Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.
Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.
Ideas and suggestions for day trips outside of London across the rest of the UK.
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is offering public tours of their historic buildings
Not far outside London is Sandhurst, the British Army's military training centre for officers, and the grand buildings hidden behind high walls can be visited on special tours.
Tickets Alert: Climb to the top of Windsor Castle
For a couple of months each year, it’s possible to climb to the top of the ancient Round Tower inside Windsor Castle, with views that reach right across London.
Day trips from London: Dorney Court, Buckinghamshire
A Tudor manor house built around a hall that dates from the Doomsday Book and is only occasionally open to the public -- is open this month.
Tickets Alert: Help to re-chalk the Uffington White Horse
A few years ago, I spent a couple of hours bashing an ancient monument with a hammer, and this summer, there’s a chance to do it again.
Free tours of a Nuclear Fusion Reactor
Did you know that the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor is not far from London, and it's occasionally open to the public for tours?
Tickets Alert: Tours of Eton College have resumed
Outside London, the rarified airs of Eton College are opening their doors to ordinary folk this summer for a series of tours.
Tickets Alert: Tours of Dorneywood House and gardens
Gifted to the nation for the use by a government minister, just outside London can be found a modest mansion that’s also open to the public, but only for a couple of weeks a year.
Tickets Alert: Visit the Chevening House gardens
The date of the annual open day of Chevening House's gardens has been announced, and it's a chance to wander around an impressive garden normally reserved for government ministers and their staff.
Cold War bunker open days confirmed
If you fancy a trip to see a relic of nuclear war, then the open days to go into an underground bunker near Haywards Heath have been announced.
Tickets Alert: Rare tours of Birmingham’s brutalist railway signal control box
It's not London, but, yikes, this will appeal to you lot, as the famously brutalist signal control box at Birmingham New Street station will be open to the public for one day later this month.
Knole House – a day trip to an Archbishop’s Palace
Barely an hour from central London is one of the UK's most important palaces, which is curiously not that well known.
Not far from modern London is a castle that 500 years ago was to be the scene of a political crisis that shook Europe, and still affects us to this day.
Imberbus day confirmed for this August
If you fancy spending an exceptionally surreal day taking trips through a military firing range in some old buses, then get ready to reserve a date in August.
Only couples can apply for the Coronation Concert
The ballot has opened to be among the thousands watching the Coronation Concert in Windsor Castle, but only for people who are applying for two tickets.
Tickets Alert: Tours of Longford Castle, near Salisbury
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, an unusually shaped castle was built on the banks of the River Avon not far from Salisbury, and 450 years later, it’s still a private home that a few years ago, started opening to the public, but only for guided tours.
Snowdrop days at Thenford Arboretum
If you fancy a day in the countryside surrounded by small white flowers, then Thenford Arboretum, not far from Banbury, is having its annual snowdrop days in February.
Tickets Alert: Visit Diamond Light Source – the UK’s largest particle accelerator
In the countryside not far from Didcot can be found a stunning flying saucer of a building, which also happens to house the UK’s national synchrotron, and they open it up to the public for free tours.
Win £5,000 of holidays in Landmark Trust’s heritage homes
A fundraiser for a heritage houses charity is offering up to £5,000 of free weekend breaks in its homes across the UK.
Day trips from London: Standen House and Garden
A modest trip from South Grinstead can be found a large manor house that is particularly notable for its arts and crafts interior
Day trip from London – to Winchelsea for cellar tours and Camber Castle
Just over an hour from London is an ancient town with a remarkable series of subterranean spaces, and a large castle nearby, both of which comfortably fill a day out.
A summer ramble along the disused Bishop’s Stortford to Braintree railway line
A disused railway running through Essex that closed 50 years ago is now a country walk that offers some lovely views, detours and some bacon.
Special coach service for Imber Bus visitors
Imber Bus takes place later this month, running a fleet of London buses through the military owned Salisbury Plain, and to help Londoners get there, a special coach service is being laid on.
It’s time to start booking your Heritage Open Day tours
For a couple of weeks in September, thousands of buildings across the UK, mostly outside London, are open to the public.
Tickets Alert: Help to re-chalk the Uffington White Horse
A few years ago, I spent a couple of hours bashing an ancient monument with a hammer, and there’s a chance to do it again.
