You’ve ridden the Eye, toured the Tower and seen the Square. So what’s new to do London?
London continues to reinvent itself with these fresh attractions while still maintaining its iconic landmarks. The travel experts at GO Airport Shuttle offer these options worth exploring for tourists seeking experiences beyond the traditional central London sights.
New Cultural Venues
Sadler’s Wells East which opened in February of this year at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, is a high-tech 550-capacity dance theater showcasing experimental contemporary works. Part of the East Bank Development, the venue offers a destination venue for dance companies around Britain to tour to the capital while also hosting international choreographers, with performances developed at Stratford going on to tour the UK and world.
A standout feature is “The Dance Floor,” a public performance space in the light-filled foyer offering free activities for everyone, including dance classes, takeovers, and open dance sessions, offering a platform for community groups and guest artists.
The venue has been named “#1 Best New Thing To Do In The UK for 2025” by Time Out.
The newly opened Soho Theatre Walthamstow took over the former EMD Cinema in Walthamstow and features an exciting lineup of cabaret, comedy, and plays.
This 960-seat venue brings the best of Soho Theatre’s acclaimed program to a larger audience featuring national and international acts covering comedy, cabaret, theater, and patio. The venue is expected to host comedy stars like Rosie Jones, Larry Dean, Olga Koch, Desiree Burch, Phil Wang, and Catherine Bohart.
The building itself has a rich history, having opened in 1930 as a 2,697-seat cinema that was reportedly frequented by Alfred Hitchcock. It later served as a concert venue hosting legends like The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, John Coltrane, and Buddy Holly before closing its doors to the public in 2003.
Beyond performances, the venue offers heritage building tours and cross-borough events such as a two-day film festival celebrating Walthamstow’s contribution to cinema. For its first year, the venue is offering 15,000 tickets at £15 (or less) for local residents.
Opening in May, 2025, the V&A East Storehouse expands the Victoria & Albert Museum’s presence to East London with new exhibition spaces and collections. As part of East Bank, the new cultural quarter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, this working store and free visitor attraction will house over half a million works spanning every creative discipline.
Visitors can take self-guided tours featuring experiential installations and over 100 small, curated displays embedded into the collection stores. This unique museum experience invites exploration of why and how objects get collected by museums, how they’re cared for, and the stories they tell.
Later this fall the space will open the free David Bowie Centre housing David Bowie’s archive of 90,000+ items, recently acquired by the V&A through the generosity of the David Bowie Estate, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, and Warner Music Group.
Pop-Ups & Special Events
Returning after a six-year hiatus, the Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta is a breathtaking event featuring colorful balloons gliding past iconic London landmarks like Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Tower of London, and Tower Bridge as part of a charity initiative.
This official ballooning event of the City of London functions as an aerial extension of the historic Lord Mayor’s Show. Each year, up to 50 hot air balloons take flight across central London, raising both awareness and funds for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, raising millions of pounds for charities and good causes. This year’s Appeal includes issues like mental health, social inclusion, and education.
The 2025 Regatta has three standby dates: Sunday, May 11th (which is coming up in just a few days), Sunday, July 20th, and Sunday, July 27th. The event will proceed on the first date where the weather conditions are suitable.
While London’s status as a food destination is debatable, foodies won’t be disappointed with Tasca at Cav, a restaurant and wine bar that operates as a year-long residency at Câv, a newly opened wine bar in Bethnal Green.
Tasca at Câv combines innovative Iberian cuisine with carefully selected wines and cocktails in an atmospheric setting beneath the railway arches of Bethnal Green. The venue’s name translates to “cave” in Spanish, which alludes to its location at Paradise Row in Bethnal Green and hidden under the railway arches and dome-like interior.
Tasca’s small-plate menu is largely influenced by Portugal and Spain with signature dishes including the jambon beurre gilda and cachorrinho sandwiches, raw Orkney scallop bilbaina, Cristian Parra black pudding, aged duck empada, and Brixham crab with pepper butter and leek. Sharing is encouraged!
Tasca’s residency at Câv began in early 2025 and will continue until March 2026.
London is one of the world’s most vibrant and diverse cities on the planet, offering rich culture and history, iconic landmarks, world class theater and entertainment, offering countless reasons to visit. Check back here for future installments covering what’s new in London’s other neighborhoods.
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