In a global city like London, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a day with little to do. While the colder weather may entice you to stay indoors as the winter draws nearer, the splashes of warm autumnal colours carpeting the city’s streets, parks and gardens invite you to explore and experience the very best that call London home. Don’t hibernate indoors – you will regret missing out on everything happening across the city in October and November.
Celebrate A Cacophony of Culture this October
As the UK’s biggest celebration of local and international cinema from the past year, the 63rd BFI London Film Festival brings together a plethora of stories and perspectives crafted to touch and resonate with the emotions that make us human.
Spread across venues throughout the city, the programme is an eclectic mix of short films, features and documentaries that’ll have you laughing out loud, holding back tears or on the edge of your seat as well as everything in between. For the cinephile within, the screen talks, red-carpet premieres and DJ night events add another dimension beyond the silver screen.
While the NFL London Games may be winding down for the year, diehard footballs fans are already deep into the 28th season of the Premier League which sees Manchester City defend their championship title.
With 5 London-based teams competing for the premiership this year, you’ll be able to find matches dotted across the city’s stadiums. It’s an experience unlike any other and whether you’re into the sport or not, the rapturous applause of football’s most devoted is enough to get the blood pumping and you out of your seat cheering along.
For the foodie within, London Restaurant Festival is the perfect introduction to the city’s bubbling gastronomic scene. As one of the world’s most multicultural cities, the chefs at the helm of London’s best kitchens, carefully craft dishes that offer a diverse mix of flavours that will tantalise and excite any palette.
When the sun sets and you feel in need of an experience that fuses both warmth and buzz, London Cocktail Week is there to showcase the best of city’s local bars and breweries putting a spin on classic beverages that you’ll find yourself devouring before ordering another.
Ring in the Festive Season this November
As the quintessential autumn event that is sure to bring a bit of sparkle to the oft-dull cooler nights, Bonfire Night means a glittering array of firework displays to light up the London sky.
With the main firework action taking place on the 5th of November, head south towards Blackheath which attracts huge crowds for a reason as the celebrations spill out into the streets. In the north, Alexandra Palace not only provides its own celebratory display but also a panoramic view across the city, ideal to see the glittering fireworks exploding throughout London.
As the year moves closer towards the festive season, it’s time to bring out the scarves and woolly hats as London comes alive with the glow of Christmas displays across the capital.
Oxford Street and Regent Street are transformed into spectacles of merriment and cheer with glorious golden angels, falling snowflakes and innumerable miles of lights lining the streets. Expect the switching on ceremony on November 14th to be accompanied with events for the whole family.
A flurry of festive ice rinks spring up in some of the city’s most iconic attractions and whether you have the skills to pirouette like a winter Olympian or find yourself clinging to the side for support, you’ll be sure to find a rink in London for you.
Illuminated by over 100,000 spellbinding lights, the ice rink at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park provides enough space for you to find your rhythm while the rollercoasters, Christmas markets and fairground rides are there for those who get their thrills off the ice.
The ice rink at the Natural History Museum may be London’s most enchanting with the 19th century, Alfred Waterhouse buildings and cascading fairy lights hidden amongst the trees providing a picturesque backdrop.
At its centre stands a towering yet majestic Christmas tree and from the comfort of the indoor café bar, you’ll be able to enjoy the icy display with the warmth of some spicy mulled wine.
Beyond the Christmas-themed events, November marks the arrival of the ancient past to Chelsea’s Saatchi Gallery with the opening of the Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh Exhibition.
Having captured the world’s attention and imaginations since their discovery in 1922, the Egyptian antiquities that dazzle with an air of mystery and glitter with an extravagance of gold are making one final stop overseas before their permanent display in Cairo’s Grand Egyptian Museum.
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