirs: For those seeking an off-piste experience, the couloirs located under Pic Blanc provide varying degrees of challenge and are best tackled with a guide.
  • La Combe Charbonniere: This off-piste route starts from Pic Blanc and leads down to Oz en Oisans. It’s a steep and challenging route that should only be attempted by experienced skiers.

Equipment Rental

While Alpe d’Huez has plenty of high-quality ski rental shops, it’s recommended to reserve your equipment in advance, particularly during peak periods. Popular rental shops include Ski Set and Alpe Sports Loisirs.

Apres Ski 

You’ve come this far and you’ve earnt it, so don’t miss the vibrant après ski scene in Alpe d’Huez. Check out popular spots like Smithy’s Tavern and Igloo for live music, great drinks, and a boisterous atmosphere, the former of which features on our round-up of our favourite apres-ski bars in France. Cheers!

The Bottom Line

Remember, skiing holidays are not just about racing down the slopes but also enjoying the beautiful snow-laden landscapes, indulging in good food, and relaxing in the comfort of your chalet. Alpe d’Huez offers all of this and more, making it one of the top ski destinations in the world. Whether you’re a beginner, an accomplished pro, or somewhere in between, Alpe d’Huez promises an unforgettable skiing experience.

Going Paperless: Steps Your Business Can Take To Reduce Their Paper Waste

Editorial Team
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Going Paperless: Steps Your Business Can Take To Reduce Their Paper Waste
Ideal for ensuring your company is as eco-friendly as possible…

In today’s digital age, businesses are increasingly seeking ways to reduce their environmental footprint. One of the most effective strategies is going paperless. Not only does this approach contribute to sustainability, but it also enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and helps improve data security. With that in mind, here are some steps your business can take to reduce paper waste and transition towards a paperless office.

Digitise Your Documents

The first step towards going paperless is to digitise your existing paper documents. This can be achieved through scanning and converting them into digital formats. There are numerous software solutions available that can help streamline this process, such as Adobe Acrobat or Evernote. These tools not only convert your documents into digital formats but also allow you to organise, search, and share them easily.

Implement Cloud-Based Solutions

Cloud-based solutions such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive offer secure storage for your digital documents. They also facilitate real-time collaboration, allowing team members to work on documents simultaneously, regardless of their location. This eliminates the need for multiple paper copies and reduces the risk of losing important documents.

Read: Modern ways to conduct more accurate competitor analysis

Encourage Digital Note-Taking

Encourage your team to take notes digitally. Tools like Microsoft OneNote or the aforementioned Evernote can replace traditional notepads. These tools offer the added benefit of being searchable, making it easier to find specific information later.

Switch To Electronic Invoicing

Electronic invoicing is not only environmentally friendly but also more efficient. It eliminates the need for paper invoices, reduces postage costs, and speeds up the payment process. Many accounting software packages, such as QuickBooks and Xero, offer electronic invoicing options.

Promote A Paperless Culture

It’s also crucial to promote a paperless culture within your organisation. This involves educating your team about the benefits of going paperless and encouraging them to adopt digital practices. You could also set paper reduction targets and reward those who meet or exceed them.

Read: 6 IDEAL steps to a greener, more sustainable business

Embrace Unified Communications

In the era of digital communication, traditional letters are becoming increasingly redundant. They not only consume paper but also take time to deliver and can easily get lost. Instead, consider adopting a unified communications strategy that integrates various digital channels.

Modern unified communications platforms combine email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and voice calls into a single, cohesive system. Many now rely on enterprise-grade VoIP technology to handle calls over the internet rather than traditional phone lines, cutting out the need for physical hardware and the paper trails that come with it.

This integrated approach not only eliminates paper waste but also streamlines workplace collaboration and enhances productivity. You can even automate communications workflows to help optimise your business processes further.

Moreover, platforms like Microsoft Teams or Slack can significantly reduce the need for paper while fostering team collaboration. They enable real-time communication, seamless file sharing, and virtual meetings, making them an excellent alternative to traditional letters and memos. These solutions also provide searchable message history and organised conversation threads, ensuring that important information is always at your fingertips.

Enhance Your Online Security

As you transition to a paperless office, it’s crucial to ensure that your digital documents are secure. Cybersecurity threats are a real concern, and businesses must take proactive measures to protect their sensitive data.

Start by implementing strong password policies and two-factor authentication for all your digital accounts. Regularly update and patch your systems to protect against the latest security vulnerabilities.

Consider using encryption for sensitive documents, especially when they are shared or stored in the cloud. Services like Google Drive and Dropbox offer built-in encryption, but you can also use third-party tools for added security.

Finally, educate your team about online security best practices. This includes recognising phishing attempts, avoiding suspicious links, and not sharing sensitive information online. Remember, your online security is only as strong as your weakest link, so it’s essential that everyone plays their part.

Replace Physical Meetings With Digital Alternatives

The traditional meeting has long been one of the office’s biggest paper consumers. Agendas get printed, minutes get photocopied, presentations get bound into handouts that end up in the recycling bin before anyone’s back at their desk. Shifting to digital meetings doesn’t just cut paper – it tends to make the whole process more efficient. Share agendas and supporting documents in a shared folder ahead of time, take notes in a collaborative document during the meeting, and distribute action points digitally afterwards. 

For client-facing meetings where you might once have produced glossy printed proposals or pitch decks, a well-designed screen presentation often lands better anyway. It’s also worth questioning whether every meeting needs to happen at all; a concise email or a short video update can often achieve the same outcome without the paper trail or the calendar bloat.

Go Digital With Employee Onboarding & Training

HR departments are among the worst offenders when it comes to paper waste, and much of it is entirely avoidable. New starter packs, policy documents, training manuals, expense claim forms, holiday request slips – in many businesses, an employee’s first week involves signing and filing more paper than they’ll see for the rest of the year. 

Moving your onboarding process online not only saves reams of printing but creates a better experience for new hires, who can complete paperwork at their own pace and revisit documents whenever they need to. 

The same goes for ongoing training; digital modules and video resources are easier to update than printed manuals, which tend to go out of date the moment they’re bound. Even something as simple as switching from paper expense forms to a digital submission process can save significant time and waste across the year.

The Bottom Line

Going paperless is a journey that requires commitment and a shift in mindset. However, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. By reducing paper waste, your business can contribute to environmental sustainability, improve efficiency, and save money. So why not take the first step towards going paperless today?

10 Spices You’re Almost Certainly Using Wrong (& How To Fix It)

Editorial Team
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10 Spices You’re Almost Certainly Using Wrong (& How To Fix It)

There’s a good chance your spice rack is working at about half capacity. Not because the jars are old (though, yes, maybe audit those), but because even confident cooks develop habits with everyday spices that quietly undermine what they’re capable of delivering. None of what follows is obvious. These aren’t reminders to store your spices in a cool, dark place or buy whole rather than ground. You know that. Here are 10 pointers that might actually change how you cook with spices.

Cinnamon: You’re Using The Wrong Kind

The cinnamon in your cupboard almost certainly isn’t cinnamon. It’s cassia, a related but distinctly different bark from the Cinnamomum cassia tree. True cinnamon, known as Ceylon cinnamon, is lighter in colour, subtly citrusy and comes in thin, papery layers that crumble between your fingers. Cassia is darker, thicker and carries a blunter punch.

For a crumble or a batch of biscuits, cassia does the job. But if you’re stirring cinnamon into porridge every morning, adding it to rice dishes or using it in lighter spice blends, Ceylon is what you want. It plays well with others where cassia tends to bulldoze.

Beyond flavour, there’s a health angle. Cassia contains significantly higher levels of coumarin, a compound that in regular large doses can stress the liver. Ceylon cinnamon contains roughly 250 times less of it. In the UK, non-’true’ cinnamon should be labelled as cassia, so check the small print. If cinnamon is a daily habit, it’s a worthwhile switch.

Paprika: You’re Burning It Without Realising

Paprika’s sugars caramelise fast, and not in a good way. In a hot pan, it tips from sweet and fragrant to acrid and bitter in seconds. If you’re stirring it into a roux over high heat or tossing it into a screaming pan with onions, you’re scorching it before it has a chance to do anything useful.

The solution is lower heat than you’d think. Hungarian cooks, who arguably know pimentón better than anyone, often take the pan off the heat entirely before stirring paprika in. If you’re blooming it in oil, medium-low for no more than 60 seconds, just until the oil turns a reddish hue and the kitchen smells sweet.

And if a recipe calls for paprika as a finishing sprinkle on hummus or devilled eggs, skip the cooking altogether. Let its colour and gentle warmth do the work uncooked.

Turmeric: You’re Eating It, But Your Body Isn’t

Turmeric’s reputation has outpaced what it can actually deliver on its own. Curcumin, its most celebrated compound, is poorly absorbed, rapidly metabolised and quickly eliminated. That golden latte isn’t doing much if your body can’t hold onto the good stuff.

The fix has been embedded in Indian and Southeast Asian cooking for centuries; pair turmeric with black pepper. Piperine, the compound that gives black pepper its kick, inhibits the enzyme responsible for breaking down curcumin in the gut. One frequently cited study found this increased curcumin’s bioavailability by around 2,000%.

Fat helps too, since curcumin is fat-soluble. Cooking turmeric in oil or ghee, as most traditional recipes do, further improves absorption. It’s not a coincidence that the cuisines which use the most turmeric also happen to cook it in fat with black pepper already present. The chemistry was figured out in the kitchen long before anyone put on a lab coat.

Cardamom: You’re Not Cracking The Pods

If you’re dropping whole, intact cardamom pods into a curry or rice dish and hoping for the best, you’re getting maybe a third of the flavour those pods can offer. The aromatic oils live in the tiny black seeds inside, and the tough outer husk does a remarkably good job of keeping them locked away.

The fix takes five seconds. Press the flat side of a knife down on each pod until it cracks open. You don’t need to remove the seeds or grind anything. Just splitting that shell allows the oils to seep into the cooking liquid. Fish the spent pods out before serving (biting into one mid-mouthful is no one’s idea of a good time).

One more thing: crushed cardamom seeds lose the majority of their volatile oils within hours, so only ever crack pods immediately before cooking. If you’re using pre-ground cardamom from a jar that’s been open for months, you’re essentially adding expensive dust.

Smoked Paprika: You’re Putting It In Everything

Smoked paprika is brilliant. Its deep, campfire warmth can lift a bean stew or transform roasted vegetables. The problem is that once people discover it, they reach for it reflexively, and it becomes a blunt instrument.

A teaspoon too much and the entire dish tastes of nothing else. Smoked paprika also flattens other flavours when overused, smothering the very ingredients it’s supposed to complement.

Use it where smoke genuinely belongs: pulses, roasted roots, chorizo-adjacent situations, barbecue marinades. But if a recipe calls for regular sweet paprika, resist the swap. They’re different tools. Sweet paprika has a gentle, rounded warmth that the smoked version simply can’t replicate without bringing the bonfire along with it.

Garam Masala: You’re Adding It At The Start

Most spice blends are designed to go in early and develop over time. Garam masala is a notable exception. The blend, typically a combination of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin and black pepper, is composed of warm, aromatic spices whose volatile oils evaporate quickly under sustained heat.

Add it at the beginning of a 45-minute curry and by the time you serve up, the aromatics have largely gone. What’s left is a muddied, slightly bitter residue that tastes nothing like what you smelled when you opened the jar.

As spice authority Kris Ramamoorthy from Krishna Vilas tells us, Indian home cooks almost universally add garam masala in the final few minutes of cooking, or sprinkle it over the finished dish. It’s a finishing flourish, not a foundation. Think of it as the aromatic equivalent of a squeeze of lemon before serving, something that lifts and brightens right at the end.

Saffron: You’re Not Steeping It

If you’re adding dry saffron threads straight into a dish and expecting them to do their thing, they won’t. Not fully, anyway. Saffron needs time and liquid to release its three key compounds: crocin (colour), picrocrocin (flavour) and safranal (aroma).

Soak the threads in a few tablespoons of warm water, milk or stock for at least 15 to 20 minutes before use. Some cooks grind the threads with a pinch of sugar in a mortar first, which speeds up extraction. The soaking liquid, which will turn a vivid gold, then gets stirred into the dish along with the threads.

Given that good saffron costs north of £5 per gram, skipping this step means you end up with expensive yellow flecks floating in a dish that tastes no different to one made with a pinch of turmeric and food colouring. Which rather defeats the point.

Black Pepper: You’re Grinding It Too Early

Most people grind black pepper once, at whatever stage the recipe mentions it, and move on. But pepper’s aromatic compounds, the ones that give it its fragrance rather than just its heat, are volatile. They start degrading the moment the peppercorn is cracked open.

If you grind pepper into a stew at the start of a long cook, the heat and piperine will survive but the complexity won’t. You’ll get one-dimensional sharpness. The better approach, borrowed from professional kitchens, is to pepper twice: a small amount early in cooking for depth, then a fresh grinding just before serving for aroma.

It’s the same principle behind why restaurants have pepper mills on the table and not in the kitchen. That final crack of fresh pepper over a finished dish contributes something no amount of pre-ground seasoning can replicate.

Nutmeg: You’re Using The Pre-Ground Stuff

Of all the spices that suffer from being sold pre-ground, nutmeg suffers the most. Its essential oils are exceptionally volatile, and once ground, they begin evaporating almost immediately. The jar of brownish powder in your cupboard is a shadow of what a whole nutmeg can deliver.

Buy whole nutmegs and grate them on a fine Microplane or dedicated nutmeg grater as you need them. The difference in a béchamel, a potato gratin, or even just buttered spinach is startling. Freshly grated nutmeg has a warmth and complexity, floral, slightly sweet, faintly woody, that the pre-ground version lost months or even years ago.

Whole nutmegs also last for years with no deterioration, which makes them better value in the long run. One nutmeg goes a remarkably long way when you’re grating it fresh; generally speaking, you should use a little less than the equivalent ground amount.

Coriander Seeds: You’re Grinding Them Too Fine

Coriander seeds turn up in spice blends and curry bases across dozens of cuisines, and the instinct is to grind them to a fine powder along with everything else. But coriander seeds have a citrusy, almost floral quality that gets lost when they’re pulverised. What you end up with is a generic earthiness that could be almost anything.

Instead, try roughly crushing them. A pestle and mortar, a few firm presses, is all you need. Coarsely cracked coriander seeds release their essential oils more slowly during cooking, giving you a longer, brighter flavour that you can actually identify in the finished dish.

This is especially useful in dry rubs for meat, where the texture of cracked seeds adds interest, and in dishes like Vietnamese pho, where coriander seeds are toasted whole and only lightly cracked before going into the broth. The difference between fine-ground and coarsely cracked coriander in a slow-cooked broth is night and day.

The Bottom Line

None of these fixes require new equipment or exotic ingredients. They’re small adjustments, a different grind here, a timing change there, that add up to noticeably better cooking. The common thread is that spices aren’t passive ingredients. They respond to heat, fat, timing and technique, and the gap between using them adequately and using them well is narrower than most people think.If you’re looking for more ways to get the most from your kitchen staples, our guide to sauces and condiments that taste better homemade is worth a read. Because once your spicing is dialled in, you’ll want something equally good to pour over the top.

How To Upgrade Your Home’s Security in 2026

Editorial Team
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How To Upgrade Your Home’s Security in 2026

Ideal for keeping your castle that little bit more fortified…

There’s a peculiar irony to home security. We’ll happily spend thousands on a new kitchen or bathroom renovation, agonise over the shade of our living room walls for weeks on end, and yet the very things designed to keep us (and all those nice new fittings) safe tend to be an afterthought. That front door you’ve been meaning to replace? Still there. The lock that’s been a bit dodgy since last winter? Yep, that too.

The good news is that the picture is broadly improving. ONS data for the year ending September 2025 recorded a 20% fall in domestic burglary and a 12% drop in police-recorded burglary offences year-on-year. The less good news? Fraud rose sharply over the same period, with bank and credit account fraud up 19%. As our homes fill with connected tech, the definition of home security has expanded well beyond bolts and deadlocks.

So whether you’re renovating, moving into a new place or simply giving your current setup a long-overdue once-over, here’s what’s worth your attention right now.

Start With What People Can See

The most effective security measures are often the most visible ones. A sturdy, well-fitted front door remains the single biggest deterrent to opportunistic burglars, who tend to target the path of least resistance.

ONS burglary data consistently shows that in around 70% of domestic break-ins, the offender enters through the door rather than a window, which rather reinforces the point. If your door is flimsy, warped or fitted with a basic cylinder lock, it’s worth investing in an upgrade sooner rather than later, and any replacement lock should meet the BS3621 British Standard, which is the benchmark most insurers expect.

According to the team at steeldoorcompany.co.uk, steel-framed doors have seen a significant uptick in demand for both interior and exterior use, with homeowners increasingly drawn to the combination of robust security and contemporary design. It’s the kind of upgrade that does double duty; functional and aesthetically sharp in equal measure.

Beyond doors, external lighting is one of the simplest and most cost-effective security improvements you can make. Motion-activated lights positioned around entry points, driveways and side passages remove the cover of darkness that most intruders rely on. Solar-powered options have improved considerably in recent years, too, meaning you don’t need to worry about wiring or running costs. Just mount, position and forget about it.

Smart Security Has Grown Up

If you haven’t looked at home security tech in a few years, you might be surprised by how far things have come. The days of grainy, unreliable CCTV footage are well behind us. Modern smart camera systems offer 4K resolution, night vision, AI-powered motion detection that can distinguish between a person and a cat, and real-time alerts sent straight to your phone.

Video doorbells, in particular, have become something of a household staple. The ability to see and speak to whoever is at your door, whether you’re upstairs in bed or sitting in an office across town, is genuinely useful. Package theft, which has been on the rise alongside the boom in online shopping, becomes far less of a concern when delivery drivers know they’re on camera and you can issue instructions remotely.

For those willing to go further, professionally monitored alarm systems are gaining ground. It’s worth choosing installers accredited by the NSI or SSAIB, and products carrying the Secured by Design Police Preferred Specification have been independently tested against the kind of attack methods that actually get used. It’s the closest thing to a police kitemark for home security products.

Don’t Forget the Basics

It’s tempting to get swept up in the world of AI analytics and biometric locks, but some of the most effective home security measures remain decidedly low-tech. Window locks, for instance. A surprising number of break-ins happen through unsecured windows, particularly at ground level and around the back of a property where visibility from the street is limited. Retrofitting window locks is cheap, quick and disproportionately effective.

Similarly, timer switches for lights and radios can create the impression of occupancy when you’re away. It’s an old trick, but it works. If you travel regularly, Police.uk has a useful exit checklist covering everything from locking routines to pausing deliveries that’s worth bookmarking.

Here’s a random but genuinely useful bit of advice while we’re on the subject of the basics: if you have a letterbox in your front door, fit a letterbox guard or cage on the inside. Fishing through letterboxes with wire or tools to hook keys, handbags or even reach door handles from the inside is more common than most people realise, and a simple metal cage renders the technique useless.

Securing Your Smart Home

As our homes fill up with connected devices, from smart speakers and thermostats to security cameras and door locks, cybersecurity at home has become just as important as physical security. The irony of installing a smart lock that can be hacked isn’t lost on anyone.

The UK government has taken this seriously enough to legislate. The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act now requires manufacturers to meet baseline security standards on smart devices sold in the UK, including banning default passwords. But legislation only goes so far, and the basics still fall to the homeowner.

Start by changing the default passwords on every connected device in your home (you’d be amazed how many people don’t). Use a strong, unique password for your Wi-Fi network and enable WPA3 encryption if your router supports it. Keep firmware on all devices up to date, as manufacturers regularly patch security vulnerabilities through updates.

And if you’re running multiple smart home devices, consider setting up a separate Wi-Fi network just for your IoT gadgets, keeping them isolated from your main devices where personal data lives.

The NCSC has clear, jargon-free advice on all of this if you want to go deeper.

Think Like a Burglar

One of the most effective exercises you can do is walk around the outside of your property and look at it through the eyes of someone who wants to get in. Where are the blind spots? Are there bins or garden furniture positioned near walls that could be used to climb? Is your side gate locked? Can your shed, which probably contains ladders and tools, be easily broken into?

Hedging and fencing play a role here, too. Thorny shrubs planted beneath ground-floor windows are a surprisingly effective deterrent, and a well-maintained boundary fence signals that the property is cared for and likely occupied by someone who pays attention.

Police crime prevention advice consistently recommends keeping front hedging to no higher than one metre and trimming trees from the ground to two metres, giving a clear line of sight across the property and removing potential hiding spots. The RHS has a useful rundown on how to use planting for security without turning your garden into a compound.

Insurance & Documentation

No security setup is completely foolproof, which makes proper home insurance essential. But beyond having a policy in place, it’s worth keeping a photographic inventory of valuable items, along with receipts and serial numbers where possible. Store this digitally, backed up to the cloud, so it’s accessible even if the worst happens. You can also register valuables on Immobilise, the UK’s national property register, which is used by police to trace and return stolen items.

Security upgrades can also reduce your home insurance premiums. Many insurers offer discounts for properties fitted with approved alarm systems, quality locks and CCTV. It’s worth checking with your provider before you buy, as the savings can offset a meaningful chunk of the installation cost over time.

The Bottom Line

Home security in 2026 is about layers. No single measure will make your home impervious, but a combination of strong physical barriers, visible deterrents, smart technology and good habits makes you a far harder target than the house next door. If you want a single resource that ties all of this together in plain English, Age UK’s coverage of the topic is surprisingly thorough regardless of your age.

The best time to address all of this was yesterday. The second best time is now, preferably before you’ve finished that kitchen renovation you’ve been planning since 2019!!

Where To Eat Near Goodge Street: The Best Restaurants

Editorial Team
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Where To Eat Near Goodge Street: The Best Restaurants

Last updated February 2026

‘Goodge Street’. There’s something faintly obscene-sounding about the word that we can’t quite put our finger on – not that we’d want to put our finger on it – but what’s even more obscene here, on this strip connecting Fitzrovia and Marylebone, are the options for a damn fine feed.

From Portuguese comfort food given the fine dining treatment to Peruvian plates full of verve and vitality, there’s something to satisfy just about `anyone in this part of town. If your pockets are sufficiently bulging, that is; this part of town gets pretty pricey. With that in mind, here’s where to eat near Goodge Street.

The Ninth, Charlotte Street

Ideal for laid-back, Michelin-starred, Mediterranean-inspired plates of breezy perfection…

There can’t be many more likeable London restaurants than The Ninth, whose Michelin star doesn’t get in the way of a laid back, generous dining experience that leaves you satisfied, satiated and not too skint, either. 

Here, chef Jun Tanaka’s Mediterranean-inspired cooking is pleasingly unfussy, with dishes designed for sharing built around one or two expertly-sourced central characters. Don’t miss the crisp artichoke, its leaves all splayed out and pickable, and served with a verdant, pungent three-cornered leek aioli for dipping. Better still is the striking, oddly-photogenic turbot head, which arrives sitting on a rusty langoustine bisque that’s got proper, briny depth from a long roasting of the shells and heads. Roll up your sleeves, turn your spoon on its head, and burrow and furrow with the handle at all the delicious, gelatinous best bits of the fish. Gorgeous.

End, as just about everyone does here, with Tanaka’s signature pain perdu with tonka bean ice cream. A hefty block of custard-soaked brioche is fried in foaming butter until almost over-caramelised, its middle gooey and its edges crisp. It’s served with an ice cream so smooth it’s clearly had several rounds in the pacojet, the two plate-fellows both rich and indulgent but somehow light enough that the massive portion is gone in seconds. It’s got to be one of London’s most iconic sweet treats, and one we’ve wolfed down more times than we’re happy admitting (seven, if you’re asking). 

This one needn’t be too damaging to your bank balance, either. The set lunch menu at the Ninth, running from Monday to Saturday and costing just £43 for three courses, is one of the best priced Michelin-starred meals in the capital. With several wines available by the glass for under a tenner (the Alvarinho, at £10 a glass, pairs beautifully with the turbot head from two paragraphs previous), you really can’t go wrong. 

Website: theninthlondon.com

Address: 22 Charlotte St., London W1T 2NB

64 Goodge Street, Goodge Street

Ideal for sophisticated French bistro classics in a refined, intimate setting…

This small bistro deluxe in the heart of Fitzrovia delivers what every food-obsessed Londoner these days openly craves: unapologetic French cuisine with all the trimmings, minus the stuffiness. Since opening in August 2023, 64 Goodge Street has been knocking the fluff off berets across town, culminating in a well-deserved Michelin star in February last year.

In a dining room that feels like it’s been here forever (though it was once a humble travel agents), the Woodhead Restaurant Group (Portland, Quality Chop…) has created yet another hit. There’s no bar or waiting area – just a gloriously quiet, music-free space where British Racing Green walls and polished wood set the scene for refined, sometimes rarefied indulgence.

Head chef Stuart Andrew, who’s been with the group since Portland’s launch, executes “French cooking from an outsider’s perspective” with aplomb. The kitchen sends out sauces with that kind of reduced, lip-smacking quality that they do so well across the pond. There are also snail, bacon and garlic ‘bon bons’ that reimagine escargot as aristocratic Scotch eggs; Kintyre smoked salmon with housemade blinis (something seen all too rarely these days); and a lobster vol-au-vent with sauce américaine that’s more generous with the crustacean than the pastry or price (at lunch, three courses are £59) deserves.

For dessert, the Crêpes Suzette with brandy and vanilla ice cream is positively hedonistic in its booze content, and just glorious. The Paris-Brest, meanwhile, is more textbook perfection.

Wine lovers will feel right at home with a thoughtfully curated list that begins with a handy explainer of their approach. From assiduously sourced house pours (starting at a palatable £8 a glass) to special bottles from the world’s best winemakers, there’s something for every budget. Burgundy, naturally, gets star billing, with entire pages devoted to the region’s beguiling bottles.

Yet another confirmation that French fine dining is back, baby. Just, in this case, the chefs are British. 

Website: 64goodgestreet.co.uk

Address: 64 Goodge St, London W1T 4NF

Pahli Hill, Mortimer Street

Ideal for some of the finest regional Indian plates in London…

When you step into Pahli Hill’s warm wood, leather clad space just a moment from the throngs of Oxford Street, it’s only natural to breathe a sigh of relief. There’s a transportative quality to proceedings at this modern Indian restaurant, whether it’s in the tastefully done colourscape or the aroma of dried spices toasting in the kitchen that have wafted invitingly into the dining room.

Based around Bombay’s sociable ‘building societies’, there’s certainly a conviviality in the air, and on the plate there’s much to lift your mood further. We’re big fans of the set lunch menu, served from midday until 2:45pm, Tuesdays to Fridays, and seemingly designed to give weary shoppers a much needed blast of respite and rejuvenation. For just £32, you get yourself a three courses which is, really, so much more than that; each ‘course’ is a spread of complementary bites and bigger dishes. 

The papadi chaat to start feels like a meal in itself, a riot of spicy, sweet and sour notes, and contrasting textures and temperatures. Each bite offers something different, from pomegranate seed pops of sharpness to herbal piquancy brought by coriander chutney, all anchored by soothing chickpeas and the papdi (crisp shards of wafer) itself. No wonder this dish earned head chef and owner Avinash Shashidhara a place at the 2023 Great British Menu banquet.

Follow this with a canteen-style thali of chicken, fish or vegetables with all the trimmings, and a spiced vanilla rice pudding, and sit and contemplate for a while if you do truly want to return to another Uniqlo this afternoon.

Website: pahlihillbandrabhai.com

Address: 79-81 Mortimer St, London W1W 7SJ

Salt Yard, Goodge Street

Ideal for Spanish-Italian hybrid tapas in a smartly informal setting with a great sherry list…

The forefather of a pioneering group famous for its hybrid Spanish and Italian tapas, this smartly informal Fitzrovia favourite seamlessly combines two culinary cultures under one roof. The buzziest vibe is undoubtedly in the bustling low-lit bar rather than the basement dining room, where the atmosphere can swing from void-like when empty to merely noisy when full.

Food-wise, there’s plenty to enjoy, especially if you stick to the classics. The blistered padrón peppers deliver that sunny booze food that works all year round, while the cylindrical croquetas of jamón, leek and manchego (£9) is the Iberian peninsula’s food in microcosm. At £8.50 each, the Salt Yard signature of goats cheese stuffed tempura battered courgette flowers deliver exquisite mouthfeel, with a pleasing, lingering base note of florality from a drizzle of blossom honey. This one’s a classic for a reason.

Under Head Chef Panajot Prifti, the dishes range from the intricate to the beautifully simple, constantly evolving whilst staying close to their roots. The charcuterie is impressively curated, the pistachio salami a winner, the San Daniele prosciutto lifted higher when drizzled with walnut oil – an inspired touch.

Open daily from noon until 11pm and a short walk from both Goodge Street and Oxford Circus, Salt Yard has weathered two decades in the capital’s brutal restaurant scene. While newer Iberian behemoths like Barrafina, Sabor and José may have raised the tapas bar, this Fitzrovia stalwart still offers a reliable slice of Spanish-Italian sunshine, especially when you’re armed with a glass of cold sherry.

Website: saltyardgroup.co.uk

Address: 54 Goodge St, London W1T 4NA

ROKA, Charlotte Street

Ideal for sushi, sashimi and robatayaki, served in a high-end setting…

For contemporary Japanese cuisine that sits somewhere between the bling of Dubai’s sushi restaurants and the raucousness of Tokyo’s backstreet izakayas joints, ROKA is the place to head if hunger strikes when you’re on Oxford Street and you’re willing to part with a pretty penny. 

Specialising in robatayaki (charcoal-grilled) dishes and featuring a central robata grill, ROKA Charlotte Street has been open since 2004, with three subsequent branches following in the two decades since.

Still, it’s to the mothership (incidentally the closest to Oxford Circus of the four outposts) that we head for premium Japanese and British ingredients grilled with precision, so the smoke and char complements rather than overpowers.

You wouldn’t, after all, want to fork out £100 on a portion of tokujou wagyu only for it to arrive decimated by the flame. Fear not; this one hits the table barked but blushing, glazed with a piquant wasabi ponzu and finished with whispers of finely sliced spring onion. The black cod, marinated in yuzu before getting kissed by the coals, is even better, with a properly caramelised crust given way to flakes of pearlescent flesh. 

The chefs here don’t spend all their time wrestling with errant bricks of bincho-tan, however. There’s also an extensive menu of sushi and sashimi, and a tasting menu that combines the raw menu with the grilled. Yours for £105 per person.

Though ROKA doesn’t feature in London’s Michelin Guide, it does boast 3 AA Rosettes, considered to be roughly equivalent to a star.

Address: 37 Charlotte St., London W1T 1RR, United Kingdom

Website: rokarestaurant.com

Lima, Rathbone Place

Ideal for colourful, contemporary Peruvian plates… 

After a major refurb, Lima Fitzrovia has returned as a refreshed and revitalised version of its former Michelin-starred self. In celebration of its 10th birthday in 2022, the pioneering Peruvian restaurant recently welcomed its second decade with a new menu of bold, contemporary takes on Peru’s culinary culture and Lima’s modern influences.

Now led by newly-appointed head chef Diego Recarte, the menu masterfully blends Peruvian ingredients and cooking traditions with elements of Japanese (Nikkei) and Chinese (Chifa) cuisine. 

The results are truly delightful, exemplified in dishes like the tuna Nikkei tartare whose shisho tempura brings added texture, and the grilled secreto Iberico resting atop purple potatoes, its run-off of juices softening those sometimes stubborn tubers into something rich and giving. 

There’s also a vibrancy to the main room that was perhaps lacking in Lima’s previous incarnation, with an uncluttered sense of space and harmony now defining the dining here. The multicoloured woven lampshades flown in from Lima (the city) and the expansive skylight just add to that sense of air and elevation. For a country so famed for its altitudes, this feels an apt touch.

Read: The best Peruvian restaurants in London

Address: 31 Rathbone Pl, London W1T 1JH, United Kingdom

Website: limalondon.com

Luso, Charlotte Street

Ideal for contemporary Portuguese cooking with a focus on the Iberian Atlantic coast…

The site at 30 Charlotte Street has been Portuguese for a while now. Previously Lisboeta, Nuno Mendes’s much-loved homage to Lisbon, it reopened in September 2025 as Luso under the same ownership (MJMK, who also have Kol, Casa do Frango and AngloThai) but with a different chef and a noticeably different mood.

Where Lisboeta could feel like a special occasion, Luso pitches itself somewhere more relaxed. The ground floor bar has gone, replaced by extra tables on a new limestone floor, and the cooking leans less on one chef’s personal vision and more on a broader sweep of Portuguese regional food. The name itself, from Lusitania, the Roman word for what became Portugal, signals that wider scope.

In the kitchen, head chef Kimberly Hernandez (ex-Luca, ex-Dosa) works with consultant Leo Carreira, whose CV takes in the Basque Country’s Mugaritz and London’s The Sea, The Sea. Between them, the menu covers a lot of coastline. Clams à Bulhão Pato, steamed with garlic, coriander and lemon, are a fixture. Salt-baked wild sea bass, brought to the table whole and cracked open in front of you, is the kind of dish that makes neighbouring tables pay attention, not only because of the theatre of the sound of that cracking, but because of the enveloping aroma of the steam that billows out.

There’s oven-roasted suckling pig with that vaunted Bairrada-style crackling, and at lunch, pregos (steak sliders with brown butter, Savora mustard and garlic) are available until they sell out.

The wine list is almost entirely Portuguese and goes deep on lesser-known regions. The oddest and most talked-about bottles come from Herdade do Cebolal in the Alentejo, where the wine is aged in lobster cages on the seabed. It sounds like a gimmick; by all accounts, the salinity comes through in the glass.

Upstairs, the first-floor dining room in its Georgian townhouse setting is the prettier of the two spaces, its walls hung with black-and-white ethnographic photographs of the Portuguese coast by Artur Pastor. Downstairs is busier, noisier, and arguably more fun.

Luso is closed on Sundays. Monday is dinner only, from 5:30pm. Tuesday to Saturday, they serve lunch from noon and dinner from 5:30pm.

Website: luso.restaurant

Address: 30 Charlotte St., London W1T 2NG

Read: Where to eat the best seafood in Lisbon

Berners Tavern, Berners Street

Ideal for upmarket Modern British fare, served in sophisticated surrounds…

Housed within the London EDITION Hotel, Berners Tavern isn’t – as the name suggests – really a pub at all, but rather, an opulent dining room that’s all high ceilings, twinkling chandeliers and booths designed for striking deals in.

Another Central London spot that falls under the watchful eye of restaurateur Jason Atherton and headed up by experienced chef Andrei Poptelecan, the all-day a la carte menu at Berners Tavern showcases contemporary British cuisine via some of the best ingredients you’ll find in Albion. 

So, that’s Orkney scallop, served raw in crudo form and allowed to do all the talking, Cumbrian Herdwick lamb that’s braised for 8 hours until it collapses under a mere click of the fingers, and the restaurant’s pride and joy, its selection of steaks sourced from Scotland’s revered Buccleuch Estate and char-grilled in a specialist Mibrasa oven and served with skin-on fries. 

The winelist at Berners is a hefty, 40-odd page tome or largely Italian and French wines, though you’ll find some intrigue in the lower reaches; the Macedonian 2018 Ktima Ligas is particularly special, and at £95 a bottle (as opposed to its bottle shop price of around £45), it’s also an eminently reasonable mark-up – 100% is relatively unheard of in Central London.

Read: Where to find the best steak in London

Address: 10 Berners St, London W1T 3NP, United Kingdom

Website: bernerstavern.com

And with that, we’re stuffed.

11 Types Of Women’s Hats For Any Occasion

Editorial Team
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11 Types Of Women’s Hats For Any Occasion

As the great children’s writer An Na once said, ‘’hats are like a halo of happiness’’, and we couldn’t agree more with that sentiment! 

Another fabulous writer, Catherynne M. Valente, offered similar words of wisdom. She said that ‘’Hats have power. Hats can change you into someone else.’’ And once again, that sentiment rings rather true with us.

Because here at IDEAL, we’re massive fans of all things headwear. Hats are an easy way to add a distinguishable and memorable accessory to any outfit. Play it cool or jazz it up with a variety of styles, fabrics, colors, and patterns. You can fill your closet with all the kinds of hats out there for a well-equipped fashion arsenal that will pair with any outfit you choose!

Yep, there is a hat for every occasion. It all comes down to pairing. Whether it’s large hats, small hats, medium sized ones or miniatures, with the right outfit and complementary pieces, you’ll turn heads wherever you go. Without further ado, here are 11 types of women’s hats for any occasion.

The Cocktail Hat

The cocktail hat is a pretty small, highly extravagant feminine hat; and what sounds better than that! A brilliant piece of evening wear, the cocktail hat is usually decorated with beads, jewels, or feathers. Some fashionistas even choose to think outside the hatbox, and move the cocktail hat from exclusively evening wear to dressy elegant daywear suitable for more informal settings.

Read: The IDEAL guide to hats and your face shape

The Floppy Hat

Everyone can recognize a floppy hat by its indicative wide, floppy brims. The floppy hat goes by different names depending on location but is commonly known as a sun hat and beach hat, too. While you may see this hat under the sun on soft sand, it can be worn in more urban settings, too.

The floppy hat can be quite versatile, allowing it to move between casual and formal settings depending on style, fabric, and design. It can serve to maintain function, protecting from the elements, or contribute purely to stylistic concerns, acting as a signature accessory. Create an effortlessly feminine look by pairing a refined floppy hat with a flowing, oversized white shirt. Bliss!

The Cloche Hat

The cloche hat, originating from the French word for ‘bell’, is a timeless piece that gained popularity in the 1920s. This hat is characterised by its bell-shaped design that fits snugly around the head, often extending down to the eyebrows. Typically made from felt, the cloche hat can also be found in various materials like straw for a more summery feel.

The cloche hat is perfect for adding a touch of vintage elegance to any outfit. It pairs beautifully with flapper-style dresses, tailored coats, and even modern-day casual wear. Whether you’re attending a garden party or simply strolling through the city, the cloche hat offers a sophisticated and chic look that stands out.

The Beanie Hat

The beanie hat is a cult favourite that can be worn for both comfort and style in a variety of ways.. It mixes solace, fashionability, and functionality as an easy accessory that can go with nearly any outfit and even round-off a smart style in the right hands. Or should that be; on the right heads? Anyway…

Because of the beanie hat’s versatility in terms of colour, pattern, size and fabric, it’s a piece of headwear that should be in every woman’s wardrobe. That said, as the hat manufacturers at Aungwinter tells us, it looks most at home when worn as part of a larger skater/urban style.

The Baseball Cap

Known for its sporty look, the baseball cap is a casual go-to for women across the world. While it comes in a variety of colours, its design stays the traditional rounded crown with a stiff projecting peak (though the crumpled ‘dad hat’ has been having something of a moment recently).

We’d caution against pairing a baseball cap with more formal wear (we’ve rarely seen that working as an aesthetic), but for a sporty, active look, this type of hat can’t be beaten.

The Bowler Hat

The bowler hat is also known as a derby hat, but whichever way you choose to term this hat, it’s a jaunty little number, make no mistake. 

The bowler serves as a unique alternative to wide brim hats or floppy hats at outdoor events and special occasions, and can be dressed up with feathers, frills and other accessories. 

Made with a simple design of hard felt with a rounded crown, the bowler hat can add subtle distinction to your outfit wherever you go.

The Fedora Hat

The fedora hat is an instantly recognisable headpiece, due its association with Indiana Jones or many an old school gangster movie. It has moved from men’s fashion into women’s as a favourite due to its elegant style and immediate statement as an accessory.

One of the draws of this hat is how it exudes confidence and is instantly recognisable, famed  for its folded top, short rim, and identifiable ribbon around the base. This hat does well with mixed basics and signature pieces alike. 

The Fascinator Hat

The fascinator is a glamorous hat with an intriguing history, and is a unique piece to include in your closet. Originating in the 17th century, fascinators were initially worn by European aristocracy as a symbol of status and elegance.

Over time, they evolved into the elaborate headpieces we see today. It is a grand piece of headwear that can be worn as a hat, affixed to the side or front of the head, or even a headband.

As it is made with different materials such as feathers, pearls, and flowers, it can come in a variety of styles, meaning you can wear it on any occasion, though weddings are the most popular event for fascinators. That said, more laid back events can benefit from an outfit topped off with a fascinator. Jazz up an everyday casual sundress or enhance evening dinnerware, equally, with this style staple.

The Beret Cap

A popular accessory notable for its association with a free-spirited Parisian lifestyle, the beret is a soft round hat that rests gently snug on the head. It has small dips from the body construction and is usually made with cotton or wool.

The beret, despite being distinct in shape and style, can act as a shapeshifter. It can add a feminine soft touch or chic edge to any desired outfit, and can go from casual everyday wear to evening girls’ night. This accessory is no longer restricted to the streets of Paris and can be worn effortlessly in the UK, too!

The Homburg Hat

The homburg hat is another hat that is typically worn with formal wear. Made from felt, it has a characteristically single dent running down the center of its crown. Its stiff brim is shaped in that of a “kettle curl” and boasts a bound edge trim. 

More commonly associated with male headwear, the homburg has, in recent years, been worn by female models on the catwalk, and we love to see it!

The Wide-Brimmed Fedora Hat

The wide-brimmed fedora hat carves a path all out on its own. It also stands the test of time as a favourite fashion accessory for any occasion made in different fabrics such as straw and obtaining names due to style indicators of different destinations like the wide-brim straw Panama fedora hat. 

It pairs well with lengthening layers as it has a wide brim, and paris well with long, neutral-colored trench coats and white collared shirts. 

And with that, we doff our cap to you, and bid you good day!

11 Of The Best Destinations In Europe For An Unforgettable Yachting Experience

Editorial Team
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11 Of The Best Destinations In Europe For An Unforgettable Yachting Experience

Those with a keen sense of adventure will know just how exhilarating and liberating travel can be, whether that’s by train, plane, coach or car.

But if you’re keen to truly feel the wind in your hair and sails, a sense of freedom in the air and endless possibilities in your heart, then the most exciting holiday experience has got to be done onboard a yacht. 

The vast expanses of open sea, setting your course to anywhere, the fresh sea breeze…it all adds up to something really rather special. Should you be looking to enjoy such an adventure a little closer to home, then here are 11 of the best destinations in Europe for an unforgettable yachting experience.

The Amalfi Coast, Italy

Simply one of the most uniquely beautiful stretches of sea and sand to visit in Europe – scrap that, in the world – is the Amalfi Coast. Nestled just south of Naples, this iconic location overlooking the Mediterranean is one of Europe’s most visited spots.

It is easy to understand why this is a favourite stop for Mediterranean cruises; the combination of delicious local seafood, the clear waters, glorious weather and picturesque scenery provides more than enough reason to look at booking your next holiday to this stunning part of Italy.

Boasting glamour and class, one of the best ways to experience this classic landscape is on a boat. By chartering a yacht, you will see everything the coast has to offer, as well as getting access to some less accessible gems such as Capri and the Blue Grotto.

Read: 7 IDEAL pit stops along the Amalfi Coast

Dubrovnik, Croatia

In recent years, Dubrovnik has become a top destination for the rich and famous to holiday in. With its enchanting city encompassed by medieval walls and the stunning, romantic backdrop of the Adriatic Sea, it’s not uncommon to see super yachts anchored in the Old Town’s Kolarine Bay.

Whilst travel on foot will allow you to embrace this extraordinary city first hand, travelling along the coast in a yacht will offer you the opportunity to see Dubrovnik in a new and different light. There are yachts to charter in Dubrovnik, with or without a skipper, allowing you to discover locations close to the town and some amazing islands and coves off the beaten path, too, such as Hvar, Mljet and the Elaphiti Islands. 

Consider focusing your attention on ACI Marina Dubrovnik, the largest in the city and where you’ll find some of the best berths. For those after something a little more luxurious, private charters on BookYachtCharter.com can pair you with high-end vessels suited to the Adriatic’s calm waters.

Read: 5 of the best restaurants in Dubrovnik Old Town

The Greek Islands

There are numerous unexplored yet open coves and beaches that are accessible only by boat, superb for exploring while on board. Yacht charters in Greece offer both with-skipper and bareboat (without-skipper) options for renting yachts, provided you have an experienced or certified sailor in your group.

Greece, with its myriad of islands, offers yacht charter holidays that are unparalleled in its diversity and beauty. The Saronic Gulf is perfect for those who prefer calmer waters and shorter passages, ideal for a relaxed sailing experience. The Cyclades, on the other hand, are known for their stronger winds and vibrant nightlife, particularly on islands like Mykonos and Santorini. For a touch of the traditional, the Dodecanese islands offer a blend of Greek and Turkish influences, with Rhodes and Kos boasting rich historical sites.

There are numerous unexplored yet open coves and beaches that are accessible only by boat, superb for exploring while on board. Yacht charters in Greece offer both with-skipper and bareboat (without-skipper) options for renting yachts, provided you have an experienced or certified sailor in your group.

With a Greek yacht charter, you can tailor your journey to include uninhabited islands, bustling ports, and hidden coves, all while enjoying the legendary Greek Islands, their warm hospitality and distinct cuisine. Whether you’re an experienced sailor or a first-time charterer, Greece provides a sailing odyssey that caters to all levels of expertise and interests.

The Balearic Islands, Spain 

The Balearic Islands offer a diverse yachting experience with each island presenting its own unique charm. From the nightlife of Ibiza to the tranquil coves of Menorca and the chic sophistication of Majorca, there’s something for every sailor. The archipelago’s crystal-clear waters are perfect for swimming and snorkelling, while the consistent winds provide excellent sailing conditions. The Balearic Islands are also known for their sustainable tourism efforts, making them an ideal choice for eco-conscious travellers.

The French Riviera 

No yachting destination list would be complete without mentioning the French Riviera. Synonymous with luxury and elegance, the Côte d’Azur stretches from Saint-Tropez to the Italian border, including the principality of Monaco. This glamorous coastline is dotted with famous ports like Nice, Cannes, and Antibes, each offering a blend of beautiful beaches, exquisite dining, and high-end shopping. The French Riviera is also home to the Cannes Film Festival, attracting celebrities and yachts alike.

The Dalmatian Coast, Croatia 

While Dubrovnik is a jewel in Croatia’s crown, the entire Dalmatian Coast is a yachting paradise. With over a thousand islands, this stretch of coastline is a maze of secluded bays, historic towns, and lush islands. Highlights include the ancient city of Split, the serene beauty of the Krka National Park, and the untouched Kornati archipelago. The region’s marinas are well-equipped, making it easy to find a berth and enjoy the local culture.

The Aeolian Islands, Italy 

North of Sicily, the Aeolian Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea. These islands are known for their rugged landscapes, therapeutic hot springs, and rich maritime culture. The black sand beaches of Stromboli, the vibrant harbour of Lipari, and the chic atmosphere of Panarea provide a varied and exciting yachting experience. The Aeolian Islands are also a UNESCO World Heritage site, recognised for their outstanding natural beauty and geological significance.

The West Coast of Scotland 

For those seeking a yachting adventure off the beaten path, the West Coast of Scotland offers a dramatic and wild landscape. The region is a tapestry of rugged coastlines, secluded lochs, and historic castles. The Hebrides, both Inner and Outer, are a particular highlight, with their rich wildlife, including puffins and whales, and the famous whisky distilleries. The challenging sailing conditions are well-suited for experienced sailors looking for a thrill.

Malta

121 square miles in size, Malta is a southern Mediterranean island brimming with historical intrigue and stunning sights. With dramatic Baroque architecture visible with every turn taken, this island is also home to beautiful beaches and warm weather all year round. The perfect recipe for a wonderful holiday, don’t you think?

Exploring this island on foot will allow you to be close to the architecture and culture, sure (of note, the Valletta Baroque Festival takes place every January) but being on a yacht will let you appreciate Malta in all its beauty. Doing so also allows you to visit the islands of Comino and Cominotto, famed for their caves and private, pristine beaches, as well as Gozo, which boasts amazing snorkelling opportunities around its Double Arch Reef.

The Norwegian Fjords

Norway might not seem like the most obvious choice when thinking of places to visit on a yacht. It is not renowned for being home to glorious beaches or warm weather, after all. However, if you’re looking to take a trip that allows you to go wildlife spotting or visit somewhere with rugged beauty, then the Norwegian Fjords could well be the one for you. 

Norway is famous for its glaciers, fjords and rugged wilderness, and such dramatic scenery makes for an awesome view from on deck, make no mistake. Perhaps the premier yachting experience here centres around the Lofoten archipelago, with the waters close to shore making for breezy, easy sailing amongst fishing villages, inlets and bays. Magic! 

Alternatively, a sail around Lofoten’s shoreline, when waters are crystal clear and the snow-capped mountains just behind the fishing villages reveal scenes of utter magic, is equally amazing. 

The Turkish Riviera

Turkey’s southwestern coastline, known as the Turquoise Coast or, indeed, the Turkish Riviera, is one of Europe’s most underrated yachting destinations. Stretching from Bodrum to Antalya, this sun-drenched stretch of the Aegean and Mediterranean offers a beguiling mix of ancient ruins, pine-clad hills tumbling into impossibly blue water, and a food scene that rivals anywhere on this list.

A gulet – the traditional wooden sailing vessel native to these waters – is the way to do it here, and chartering one feels like a world away from the fibreglass fleets you’ll find elsewhere in the Med. The Göcek to Fethiye route is a particular favourite, threading through the sheltered bays of the Gulf of Fethiye where you can swim in water so clear it barely looks real.

History buffs will want to drop anchor near Kekova, where the ruins of a sunken Lycian city shimmer just beneath the surface, while the harbour town of Kaş offers excellent diving and a laid-back atmosphere that Bodrum lost a few years back. Speaking of which, Bodrum itself remains a worthwhile stop for its buzzing marina, hilltop castle and some of the best seafood restaurants on the coast.

With berthing fees, provisions and charter costs all considerably lower than their western Mediterranean equivalents, the Turkish Riviera also happens to be one of the most affordable luxury yachting experiences in Europe. Not a bad bonus.

The Bottom Line

To yacht or not to yacht…with the freedom of the open seas and the privacy on board, why ever not? Have a great holiday!

10 Domestic Upgrades Designed With Your Happiness In Mind  

Editorial Team
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10 Domestic Upgrades Designed With Your Happiness In Mind  

So many articles about home renovation projects and domestic upgrades lead with the value you could add to your property. Hell, we’ve written quite a few of them.

Less advice, it seems, is out there on the home improvements that will add most value to your life, in terms of the happiness, satisfaction and domestic contentment they bring.

There’s always something that can be tweaked, upgraded, or replaced to make your home look better, feel more comfortable, or be more functional, sure, but today, we’re focusing on those projects and purchases that can help you feel happier in your home, pure and simple. With that in mind, here are 10 domestic upgrades designed with your happiness in mind.

Spruce Up Your Front Door

We’re starting symbolically at the portal to paradise. Or, as most normal people call it; the front door.

Whilst this might not immediately feel like a home improvement project designed with your wellbeing in mind, we think it’s fair to say that your front door sets the tone for your experience beyond it. As such, it’s worth making sure yours is looking on point and inviting.

A fresh coat of paint in a cheery colour can do wonders. According to Country Life, blue and green are the best front door colours for selling a house, whilst feng shui suggests red is the ideal front door colour, its auspiciousness representing both safety and good fortune. 

Personally, we think pastel shades – in yellow or pink, particularly – set the perfect tone for the home. Just make sure any colour you do choose complements the overall aesthetic of your home’s facade. 

If you’re looking for something unique, consider adding some stained glass panels or decorative hardware. This is a relatively simple and inexpensive project that can have a big impact on your home’s curb appeal. It is also a great way to add your own personal touch to your home.

Soundproof Your Property

If you live in a lively urban area or have thin walls and particularly noisy neighbours, soundproofing your home can make a world of difference to your overall wellbeing within. Not only will it make your living space more peaceful, but it can also improve your concentration when working from home and help you get a better night’s sleep, too. 

There are a few different ways to soundproof your home, and the method you choose will depend on your budget and needs. You could add insulation to your walls, install soundproof windows, or even use acoustic panels. These projects can be as simple or as complex as you want, but they’re sure to make your home a more peaceful place.

Upgrade Your Insulation

Speaking of which, while soundproofing addresses what you can hear, upgrading your insulation tackles what you can feel. It’s not the most glamorous home improvement on this list, but a properly insulated house stays warmer in winter and cooler in summer, eliminating those cold spots and drafts that have you reaching for yet another layer.

Beyond the energy bill savings, good insulation creates a more consistent atmosphere throughout your home, where every room feels equally inviting rather than having certain spaces you avoid between October and March. Products like Hybris insulation offer a high-performance, multi-layered solution that tackles thermal efficiency, acoustics and moisture management in one go.

The knock-on effects for your wellbeing are worth noting, too. A home that maintains a steady, comfortable temperature is one where you sleep better, feel more relaxed, and spend less mental energy worrying about heating costs. It’s the kind of improvement you don’t necessarily see, but one you’ll feel the benefit of throughout the year.

Add A Hot Tub Or A Swim Spa

From the front door to the back, and out into the garden…

Nothing says luxury quite like a hot tub or swim spa, an addition to the home with little functional purpose except the ultimate goal of rest and relaxation!

You’ll be pleased to hear that you don’t actually need a sprawling (or even small) garden to accommodate a hot tub. You can even put a hot tub in your basement or bathroom. Basements are, in fact, an ideal location, especially as the concrete floors can properly support the weight of the hot tub. Great news!

They go on to advise that it’s important to ensure any room you’re considering for a hot tub (if you don’t have the outdoor space for one) should be well ventilated and, ideally, well lit, as hot tubs tend to cause a lot of humidity and create a slip hazard when not illuminated properly. If the resultant condensation is allowed to build up, you risk mold growth and damage to your property.

But with that small caveat firmly dispensed with, it’s time to turn those bubbles to ‘strong’ and luxuriate in your latest domestic addition. 

Read: What are the potential benefits of soaking in a hot tub?

Create Opportunities For More Natural Light

Well-lit domestic spaces contribute a remarkable amount to your overall wellbeing at home. 

Natural light, in particular, provides some serious health benefits, boosting Vitamin D, alleviating the symptoms of seasonal depression, improving sleep and so much more. On the flip side, dark and closed-off spaces can often feel overwhelming and intrusive, leaving you yearning for daylight and vast expanses of outdoor space (and this is not what you want when you are relaxing indoors). 

Whether you’re undertaking a proper project, like smashing through a wall and installing a new window, or simply moving some obstructive items away from a windowsill, there are plenty of opportunities to allow more natural light into your home, all of which will almost certainly make your home a more enjoyable place to spend time.

Turn Your Attic Into A Dedicated Chill-out Zone

If you have an unused attic, have you considered turning it into a dedicated chill-out space? This project will require some work, sure (you’ll need to insulate the space and add flooring, drywall, and electricity, at the very least), but when you let out that first satisfied sigh as you sink into your ergonomic beanbag, it will all be worth it. 

Once the space is finished, you can use it as an extra bedroom, home office, playroom, a simple meditative space, or anything else you can imagine. If you are stuck for inspiration, however, then check out these loft conversion ideas. 

A Lick Of Paint Goes A Long Way

The colours and the shades that you use throughout your home can and will have an impact on the enjoyment you get from spending time there. Using softer and earthier tones and hues can help you feel more connected to nature and grounded in your property, which may heighten your sense of enjoyment. Or, you may also find that more colour schemes of a sunnier disposition may leave your home feeling warmer and calmer.

In fact, there’s a whole scientific discipline concerned with such matters. According to colour psychology, if you’re looking for colours that inspire wellness, dark greens and navy blues channel a harmonious ambience, whilst warm yellow or even muted bubble gum pink offer an uplifting aesthetic. 

Smarten Up Your Home

It feels like with each passing day, a new and innovative way to make our homes more efficient and a more enjoyable place to spend time emerges, and installing smart technology is a great way to do that.

These devices can automate tasks like turning off lights when you leave the room or adjusting the thermostat based on your schedule. Not only will this save you money on your energy bills, but it can also make your life more convenient. And with the wide range of smart devices available, you’re sure to find ones that fit your needs and budget. So if you’re looking for a way to make your home more efficient, installing smart technology is a great option.

Read: 5 modern and smart upgrades to improve your home

Curate A Dedicated Reading Nook

There’s something undeniably soothing about having a special corner of your home dedicated solely to unwinding with a good book. Creating a reading nook doesn’t require vast amounts of space or extravagant expense, but the impact on your daily contentment can be profound.

Begin by selecting a quiet spot with decent natural light—perhaps a bay window, an awkward alcove, or even that empty corner of your bedroom. The essential components are straightforward: a comfortable seat (an armchair, window seat, or even a collection of floor cushions), appropriate lighting (ideally a mix of natural light and a purposeful reading lamp), and easy access to your favourite reads.

Consider adding soft touches like a small side table for your cup of tea, a luxurious throw for chillier evenings, and perhaps a small rug to delineate the space as separate from the rest of the room. The beauty of a reading nook is that it creates a visual reminder to slow down and take time for yourself—a rare luxury in our increasingly hectic lives.

According to research from the University of Sussex (admittedly reported 9 years ago, and a lot has changed since then!), reading for just six minutes can reduce stress levels by up to 68%, making it more effective than listening to music or going for a walk. Your dedicated reading space becomes not just an attractive feature of your home, but a practical investment in your mental wellbeing, offering a daily sanctuary from the demands of modern living.

Turn Your Bathroom Into A Wellbeing Sanctuary

We almost reached the end of your article without mentioning the bathroom, perhaps the most important space in terms of your overall domestic contentment. Rather than keep you, why not check out these ideas on how to make your bathroom a wellbeing sanctuary? You won’t regret it!

8 Ways To Reduce Your Fashion Footprint In 2026

Editorial Team
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8 Ways To Reduce Your Fashion Footprint In 2026
Ideal for forgoing fast fashion and dressing in a more eco-conscious way…

Later this month, Milan Fashion Week will be in full strut, with Paris following two weeks after, in a veritable feast of mixed textures, clashing fabrics, and loads and loads of waste.

Whilst the green was one of 2024’s chief colour trends, two years on and we’re hoping that the focus falls on a different interpretation of the word green; sustainability.

The fashion industry is responsible for a whopping 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, and is the second largest consumer of the world’s water supplies, according to the World Economic Forum. Only oil is more harmful.

With planet-damaging production practices at the top and unsustainable shopping habits on the high street, something has got to give in the way we go about styling ourselves. Here’s a start; our 8 ways to reduce your fashion footprint in 2026.

Know The Carbon Footprint Of Textiles

Textile production requires huge amounts of water and energy to meet demand, and the fashion industry produces more global carbon emissions annually than international flights and maritime shipping combined.

Troubling enough, but what’s worse is that it’s predicted that the manufacture of clothes will account for a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050. That’s shocking, and something has got to give. Indeed, while we’re looking to travel, eat meat and use plastic more mindfully, rarely do we think about our clothes consumption in the same way. The first step to reducing our fashion footprint is by being aware of the scale of the problem. Knowledge is power, and all that.

Forgo Fast Fashion

The news in 2018 that Burberry had burned almost £30 million worth of clothes in an attempt to preserve the brand’s reputation for exclusivity caused outrage. More than anything, it was symptomatic of a wider, worrying trend of recent years; fast fashion, where clothing has become a single-use purchase, destined for landfill after just one wear.

Though the company has since renounced this practice, this so-called ”artificial scarcity” is widespread within the industry. The impact this has on the environment doesn’t need to be spelt out. If you do deem a garment unworthy or unwearable, the bin isn’t the place for it……

Swaps, Second Hand & Repurposing

… Of course, the single most efficient way to reduce your fashion footprint is to simply stop buying new clothes. For some, that may sound like a proposition too radical to bear, but hear us out. There are myriad ways to never have to hit the high street again.

Firstly, suggest to friends a swapping session. We’ve all got those outfits we’ve fallen out of love with, which don’t have anything implicitly wrong with them, they’re just out of favour. Well, snap! So why not gather up the items gathering dust in the back of your wardrobe and see if any friends fancy trying them for size.

Should you have something which still can’t find a body for, donate them to your local charity shop. While you’re in there, have a root around for some new garms; we all know that those vintage finds become your most loved pieces, and it’s money going to charity, so there really is nothing to lose.

Purchasing pre-loved clothing is an excellent way to reduce your fashion footprint. Thrift stores, consignment shops, and online platforms like Depop and Poshmark offer a vast selection of gently used items at a fraction of the cost.

By choosing second-hand, you’re extending the life of a garment and reducing waste, meaning you can enjoy a spot of retail therapy in (relatively) guilt free fashion!

And finally, if you’re handy with the old thread and needle, you could repurpose old items and turn them into something new and groovy. How much more thrifty and rewarding is that?

Read: 6 IDEAL ways to breathe new life into your wardrobe

Sustainable Packaging

It’s not just the clothes themselves doing damage; the packaging they arrive in is its own environmental headache. Online shopping has exploded in recent years, and with it comes a mountain of plastic polybags, tissue paper, cardboard boxes, and those little silica gel packets nobody knows what to do with.

Some brands are cottoning on, though. Look out for companies that ship in recycled or compostable packaging, ditch the plastic entirely, or at the very least keep things minimal. If your new jumper arrives swaddled in enough wrapping to rival a Christmas morning, that’s a red flag. It’s not just clothing brands making strides, either; eco-friendly packaging for jewelry is becoming increasingly common, with smaller brands in particular leading the way on recyclable boxes and biodegradable pouches.

It’s worth paying attention to returns, too. The back and forth of sending items back generates a surprising amount of waste and emissions, so try to be sure about sizing and fit before you click buy. Your wardrobe and the planet will thank you for it.

Rent Special Occasion Outfits

Similarly, for events that require specific attire, consider renting instead of buying. Rental services like Rent the Runway and The Black Tux offer designer pieces for a fraction of the retail price, reducing the need for single-use garments that contribute to textile waste.

Other websites, platforms and apps that offer a similar service include My Wardrobe HQ, Hurr Collective, Endless Wardrobe, Onloan, Rotaro, By Rotation, Wear the Walk, The Devout, Girl Meets Dress, and The Nu Wardrobe. 

Eco-Friendly Fabrics

Not all fabrics were created equal. Nor do they use the same amount of energy in their production. Yep, it’s said that the manufacture of a single polyester t-shirt will generate three times as much CO2 as that of a cotton one. But according to the Pulse of the Fashion report 2018, switching up your polyester for a recyclable substitute will bring about a 60 percent reduction in energy usage and almost half the energy emissions too.

Clearly, it’s time to actively seek out clothes made from eco friendly fabric. By doing so, a change in the production habits of huge fashion companies and manufacturers can be spurred on.

Some eco-friendly fabrics to look out for include:

  • Organic Cotton: This cotton is grown without the use of harmful chemicals, making it much better for the environment. It’s also typically grown in ways that conserve water and reduce soil erosion. Organic cotton is perfect for everyday staples like basic t-shirts, making it an excellent sustainable choice for wardrobe essentials.
  • Linen: Linen is made from the flax plant, which requires fewer pesticides and less water than other crops. Plus, the production process for linen is typically more sustainable than that of other fabrics.
  • Tencel/Lyocell: This fabric is made from wood pulp and is produced in a closed-loop process that reduces waste and water usage. It’s also biodegradable.
  • Hemp: Hemp is incredibly versatile and can be used to make everything from clothing to paper. It requires very little water and no pesticides to grow, making it a great eco-friendly choice.

Wash With Care

We’re sure that everyone has felt the heartbreak of lifting your favourite t-shirt from the wash, only to realise it’s shrunk or taken on an irredeemable pinky hue. So into the bin it goes, and the disposable fashion cycle keeps spinning. But washing your clothes with care, as per the instructions on the label, will keep them at their peak for longer and negate the need for new items.

Forgo – yep, we like that word today – tumble drying (bad for your clothes and a huge energy guzzler) and of course, use an eco cycle, on a low temperature to lessen the environmental impact of your wash. The green benefits of washing considerately are all-encompassing.

Read: 6 great tips on making your clothes last longer

Support Ethical Brands

As a conscious shopper, you can make a difference by supporting eco-friendly production methods in the fashion industry. When buying clothes, look out for brands that use sustainable fibres such as organic cotton, hemp, and recycled polyester, rather than fabrics made from synthetic materials, as we mentioned earlier.

Upcycling and recycling of materials are other indicators of eco-friendly production methods. It is also important to choose products that use natural dyes instead of chemical dyes, as these can be dangerous to the environment and human health.

Brands that use renewable energy in their manufacturing facilities and prioritize local sourcing and production will also contribute to a more sustainable fashion industry. Zero-waste production techniques and ethical labour practices are additional factors to consider when choosing eco-friendly clothing.

By supporting companies that engage in these practices, you can contribute to a healthier planet, support sustainable fashion, and encourage the industry to be more responsible with its resources.

Supporting these companies sends a message to the fashion industry that consumers care about the environment and worker’s rights. Look for certifications like Fair Trade, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), and B Corp to identify responsible brands.

And with that, we’re off to learn some simple sewing techniques! Wish us luck…

The Best Restaurants Near London Waterloo

Joseph Gann
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The Best Restaurants Near London Waterloo

Last updated February 2026

It’s certainly a surprise to say that, despite it being the capital’s second busiest station, London Waterloo is somewhat bereft of great dining options. 

Sure, the clarion call for your 18:38 to Surbiton may ring out crisply, and instructions to ‘mind the gap’ remain insistent, but when the culinary conductors come a calling, this most bustling of transport hubs often falls silent.

You could, of course, seek solace between the buns of Burger King or scoff a sausage roll on the station concourse if you’ve got a train to catch, but if you’re blessed with an hour or two to spare, then rest assured; just outside of London Waterloo station there are some fantastic places to have lunch or dinner. With that in mind, here are the best restaurants near London Waterloo.

Lasdun at the National Theatre

Ideal for old school yet modern British brassiere style plates that sing with seasonal produce…

You’d think that the area surrounding London’s National Theatre would be positively teeming with smart, creative places to eat pre and post show, but that simply isn’t the case. Or rather, wasn’t the case until Lasdun opened.

In a rather barren stretch of the South Bank in terms of eating options, where chain restaurants rule supreme, the 2023 opening of this stylish restaurant within the National Theatre building has caused quite the stir, garnering several positive reviews in the weekend papers before its first chicken, leek and girolle pie had even been polished off.

You don’t have to be an avid consumer of the Real Housewives Of Clapton Instagram account or a Hackey resident to be familiar with the East London pub the Marksman, with its Fergus Henderson inspired plates of austere perfection, and the Ladsun, from the same team, continues with this tradition.

Named after the renowned architect Denys Lasdun, who designed the iconic National Theatre building in a similarly flinty fashion, this restaurant is a testament to his legacy. A collaboration between co-founder of Lyles John Ogier, KERB, and the team behind the Marksman, Jon Rotheram and Tom Harris, there’s a commitment to seasonality and simplicity here that you’d expect, with a knack for finding beauty in the seemingly old-fashioned. 

Their menu is a comforting blend of traditional dishes with flourishes of luxury, like fish cakes in mussel sauce, devilled eggs topped with caviar, and a glazed beef, barley and horseradish bun, all crafted with a touch of surprise and restraint. The menu also takes inspiration from London itself; that that aforementioned pie is now on the menu.

Lasdun’s interior design pays homage to its namesake, featuring dramatic uplighting, a marble bar, and chrome lighting fixtures that echo the Brutalist architecture of the theatre. It’s a gorgeous, inspiring place to spend time.

Though it feels somewhat sadistic to mention this in the bleakest bit of winter, Lasdun has a gorgeous summer terrace, offering guests the chance to enjoy signature seasonal British fare in a sun-soaked setting (if it would bloody stop raining for a minute, that is).

The terrace, directly accessible from the Southbank, seats 60 people and is open from midday until dusk, running through summer until late September. The alfresco menu is a light and breezy affair, with a heavy emphasis on buns – both a Dorset crab and mayonnaise and a treacle-cured Tamworth ham and Lincolnshire Poacher version are available. Sign us up for both!

Super refreshing drinks such as the Lasdun Summer Cup and an elderflower infused Tom Collins seal the deal. We’ll see you out there? Don’t forget your sunnies.

Website: nationaltheatre.org.uk

Address: Upper Ground, London SE1 9PX

Forza Wine at the National Theatre

Ideal for keenly priced Italian-ish crowdpleasers…

Also found in the iconic National Theatre, Forza Wine brought their ‘Italian-ish’ (thought we were calling it ‘Britalian’?) cooking to the South Bank via Peckham in the latter part of 2023, and have already firmly bedded in.

Perhaps ‘bedded’ is the wrong phrase here, as the top floor dining room is positively lauding it over the South Bank below, with wraparound riverside terrace seating and views of the Thames thrown in for good measure.

Better warn your ma who’s suspicious of ‘small plates’ and modern day dining’s obsession with sharing; the menu is one clustered, singular piece of copy. There are no starters or mains here, not even snacks and sharing plates – just a list of 13 dishes plus soft serves and a custardo, the latter of which is a bloody delicious espresso-thickened-with-custard concoction that the lads from Off Menu have regularly eulogised. 

Don’t worry; the larger dishes from that rundown will have even the biggest menu pedants cooing. Generous, fully formed plates, a recent dish of sea bream fillet – blistered and blackened from the grill – with a tangle of shaved fennel and tomatoes roasted until sweet and collapsing was superb. Pair it with a little sourdough toast and confit garlic butter, and perhaps some of the restaurant’s superlative, golden cauliflower fritti and aioli, and you’ve got yourself a beautifully rounded (and admittedly rather pungent) meal. 

True to the conviviality of the place, Forza Wine at the NT is an all day affair, open from midday until 11pm daily, except on Sundays when it’s closed. Due to it being a massive, 160-cover space, you could, theoretically, just drop in for a Custardo or two, if you’ve got a wait before your train departs from Waterloo. 

There’s also a very good weekday lunch deal, sporadically announced via their Insta in true Forza style. For £15, you might get a roast chicken leg, crispy spuds and a kind of riff on a Caesar salad, plus a glass of house wine. You really can’t argue with that value.

The Forza empire continues to expand, too. Their terrace was crowned Time Out’s Number One London Rooftop Bar for 2025, which feels about right if you’ve ever sat up there with a Custardo on a warm evening watching the river traffic. And for those who can’t get enough, a third Forza Wine site is opening in Soho later this month.

Website: forzawine.com

Address: National Theatre, London SE1 9PX

Okan

Ideal for Osakan soul food in an intimate setting…

If you’re yearning for a genuine taste of Japan’s kitchen capital without boarding a flight to Kansai, Okan’s tiny, atmospheric space in County Hall delivers in spades. For the uninitiated, County Hall is that imposing Grade II-listed building on the South Bank that once served as the headquarters of London’s government – these days, it’s home to a rather eccentric mix of tourist attractions and, thankfully, some properly good Japanese restaurants (it’s owned by Japanese company Shirayama Shokusan Ltd).

At the stoves is chef Moto Priestman, who arrived from Osaka in 1998. This intimate spot has been converting Londoners from their sushi-centric view of Japanese cuisine since 2018. Their signature okonomiyaki (ranging from £11-15) arguably offers perhaps the best value authentic Japanese cooking in the area.

The restaurant perfectly captures the essence of Osaka’s back-alley dining culture – the air is perfumed with smoke from the open kitchen, whilst diners huddle around closely packed tables, clinking beers and diving into steaming bowls of curry rice. It’s steamy and kinetic in the best possible way.

At the heart of Okan’s menu lies okonomiyaki, Osaka’s beloved savoury pancakes. These properly crafted specimens arrive sizzling hot, with the tofu and kimchi version being a particular highlight – expect a crispy exterior giving way to a tender centre, finished with generous zigzags of Kewpie mayo. The spicy miso udon and yakisoba also deserve special mention, offering the kind of soul-warming comfort that makes you forget you’re sitting in the shadow of the London Eye.

The success of this County Hall original has spawned three equally snug siblings over in Brixton and another food truck form in Coal Drops Yard, but there’s something rather special about this 20-seater space. Perhaps it’s the counter seats overlooking the open kitchen, or maybe it’s just the sheer incongruity of finding such an authentic slice of Japan nestled behind the tourist traps. Either way, it works.

Website: okanlondon.com

Address: County Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1 7PB

Southbank Centre Food Market

Ideal for a global feast with London’s best skyline views…

Forget the tourist-trap chains that populate much of the South Bank – a different kind of gastronomic action happens behind the Royal Festival Hall, where the Southbank Centre Food Market springs to life every weekend. This small but perfectly formed marketplace transforms an otherwise ordinary space into a bustling hub of international cuisine that’s worthy of your time if you’re in need of a quick bite close to Waterloo. You are; that’s why you’re here.

With over 30 independent traders setting up shop Friday through Sunday, this is street food done properly. The line-up reads like a culinary world tour: from Horn OK Please’s vibrant Indian dosas (from £8) to Ethiopiques’ wholesome vegan fare, and Nobiani’s contemporary takes on Korean BBQ. The Polish Deli’s artisanal sausages sit comfortably alongside PAD + SEN’s authentic pad thai, proving that good food knows no borders.

image via Southbank Centre

The market’s particular strength lies in its ability to balance established favourites with exciting newcomers. Whilst The Hop Locker keeps the craft beer flowing (pints around £6.50) and Honest Folk mix seasonal cocktails, you’ll find traders like Two Als bringing proper New York-style chopped cheese sandwiches to curious Londoners.

The beauty of dining here lies not just in the food itself, but in the experience – grab your chosen delicacy and head to Jubilee Gardens for an impromptu picnic with views of the London Eye. The market welcomes hungry visitors from noon until 8pm on Fridays, opens an hour earlier on Saturdays, and runs a slightly shorter service on Sundays, wrapping up at 6pm. Just remember to bring a backup plan for those inevitable British weather moments.

Website: southbankcentre.co.uk

Address: Southbank Centre Square, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

Crust Bros

Ideal for some of the best pizza close to Waterloo…

Just a few minutes walk from Waterloo and with a pizza that’s bubbling on the paddle within a minute or two of being ordered, Crust Bros is the ideal place for a quite bite before catching your onward train. 

Despite the eponymous name, it’s not just the crusts that define the main event here; these are fantastic pizzas which exact an admirable level of restraint in terms of toppings, a few choice elements bringing the best out of that dough rather than weighing it down and overwhelming it.

You can also create your own pizza from scratch (no, they don’t let you go in the kitchen and get busy) using the menu’s flow-chart layout and a few flicks of the wrist, which adds a bit of fun. Hey, could we borrow a pen, by the way?

We’re written more about Crust Bros in our roundup of the best places to eat pizza in London. Do check it out sometime!

Website: crustbros.co.uk

Address: 113 Waterloo Rd, London SE1 8UL

Spring Restaurant at Somerset House

Ideal for eating bang-in-season grub at any time of year, all in a striking 19th-century drawing room…

Spring Restaurant, located in the iconic Somerset House in London, is a culinary gem that deserves a spot on any ‘best restaurants near London Waterloo’ list, despite you having to cross the Thames to get there.

Not to worry; there’s pedestrian access over Waterloo Bridge, and whilst perhaps not long enough to properly build up an appetite, on a crisp, effervescent evening, the stroll can be kind of beautiful.

Spring is the work of the late Skye Gyngell, the Australian-born chef who passed away in November 2025 at the age of 62. Gyngell first gained recognition on these shores in the early 2000s at Petersham Nurseries in Richmond, where her fresh, seasonal cooking style earned a Michelin star and left a lasting legacy on London about how simple, ingredient-led Italian cooking can be served in a more relaxed setting.

She opened Spring in 2014, and it quickly became considered one of the best places to eat near Waterloo and the Southbank. The restaurant’s interior was designed by Gyngell’s sister Briony Fitzgerald, creating a gorgeous, inspiring space in which to spend time. On the plate, that same sense of care prevails, with just a few bang-in-season ingredients gracing each dish.

The set menu remains excellent value, with three courses currently clocking in at £39. Even more compelling is Gyngell’s innovative Scratch menu, which features dishes made from ‘waste’ produce. Running from Tuesdays to Saturdays between 5:30pm and 6:15pm and limited to 30 guests each service, it was a pioneering, thought-provoking approach to fine dining sustainability.

A case in point: the remilled coffee cake dessert, using grounds from post-meal espressos previously served to guests, served with an ice cream made of ‘spent’ figs. Three courses are yours for £40, and it remains a fitting way to experience a chef whose influence on British dining will be felt for generations.

Website: springrestaurant.co.uk

Address: Lancaster Pl, London WC2R 1LA

Aram at Somerset House

Ideal for Syrian home cooking in a Somerset House setting…

Just a few doors down from Spring in the South Wing of Somerset House, Aram marks Syrian-born chef Imad Alarnab’s latest venture. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Alarnab has already won over much of London with Imad’s Syrian Kitchen in Soho, a restaurant that began life as a crowdfunded popup and now regularly fills with customers curious about a cuisine still underrepresented in the capital. They leave no longer curious but wholly convinced, and so it is at Aram, too.

Aram operates as a café and deli, a slightly more casual affair than its Soho sibling, though the cooking is no less considered. The mudakhan ghanam is the star of the show here; a generous plate of slow-roasted lamb shoulder over delicately perfumed basmati rice, the meat tender and giving, scattered simply with cashews for texture.

Lighter appetites will find plenty to pick at, which is fitting for the deli-leanings here. A roasted aubergine salad arrives cool and smoky, the flesh collapsed and folded through with chickpeas, red pepper confit, and a scattering of pomegranate seeds that pop against the earthiness of it all. It’s zigzagged playfully with a warming tahini dressing. Of course there is hummus, too. And of course, it’s gorgeous. This one comes topped with urfa chilli and crunchy chickpeas. Warm pita makes short work of both.

There’s a sweetness to the place that extends to dessert: the pistachio yoghurt pairs Greek yoghurt with hibiscus-poached pear and a slick of chocolate, straddling the line between pudding and breakfast.

There’s a handful of cocktails but there’s something so nourishing and calm about the place that we went for the mocktail instead, a refreshing pomegranate spritz that pairs well with the food. It leaves you invigorated for an afternoon exploring the Courtauld. Or, indeed, for that short walk back to Waterloo.

Website: arambyimad.co.uk

Address: South Wing, Somerset House, Strand, Greater, London WC2R 1LA

Anchor & Hope

Ideal for sophisticated pub grub with a Mediterranean bent…

From the restaurant group behind the acclaimed Canton Arms in Stockwell and Oxford’s Magdalen Arms comes the Anchor & Hope, one of the best places to eat in the vicinity of London Waterloo station.

Though this is a pub first and foremost, the menu here carries plenty of intrigue and a decidedly Mediterranean bent, whether you’re enjoying a simple snack of creamy, spreadable calf’s brain on crostini or a something altogether heartier like blushing fallow deer done in a Provencal style and draped over wet, parmesan laden polenta.

Even the ‘worker’s lunch’ here, a snip at £16 for two courses, is far removed from your pub Ploughman’s. Recently, a quail, roast on the crown, was paired with couscous and a tzatziki positively humming with garlic. Very delicious indeed, and remarkably well-suited to a freshly poured pint.

Website: anchorandhopepub.co.uk

Address: 36 The Cut, London SE1 8LP

Read: 7 of the best places for a roast in South London

Masters Superfish

Ideal for fish & chips…

Fish and chips near waterloo station

Should you be keen for more traditionally ‘British’ fare just a short stroll from the station, then Masters Superfish has been dunking the good stuff in bubbling vats of fat for generations.

Here, the fish is sourced from Billingsgate daily, the chips are the kind to render a sheet of newspaper translucent, and the pickles are bottomless and full of bite. What more could you want from a chippy?

Though you can enjoy your fish and chips in the Masters’ canteen-like surrounds, you could of course head back to Waterloo with a takeaway the size of a baby under your arm, and make the whole train carriage jealous as you embark on your onward journey. Decisions, decisions.

Website: masterssuperfish.has.restaurant

Address: 191 Waterloo Rd, London SE1 8UX

Limin’ Beach Club

Ideal for some of the best Trinidadian food in the city…

Image via Limin Instagram

If you were going on GPS only, you might assume Limin’ Beach Club has found something of an unlikely home at Gabriel’s Wharf, just off the South Bank’s main drag. But visit this ode to the beloved Trinidadian pastime of limin’ and you’ll quickly understand why it’s settled into a soca-soaked rhythm here; on a stretch of sand adjacent to the Southbank Centre, chef Sham is slinging out some of the best Trinidadian food in the city, all from a nautically-coloured beach hut.

Here, cooked to order roti is simultaneously flakey and crisp, and is served alongside either curry (a choice of oxtail, sea bass or chickpea on our last visit), or a leg of chicken properly blistered and burnished on the restaurant’s massive charcoal grill. 

Of course, you’ll want to order some doubles while you tuck into a rum cocktail or two. Trinidad’s national dish, at Limin’ it’s an intricately spiced affair of dangerously sloppy channa (chickpea curry) sandwiched between two bara (fried flatbreads) which are then folded and consumed as tidily as is conceivable. Fortunately, if you make a mess here, you can just sweep it under the sand!

Don’t actually do that, of course…

Since our last visit, Limin’ has been stacking up the silverware. Chef Sham’s operation was named the UK’s Best Caribbean Restaurant at the 2024 UK Caribbean Food and Drink Awards, before following it up with the People’s Choice Restaurant of the Year gong at the Be Inclusive Hospitality Awards in 2025. For a spot that started life as a pop-up in Spitalfields Market, that’s quite the trajectory.

Website: limin.co.uk

Address: 56 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PP

Bala Baya

Ideal for the flavours of Tel Aviv with plates full of verve and vibrancy…

Head back beyond London Waterloo station and into Bankside’s Old Union Yard Arches, and you’ll find a thriving little courtyard of culture and culinary intrigue. 

Nestled in here is Bala Baya, a restaurant inspired by the smells, sights, sounds, and, of course, flavours of chef Eran Tibi’s upbringing in Tel Aviv.

The celebration of the multi-sensory is apt, as it’s noisy in this lively yet functional space, with large groups descending on Southwark for plates full of verve and vibrancy. This is food built for sharing, make no mistake, with long and leisurely lunches of feasting and frivolity very much encouraged here.

The prawn baklava is something of a signature here (certainly in our eyes), coming with piquant notes from lime syrup and cream, and given an aromatic edge with a dusting of pistachio and rose. Just fabulous, and served to allow every member of the squad a portion.

Website: balabaya.co.uk

Address: Arch 25, Old union yard arches, 229 Union St, London SE1 0LR

Union Viet Cafe

Ideal for some stunning Southern Vietnamese flavours…

Whilst the majority of genuinely great Vietnamese food in London is found in and around Shoreditch’s Kingsland Road, you can still find a few gems south of the river, and one of those is Union Viet Cafe.

A ten minute walk from the station and one of the best places to eat near London Waterloo, Union Viet Cafe swings more Southern Viet in its delivery, with the dishes generally sweeter and spicier than their more austere Northern counterparts.

Here, the Ho Chi Minh City streefood staple bo la lot – minced beef wrapped in vine leaves and grilled – is bang on the money, served alongside lettuce, herbs and dipping sauces so you can make your own wraps, just as it should be. 

The delicate, smoky bun thit nuong, which sees thin slices of pork belly grilled and served over fermented rice noodles and loads of herbs, is a real winner for a swift light lunch. Or, you could settle in for something heartier; the restaurant does a range of noodle soups, including pho, bun bo hue and more.

Website: unionviet.com

Address: 120 Union St, London SE1 0FR

Sagamiya

Ideal for proper Japanese home cooking that won’t break the bank…

We’re tucked away in the tourist honeypot of County Hall again – that grand Edwardian Baroque building which once housed the London County Council and later the Greater London Council that we realise as we finish this aside that we’ve already introduced – in search of great Japanese food.

That said, Sagamiya feels like stumbling upon a secret. This husband-and-wife operation from Kanagawa Prefecture offers the kind of authentic Japanese dining experience you might expect to find in a Tokyo side street rather than steps away from the London Eye.

The restaurant’s strength lies in its pitch-perfect execution of Japanese comfort food classics. Their chirashi bowl is a masterclass in gentle (as in; not tweezered) precision – pristine slices of akami, chutoro, yellowtail and salmon arranged with artistic flair over perfectly seasoned rice, completed with plump prawns, scallops and unagi. The salmon belly teriyaki bento (£15), meanwhile, arrives with skin crisped to perfection and flesh cooked just so, accompanied by proper miso soup that tastes like it’s been simmering since dawn.

The space itself is refreshingly unpretentious – a handful of tables and counter seats facing the open kitchen create an atmosphere that’s more neighbourhood favourite than tourist trap. It’s the sort of place where City workers loosen their ties over steaming bowls of home-style cooking and play at being salary men, and solo diners find themselves nodding along to Japanese rock whilst tucking into impeccably made tamago.

Evening services bring additional treats, with warming oden and homestyle cabbage rolls making occasional appearances. You’ll find them doing their thing Tuesday through Saturday, with a neat split between lunch (noon until 2pm) and dinner (5:45pm until 9pm), taking a well-deserved rest on Sundays and Mondays. Just don’t expect to show up with your entire office in tow – like the best things in life, Sagamiya works best when kept intimate.

Website: sagamiya-london.jimdofree.com

Address: County Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1 7PB

If you haven’t found anything in and around Waterloo to satisfy your hunger, then why not take the train a little further south to Battersea, and check out some of the great places to eat near Clapham Junction. A tour of London’s train stations never tasted so good!

How To Bring Cottagecore Charm To Your City Home

Editorial Team
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How To Bring Cottagecore Charm To Your City Home

Ideal for channelling the countryside without a change of postcode…

There’s something faintly absurd about romanticising rural life from a terraced house in zone 3. The nearest meadow is a scrubby patch of council-maintained grass, the dawn chorus is a bin lorry reversing, and the closest you’ve come to foraging recently is digging through the reduced section at Sainsbury’s.

And yet, the cottagecore aesthetic, that soft-focus celebration of simple living rooted in nature and nostalgia, refuses to go away. If anything, it’s getting louder and more relevant as city life gets more expensive, more frantic, and more screen-dominated.

What started as a social media mood board around 2018 has matured into a legitimate interiors movement. Apartment Therapy’s annual State of Home Design survey found that 60% of design professionals identified “contemporary English cottage” as the style most likely to define interiors in 2025 and beyond. That’s not a TikTok fad; that’s a consensus.

The good news? You don’t need a thatched roof or a rose garden to channel it. Cottagecore translates beautifully to city spaces, provided you approach it with a light touch rather than treating your flat like the set of a period drama. Here’s how to do it without tipping into parody.

Start With What’s Underfoot & Overhead

The bones of cottagecore are natural materials, and two of the easiest places to introduce them are the floor and the walls. If you’re lucky enough to have original wooden floorboards hiding beneath carpet, get them sanded and finished with a natural oil or wax rather than a high-gloss varnish. That warm, slightly uneven surface does more for the feel of a room than almost any single piece of furniture.

For walls, consider a limewash or chalky matt paint in soft, muted tones: sage green, warm cream, dusty blue, or the kind of off-white that looks like it’s been gently aged by decades of country sunlight. Farrow & Ball and Little Greene both do this palette exceptionally well, though cheaper alternatives exist if the budget doesn’t stretch.

The key is avoiding anything too bright, too uniform, or too glossy. Cottagecore is about surfaces that look like they have a history, even when they don’t.

Read: 7 decor ideas for a country chic look

Cottage Front Doors Usually Set The Tone

Cottage front doors usually feature solid wood construction, divided glass panes, and understated ironmongery that makes them instantly recognisable. If you own your property, swapping out a bland composite front door for something with a bit more character can shift the entire first impression of your home. Think vertical panelling, a porthole window, or a simple stable door.

Even renters can make a difference here. A wreath of dried flowers or herbs, a cast-iron knocker, or a carefully chosen doormat goes a long way towards creating that sense of arrival. The front door is where the outside world ends and your version of it begins.

Embrace The Imperfect & The Pre-Loved

One of the most appealing things about cottagecore is that it actively rewards you for not buying everything new. A slightly battered pine dresser from a charity shop, a set of mismatched ceramic plates found at a car boot sale, a wooden bread board with knife marks from someone else’s kitchen. These things carry a warmth and a texture that flat-pack furniture simply cannot replicate.

The RHS guide to choosing houseplants is worth bookmarking too, because nothing softens a hard-edged city interior quite like a well-placed fern or trailing pothos on a reclaimed wooden shelf.

Upcycling fits neatly here as well. A tired side table given a coat of chalky paint, or a set of dining chairs reupholstered in a muted floral fabric, can do more for a room’s character than a thousand-pound sofa. We’ve got plenty more on this front in our piece on upcycling ideas for the bedroom, if you’re after specific projects.

The point is accumulation over time. As House Beautiful’s interiors team put it, cottagecore’s charm lies in the fact that it “cannot be achieved by clicking ‘add to cart.'” It’s a slow burn, a gradual layering, and it’s all the better for it.

Textures Over Trends

In a city flat with limited square footage, the temptation is to keep things minimal and matchy-matchy. Cottagecore gently rebels against this. It asks you to layer: a linen tablecloth under a wool runner, a crocheted throw over a cotton-covered sofa, a sheepskin draped across the back of a wooden chair. The palette stays calm, but the textural variety is what creates that sense of depth and comfort.

Curtains matter here, too. Swapping out a roller blind for something in a soft linen or a light cotton print, even just in the kitchen or bedroom, can fundamentally change the atmosphere of a room. Cottagecore thrives on softness, on fabric that moves and light that filters, and it’s an area where city homes can compete with their rural counterparts pound for pound.

cottagecore
cottagecore

Bring The Garden In (Even Without A Garden)

Most city cottagecore adopters won’t have a wildflower meadow at their disposal. But a windowsill herb garden, a collection of potted ferns on a bathroom shelf, or a few stems of dried lavender in a stoneware jug on the kitchen counter can do a surprising amount of heavy lifting.

Fresh flowers are wonderful but fleeting. Dried arrangements, on the other hand, last for months and have that slightly faded, just-gathered-from-the-hedgerow quality that suits the look perfectly.

If you do have access to a balcony or small patio, a few terracotta pots of rosemary, thyme, and hanging herbs will create a sense of abundance out of very little space (and are wonderful for herbal teas too!). Consider displaying rows of homemade preserves, pickles, and chutneys in glass jars, preferably with handwritten labels, gingham cloth tops, or wax seals. These are iconic cottagecore visuals and tap into that whole self-sufficiency, back-to-the-land, romanticised rural life vibe.

And don’t underestimate fragrance as part of the equation: beeswax candles, linen sprays scented with lavender, and the occasional batch of something baking in the oven can make a small flat feel like an entirely different world.

Lean Into Slow Living (But Don’t Make It A Chore)

Cottagecore is as much about how you live in a space as how you decorate it. There’s a reason the aesthetic is so closely associated with bread baking, preserving, and making things by hand. You don’t need to become a full-time sourdough devotee, but carving out a small corner for a hobby gives a room purpose beyond mere function.

A reading nook with a secondhand armchair and a stack of well-thumbed paperbacks. A kitchen shelf with a few handmade ceramic mugs and a jar of homemade marmalade. Evidence of a life being lived at a pace that actually allows for enjoyment, basically.

The danger, of course, is overthinking it. The moment your cottagecore corner starts to feel curated for Instagram rather than for you, it’s lost the plot entirely.

The Bottom Line

There’s more on this approach to interiors in our piece on the elements that define timeless interior design. Cottagecore in a city home works best when it feels unselfconscious. The whole appeal of the aesthetic is that it looks like it happened gradually, over years, without anyone trying too hard.

None of it requires a cottage, a countryside address, or even a particularly large budget. Just a willingness to slow down, look a bit harder at charity shops and car boot sales, and let your home become something that feels genuinely, unashamedly comfortable.

If you’re ready to take it a step further, our guide to the essential elements of a farmhouse kitchen is just the ticket. Apron sink optional; rolling pin recommended.

Beyond The Capital: 5 Unmissable Day Trips From Warsaw

Travel Team
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Beyond The Capital: 5 Unmissable Day Trips From Warsaw

Let’s be honest here; Warsaw itself could easily fill a week, between the painstakingly rebuilt Old Town, the sobering history of the Warsaw Uprising, and a food scene that’s finally getting the recognition it deserves. But venture beyond the city limits and you’ll discover a Poland that few visitors take the time to explore.

Already one of Europe’s most affordable city breaks, Warsaw’s central position in the Masovian plains makes it a natural launchpad for day trips in almost every direction. Warszawa Centralna, the main train station, connects efficiently with cities across the country, and within two hours’ travel you can walk through a primeval forest where elk roam freely, stand in the birthplace of one of classical music’s greatest composers, or lose yourself in the Gothic alleyways of a UNESCO World Heritage town.

Whether you’re drawn to nature, music, art, or the kind of history that demands quiet reflection, here are 5 of the most rewarding day trips from Warsaw.

Kampinos National Park

Distance: Immediately northwest of Warsaw (park boundary is within city limits)

Travel time: 30 to 40 minutes by car or city bus

IDEAL for: Nature, hiking, cycling, and wartime history

Most European capitals have a municipal park or two. Warsaw borders an actual primeval forest. Kampinos National Park, covering 385 square kilometres of ancient woodland, inland dunes and marshland, was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2000 and functions as the so-called “Green Lungs of Warsaw.”

The park’s landscape was sculpted during the last Ice Age, when glacial processes formed two parallel belts of inland sand dunes separated by boggy depressions and peat marshes. These dunes, reaching heights of 30 metres, are unique in Europe at this scale. The park’s emblem is the elk, reintroduced in the 1950s after disappearing in the 19th century. The population now numbers around 450, and European bison, lynx, beaver, and over 200 bird species also call the forest home.

Beyond the natural world, the Palmiry Cemetery and Museum marks the site where Nazi German forces secretly executed thousands of Warsaw’s inhabitants between 1939 and 1945, lending a contemplative weight to even the most casual walk among the trees.

Getting there: Several Warsaw city buses serve the park, most departing from the Metro Młociny stop. By car, trailheads are 30 to 40 minutes from central Warsaw, and having your own wheels opens up the more remote southern trails that buses don’t reach.

Kaizen RENT car rental in Poland offers pickup from central Warsaw, which is worth considering if you’re planning to combine Kampinos with Żelazowa Wola in the same day. The park offers 360 kilometres of hiking trails and 200 kilometres of cycling routes. For a gentle introduction, try the 3.5-kilometre educational trail from Izabelin, or the Karczmisko trail on wooden footbridges across a peat bog. Visit on weekdays for the best chances of spotting elk.

Żelazowa Wola & Chopin’s Birthplace

Distance: 50km west of Warsaw

Travel time: 1 hour by car; 1.5 hours by train and bus

IDEAL for: Classical music, Polish cultural heritage, and beautiful gardens

On the western edge of the Kampinos Forest, the village of Żelazowa Wola holds a disproportionately large place in Polish cultural life. It was here, in a modest manor house in 1810, that Fryderyk Chopin was born. The Birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin and Park is now a branch of Warsaw’s Fryderyk Chopin Museum, and visitors come as much for the surrounding gardens as for the house itself.

The manor is small and can be toured in under an hour, but the park, with over 60 species of trees, paths winding alongside the Utrata River, and Chopin’s music drifting through the canopy, rewards lingering. Between May and September, open-air Chopin Recitals take place every Saturday and Sunday at noon and 3 PM, with admission included in the standard park entry ticket. They are exactly as lovely as they sound.

Getting there: By car, about an hour from central Warsaw. By public transport, train to Sochaczew (30 minutes) then local bus or taxi for the final 15 minutes. Opening hours vary by season: 10 AM to 8 PM from May to August, 10 AM to 6 PM in March, April, September and October, and 9 AM to 5 PM from November to February. The visit pairs naturally with a morning walk in Kampinos National Park, given its proximity to the forest’s western edge.

Toruń

Distance: 210km northwest of Warsaw

Travel time: 2.5 to 3 hours by car or train

IDEAL for: Medieval architecture, Copernicus, and the world’s best gingerbread

If Krakow’s Old Town is the poster child for Poland’s medieval heritage, Toruń is its quieter, less visited, and arguably better-preserved rival. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 and voted one of Poland’s Seven Wonders, this Gothic gem on the Vistula survived the Second World War almost entirely intact, a rarity in a country where so many historic centres were reduced to rubble.

Founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1233 and rapidly grown into a key Hanseatic League trading centre, Toruń’s mercantile wealth is written into its architecture: monumental brick churches, an imposing Old Town Hall, and rows of Gothic townhouses, many still standing on their original medieval plots. The city’s most famous son, Nicolaus Copernicus, was born here in 1473 in a Gothic townhouse now operating as a museum, and the Cathedral where he was baptised houses the Tuba Dei, the largest medieval church bell in Poland at nearly 7,500 kilograms.

Toruń’s most endearing claim to fame, though, is its gingerbread. The city has been baking the stuff since the Middle Ages, and the Living Museum of Gingerbread lets visitors make their own using traditional methods. It’s surprisingly enjoyable, and the product is genuinely good.

Getting there: Direct trains from Warszawa Centralna take approximately 2.5 to 3 hours. The Old Town is walkable from Toruń Główny station. Start at the Market Square, work through the Copernicus House and Cathedral, and allow time for the Gingerbread Museum and the city’s own Leaning Tower. The Christmas market is particularly atmospheric.

Kazimierz Dolny

Distance: 150km southeast of Warsaw

Travel time: 2 hours by car; 2.5 hours by minibus

IDEAL for: Art, Renaissance architecture, and Vistula River scenery

There’s a quality to the light in Kazimierz Dolny that painters have been chasing since the late 19th century. This tiny town of around 2,500 people, perched on the banks of the Vistula and encircled by wooded hills, has been Poland’s unofficial artists’ colony for over a hundred years, and it’s not difficult to understand why.

Founded in the 12th century and granted royal charter by King Casimir the Great, Kazimierz Dolny flourished as a grain trading port. That prosperity built the ornate merchant houses still visible around the Rynek, the main square, most notably the Przybyła tenement houses from the early 17th century. Castle ruins overlook the town from a wooded hill, and the Three Crosses Hill offers panoramic views across the Vistula valley. Today, around 60 galleries line the narrow streets, and stalls selling paintings and folk art cluster around the square each weekend.

Before the Second World War, nearly half of the population was Jewish. The old synagogue still stands on Lubelska Street, and the Jewish cemetery, about two kilometres from the centre, is a moving and largely overlooked site. Don’t leave without trying the kogut, a rooster-shaped semi-sweet bread that has become the town’s edible emblem, its origins tied to a local legend involving a devil, holy water, and the last surviving rooster.

Getting there: Most practical by car (two hours), or by minibus from Warsaw’s Dworzec Zachodni station. The Korzeniowy Dół gorge, a 700-metre loess ravine with exposed ancient tree roots, is exceptional walking. Visit on weekdays to avoid the Warsaw weekend crowd, and bring sturdy shoes for the castle hill.

Read: An alternative 48 hours in Krakow

Łódź

Distance: 130km southwest of Warsaw

Travel time: 1.5 hours by express train

IDEAL for: Street art, post-industrial reinvention, and Poland’s creative underbelly

Łódź (pronounced, approximately, “woodge”) is the day trip most people don’t expect to enjoy as much as they do. Poland’s third-largest city spent years carrying the nickname “the Detroit of Poland” after its textile industry collapsed in the 1990s. But like its American counterpart, Łódź has been reinventing itself with serious ambition, channelling its industrial bones into one of the most interesting creative scenes in Central Europe, recognised in 2017 with UNESCO City of Film status.

The centrepiece is Manufaktura, a vast complex of red-brick factory buildings now housing the MS2 contemporary art museum, restaurants, shops, and a cinema, the result of Poland’s largest renovation project since the reconstruction of Warsaw’s Old Town. Piotrkowska Street, stretching over four kilometres, is one of the longest commercial streets in Europe, lined with art nouveau buildings, bronze statues commemorating residents like pianist Arthur Rubinstein, and more than 150 murals that have become a defining feature of the city.

For all its creative reinvention, Łódź doesn’t try to hide its rougher edges. Scaffolding coexists with gleaming galleries, and the contrast between dereliction and regeneration is part of what makes the place compelling. It feels unfinished and energetic, a city in transition rather than one posing for photographs.

Getting there: Express trains from Warszawa Centralna reach Łódź Fabryczna, a strikingly modern station in the city centre, in around 1.5 hours. Start at Manufaktura, walk south along Piotrkowska to OFF Piotrkowska (a former cotton mill turned independent creative hub), and eat well for significantly less than you’d pay in Warsaw.

The Bottom Line

Warsaw increasingly functions not just as a destination but as a gateway to the broader character of Poland. These five day trips represent vastly different facets of the country: primeval nature at Kampinos, musical heritage at Żelazowa Wola, medieval grandeur at Toruń, artistic bohemia at Kazimierz Dolny, and creative reinvention at Łódź. Together, they reveal a Poland whose depth extends well beyond its capital.

Talking of which, if Krakow is also on your Polish itinerary, we’ve got you covered. Here’s our guide to the best day trips from Krakow. Just don’t try to do both cities in a week. You’ll need a little longer than that!

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