Winter Walks

Get some crisp winter air with a walk in some of London’s best green spaces.

Visit UNESCO World Heritage site Kew Gardens and explore the area, with a range of plants, flowers and wildlife, including conservatories, an arboretum, alpine houses and lakes.

Explore Hampstead Heath, the inspiration behind many famous films, books and poems. The Hampstead Ponds are great to walk around in winter – and are popular with swimmers in the summer months.

Regent’s Park offers something for everyone, including gardens, rowing boats on the boating lake, London Zoo and Primrose Hill. Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife – the park is home to over 100 species of wild bird and a population of hedgehogs.

Explore a bookshop

Warm up from the cold weather and immerse yourself in literature in a cosy bookshop.

Stanfords in Covent Garden is an iconic literary location where you can browse floor to ceiling bookshelves while enjoying a warm drink in the in-store café.

Step inside Daunt Books in Marylebone and you’ll feel transported to a bygone era with its stained glass windows and the Edwardian building it occupies. Although mainly travel books, Daunt is home to a range of genres for everyone.

Take part in Burns Night Celebrations

Celebrate the life and work of Scotland’s national bard with Burns Night in London. Across the city, restaurants and bars will be holding Burns Night events with classic dishes of haggis, neeps, tatties and Scottish whisky.

Events include a Burns Night Supper at London Scottish House, a Burns Night Whisky Tasting Evening with Glenlivet at Rotunda Bar and Restaurant, Epping Forest’s Burns Supper, while Scottish-themed restaurant chain Boisdale will also be hosting celebrations.

Celebrate Chinese New Year

Join the largest celebration of Chinese New Year outside of China on 26 January. Held in Chinatown and the West End, the celebrations include a parade, lion dances, Chinese street food and street entertainment in Trafalgar Square.

Visit the Natural History Museum

Shelter from the January weather and enjoy one of London’s best known and loved museums, the Natural History Museum.

Discover some of the world’s best wildlife photography at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, showcasing some of the most spectacular animals on the planet.

On 31 January, explore the museum after dark with the monthly Lates event. Chat with scientists, get a behind-the-scenes tour of the zoology spirit collection and have a dance at the Silent Disco – it’s a night not to be missed.