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The Marylebone Restaurateur Shares the Ultimate Guide to the Neighbourhood's Best Cafes, Restaurants, Bars and Hidden Gems Award-winning Chef Diego Jacquet has been feeding Marylebone for 12 years. The passionate Argentine Chef Patron behind the area’s foodie stalwart, ZOILO launched it to celebrate his culinary heritage. Centred around Asado - the Argentinian tradition of grilling meat and fish - the grill is the beating heart of the restaurant, in which The King of Argentinian meat - beef - takes centre stage. There are five beef cuts to choose from, sourced from Diego’s top Argentinian suppliers and washed down with a choice of 200 diverse wines, including Argentine greats like Bodegas Chacra, Catena, El Enemigo and Riccitelli. Last year, Diego also turned his attention to his other love - pizza - opening Florencio, a dough’s throw from his sister restaurant in his beloved Marylebone. The sexy, low-lit restaurant serves crispy pizzas made with 48-hour, fermented dough and the best seasonal ingredients - guests also have full access to the dreamy wine cellar. After more than a decade of feeding and eating Marylebone, he brings us his ultimate guide to the chic neighbourhood’s best places to eat and drink, from morning to night. ZOILO , 9 Duke St, London W1U 3EG Florencio , 14 Seymour Pl, London W1H 7NF _________________ COFFEE & BREAKFAST Monocle Cafe If I’m on the go then I go to Monocle Coffee on Chiltern Street. My go to coffee is always a cortado, which is a popular way of drinking coffee in Buenos Aires, where I’m from.  Monocle Coffee, 18 Chiltern St, London W1U 7QA BREAKFAST Arome Bakery Generally I don’t eat breakfast due to my running training, but when I’m treating myself – usually once a week – my only go to is Arome Bakery on Duke Street for a pain au chocolat. It’s my favourite bakery in town.  Arome Bakery, 27 Duke St, London W1U 1LE LUNCH Paul Rothe & Son Paul Rothe & Son Deli. It’s really old school destination for a great sandwich and soup. It’s a bit of an institution in Marylebone and has been around since 1900, and when you try the food there you can see why it’s stood the test of time and is so popular.  Paul Rothe & Son, 35 Marylebone Ln, London W1U 2NN DINNER Twist Connubio Twist Connubio on Crawford Street. It’s a tiny restaurant that sources incredible ingredients. When in season, my favourite dish there is the courgette flower with sheep’s ricotta, it’s a classic dish that they just do so well. The restaurant also has an incredible wine list, and as a wine enthusiast myself that’s a real bonus and a must for any good restaurant. Twist Connubio, 42 Crawford St, London W1H 1JW DRINKS The Churchill Bar After spending most of the day indoors I need some fresh air, so usually I’ll go to The Churchill Bar next to Portman Square for a Negroni and a cigar. The Churchill Bar, 30 Portman Square, London W1H 7BH INSIDER TIP Arome's Sausage and Miso Croissant The croissant that has a chicken sausage and miso with a Japanese BBQ sauce from Arome Bakery. Just go and try it. Arome Bakery,   27 Duke St, London W1U 1LE Like what you've read? Why not follow us on Instagram?

Our Tried and Tested Guide to Keeping Kids Warm (and Cool) This Winter Time Well Spent Magazine is dedicated to getting you out of the house to make the most of your time - but it can be a bit chilly out there. Nothing hoovers a mood like a cold child, so we have brought you our tried and tested guide to this winter's best (and most stylish) winter warmers for kids, to make sure they are warm and cool at the same time. From this season's must-have boots, snow boots and water-changing wellies, to ingeniously designed scampsuits, parkas, waterproof dungarees, raincoats, stylish base layers and the coolest hats ever to warm a head. ____________________ WHEAT - Chelsea Sonni Tex Boots Find a partner who looks at you the way we look at these BEAUTIFUL boots, in metallic Bordeaux. Our little tester was thrilled with these WHEAT Chelsea boots, which have a cloud soft, wool lining - and removable, wool-covered insole - to keep tiny trotters cosy. They also have a breathable TEX membrane to ensure feet are warm and dry. She was particularly pleased with how easy it was to pull them on and off, thanks to the internal zipper and wide elastic on the outside. As the name suggests, the beautifully tanned leather and suede exterior looks like a particularly fine wine and is very durable - over time it will get a gorgeous patina. The recycled TR rubber outsoles are non-slip with a trampoline effect - and these boots give excellent reasons to jump. BUY FROM WHEAT. £99.95 Liewood - Garry Snow Jogger Boot Cosy, lightweight, warm, waterproof and designed for little feet to run around in - these jogger boots tick every box. And parents rejoice - no more 500-hour waits for them to take boots on and off, because the easy-to-fasten side zip is designed for independent little fingers. They are also gorgeously stylish, and come in Golden Caramel or Midnight Navy. We tested them in rainy woods, and the D TEX waterproof material kept them clean and dry, while the lightweight, slip-resistant and flexible runner sole meant he could run, jump and climb with ease, with nice toasty feet. BUY FROM SCANDIBORN . £45 Muddy Puddles - 3-in-1 Waterproof Scampsuit Warning: Dressing your child in this will make it impossible not to squeeze them like enormous teddies. We opted for the Bowie-esque lightning bolt design in vibrant green - there's also a gorgeous pink rain drop design and Midnight Blue space style. Sizing ranges from 0-6 months to 5-6 years. The eco-friendly suit is made with hard-wearing, recycled fabrics from post-consumer plastic bottles. And we loved its versatility: The inner suit doubles as a cosy, indoors onesie. The waterproof outer suit can also be worn by itself to keep children dry on mild days. And both can be worn together on freezing days, keeping them dry with its impressive waterproofing to 10,000mm, and warm thanks to the soft fleece hood lining. They've thought of everything - from a dual storm flap and elasticated wrists, to double zips to get it on and off with ease, and adjustable stirrups to keep them snugly over wellies. The tiniest tot's Scampsuits even have fold-over hand and feet warmers. BUY FROM MUDDY PUDDLES. £89 Muddy Puddles - 3-in-1 Waterproof Parka This wonderfully versatile, snow, wind and waterproof Parka can take on the elements in style. Our tester loved the secret internal and external pockets, for collecting treasure on cold walks. And it's the Transformers robot of the coat world, with a super soft, removable fleece to wear solo on Autumn days. The durable twill shell can be worn alone or with the fleece, for maximum warmth and protection from the elements. And the Sherpa lined hood and faux fur can also be detached, for further versatility. If the vibrant green isn't enough, it also has reflective details to keep them safe in low lighting. She found the breathable fabric super comfy on our outdoor adventures. And with a mega waterproof rating of 10,000mm, no weather is going to stop her, over the cold and soggy season. Sizing from 18 months to 13 years. BUY FROM MUDDY PUDDLES . £89 Little Hotdog Watson - Kid's Arctic Cub Hat This achingly cool brand makes ethical kid's hats with serious attitude. Our little testers know their Arctic Cub Hats are made by Little Hotdog Watson, because so many people stop them on the street to ask. The brilliantly bold designs - including this show-stopping gold number - are also big on tech. They're water resistant, lined with Thinsulate and fleece, to make them comfy, light and warm. They're trimmed with reflective piping, to keep kids visible and safe on dark winter evenings. They're even wipe-clean, and super durable. And they have ridiculously cute ears on top. Bonus. They are also kind to the planet, woven using 75% solar energy, using non toxic Oeko-Tex inks and BCI Cotton, and no animal products. BUY FROM LITTLE HOTDOGWATSON . £33 Grass & Air - Waterproof Rainster Jacket We love the muted Rose shade of Grass & Air's new, soft waterproof rainjackets. Luckily, the British weather ensured our little tester could try it out immediately, and the heat sealed seams ensured she was sog-free, underneath. She liked the cosiness and protection from the elasticated cuffs and the colour was a big hit - it also comes in a classy Khaki shade. The cheeky bonus is that you can match it with Grass & Air' s wellies, and puddlesuits, which also come in Rose, Khaki and other complimentary colours from nature. Sizing from 9 months to 6 years. BUY FROM GRASS & AIR . £29 Mini Rodini - Knit Beanie With Pom-Pom For the ultimate Brat Winter, we hard recommend this green beanie from masters of quirky kid's fashion, Mini Rodini. The Swedish brand was founded by illustrator, Cassandra Rhodin to bring kid's imaginations to life, with completely unique, sustainable, unisex and comfortable designs. This fleece lined beanie features a strap to tie beneath the chin, and is topped with a jazzy, pink pom-pom. It's made from 100% organic cotton and features their trademark panda label. Our tester loves how cosy and soft it is and its snug, warm fit over chilly ears. BUY FROM MINI RODINI . £42 Grass & Air - Waterproof Dungarees Is there a cuter way for your little one to splash about in mud? These new, Rainster Dungarees come in muted Khaki and Rose, and are perfect for milder, soggy days, with a light top underneath. They're also great for the chillier months, with jumper and jacket . We found the adjustable foot straps and elasticated straps handy for making it the perfect, snug fit. And our tester found the heat sealed seams kept away all the mud and rain, despite his best, puddle-splashing efforts. These can be matched with wellies and raincoats from the range, for stylish splashing. Sizing from 12 months to 4 years. BUY FROM GRASS & AIR. £26 Grass & Air - Colour Changing Kid's Wellies Puddle-splashing has been made even more fun, with these colour changing wellies. Our enthusiastic tester delighted in seeing the white rain drops explode into rainbow colours, as he splashed in everything he could find. These new designs also have a cosy, teddy bear fleece lining to keep feet warm on cold days. They also come with drawstring bags, for mud-free transport. Inspired by this season's trending colours, the wellies come in Rose, Khaki, Ochre, Stone and Pistachio and are designed to compliment other clothes and jackets from their Nature Neutrals range. Psst - they also come in adult sizes. BUY FROM GRASS & AIR . £25 Muddy Puddles - Thermal Base Layer These snazzy thermal base layer tops and bottoms are made from breathable, wickable fabric to keep little adventurers comfy, warm and dry. Our testers loved the designs, wearing the matching tops and bottoms as cosy PJs to lounge about in on chilly evenings. These are designed to wear beneath ski wear or waterproofs, with nifty thumb holes so they don't ride up. And as with all Muddy Puddles designs, they are designed for the comfort of active kids, with stretchy fabric for free movement and a brushed, warm and soft interior. They come in stylish space designs in red, green, navy and teal. Sizing from 2-12 years. BUY FROM MUDDY PUDDLES . Tops £22. Bottoms £22 We have been gifted some samples in order to provide honest and accurate tried and tested reviews. But we never feature anything we don't recommend. Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter?

We sample The Corner's Bark & Brew dog (and human) afternoon teas with the bow-wow factor Our four-legged gourmands sniff out the ultimate pawfternoon tea with the bow-wow factor, at the capital’s turbo-cool pooch mecca, The Corner London hotel. We are their plus ones to sample the new, Bark & Brew experience for dogs, along with an excellent (and enormous) afternoon tea for humans, washed down with tea and bubbles. The eco-minded hotel is a riot of tastefully designed colour, cosy lighting, plants and eclectic furniture, matching its fashionable clientele from nearby Shoreditch. Our dogs are suitably fussed over and led to the table, where we're presented with prosecco, and the doggie platters arrive - they’re so beautifully presented, we have to check which dishes are for the two-legged guests. The hotel has worked in partnership with canine nutrition experts Talula Eats to offer healthy dog treats, ensuring they are included in the afternoon tea tradition. Their feast is quickly devoured, and includes Barkino’s Pizza made with an oat and egg base topped with homemade, desalted bacon crumbles, low-fat mozzarella and almond-basil pesto sauce. The Doggie Digestive is a light and nutritious bone shaped snack. For dessert, there is a Peony Pupcake made with no colourings, additives or preservatives, plus treats with beetroot, purple sweet potato and seasonal fruit and vegetables. Watching the furry pair, sitting on the olive banquette, happily wolfing down their teas is almost as sweet as our treats, which include banana and strawberry skewers with chocolate dip; fruit and plain scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, and a cake selection, including a Banoffee cheesecake - the star of the tier - chocolate brownie, and light, sticky raspberry bakewell.  As a savoury toothed tiger, it is the sandwich selection which excites me the most - and these are excellent and endless. They include moreish ham, pickle and mustard fingers; thick, pink beef and horseradish; egg mayo and watercress, and cheese and onion chutney. The hotel is famous for going above and beyond for the capital’s VIPaws, with ‘Dogtacation Packages’, including sustainable dog beds, dog treats and toys in the rooms, plus breakfasts for owners and dogs, and discounts at a nearby grooming parlour. Our pair left with wagging tails and we waddled back with bulging tums and doggie bags. The Corner London , 42 Adler St, London E1 1EE. Bark & Brew and traditonal / vegan afternoon teas served daily. From £25pp and £12.50 per dog Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter?

We Step Through The Wardrobe at Leeds Castle into an Icy Adventure It is as cold as Narnia as we make the beautiful walk past swan-addled lakes, chandelier festooned trees and festive sculptures to Kent’s grand Leeds Castle. This is exactly the sort of place you’d expect to find a magical wardrobe portal into a mystical, icy kingdom, and that’s exactly what we discover. First, we wander through the Professor’s wonderfully festive gaff. Very little of the castle predates 1926, so it’s the perfect location for this Fifties winter’s tale. Each stately room, from dining spaces and lounges to the kitchen is dressed in period Christmas decorations, with huge windows overlooking the festive displays across the 500 acres outside. Audio recordings and extracts from the CS Lewis book are dotted around to set the scene, until we arrive at a huge room, where we find The Wardrobe. Our children excitedly leap inside, pushing through rows of (fake) fur coats into long corridors of icy foliage and trees, marking the start of our Narnia adventure. We head into a vast room stuffed with twinkling Christmas trees and at the centre we discover the neurotic faun, Mr Tumnus, who is bravely sleeveless on this cold December afternoon, with the furry legs, tail, horns and pointed beard our children recognise from the book. He greets them for a jolly chat and poses for pictures. As we turn, we spy a pile of the Turkish Delights which lure both Edmund and my sugar-loving son over to the White Witch’s fur-lined, icy sleigh, which we plonk our bums in for an imaginary joyride. We peer in through artful foliage to snoop at Mrs Beaver's dam home, set for tea with the children, on a chequered blue table cloth. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many Christmas trees in one day, but we stumble upon some particularly icy pines, which can only mean one thing - the Queen of Narnia is lurking nearby. She’s gone heavy with the tree tinsel, and I’m into it. The Queen beckons our children over to her throne, in front of a miniature ice palace. Fortunately, she won’t cast any spells on them today and they are let off, after posing as statues for a few pics. In a big, beamed space before an enormous fireplace, we find Father Christmas. In the book, he gives children weapons for a bloody fight to the death with the White Witch’s army of demons. Luckily, the blood and violence is toned down for the children today, who have a cheerful chat and photo with him and don’t question why the usually peaceful Santa has given them imaginary bows, arrows and swords. We head upstairs to the gorgeously cosy bedrooms of the Professor and the four children, with their named stockings hanging above the bedroom hearth and a toy tea party set on the floor, with cuddly lions, witch dolls and fauns. Snooping through the castle, we find the red and white striped battlefield tent for the big showdown, with various crowns and props for the children to play with and the dramatically lit head of Aslan the lion. Finally, good has defeated evil and we end the experience in a turbo-Christmas room, set with an elaborate feast and with four thrones in front of a fireplace with crowns, which our children don to play at being kings and queens of Narnia. It’s a lovely introduction to the CS Lewis classic. Afterwards, we wander around the grounds. It’s our first visit here and the castle is particularly gorgeous at Christmas, with cobbled squares, giant outdoor Christmas trees and a cosy, old beamed restaurant and cafe.  The sun is beginning to dip behind the trees as we leave, and the grounds come to life for the castle's Christmas light show. We pass paths of twinkling mirrored hearts, laser gardens dancing with beams of light, technicolor laser Christmas trees and shimmering light arches, to a soundtrack of Christmas classics. And we head off with bellies full of tinsel and fire and a new found interest in the IKEA wardrobe in my daughter’s bedroom. Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter?

Summer Holidays - London's BEST Family Events this August 2024 August has achieved the impossible - making us wish the Summer Holidays were actually longer , with an insane amount of amazing family activities in our bumper Children's Entertainment Guide. We've got puppet festivals, synchronised pram parties, aliens, free festivals with death-defying performances, pop-up London beaches, free outdoor movies, free West End shows, Paddington Bear, a fairytales festival and a Monster Funfair. Our top picks include a gaggle of FREE events and there’s something to entertain (and wear out) every flavour of child. So dust off the diary and your most inky pen to plan the ultimate August. _________________________ Children’s Puppet Festival 2024 Little Angel Theatre is our FAVOURITE puppet master (ssh, don’t tell the others) and their award-winning puppet festival returns this month, across both Little Angel venues from 2 August until 1 September . The programme is brimming with shows from the most exciting UK and international companies currently making theatre for young audiences, from the Zoo that Comes to You , full of extraordinary puppet animals, to the beautiful Lottie, The Living Doll. There are fabulous workshops to get involved with as well, like making ice cream puppets to take home, a Monster Circus Workshop or making walking, cardboard dinosaurs. Book here. Little Angel Studios, 132 Sebbon St, London N1 2EH and Little Angel Theatre, 14 Dagmar Passage, London N1 2DN. Prices Vary. 2 August - 1 September. FREE Greenwich + Docklands International Festival From death-defying vertical dances on St Paul’s Cathedral, to engulfing the streets with technicolour foam and sinking a house for a rooftop dance,  Greenwich + Docklands International Festival (GDIF) never disappoints. And this year is no exception, with THAW, an eight-hour, aerial performance on a suspended 2.5 tonne block of ice in Newham on 25 and 25 August; a synchronised pram party, plus 50 theatre, circus, dance and performance art shows across the the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Newham and the City of London across 17 days. Greenwich+Docklands International Festival . Multiple locations across Royal Borough of Greenwich, Newham and the City of London. FREE. 23 August - 8 September 2024 Hit the beach in Costa Del Croydon Feel the sand between your toes without leaving London, at Costa Del Croydon. From 1 to 28 August, the top floor of Centrale’s multi-storey car park will be transformed into an urban beach paradise, complete with beach hits, sand, water splash zones, beach bingo, dance workshops, mini-Go-Karts and table tennis. The daytime sessions are made for urban families. Level 3 of Centrale’s Multi-storey Car Park , 30 Tamworth Rd, Croydon CR0 1XT. 1-28 August. Notting Hill Carnival 2024 Europe’s largest street festival returns, this August bank holiday (24-26 August) including their Families and Children’s Day on 25 August, with a kids’ parade and carnival, get splashed with paint and chocolate in the Dutty Fun Mas and live stages. Notting Hill Carnival. 24-26 August. Free on Sunday and Monday. Ticketed on Saturday. Free Hamleys 264th Birthday Celebrations The world’s oldest toy shop, Hamleys is inviting families to celebrate its 264th birthday this August Bank Holiday weekend, with a series of FREE events, games, arts and crafts, puppet shows and giveaways of toys, sweets and prizes. Children can join Hamley Bear and friends at the Regent Street store for a picnic party and pass the parcel from 24 to 26 August, as well as an opening ceremony featuring Peppa Pig. There will also be a three-tiered birthday cake and sweet and cake giveaways, to fire kids up. On Monday, expect  performances from Mirror Men, reflecting on the past 264 years, followed by an all-singing, all-dancing Party Parade around the Regent Street Store.  Any children who share their birthday with Hamleys will also be given a special birthday gift in store to celebrate. Hamleys , 188-196 Regent St, London W1B 5BT. 24 - 26 August There will also be birthday events at other Hamleys locations. Kids Go Free to Top London Shows Despite lasting for six weeks, they are still pushing ahead with the slightly confusing Kids Week title. But who cares, when it means you can bag children free tickets to top West End shows, from The Wizard of Oz and Shrek the Musical to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Kids Week. Assorted venues. 24 July – 6 September The Paddington Bear Immersive Experience Everybody’s favourite, Peruvian bear has had the immersive treatment, with The Paddington Bear™ Experience. The marmalade-addled, interactive adventure across more than 26,000 square feet of Southbank’s London County Hall  invites guests into a series of themed rooms, inspired by iconic locations from the Paddington stories. Fittingly, it kicks off at Paddington Station, where guests will be greeted by a friendly Station Master and taken on a colourful train journey through London’s most famous landmarks, to the Browns’ charming, No. 32 Windsor Gardens home. Once inside the famous, tree-adorned hallway, guests will embark on a multi-sensory adventure to help the Brown family and Paddington prepare for the all-important Marmalade Day Festival. The Paddington Bear™ Experience , London County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7PB. From 31 May. Adult tickets £34pp. Children (2-15) £24. Under 2s go FREE Mrs Doubtfire Dining Experience Hellooo poppets! Hit West End musical Mrs Doubtfire will put the eat into theatre for a delicious new partnership with luxury London restaurant, Colonel Saab , launching on 1 August. The award-winning Indian dining concept will give fans a multi-sensory, pre-theatre dining experience, featuring cocktails and dishes inspired by famous scenes, which transform before your eyes and are not what they seem - just like the title character of Shaftesbury Theatre’s comedy show. Expect a "Run-By Fruiting" and a grand finale involving liquid nitrogen, in a cheeky nod to the famous kitchen fire scene, before heading around the corner to watch the show itself at Shaftesbury Theatre. Colonel Saab, 193-197 High Holborn, London WC1V 7BD. £60 course five course meal and cocktail or £35 Mrs Doubtfire Set Lunch plus theatre tickets. Shaftesbury Theatre, 210 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8DP Festival of Fairytales 2024 This summer, the Garden Museum will transform into a celebration of storytelling and creativity that explores the magic of growing for the Festival of Fairytales. It's guest curated by Originary Arts and designed to delight children aged 4-10. Set against the magical backdrop of the Garden Museum medieval church and gardens, guests can explore a magical world, woven with giant peaches, enchanted plants and magic beans. Expect roaming performers, creative arts workshops, live storytelling and theatrical performances. Garden Museum , 5 Lambeth Palace Rd, London SE1 7LB. 11 August. 10am-4pm. £12 Adults. £5 Children (under 16). Under 4s free Barbie: The Exhibition The wonder doll (and society’s) evolution is charted in this luminous exhibition, which opened this month, to coincide with Barbie’s 65th birthday. Exploring her story through a design lens including fashion, architecture, furniture and vehicle design, her plastic-fantastic universe has engulfed the Design Museum, showing changing attitudes to women’s careers - Barbie has had more than 250 jobs -  race, sexuality, fashion and body image. Highlights include a rare first edition of the very first doll released by Mattel in 1959, the first Black, Hispanic and Asian dolls to bear the Barbie name, as well as dolls that reflect today’s diverse, multicultural society, including the first Barbie with Down Syndrome, the first to use a wheelchair, and the first to be designed with a curvy body shape. Design Museum,  224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG. 5 July - 23 February 2025. Adult from £14.38. Children from £7.19 Science Museum Astronights Sleepover  Read our review Budding scientists (aged 7-11) can spend the night at The Science Museum,  exploring the museum out-of-hours,  sleeping among space rockets, a Moon rock or in the world’s largest medical galleries. Young campers will experience the ultimate sleepover, with an evening full of activities, including science shows and interactive workshops.  This year’s Astronights programme is supported by official sponsor TEMPUR®, who will gift all campers a travel pillow to help budding scientists get some rest during this exciting night.The following morning, campers can refuel at breakfast, before exploring Wonderlab , their interactive gallery, with hands-on exhibits and immersive experiences, and catch a 3D documentary on their giant IMAX screen. Science Museum,  Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DD. Dates vary, £70pp standard, £100 VIP. 20 August FREE UNIQLO Tate Play Oscar Murillo: The Flooded Garden This summer, artist Oscar Murillo will transform the Turbine Hall into an enormous painting garden, inviting everybody to take part in creating a collaborative work of epic proportions, in deep hues of blue, bright yellows and pinks. The flooded garden is inspired by Claude Monet’s paintings of his flower garden in Giverny, France, and builds upon Oscar’s own series of Surge works.  Tate Modern , Turbine Hall, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. 20 July - 26 August. FREE NEW Monster Funfair at Discover Children's Story Centre Stratford's immersive, sprog-storytelling Mecca has launched its new family adventure, taking visitors through a fantastical circus tent and into the woods. In amongst the trees you’ll find an amazing, marvellous, EXTRAORDINARY… Monster Funfair!   Created with the award-winning Nadia Shireen, this magical world also has a fairground mystery to solve – just who has stolen ALL the candyfloss?  Discover Children's Story Centre is brimming with entertainment across three floors, plus a wonderfully imaginative Story Garden. Creep through caves, find fairy worlds within magical trees, explore hidden ships, perform in a puppet castle, leap over alligators and man your own spaceships and rockets across two floors. Discover Children's Story Centre  383-387 High St, London E15 4QZ. Ages 0-8 Fiume Kids' Pinsa Masterclass Battersea Power Station’s riverside Italian restaurant, Fiume will launch their series of kids’ masterclasses on 25 July.  Little chefs will be roll, bake, top and eat their very own Pinsa (cloud-like pizza) and take home their own chef hat and apron, while thewir [parents enjoy  free drink and £15 off their own lunch bill. Fiume , Battersea. 25 July + 29 August. £15 per child for 1 hour class Art in the Docks - FREE There are FREE art classes every Saturday morning at Art in the Docks, which can be booked online, with 30 spots for each class. Children are encouraged to use their imagination and gain confidence in a nurturing environment, hosted by ceramic artist Mariana Alemany. The classes are suitable for all ages, and all materials and equipment will be provided. Art in the Docks , 25 Shackleton Way, London, E16 2XJ. Every Saturday. 10am-12pm. FREE. FREE Family Summer Film Club  Canada Square’s Summer Film Club’s Family Films will return on Saturday mornings throughout July and August. Just rock up with a picnic blanket and snacks to enjoy movies including Monsters Inc and The Little Mermaid on the big screen for free Canada Square Park, Canary Wharf, London. FREE. Until 27 August Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre Natural History Museum ’s new show will be a real tweet for the whole family, inviting us to experience birds in a whole new way. Swirl around with a murmuration, chirp along with the dawn chorus and see if you have the stomach to sniff a stinky seabird egg. From feeling their heartbeats to seeing through their eyes, get to know our feathered friends better. Meet the wonderchicken - the world’s oldest bird - find out what a pigeon has in common with a ferocious T. Rex and discover how these winged wonders managed to survive the mass extinction that wiped out all the other dinosaurs. Today there’s more than 11,000 species. From pigeons to penguins, ostriches to ospreys, birds live on every single continent on Earth, so what’s the secret to their success? From sucking blood to bathing in acid, our winged wonders have found surprising, clever and downright freaky ways to survive. Natural History Museum, Waterhouse Gallery, Kensington, London. Until 5 January 2025. Adults £16.50pp. Children (4-16) £9.95pp Open Water Family Swimming at Canary Wharf Canary Wharf has reopened its swim hotspot at Middle Dock just in time to fling in children, over the Summer. Open throughout the week and welcome to all abilities over the age of 10, families can practise their strokes and cool off in the safe-to-swim and clean water course. A dip in the Thames with old crisp packets and fag ends hasn’t been the most appealing option before, even in these deodorant-defying times. But Canary Wharf’s 220-year-old Middle Dock has been cleaned up and lifeguarded for a pretty swanky swimming experience, against the backdrop of One Canada Square and Newfoundland, seven days a week, until the end of September. Since opening last summer, Canary Wharf has hosted thousands of swimmers as part of a growing trend for open water swimming. The activity continues to be a popular choice for those wanting to boost immunity, improve flexibility and relieve stress. Visit Love Open Water  for more info Rooftop Film Club Head to the Bussey Building for some family-friendly, daytime rooftop cinema screenings of kiddie classics, from  Wonka to Elemental , plus gorgeous views across London’s skyline. Everybody gets comfy headphones and deckchairs and you can order pizza, snacks and drinks to your seats. Dogs are also welcome, so the whole family can enjoy the Big Screen in the sunshine together. Rooftop Film Club , Roof A, Bussey Building, 133 Rye Ln, London SE15 4ST. Children welcome to family film showings before 5pm.  Navrtar VR Arctic Expedition Take the family on an Arctic expedition, without leaving London. They’ll learn about global warming in a whole, new way during the 60-minute experience, exploring the abyss of the Arctic; its icy tundras, hidden caverns and unique wildlife hidden in an extraordinary, underwater world. Guests in teams of six can teleport 100 years into the future to compare the effects of global warming. The sessions begin with a range of multi-player mini games to enhance the senses and test skills, before embarking on the Arctic expedition, exploring marine life and shipwrecks. Navrtar , Dickens Yard, Longfield Ave W5 2UQ. Prices from £32pp. Chelsea Physic Garden Kids' Workshops This glorious botanical garden never disappoints, and this month, their childrens’ workshops include meet and greets with friendly insects in different micro-habitats and making dyes, paints and pigments from plants to use in your own, artistic masterpieces. Chelsea Physic Gardens ,  66 Royal Hospital Rd, London SW3 4HS Japan: Myths to Manga at Young V&A Take a trip through Japan and explore how landscape and folklore have influenced Japanese art, technology and design, featuring a seal shaped robotic comforter, Hello Kitty paraphrenalia, draw your own Manga characters and learn nifty facts about Sylvanian Families toys being born out of hundreds-of-years old netsuke animal sculptures. Young V&A Museum, Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PA. General Museum access. Until 8 September. free . Immersive Lego Exhibition Aptly on Brick Lane, The Art of Brick brings its Lego masterpieces to London, following tours of more than 100 cities in 24 countries. The exhibition features artist Nathan Sawaya's Lego recreations of some of the world’s most famous artworks, from Michelangelo’s David to Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Among the wonders, visitors will also find a 6-metre-long reproduction of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton Kids (and big kids) can also make their own masterpieces at the play and build area. The Boiler House, 152 Brick Lane, London, E1 6RU. Until 8 September The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks Lightroom leapt inside David Hockney’s art for his jugggernaut of retrospective and now turns its immersive technology to space, with added Tom Hanks. The Apollo 13 star narrates the audio-visual experience, which offers a unique new perspective on humankind’s past and future voyages to the moon. Telling the stories of the Apollo missions in intimate detail, The Moonwalkers also provides an insight into the impending return of crewed surface missions by going behind-the-scenes of the Artemis programme, including interviews between Hanks and Artemis astronauts. If your own trip to the moon is unlikely, the immersive gallery promises the next big thing, with its tech-wizardy taking visitors on a voyage to our closest celestial neighbour. Lightroom , 12, Lewis Cubitt Square, London N1C 4DY. Until 13 October 2024. Tickets from £25 Dinosaur rEvolution South East London’s hidden gem, The Horniman Museum  launches its roarsome new dinosaur exhibition for February half-term. The show invites us to rethink everything we thought we knew about dinosaurs, exploring the relationship between dinosaurs and birds. It includes five large, animatronic models, a gaggle of fossil skeletons and skull casts, as well as touchable, detailed graphics by the acclaimed artist Luis V Rey, dress up, games, and more. It will also be your last chance to see its beloved, overstuffed, taxidermy walrus until 2026, when the Natural History Gallery  will reopen after a two-year refurbishment. Horniman Museum and Gardens , 100 London Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ. until 3 November. Tickets from £9 per adult and £7 per child. iFly Childrens’ Skydive Read our review here Anybody from the age of 3 to 103 can experience the superpower of flight at iFly , as long as they can comfortably wear a helmet. The instructors allow children to safely feel the sensation of an  exhilarating, 12,000 ft free-fall and flight,  without  jumping out of a plane. Along with watching the instructor perform a mesmerising  dance on air inside the vertical wind tunnel, your family can enjoy the extraordinary sensation of weightlessness, soaring around the glass tube and unlocking a core memory of their newfound super powers. iFLY London at The O2, Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX. Tickets and vouchers to fly can be purchased by clicking here  and are available from £69.99 per person Wizard Exploratorium Check out our review here.   Soho's magic-themed Wizard Exploratorium is a five-storey, geek wonderland, offering a 4D wand-making workshop, immersive trick shop and suitably magical afternoon tea encompassing tea brewing, molecular gastronomy, and technology. Wizard Exploratorium , 26 Greek St, London W1D 5DE Slimy Gootopia Sessions Slime is a gloopy rite of passage for every child - parents quickly learn the art of removing it from hair and unwitting pets and it’s up there with ice cream in the kiddie delight department. Enter stage left: Gootopia , which brings its gloopy joy to Brixton and Lewisham. The venues have shelves of ready-made slime, slime ingredients, activator, and their ‘goo-to-go’ slime vending machine. They also offer a range of activities and experiences for kids of all ages, including slime workshops, birthday parties, school science workshops, drop-in slime-making sessions and live slime-making demonstrations by goo alchemists Gootopia . Brixton and Lewisham locations. Pampering for all the family at Pan Pacific London Family activities that involve lying down and being pampered? Count us massively IN. Pan Pacific London  has partnered with luxury children’s brand Bonpoint , to create a unique offering for the hotel’s dedicated Wellbeing Floor. The first partnership of its kind in the UK, the duo have created a range of unisex skincare treatments and packages for children aged 6 – 16 years old, that provide an opportunity for parents to spend quality time with their children and teens and enjoy a spot of pampering. Pan Pacific Family Pampering , 80 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7AB. Treatments start from £100. Power Up at the Science Museum Following five successful runs, Power Up will make its permanent home at the Science Museum from July, allowing visitors to try over 160 consoles and hundreds of the very best video games, all year long. With the new Power Up annual passes, visitors can return whenever they fancy, to journey through the world of gaming. Experience the evolution of gaming – from classics such as Pong and Street Fighter to the latest PlayStation and Xbox – while discovering the science and history behind gaming’s most iconic developments. Power Up  Ticketed, daily passes: £10, annual passes: £15   . Age: 5+. Science Museum, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD Get the Kids Climbing the Walls Get the kids climbing the walls at London’s Parthian Climbing centre in Wandsworth. The 25,000 square foot beast combines climbing with lifestyle, thanks to its café, bar, gym, retail and co-working space. And it is the first indoor climbing facility in the UK to feature an exact replica of  The Titan  Olympic bouldering wall, which will be used at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. They offer a range of kids’ sessions and courses for ages 3 and up. There are instructors for little ones taking on their first climbing experience, as well as the National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme (NICAS) for a progressive syllabus. They also host kids’ parties, for 1.5 hours of climbing activities and games which are the perfect antidote to ‘Fun Freddie’ wrestling a balloon into a drooping sausage dog. Parthian Climbing Centre , 52 - 58 Garratt Ln, Wandsworth, London SW18 4TF Avora Family Experience Read our review Up an unassuming, Shoreditch street is a secret portal to another planet. And on school holidays and Sundays, you can take your kids for a well-deserved break from Earth, on planet Avora. Head here for our full review   of this worthy and otherworldly adventure, encountering scientists, mocktails, aliens, army villains and closing with a child-pleasing, farty finale. Avora: Family Immersive Adventure  5C, 127 Hackney Road, London, E2 8GY. Sundays, 12pm – 3:30pm. School Holiday weekdays. £24.50 per child (6-13) £29.50 per adult. The Gunpowder Plot at Tower of London Vaults Older children (12+) will be catapulted into the most exciting history lesson of their lives, in this explosive new, immersive experience, starring Harry Potter’s Tom Felton. Your mission is to go undercover and unmask the mysterious figures behind history’s most infamous plot. But when you’re surrounded by traitors, who can you trust? With surprises around every turn, descend into the vaults and experience a combination of live and digital actors, virtual reality and fancy pants technology like motion simulators and special effects, transporting you back to London 1605 in the heart of the Gunpowder plot. The Gunpowder Plot , 8-12 Tower Hill Vaults, London, EC3N 4EE Play Captain on a GoBoat River Picnic If you’re looking for somewhere to spend a genuinely relaxing few hours for parents and  children (plus dogs, if you have one) we recommend a GoBoat  trip. You can enjoy a picnic as captain of your own, electric boat through Canary Wharf, Paddington, Kingston, Thames Ditton or Birmingham. Check out our review of the GoBoat Canary Wharf experience HERE GoBoat UK , Open 7 days a week from 9am - dusk. Prices start from  £85 for 1 hour and  £125 for two hours on the  8-person boats. GoBoat Canary Wharf, 22 Churchill Place, London, E14 5RE Paddington Afternoon Tea Bus Tour Read our review Brigit's Bakery  launched the first, official Paddington Bear afternoon tea bus tour , celebrating the capital.The double-decker has built-in screens, so that Paddington and Mrs Bird can provide an animated guide to the tour, which includes some of Paddington's favourite landmarks, like Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park, Nelson’s Column, Downing Street, St. Paul's Cathedral, Borough Market, Green Park and Piccadilly Circus. The tour takes just under two hours, while you scoff treats including glittering shortbreads, designed to look like nibbled marmalade sandwiches, mini pizzas, smoked salmon and cucumber pretzels, turkey ham and cheddar or cream cheese and cucumber finger sandwiches and naturally, marmalade sandwiches. And for those who share the bear’s sweet tooth, the homemade sweet treats included a rice pudding studded with chocolate honeycomb, chocolate cupcakes crowned with Paddington’s chocolate paws, lemon meringue tarts, chocolate macarons and freshly baked scones with cream and jam. Brigit’s Bakery also provide vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and halal afternoon teas. Paddington Afternoon Tea Bus tour  Departs from Trafalgar Square, Wednesdays to Sundays. Prices from £45 adult, £35 child. Whizz Down The ArcelorMittal Orbit How about hurling your children down the world’s tallest slide? The 178m long ArcelorMittal Orbit  was the iconic landmark of the 2012 London Olympics and is now an attraction with three adventure experiences. Families can speed down the winding slide, abseil, or walk around the glass orbit at the top. You can also pretend it's a high-brow, cultural experience, because the orbit is also a sculpture by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond. And it beats the usual views of grubby swings and bins, because here you can check out the stunning views of Queen Elizabeth Park. To ride the slide, children must be at least eight years old and over 1.3m. ArcelorMittal Orbit , Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 5 Thornton St, London E20 2AD. From £10.75. Cutty Sark Rig Climb Experience Originally climbed when the ship first arrived to Greenwich in 1954, visitors can now recreate this, by clambering up the famous masts of the Cutty Sark.The Rig Climb Experience invites kids and brave parents to step up from the main deck onto the ship’s ratlines and climb up its top mast, as hundreds of sailors did during the Cutty Sark’s heyday. Once at the top, climbers will experience a controlled descent from the rigging. Participants will be rewarded with some of the best views in London, overlooking St Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard and Tower Bridge. Cutty Sark King William Walk, London SE10 9H Snot, Sick and Scabs at the Centre of the Cell Deliciously disgusting and sneakily educational centre in a futuristic, light-studded pod suspended above the laboratories of the Blizard Institute in Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Children can learn about the heart, teeth or senses, see scientists at work and enjoy their delightfully vile ‘Snot, Sick and Scabs’ session. Centre of the Cell,  4 Newark St, London E1 2AT Out-of-Hours at the British Museum Your little ones can walk in the footsteps of the ancient Greeks, Pharoahs or journey through the cultures of China at The British Museum's family-friendly, out-of-hours tours. Taking place between 8.50 – 10am, before the galleries are open to the public, you can beat the unsavoury crowds. And from 4 - 25 March, children can explore Roman history through Minecraft, create a Japan-themed family photo (11 March) and make mosaic masks inspired by the Aztec gods on 18 March. The British Museum , Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG. Under fives go free.  £16.50 for 5-15 year olds. £33 Adults Monopoly Lifesized Go big or go home… or straight to jail at Monopoly Lifesized,  an immersive, on-your-feet version of the classic, family game, played on a 15m x 15m lifesized Monopoly board. Enter the 4D experience and compete in challenges for your chance to buy properties. Stage a heist in Mayfair, compete against a clock to build some of London’s iconic buildings, solve a baffling murder mystery or step into the world of codebreakers. The 80-minute experience is suitable for kids from 9 and older and is open every day except Mondays. Monopoly Lifesized , 213-215 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 7PS. Tickets £49 pp Crystal Maze LIVE Experience Older children (from 8 onwards) can take on this immersive adventure, which brings the hit 90s TV show to life.Run around like mentalists, yell, complete a host of difficult challenges and end the game in a fetching, satin bomber jacket. Crystal Maze Live Experience , 22 - 32 Shaftesbury Avenue W1D 7EU Holiday to Space at Royal Observatory Greenwich Join Ted and Plant as they explore the Solar System in search of the best place to take a holiday in an intergalactic morning adventure, including a planetarium show and interactive workshop. Recommended Age: 3 - 6 yrs. Open 10am-5pm daily Royal Observator y Greenwich Park, Blackheath Avenue SE10 8XJ Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter?

TV Chef and Vietnamese Food Expert Shares Ultimate Guide to London’s Top Vietnamese Spots Thuy Hoang is one of the UK’s leading voices on Vietnamese cuisine, and she’s gone on a delicious quest around London to bring Time Well Spent readers the ultimate guide to its best Vietnamese dining. Thuy shot to fame after becoming a quarter finalist on BBC’s MasterChef last year, and is a regular on the UK food festival circuit, giving cooking demos. She has also taught at leading cookery schools, provides recipes for magazines and has served as judge at assorted food industry awards, from Great Taste Awards to the Great British Food Awards. Check out Thuy’s Vietnamese cookery channel here www.youtube.com/@thuycooks And find out more on her Instagram at @thuycooks ____________________________________________ As a British-Vietnamese, I am often asked where I eat out in London - many people do not appreciate the great variety in Vietnamese cuisine. Vietnamese food is unique, with China and India's influences across its borders and a French colonial past of nearly 100 years. The cuisine includes street food, as well as distinct regional dishes, with fiercely defended distinctions between North and South. After the Vietnam War, many Vietnamese families, like mine, settled in the UK, and they brought and nurtured their cuisine to hold onto their culture. Some set up restaurants and this has produced an exciting variety of dining experiences, from café style to fine dining. In practice, it is impossible to pick a single, leading Vietnamese restaurant in London, as there is so much choice, quality and variety. However, these are my four top picks, all very different, and giving insight into London's flourishing Vietnamese food scene. Eat Vietnam Eat Vietnam co-owner, Shelly says:  “We’d never move from this part of London as we’re at the heart of a community of Vietnamese people who’ve settled here. Our chefs live locally and 60% of our customers are Vietnamese.”    A hub of the London Vietnamese community, the restaurant's ambience is intimate and cosy. It's a family-run business owned by husband-and-wife team, Bình Lê  and wife Shelly. Everybody is involved in serving delicious, authentic fare from the Vietnamese Midlands and South with recipes sourced from Shelly’s mother and mother-in-law. The dishes are superb in taste and presentation, so Eat Vietnam's success sine since it opened 8 years ago is unsurprising - the family have recently acquired another property just a few yards away on Evelyn Street (open from Thursdays to Sundays). Stand-out starters include their juicy quails marinated in lemon grass - the perfume of the lemongrass and the charcoal from their BBQ firing is outstanding - and their mini coconut pancakes with prawns (“bánh khọt”). You should approach these little pancakes the Vietnamese way wrapped in a lettuce leaf with herbs and carrot pickle, then dip them in their fish sauce, which has the perfect balance of salinity, sweetness, heat and tanginess.   Their traditional, mains rice dish of shredded pork, grilled pork chops, meatloaf and pickles (“cơm sườn bì chả”) transported me promptly back to childhood in Saigon. It was my father’s favourite, but for breakfast. Save room for the desserts too - I recommend the creamy sago tapioca dish with taro, mango and crushed ice.  Eat Vietnam , 234 Evelyn Street, Deptford, London SE8 5BZ Hoa Sen At the age of 14, Chef Patron Bình Nguyễn  decided he needed a career and travelled from Hanoi to Hong Kong to start working in restaurant kitchens. Bình  became an expert in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine and arrived in the UK in the 90s to help his fellow Vietnamese to start restaurant businesses. His own restaurant now occupies a prime location in London’s Drury Lane, with enticing street food influences, cleverly fusing Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine. He continues to travel extensively around Vietnam in search of culinary ideas. A recent discovery he showed be was the unusual spice (“hạt”), which is used on his unique, succulent Lạng Sơn roast duck. I was treated to a fabulous new dish that will feature on a forthcoming menu - a beautifully poached, salted chicken with a glossy turmeric skin, paired with crunchy jelly fish for a contrasting texture. Hoa Sen also has a wonderfully fresh papaya salad (“gỏi đu đủ bò khô”) laced with herbs and crowned with homemade beef brisket (Vietnamese jerky). It is divine and, for me, evocative of a dish from street food vendors in Saigon. Other excellent dishes include their popular phở red wine beef stew (“phở bò kho”) flavoured with lemongrass, cinnamon, fennel and star anise. It's a nod to Vietnam’s French colonial period with phở a relative of France’s pot-au-feu. This is a luxurious consommé, into which the Vietnamese have added rice noodles, chilli, the perfume of herbs, and meats. Bình simmers his stock for at least a day, and it is complex and flavoursome.  My favourite dish, however, is the crispy bagbagis with tofu (“bún đậu lòng mắm tôm”). Bagbagis is deep fried pork intestine, which is most popular with Chinese and Vietnamese diners. It is served with crispy tofu chunks, vermicelli and a piquant shrimp paste. Perfection. Hoa Sen , 22 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5RH Phở Thúy Tây Phở Thúy Tây is just a few steps from Surrey Quays London Overground station. Its Chef Patron Thúy Nguyễn 's parents ran a phở stand in Hanoi, and the restaurant opened in 2014 from her dissatisfaction with the authenticity of UK Vietnamese food. This inception has translated into a comfortable, unpretentious, café-style eatery of unapologetic Northern Vietnamese cuisine. An admirable aspect to Phở Thúy Tây is that - like Chef Bình  at Hoa Sen - its Chef Patron, Thúy also travels to Vietnam frequently in search of inspiration.  The restaurant offers a good range of more familiar dishes, but also some for the boldly adventurous and open-minded. Thúy gave me a sharing platter of green papaya salad; summer rolls containing prawns, noodles, fresh salad and herbs; delightfully crunchy spring rolls; crispy, deep-fried salt and pepper prawns; and my favourite, some deliciously moreish deep-fried tofu cubes in salted egg yolk. From Thursdays to Sundays, Chef Thúy serves specials from freshly sourced ingredients depending on her inspiration at the time. Reassuringly, many of restaurant’s customers are Vietnamese. There are dishes with eel, frog’s legs, and intestines among other ingredients. I chose a beautiful, tangy vermicelli soup of crab, pungent shrimp paste and tomato, paired with a snail patty (called “bún riêu cua chả óc”). This is scarcely seen on Vietnamese restaurant menus in the UK. Everything is homemade so, if you are feeling adventurous, do give the dishes a try. Also on offer is an unctuous bowl of Northern-style beef phở, made to Thuý’s family recipe. This takes approximately 20 hours to prepare. Fervently advocating for her Northern heritage, Thúy makes her own chilli sauce for this dish frowning at the Southern practice of adding of Hoisin sauce and Thai basil into the broth.   Phở Thúy Tây , 1B Rotherhithe Old Road, London SE16 2PP Sông Quê Café Kingsland Road, Shoreditch is home to numerous Vietnamese restaurants - standing proudly on a corner replete in bright green is Sông Quê Café. This well-established, family-run business has drawn long queues since opening in 2002. My family has been regulars for many years, as its flavoursome Southern dishes are reminiscent of those from our lives in Saigon.   Sông Quê’s recipes come from the family’s matriarch and owner, Mrs. Ánh Phạm. The menu is extensive, with excellent dishes including delectable, deep-fried squid with delightfully thin, crispy batter and a hint of spice; a refreshing green papaya salad with prawns balanced with the umami of its accompanying fish sauce; succulent charcoal-grilled lamb chops paired with zingy lime, salt and a pepper dipping sauce; and phở. The meats in the phở include rare steak slices, flank, tendon, tripe and beef meatballs and it is garnished with fresh chili, lime, beansprouts and fragrant herbs. It is uncommon to find the dish served traditionally with tendon and tripe, so this is something I typically order when I visit. Another dish I adored was the stewed, caramelised seabream, which Jeffrey recommended. This arrives at the table bubbling and the fish is cooked to perfection in its thick, caramelised sweet, salty sauce.  These four, very different restaurants show the wonderful variety and high quality of Vietnamese dining in London. All have substantial menus honouring authenticity and treasured family dishes. And their offerings hint at counterpart dishes in countries bordering Indochina, or to Vietnam’s long connection with France. This melting pot encapsulates the singularity and beauty of Vietnamese food - It has always been about borrowing, innovation, and creativity. Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter

Magical Marmalade Adventure Through London and Peru for a Rare Bear There is no greater escapism than leaping into the perfect, joyous London of The Paddington Bear Experience , where the biggest life troubles revolve around a lack of oranges for the Marmalade Festival. The immersive, theatrical experience is forensically faithful to the two much-loved Paddington films - plus a third out this November - with a series of actors, special effects and magical sets inspired by the franchise’s iconic locations, across 26,000 square feet of Southbank’s County Hall. The squeals of delight as we approach the replica of Gruber’s Antiques Shop come not from the children, but from the adults leading them. This doubles as a merch shop and holding area, before you check into “Paddington Station” to begin the experience. The Station Master greets children at the station, which is adorned with Marmalade Day posters, luggage, pigeons, half-eaten marmalade sandwiches and a departures board. Sporadically, the board is filled with the film’s D Lime Calypso band playing London is the Place for Me , and disco lights fill the station as everybody breaks into dance. Steam puffs from the train and the Station Master leads us into the carriage for our journey. We catch a glimpse of Paddington in the driving carriage, who welcomes us for our journey to his famous 32 Windsor Gardens home. From this point on, there are no photos or videos allowed until the Marmalade Festival at the end. The train rumbles as jolly, technicolour London scenes flash past us through the windows, to Calypso music. My daughter delights in pointing out the film’s characters and amusing scenarios playing out on the perfect platforms outside. At six, she is the perfect age for this experience and throws herself into the adventure, eagerly helping and interacting with the characters. We step off the train to be greeted by a perfectly cast and loveably eccentric Mrs Brown, outside her iconic pastel townhouse. She warmly welcomes us and explains that she needs our help to prepare for Marmalade Day. We dutifully hang bunting outside the house, before excitedly heading into the famous, tree-adorned hallway of their home, with Paddington’s red wellies on the spiral staircase, his duffle coat carelessly dropped on the tiled floor and her famous bike, parked by the wall. Set designer, Rebecca Brower’s astonishing attention to detail creates the thrill of snooping around the iconic house, which is itself an unspoken character in the film. She leads us into the lounge, and the children gasp at the paint-splattered mess and paw prints Paddington has left, while trying to be helpful. We’re all tasked with helping to tidy, by either putting the giant jigsaw pieces of her Paddington paintings back on her easels or organising mementos from their travels. Next we meet the fabulously manic old Mrs Bird in the sunshine yellow and blue kitchen, and embark on a breathless succession of daft and fun tasks to help her prepare for the big party. My daughter helps to make a giant, teetering cake and decorate it with lollipops and cupcakes. Everything in this room is there to be touched and explored, which is fabulous for children - and nosy parents. We barrel around the kitchen, opening fridges, cupboards and delving into larders to find matching tea sets, while other guests help Mrs Bird fix the fridge or remove keys from the sink with a giant magnet. Suddenly, there are leaky water drops from above, and the children immediately know that this heralds the ceiling crashing moment of Paddington's bath scene upstairs, so we’re led into the pantry to keep dry. The shelves are lined with jars of marmalade and the Brown’s messy, middle class paraphernalia. The room darkens, the marmalade jars glow and the magical story of Paddington’s precious marmalade is played out in a dazzling light show on the walls. This amber nectar can only be made from Peruvian oranges and there are none left in London. An orange tree creeps up the wall before us and the wall splits around it and opens into a lush Peruvian jungle, where we’re greeted by a friendly explorer. You can’t take pictures during the experience, but I take a mental photo of my daughter’s awestruck face, as the jungle opens out before us, and it is delicious. This was our favourite part of the experience. The children dart across rope jungle bridges, through foliage and trees looking for map pieces - my daughter throws herself into the sand, digs furiously and is the first to find a piece, with great excitement. We piece the map together and it reveals a blueprint for a marmalade making machine. We’re led deeper into the jungle, where other explorers introduce us to the wonderfully whimsical marmalade making machine itself. The children run around the jungle, filling wooden boxes with Peruvian oranges and then each take turns on different sections of the marmalade machine. They drop oranges down a spiral run; use a stationary old bike to power it; turn the handles for the conveyor belt, stamp the fire pump to cook them and finally, pull levers around a barrel, where little windows pop open to reveal perfect, glowing little jars of marmalade. We leave the jungle to be greeted by a brilliantly realistic, animatronic Paddington, who thanks us all for helping to save the Marmalade Festival. Then it's time to enjoy the fruits (specifically, Peruvian oranges) of our labour at the big Marmalade Festival party. This takes place on the immaculate streets of Windsor Gardens, complete with bunting, music, dancing, carnival games, marmalade cocktails, cakes, ice cream and (of course) marmalade sandwiches - these are a less bitter, more child-friendly version, because Paddington is no fool. There is also a life-sized Paddington to meet kids (and big kids) for photos afterwards. The Paddington films are an excellent marker of good eggs. If you don’t like them, it’s a big red flag. And if you do, you will love The Paddington Bear Experience. After all, he’s a very rare sort of bear. The Paddington Bear™ Experience,  London County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7PB. Adult tickets £34pp. Children (2-15) £24. Under 2s go FREE Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter

The Junsei Chef Patron Shares the Ultimate Guide to Marylebone's Best Cafes, Restaurants, Bars and Hidden Gems Chef Aman Lakhiani’s life changed when he found himself in Japan and fell in love with the culture, food and people, inspiring him to open his debut restaurant, Junsei in Marylebone. Junsei means "pure" in Japanese and his yakitori restaurant strives to embody purity and simplicity, sharing the joy he felt  on the streets of Tokyo, where he ate and drank with the locals. The passionate Chef Patron holds the restaurant to a high standard of authenticity, from the meticulous choice of seasonings to the precise charcoal grilling technique, exclusively using Binchōtan charcoal, crafted from Japanese oak and renowned for its purity.  Zero waste is the essence of yakitori, and the Junsei team carefully skewer and grill every part of the chicken, to create a range of skewer variations. Expect dishes like Beef Tongue, Lobster Salad with Caviar Mayo, Japanese Style Char Sui Pork with Mustard, and a Wagyu & Egg Yolk Onigiri. Chef Aman has cast his discerning eye beyond his restaurant, to bring us his Insider Guide to Marylebone, from the ultimate dim sim and schnitzels to authentic Mexican food and a hidden gem, serving dreamy Pakistani food. Junsei , 132 Seymour Pl, Marylebone, London, W1H 1NS _________________________ COFFEE Boxcar Boxcar is a fantastic choice for coffee. It's just around the corner from Junsei, so it's the perfect spot for me to grab a quick and delicious pick-me-up. It offers a delightful selection of Danish-style pastries, along with fresh juices. Boxcar , 7a Wyndham Place, London W1H 1 England BREAKFAST EtnaCoffee Although breakfast isn't a regular part of my routine, when I do indulge, EtnaCoffee on Baker Street is my go-to spot. It's a charming little Italian cafe with a Roman-style ambiance. They serve up fantastic granita and arancini, which are just perfect for starting your day on the right note. EtnaCoffee , 54 Baker St, London W1U 7BU LUNCH Royal China / Fischers When I'm in the mood for some delicious dim sum, I make a beeline for Royal China on Baker Street. Their selection of dim sum is top-notch, and it's always a treat to indulge in their variety of dumplings and other delicacies. Alternatively, if I'm craving Schnitzel and feel like indulging in a hearty meal followed by a nap, I head over to Fischers . This charming spot offers authentic Austrian cuisine, including mouthwatering Schnitzel that never disappoints. It's the perfect place to enjoy a satisfying meal and then relax afterward. Royal China , 24-26 Baker St, London W1U 3BZ Fischers , 50 Marylebone High St, London W1U 5HN DINNER Cavita Discovering Cavita near St. Christopher's was like stumbling upon a hidden gem for me. Finally, I found a place in London that captured the authentic flavours of Mexican cuisine, transporting me back to my time spent in Mexico. The dishes at Cavita are bursting with delicious flavours, and they're not afraid to bring the heat with their spicy offerings. It's the perfect spot for anyone craving a taste of Mexico right here in London. Cavita , 60 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2RZ DRINKS Mezcalaria For an evening of delightful drinks, Mezcalaria below KOL is an absolute gem. Tucked beneath the vibrant ambiance of KOL , it offers an intimate and inviting atmosphere perfect for unwinding after a long day. Mezcalaria , 9 Seymour Street, Marylebone, London W1H 7BA INSIDER TIP Salwa Just behind the Waitrose on Edgware Road, you'll find a quaint Pakistani eatery called Salwa . Renowned for their delicious chicken and lamb curries, served with a selection of flavourful breads, it's the perfect spot for a quick takeaway when cooking feels like too much effort. Salwa , 4 Crawford Pl, London W1H 5NB Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter

New Children’s Afternoon Tea is the Bee’s Knees Dalloway Terrace is famous for its Edenic, flower-festooned walls, so it’s fitting that they have launched a bee-themed children's afternoon tea, which has attracted quite the buzz. We head away from the noise and crowds of Tottenham Court Road, into this fragrant and luxurious oasis, perched at the entrance of the achingly chic, Bloomsbury Hotel. White roses, carnations and blue delphinium burst from the lush, leafy walls, beneath the black and white striped awning. The velvet saffron and teal cushions are immaculately chopped, and not a plate or napkin is out of place on the polished marble tables. But my daughter cares not for soft furnishings and crockery, she is excited about her bee tea, and it does not disappoint. Feeling impossibly grown-up, with tiny pinky aloft, she begins with a fizzy orange mocktail, and looks through the activity book and wildflower seeds she’s gifted with. A tier of bumble bee-decorated Emma Bridgewater plates arrives, with a trio of soft white, crustless finger sandwiches filled with mild cheddar, honey roast ham, and cucumber. She then moves onto the fluffy, freshly baked vanilla and sultana buttermilk scones, which she slathers in honey and homemade strawberry jam. The final tier is her source of greatest excitement - a selection of bee-themed goodies, including a buttery beehive shortbread, milk chocolate bumble bee lollipop, and a ‘blooming’ good vanilla cupcake, topped with a chocolate and sugar paste flower. While she happily ploughs through the above, they bring me the adult afternoon tea (£48 per person) and I start with the sandwiches. There’s a lovely roast beef and horseradish on onion bread; a harissa and apricot chicken on turmeric bread, and a cucumber and cream cheese on rustic campaillou. Then my sugary tier arrives, with steaming vanilla scones, a salted caramel Madeline and a jazzy Prosecco and strawberry conserve. As a savoury-toothed tiger, I am all about the Irish cheddar scones with a creamy, sun-dried tomato butter. The sweets tier is beautifully presented, my favourite being the Earl Grey mousse in a chocolate, blackberry dome; there is a Dalloway twist on the Battenberg (with Pistachio and vanilla, daaahling) a zingy lemon and poppy seed choux and a pleasingly wobbly, Peach melba tart, topped with gold leaf. It’s a beautifully considered treat for parents and children - and for once, they won’t need to be reminded to clean their plates, Feeling like a pair of Queen Bees, we finally buzz off, with bellies happily stuffed and a camera reel bulging with photos of their floral surroundings. Dalloway Terrace at The Bloomsbury, 16-22 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3NN The children’s afternoon tea is available on weekends and during school holidays and served from 12-4pm for £25 per child. The Adult’s Afternoon Tea is available from 1-4pm for £48 per person. Champagne Afternoon Tea, which includes a glass of Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve, is £65 per person Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter

Summer Holidays - London's BEST Family Events this July 2024 Parents: we hear your muffled cries as you stare into the Summer Holidays void, armed with just a bubble blower and a freezer full of Twisters. And we have come to your rescue with the ultimate guide to the best 40 things to do with kids this July, from free theatre, a new Monster funfair, museum sleepovers, pirates, the immersive Paddington Bear experience, free art or tennis events, and free open air family movies Our top 40 picks include a gaggle of FREE events and there’s something to entertain (and wear out) every flavour of child. _________________________ FREE Wind in the Willows performance and workshop Children’s theatre company, A Wonderful Adventure brings this classic story to life, using props, puppets and actors. Ratty is attempting to give a one-man show, with Toad unwilling to remain in the audience - chaos ensues. Families are also invited to join Rat and Toad in a free workshop inspired by the much-loved Kenneth Grahame stories, to make their own puppet characters, as part of London Bridge City’s Family Week of Entertainment. Hay's Galleria, 1 Battle Bridge Ln, London SE1 2HD. FREE. 25 July Science Museum Astronights Sleepover  Read our review Budding scientists (aged 7-11) can spend the night at The Science Museum,  exploring the museum out-of-hours,  sleeping among space rockets, a Moon rock or in the world’s largest medical galleries. Young campers will experience the ultimate sleepover, with an evening full of activities, including science shows and interactive workshops.  This year’s Astronights programme is supported by official sponsor TEMPUR®, who will gift all campers a travel pillow to help budding scientists get some rest during this exciting night.The following morning, campers can refuel at breakfast, before exploring Wonderlab , their interactive gallery, with hands-on exhibits and immersive experiences, and catch a 3D documentary on their giant IMAX screen. Science Museum,  Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DD. Dates vary, £70pp standard, £100 VIP. Next dates 12 July and 20 August Golden Age of Piracy Spend the day with pirates at Old Royal Naval College for sea shanties, sword and cutlass fights, firepower demos, period live music and real, swashbuckling stories of 18th-century mutiny. Children can immerse themselves in the period between 1650 and 1720, when more than 5,000 pirates sailed the seas, with authentic food from the Taste of History period kitchen, costumes and period actors. Old Royal Naval College , London SE10 9NN.  27-28 July. £13.50 pp FREE UNIQLO Tate Play Oscar Murillo: The Flooded Garden This summer, artist Oscar Murillo will transform the Turbine Hall into an enormous painting garden, inviting everybody to take part in creating a collaborative work of epic proportions, in deep hues of blue, bright yellows and pinks. The flooded garden is inspired by Claude Monet’s paintings of his flower garden in Giverny, France, and builds upon Oscar’s own series of Surge works.  Tate Modern , Turbine Hall, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. 20 July - 26 August. FREE FREE Kids’ Tennis Taster Sessions Kids can enjoy FREE tennis taster sessions at BST Hyde Park on the Parade Ground Grass Area to help kids get to grips with the basics of the game. The coaches at each session will cater to all abilities and all equipment is provided. Parade Ground , Hyde Park, London W2 2UH. 2, 9, 11 July. FREE, but places must be booked in advance. Henry VIII’s Joust at Hampton Court Palace  Set across two weekends this July, families will be dazzled by the spectacle of the Tudor Joust in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace.  Witness epic stunts, cheer on your favourite knight, and watch Henry VIII himself ride in the Joust as his new wife Anne Boleyn looks on. Breathtaking falconry displays will also take place throughout the two weekends.  Hampton Court Palace , Hampton Ct Way, Molesey, East Molesey KT8 9AU. 13, 14, 20 + 21 July NEW Monster Funfair at Discover Children's Story Centre Stratford's immersive, sprog-storytelling Mecca launches its new, immersive family adventure this month, taking visitors through a fantastical circus tent and into the woods. In amongst the trees you’ll find an amazing, marvellous, EXTRAORDINARY… Monster Funfair!   Created with the award-winning Nadia Shireen, this magical world also has a fairground mystery to solve – just who has stolen ALL the candyfloss?  Discover Children's Story Centre is brimming with entertainment across three floors, plus a wonderfully imaginative Story Garden. Creep through caves, find fairy worlds within magical trees, explore hidden ships, perform in a puppet castle, leap over alligators and man your own spaceships and rockets across two floors. Discover Children's Story Centre  383-387 High St, London E15 4QZ   Opens 20 July. Ages 0-8 Family Celebration Day: A Museum Takeover Join Museum of the Home for the opening weekend of their new gallery, with a family Museum takeover for all the family, exploring the many meanings of home. The new gallery, Rooms Through Time: 1878-2049, explores the meaning of family and celebrates the diverse ways that people make home. Hear stories, connect through music, workshops, open play spaces, performances and record your own story of home.  Museum of the Home , 136 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8EA. 28 July 2024. FREE Little Angel Theatre’s FREE Elephant Parade  Our favourite puppet alchemists, Little Angel Theatre head to National Theatre’s Riverside Stage for a FREE Elephant Parade workshop. Children can craft their own elephant puppets with the help of LAT’s skilled team, before trumpeeting and stomping together in a grand puppet parade. River Stage , National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX. 27 July. 12.30 - 1.30pm. FREE Fiume Kids' Pinsa Masterclass Battersea Power Station’s riverside Italian restaurant, Fiume will launch their series of kids’ masterclasses on 25 July.  Little chefs will be roll, bake, top and eat their very own Pinsa (cloud-like pizza) and take home their own chef hat and apron, while thewir [parents enjoy  free drink and £15 off their own lunch bill. Fiume , Battersea. 25 July + 29 August. £15 per child for 1 hour class Home at The Southbank Centre When a storm swallows up their house, Anastasiia and her dog Djonnik have to look for a new one. Join them to explore what makes a house a home. During their journey through many different landscapes, they meet all kinds of animals. Could they live with one of their animal friends? Through animated paintings and complementary music, children are taken on a journey through a fairytale-like world to find a house that feels like home again. This production is inspired by creator Anastasiia Liubchenko’s personal story. She left her house in Ukraine to find a new home in the Netherlands. Southbank Centre , Queen Elizabeth Hall, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX. 25 July and 29 August Art in the Docks - FREE There are FREE art classes every Saturday morning at Art in the Docks, which can be booked online, with 30 spots for each class. Children are encouraged to use their imagination and gain confidence in a nurturing environment, hosted by ceramic artist Mariana Alemany. The classes are suitable for all ages, and all materials and equipment will be provided. Art in the Docks , 25 Shackleton Way, London, E16 2XJ. Every Saturday. 10am-12pm. FREE. FREE Family Summer Film Club  Canada Square’s Summer Film Club’s Family Films will return on Saturday mornings throughout July and August. Just rock up with a picnic blanket and snacks to enjoy movies including Monsters Inc and The Little Mermaid on the big screen for free Canada Square Park, Canary Wharf, London. FREE. Until 27 August Paddington Bear Immersive Experience Everybody’s favourite, Peruvian bear has had the immersive treatment, with The Paddington Bear™ Experience. The marmalade-addled, interactive adventure across more than 26,000 square feet of Southbank’s London County Hall invites guests into a series of themed rooms, inspired by iconic locations from the Paddington stories. Fittingly, it kicks off at Paddington Station, where guests will be greeted by a friendly Station Master and taken on a colourful train journey through London’s most famous landmarks, to the Browns’ charming, No. 32 Windsor Gardens home. Once inside the famous, tree-adorned hallway, guests will embark on a multi-sensory adventure to help the Brown family and Paddington prepare for the all-important Marmalade Day Festival. The Paddington Bear™ Experience , London County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7PB. From 31 May. Adult tickets £34pp. Children (2-15) £24. Under 2s go FREE Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre Natural History Museum ’s new show will be a real tweet for the whole family, inviting us to experience birds in a whole new way. Swirl around with a murmuration, chirp along with the dawn chorus and see if you have the stomach to sniff a stinky seabird egg. From feeling their heartbeats to seeing through their eyes, get to know our feathered friends better. Meet the wonderchicken - the world’s oldest bird - find out what a pigeon has in common with a ferocious T. Rex and discover how these winged wonders managed to survive the mass extinction that wiped out all the other dinosaurs. Today there’s more than 11,000 species. From pigeons to penguins, ostriches to ospreys, birds live on every single continent on Earth, so what’s the secret to their success? From sucking blood to bathing in acid, our winged wonders have found surprising, clever and downright freaky ways to survive. Natural History Museum, Waterhouse Gallery, Kensington, London. Adults £16.50pp. Children (4-16) £9.95pp Open Water Family Swimming at Canary Wharf Canary Wharf has reopened its swim hotspot at Middle Dock just in time to fling in children, over the Summer. Open throughout the week and welcome to all abilities over the age of 10, families can practise their strokes and cool off in the safe-to-swim and clean water course. A dip in the Thames with old crisp packets and fag ends hasn’t been the most appealing option before, even in these deodorant-defying times. But Canary Wharf’s 220-year-old Middle Dock has been cleaned up and lifeguarded for a pretty swanky swimming experience, against the backdrop of One Canada Square and Newfoundland, seven days a week, until the end of September. Since opening last summer, Canary Wharf has hosted thousands of swimmers as part of a growing trend for open water swimming. The activity continues to be a popular choice for those wanting to boost immunity, improve flexibility and relieve stress. Visit Love Open Water  for more info Rooftop Film Club Head to the Bussey Building for some family-friendly, daytime rooftop cinema screenings of kiddie classics, from  Wonka to Elemental , plus gorgeous views across London’s skyline. Everybody gets comfy headphones and deckchairs and you can order pizza, snacks and drinks to your seats. Dogs are also welcome, so the whole family can enjoy the Big Screen in the sunshine together. Rooftop Film Club , Roof A, Bussey Building, 133 Rye Ln, London SE15 4ST. Children welcome to family film showings before 5pm.  Navrtar VR Arctic Expedition Take the family on an Arctic expedition, without leaving London. They’ll learn about global warming in a whole, new way during the 60-minute experience, exploring the abyss of the Arctic; its icy tundras, hidden caverns and unique wildlife hidden in an extraordinary, underwater world. Guests in teams of six can teleport 100 years into the future to compare the effects of global warming. The sessions begin with a range of multi-player mini games to enhance the senses and test skills, before embarking on the Arctic expedition, exploring marine life and shipwrecks. Navrtar , Dickens Yard, Longfield Ave W5 2UQ. Prices from £32pp. Chelsea Physic Garden Kids' Workshops This glorious botanical garden never disappoints, and this month, their childrens’ workshops include meet and greets with friendly insects in different micro-habitats and making dyes, paints and pigments from plants to use in your own, artistic masterpieces. Chelsea Physic Gardens ,  66 Royal Hospital Rd, London SW3 4HS Japan: Myths to Manga at Young V&A Take a trip through Japan and explore how landscape and folklore have influenced Japanese art, technology and design, featuring a seal shaped robotic comforter, Hello Kitty paraphrenalia, draw your own Manga characters and learn nifty facts about Sylvanian Families toys being born out of hundreds-of-years old netsuke animal sculptures. Young V&A Museum, Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PA. General Museum access. Until 8 September. free . Immersive Lego Exhibition Aptly on Brick Lane, The Art of Brick brings its Lego masterpieces to London, following tours of more than 100 cities in 24 countries. The exhibition features artist Nathan Sawaya's Lego recreations of some of the world’s most famous artworks, from Michelangelo’s David to Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Among the wonders, visitors will also find a 6-metre-long reproduction of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton Kids (and big kids) can also make their own masterpieces at the play and build area. The Boiler House, 152 Brick Lane, London, E1 6RU. Until 14 July The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks Lightroom leapt inside David Hockney’s art for his jugggernaut of retrospective and now turns its immersive technology to space, with added Tom Hanks. The Apollo 13 star narrates the audio-visual experience, which offers a unique new perspective on humankind’s past and future voyages to the moon. Telling the stories of the Apollo missions in intimate detail, The Moonwalkers also provides an insight into the impending return of crewed surface missions by going behind-the-scenes of the Artemis programme, including interviews between Hanks and Artemis astronauts. If your own trip to the moon is unlikely, the immersive gallery promises the next big thing, with its tech-wizardy taking visitors on a voyage to our closest celestial neighbour. Lightroom , 12, Lewis Cubitt Square, London N1C 4DY. Until 13 October 2024. Tickets from £25 Dinosaur rEvolution South East London’s hidden gem, The Horniman Museum  launches its roarsome new dinosaur exhibition for February half-term. The show invites us to rethink everything we thought we knew about dinosaurs, exploring the relationship between dinosaurs and birds. It includes five large, animatronic models, a gaggle of fossil skeletons and skull casts, as well as touchable, detailed graphics by the acclaimed artist Luis V Rey, dress up, games, and more. It will also be your last chance to see its beloved, overstuffed, taxidermy walrus until 2026, when the Natural History Gallery  will reopen after a two-year refurbishment. Horniman Museum and Gardens , 100 London Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ. until 3 November. Tickets from £9 per adult and £7 per child. iFly Childrens’ Skydive Read our review here Anybody from the age of 3 to 103 can experience the superpower of flight at iFly , as long as they can comfortably wear a helmet. The instructors allow children to safely feel the sensation of an  exhilarating, 12,000 ft free-fall and flight,  without  jumping out of a plane. Along with watching the instructor perform a mesmerising  dance on air inside the vertical wind tunnel, your family can enjoy the extraordinary sensation of weightlessness, soaring around the glass tube and unlocking a core memory of their newfound super powers. iFLY London at The O2, Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX. Tickets and vouchers to fly can be purchased by clicking here  and are available from £69.99 per person Wizard Exploratorium Check out our review here.   Soho's magic-themed Wizard Exploratorium is a five-storey, geek wonderland, offering a 4D wand-making workshop, immersive trick shop and suitably magical afternoon tea encompassing tea brewing, molecular gastronomy, and technology. Wizard Exploratorium , 26 Greek St, London W1D 5DE Slimy Gootopia Sessions Slime is a gloopy rite of passage for every child - parents quickly learn the art of removing it from hair and unwitting pets and it’s up there with ice cream in the kiddie delight department. Enter stage left: Gootopia , which brings its gloopy joy to Brixton and Lewisham. The venues have shelves of ready-made slime, slime ingredients, activator, and their ‘goo-to-go’ slime vending machine. They also offer a range of activities and experiences for kids of all ages, including slime workshops, birthday parties, school science workshops, drop-in slime-making sessions and live slime-making demonstrations by goo alchemists Gootopia . Brixton and Lewisham locations. Pampering for all the family at Pan Pacific London Family activities that involve lying down and being pampered? Count us massively IN. Pan Pacific London  has partnered with luxury children’s brand Bonpoint , to create a unique offering for the hotel’s dedicated Wellbeing Floor. The first partnership of its kind in the UK, the duo have created a range of unisex skincare treatments and packages for children aged 6 – 16 years old, that provide an opportunity for parents to spend quality time with their children and teens and enjoy a spot of pampering. Pan Pacific Family Pampering , 80 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7AB. Treatments start from £100. Power Up at the Science Museum Following five successful runs, Power Up will make its permanent home at the Science Museum from July, allowing visitors to try over 160 consoles and hundreds of the very best video games, all year long. With the new Power Up annual passes, visitors can return whenever they fancy, to journey through the world of gaming. Experience the evolution of gaming – from classics such as Pong and Street Fighter to the latest PlayStation and Xbox – while discovering the science and history behind gaming’s most iconic developments. Power Up  Ticketed, daily passes: £10, annual passes: £15   . Age: 5+. Science Museum, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD Get the Kids Climbing the Walls Get the kids climbing the walls at London’s Parthian Climbing centre in Wandsworth. The 25,000 square foot beast combines climbing with lifestyle, thanks to its café, bar, gym, retail and co-working space. And it is the first indoor climbing facility in the UK to feature an exact replica of  The Titan  Olympic bouldering wall, which will be used at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. They offer a range of kids’ sessions and courses for ages 3 and up. There are instructors for little ones taking on their first climbing experience, as well as the National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme (NICAS) for a progressive syllabus. They also host kids’ parties, for 1.5 hours of climbing activities and games which are the perfect antidote to ‘Fun Freddie’ wrestling a balloon into a drooping sausage dog. Parthian Climbing Centre , 52 - 58 Garratt Ln, Wandsworth, London SW18 4TF Avora Family Experience Read our review Up an unassuming, Shoreditch street is a secret portal to another planet. And on school holidays and Sundays, you can take your kids for a well-deserved break from Earth, on planet Avora. Head here for our full review   of this worthy and otherworldly adventure, encountering scientists, mocktails, aliens, army villains and closing with a child-pleasing, farty finale. Avora: Family Immersive Adventure  5C, 127 Hackney Road, London, E2 8GY. Sundays, 12pm – 3:30pm. School Holiday weekdays. £24.50 per child (6-13) £29.50 per adult. The Gunpowder Plot at Tower of London Vaults Older children (12+) will be catapulted into the most exciting history lesson of their lives, in this explosive new, immersive experience, starring Harry Potter’s Tom Felton. Your mission is to go undercover and unmask the mysterious figures behind history’s most infamous plot. But when you’re surrounded by traitors, who can you trust? With surprises around every turn, descend into the vaults and experience a combination of live and digital actors, virtual reality and fancy pants technology like motion simulators and special effects, transporting you back to London 1605 in the heart of the Gunpowder plot. The Gunpowder Plot , 8-12 Tower Hill Vaults, London, EC3N 4EE Play Captain on a GoBoat River Picnic If you’re looking for somewhere to spend a genuinely relaxing few hours for parents and  children (plus dogs, if you have one) we recommend a GoBoat  trip. You can enjoy a picnic as captain of your own, electric boat through Canary Wharf, Paddington, Kingston, Thames Ditton or Birmingham. Check out our review of the GoBoat Canary Wharf experience HERE GoBoat UK , Open 7 days a week from 9am - dusk. Prices start from  £85 for 1 hour and  £125 for two hours on the  8-person boats. GoBoat Canary Wharf, 22 Churchill Place, London, E14 5RE Paddington Afternoon Tea Bus Tour Read our review Brigit's Bakery  launched the first, official Paddington Bear afternoon tea bus tour , celebrating the capital.The double-decker has built-in screens, so that Paddington and Mrs Bird can provide an animated guide to the tour, which includes some of Paddington's favourite landmarks, like Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park, Nelson’s Column, Downing Street, St. Paul's Cathedral, Borough Market, Green Park and Piccadilly Circus. The tour takes just under two hours, while you scoff treats including glittering shortbreads, designed to look like nibbled marmalade sandwiches, mini pizzas, smoked salmon and cucumber pretzels, turkey ham and cheddar or cream cheese and cucumber finger sandwiches and naturally, marmalade sandwiches. And for those who share the bear’s sweet tooth, the homemade sweet treats included a rice pudding studded with chocolate honeycomb, chocolate cupcakes crowned with Paddington’s chocolate paws, lemon meringue tarts, chocolate macarons and freshly baked scones with cream and jam. Brigit’s Bakery also provide vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and halal afternoon teas. Paddington Afternoon Tea Bus tour  Departs from Trafalgar Square, Wednesdays to Sundays. Prices from £45 adult, £35 child. Whizz Down The ArcelorMittal Orbit How about hurling your children down the world’s tallest slide? The 178m long ArcelorMittal Orbit  was the iconic landmark of the 2012 London Olympics and is now an attraction with three adventure experiences. Families can speed down the winding slide, abseil, or walk around the glass orbit at the top. You can also pretend it's a high-brow, cultural experience, because the orbit is also a sculpture by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond. And it beats the usual views of grubby swings and bins, because here you can check out the stunning views of Queen Elizabeth Park. To ride the slide, children must be at least eight years old and over 1.3m. ArcelorMittal Orbit , Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 5 Thornton St, London E20 2AD. From £10.75. Cutty Sark Rig Climb Experience Originally climbed when the ship first arrived to Greenwich in 1954, visitors can now recreate this, by clambering up the famous masts of the Cutty Sark.The Rig Climb Experience invites kids and brave parents to step up from the main deck onto the ship’s ratlines and climb up its top mast, as hundreds of sailors did during the Cutty Sark’s heyday. Once at the top, climbers will experience a controlled descent from the rigging. Participants will be rewarded with some of the best views in London, overlooking St Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard and Tower Bridge. Cutty Sark King William Walk, London SE10 9H Snot, Sick and Scabs at the Centre of the Cell Deliciously disgusting and sneakily educational centre in a futuristic, light-studded pod suspended above the laboratories of the Blizard Institute in Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Children can learn about the heart, teeth or senses, see scientists at work and enjoy their delightfully vile ‘Snot, Sick and Scabs’ session. Centre of the Cell,  4 Newark St, London E1 2AT Out-of-Hours at the British Museum Your little ones can walk in the footsteps of the ancient Greeks, Pharoahs or journey through the cultures of China at The British Museum's family-friendly, out-of-hours tours. Taking place between 8.50 – 10am, before the galleries are open to the public, you can beat the unsavoury crowds. And from 4 - 25 March, children can explore Roman history through Minecraft, create a Japan-themed family photo (11 March) and make mosaic masks inspired by the Aztec gods on 18 March. The British Museum , Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG. Under fives go free.  £16.50 for 5-15 year olds. £33 Adults Monopoly Lifesized Go big or go home… or straight to jail at Monopoly Lifesized,  an immersive, on-your-feet version of the classic, family game, played on a 15m x 15m lifesized Monopoly board. Enter the 4D experience and compete in challenges for your chance to buy properties. Stage a heist in Mayfair, compete against a clock to build some of London’s iconic buildings, solve a baffling murder mystery or step into the world of codebreakers. The 80-minute experience is suitable for kids from 9 and older and is open every day except Mondays. Monopoly Lifesized , 213-215 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 7PS. Tickets £49 pp Crystal Maze LIVE Experience Older children (from 8 onwards) can take on this immersive adventure, which brings the hit 90s TV show to life.Run around like mentalists, yell, complete a host of difficult challenges and end the game in a fetching, satin bomber jacket. Crystal Maze Live Experience , 22 - 32 Shaftesbury Avenue W1D 7EU Holiday to Space at Royal Observatory Greenwich Join Ted and Plant as they explore the Solar System in search of the best place to take a holiday in an intergalactic morning adventure, including a planetarium show and interactive workshop. Recommended Age: 3 - 6 yrs. Open 10am-5pm daily Royal Observator y Greenwich Park, Blackheath Avenue SE10 8XJ Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter?

The Capital's Unmissable Art Shows this July 2024 The two poster girls for women's empowerment, Barbie and Taylor Swift take over the art scene this July, with two major exhibitions. There's also a blockbuster Tate Modern show from the Godfather of immersive exhibitions, as well as the Glastonbury of the art world - The RA's Summer Exhibition - and Naomi Campbell's big V&A show. This month also sees powerful and provocative photography exhibitions, from a big Princess Diana retrospective, to Sir Elton John and David Furnish's photography collection, and a moving show about the journeys of displaced Ukrainian refugees. Naturally, there are also some wonderfully playful and immersive experiences, including Francis Alÿs' beautiful show celebrating child's play; a trippy journey through spiritual worlds, a celebration of art and sound, cartoonish hospitals, LEGO art, trips to the moon with Tom Hanks and a journey through Japanese art and design. So point your eyes at our top 20 London exhibitions this July and then take them there. __________________________ FREE Taylor Swift Exhibition Launches at V&A If there hasn’t been enough Swift mania engulfing your feeds, news and world, The V&A will launch a FREE Taylor Swift exhibition this month. Fourteen looks from the 14-time Grammy winner’s personal collection will be showcased, in the theatrical, T aylor Swift - Songbook Trail. The pop juggernaut’s career is traced through iconic costumes, accessories, instruments, awards, storyboards and previously unseen items, on loan from Swift’s personal archive. Taylor Swift - Songbook Trail , V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL. 27 July - 8 September 2024. FREE Barbie: The Exhibition The wonder doll (and society’s) evolution is charted in this luminous exhibition, which opened this month, to coincide with Barbie’s 65th birthday. Exploring her story through a design lens including fashion, architecture, furniture and vehicle design, her plastic-fantastic universe has engulfed the Design Museum, showing changing attitudes to women’s careers - Barbie has had more than 250 jobs -  race, sexuality, fashion and body image. Highlights include a rare first edition of the very first doll released by Mattel in 1959, the first Black, Hispanic and Asian dolls to bear the Barbie name, as well as dolls that reflect today’s diverse, multicultural society, including the first Barbie with Down Syndrome, the first to use a wheelchair, and the first to be designed with a curvy body shape. Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG. 5 July - 23 February 2025. Adult from £14.38. Children from £7.19 Francis Alÿs: Ricochets A new immersive exhibition celebrating the universality and ingenuity of play: Ricochets is the largest institutional show in the UK by internationally renowned artist Francis Alÿs in almost 15 years. For the past two decades, Alÿs has travelled the world to film the critically acclaimed series Children’s Games: from ‘musical chairs’ in Mexico, to ‘leapfrog’ in Iraq, ‘jump rope’ in Hong Kong, and ‘wolf and lamb’ in Afghanistan. Ricochets transforms The Barbican into a cinematic playground: throughout the exhibition, with multi-screen film installations focussing on children’s games. The Barbican , Silk St, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DS. Until 1 September Anthony McCall - Solid Light at Tate Modern The Godfather of immersive exhibitions, Anthony McCall brings his extraordinary, Solid Light show to Tate Modern on 27 June, inviting visitors to bring artworks to life through movements and interactions. Beams of light projected through a thin mist create large, three-dimensional forms in space, which slowly shift and change. As you move through these translucent light sculptures, you’ll create new, airy sculptures. Occupying a space between sculpture, cinema, drawing, and performance, McCall is known for his innovative installations of light. In 1973, his seminal work Line Describing a Cone redefined the possibilities of sculpture and this show is set to be the Tate’s next big blockbuster. Anthony McCall: Solid Light. Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG From 27 June to 27 April. Tickets £10 pp. Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy It’s the Glastonbury of the art world, with works by art titans and emerging artists in every conceivable medium and style, so there is something for everybody. This year, more than 1,200 artworks will spill out onto their courtyard and Piccadilly, coordinated by sculptor Ann Christopher RA and her committee of leading British artists and architects. Most of the paintings, prints and sculptures will be available to buy, with a number of works available for less than £250. Sales from the Summer Exhibition support the exhibiting artists and RA's charitable work in the arts. RA Summer Exhibition , Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD. 18 June - 18 August Suspended States at Serpentine Galleries For more than 30 years, Yinka Shonibare CBE has used Western culture to explore national identities. Suspended States is his first London solo exhibition in more than 20 years. It showcases new works, exploring how power affects sites of refuge, debates on public statues, the ecological impact of colonialisation and the legacy of imperialism on conflict. It includes two new major installations, like Sanctuary City, comprised of miniature buildings representing places of refuge, and The War Library, which is constructed from 5,000 books bound in Dutch wax print, representing conflicts and peace treaties. Suspended States. Serpentine South Gallery, London W2 3XA. Until 1 September. FREE. Entheon at Illusionaries  Illusionaries , Canary Wharf's new multi-sensory art space, invites us on a journey through three immersive rooms and installations, designed to engage the senses through soundscapes, animation, projection and colour. The UK premiere of the Entheon show sees international artists Alex and Allyson Grey explore the human condition, with kaleidoscopic pieces, showing the interconnectedness of the physical and spiritual worlds. Alex and Allyson are also the co-founders of Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM), a non-profit organisation dedicated to fostering creativity, spirituality and contemplation through art.  Entheon . Illusionaries, Crossrail Pl, London E14 5AR. From 14 June. NAOMI in Fashion at V&A The V&A will transform into the ultimate catwalk for a celebration of supermodel Naomi Campbell’s 40 year career, from 22 June. The show features more than 100 stunning outfits as well as iconic shots by some of the world’s biggest photographers, telling her extraordinary story and celebrating her creative collaborations, activism and far-reaching cultural impact. Victoria & Albert Museum , Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL. 22 June - 6 April 2025 Princess Diana: Accredited Access Exhibition The nation’s fascination with Princess Diana isn’t going away any time soon. And a new exhibition promises to give a behind-the-scenes journey through her life, via art installations and 75 life-sized photographs by her official photographers. They include the famous image of her sitting alone outside the Taj Mahal and the 'revenge dress' she wore the night King Charles admitted adultery. Her story is told through the lenses of Anwar Hussein and his two sons, Samir and Zak, her longest standing photographers, who share what they heard and witnessed during these iconic moments, in the accompanying audio guide. Princess Diana: Accredited Access Exhibition . Dockside Vaults, Ivory House, London E1W 1AT. 25 May - 2 September. Tickets: £17/adult, £15/child. Fragile Beauty  Sir Elton John and David Furnish are sharing their extraordinary private collection of more than 300 rare prints from over 140 photographers, for V&A’s new, summer blockbuster. The show features photographers including Cindy Sherman, Ai Weiwei and Robert Mapplethorpe and includes portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Miles Davis. It spans from the Fifties to the present day, covering the civil rights movement and AIDS activism to 9/11 and has eight themes, from the male body to fashion and celebrity. The show will be the gallery’s largest temporary exhibition of photography to date. Fragile Beauty : Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection in partnership with Gucci. Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL.  from 18 May to 5 January 2025. Tickets £20 pp. The Vinyl Factory: REVERB The Vinyl Factory explores the intersection of art and sound with a major new multimedia exhibition at 180 Studios. Bringing together more than 100 artists and musicians working across visual arts, music, film and live performance, the show features 18 installations, including audio visual pieces and sonic experiences. There will also be a chill out space to listen to vinyl, plus live performances, talks and UK premieres of many ambitious new artworks. The Vinyl Factory , 180 Studios, 180 Strand, Temple, London WC2R 1EA. 23 May - 28 September.  Jason and the Adventure of 254 Artist Jason Wilsher-Mills presents his major (and FREE) solo exhibition, which transforms the gallery into a cartoonish hospital ward, full of surreal humour and kaleidoscopic colour, exploring his experience of becoming disabled as a child. The joyful show is perfect for all ages - you are invited to touch everything. Highlights include a giant installation of a figure in a hospital bed, Seb Coe with a TV for a head, huge calliper boots and penny arcade inspired dioramas. Wellcome Collection ,  183 Euston Rd, London NW1 2BE.  FREE. 21 March - 12 January 2025 Polly Braden: Leaving Ukraine Polly Braden has used her camera to document the lives of women, children and babies scattered across Europe since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. And this deeply moving exhibition uses photography and film to share their extraordinary journeys, from job interviews, first days at school, trips to buy wedding dresses and poignant family reunions. Following four central stories, we see teenagers grow into young adults and babies into toddlers.  Foundling Museum , Brunswick Square, London.  £12.75. 21 and under go free. 15 March - 1 September Japan: Myths to Manga at Young V&A Take a trip through Japan and explore how landscape and folklore have influenced Japanese art, technology and design, featuring a seal shaped robotic comforter, Hello Kitty paraphrenalia, draw your own Manga characters and learn nifty facts about Sylvanian Families toys being born out of hundreds-of-years old netsuke animal sculptures. Young V&A Museum,  Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PA. General Museum access, free. Until 8 September Yoko Ono: Music for the Mind Spanning more than seven decades and featuring over 200 artworks, this is the UK’s largest exhibition celebrating Ono’s groundbreaking, multidisciplinary career, from the mid-1950s to now – including her years in London where she met her future husband and longtime collaborator John Lennon. It includes her Instruction Pieces, which you can interact with - shaking hands with a stranger through a hole; making a peace wish and tying it to a tree; drawing on a boat installation; completing tasks inside a black bag and playing chess with all-white pieces as well as her most famous pieces, like the banned Bottoms film and Cut Piece , where people were invited to cut off her clothing. Tate Modern , Bankside, London SE1 9TG.  Until 1 September. £20 per adult. Free for under 12s. Immersive Lego Exhibition Aptly opening on Brick Lane, The Art of Brick brings its Lego masterpieces to London, following tours of more than 100 cities in 24 countries. The exhibition features artist Nathan Sawaya's Lego recreations of some of the world’s most famous artworks, from Michelangelo’s David to Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Among the wonders, visitors will also find a 6-metre-long reproduction of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton Kids (and big kids) can also make their own masterpieces at the play and build area. The Boiler House , 152 Brick Lane, London, E1 6RU. Until 31 August The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks Lightroom leapt inside David Hockney’s brain for his juggernaut retrospective and now turns its immersive technology to space, with added Tom Hanks. The Apollo 13 star narrates the audio-visual experience, which offers a unique new perspective on humankind’s past and future voyages to the moon. Telling the stories of the Apollo missions in intimate detail, The Moonwalkers also provides an insight into the impending return of crewed surface missions by going behind-the-scenes of the Artemis programme, including interviews between Hanks and Artemis astronauts. If your own trip to the moon is looking unlikely, the immersive gallery promises the next best thing, with its tech-wizardry taking visitors on a voyage to our closest celestial neighbour. Lightroom , 12, Lewis Cubitt Square, London N1C 4DY. Until 13 October 2024. Tickets from £25 Direct from Graceland: Elvis Elvis is in the building - not Graceland, but Arches London Bridge. This retrospective of the King of Rock is bulging with 400 artefacts from his Memphis home, charting his humble beginnings and meteoric rise to fame. It includes  his prized Ferrari Dino, gold-plated telephone, jazzy, Vegas era jumpsuits, Aviators and iconic gold lamé suit. Super-fans can even opt for the White Glove Experience, to hold the gold microphone used in his 1969 Vegas shows, and his Gold International Belt. It’s easier than a trip to Memphis and has been such a hit, they’ve extended it until 14 April. Arches London Bridge ,  8 Bermondsey St, London SE1 2ER.   Until 1 September 2024 Tickets from £19.90 pp Frameless Immersive art experiences are beckoning us to leap into paintings all over the world, but Frameless is art immersion on steroids. Situated in Marble Arch, it is the largest, permanent multi-sensory experience in the UK. Boasting four, themed galleries - Beyond Reality, Colour In Motion, The World Around Us and The Art Of Abstraction - with some of the world’s greatest works of art exploding across the walls, floors and ceilings of a 30,000 sq ft space. You can step inside more than 43 masterpieces by 28 artists, including Kandinsky, Monet, Van Gogh, Klimt, Munch, Monet, Rembrandt, Dali and Cezanne with musical scores accompanying each brushstroke. Frameless , Marble Arch, London W1H 7FD, UK Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter?

Flavour Club Offers Sweet Sports-Free Pop-Up in Shepherd’s Bush  We’ve got the inside scoop on the sweet new Häagen-Dazs Flavour Club , offering free entertainment for those seeking an alternative to the summer of sport. They don’t like working on Sundaes ( boom-tish ) so this Friday and Saturday ( 12 and 13 July ) Häagen-Dazs bring a sports-free sanctuary to Westfield London,  featuring live comedians, DJS, a disco van, lawn games, chill out areas and all the ice cream. The Shepherd’s Bush pop-up is the London leg of the  Häagen-Dazs Flavour Club tour, with a gaggle of free entertainment, plus a Happy Hour from 3-4pm when they'll be handing out free Bites in Salted Caramel and Chocolate flavours, to enjoy during a special guest performance from Drag Race UK star, Vinegar Strokes  on Friday and Saturday. Team Ice Cream can then round off the evening with some sweet beats from DJ Sub Low on the rooftop of the pimped up ice cream van.  Mini cups will be on offer in flavours like Salted Caramel and Strawberry Cheesecake and official Häagen-Dazs Flavour Club merch will be on sale, including limited edition sports-style jerseys and scarves as a playful alternative to sports gear. It’s a cream come true for footie and tennis-avoiders, so don’t affogato put it in the dairy. Häagen-Dazs Flavour Club ,  Westfield London, Ariel Way, Shepherds Bush, W12 7GF. 12 and 13 July. 1pm - 6pm. Free entry. Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter