5 Crazy Fun Things That We Bet You Didn’t Do Last Year In London

Tabby Powell-Tuck • 28 December, 2015

Out with the old and in with the new, that’s our motto here at Secret London. Don’t waste your time repeating mundane activities from 2015: January has got a few gems in store to kick 2016 off to a stellar start. Here’s a little taster…

1. See the city in a new light at the London Lumiere Festival

To do away with all the post-Christmas blues, the London Lumiere Festival will be lighting up the city in a spectacular fashion for four nights in January. Dozens of artists will descend upon the city, curating fantastical light installations in King’s Cross and the West End that will transform London into a dazzling beacon of hope for 2016. The event has been a massive success in Durham and Londonderry but this is the first time it’s happened in London so we’ll pretty happily bet our lives on it that you won’t have seen anything like this before.

14-17 January 2016

2. Visit London’s most extraordinary buildings

You may read about these too-good-to-be-true places on Secret London but how many have you actually been to before? Start with our list of the 7 Most Extraordinary Places That You Won’t Believe Are In London and make your way through all of them. If you do just one a month, you’ll be finished by July (by which time we’ll have provided you with some more hidden gems to discover, no doubt). You’ll visit the incredible Hindu temple in Neasden, as well as an 18th century grotto and a Japanese oasis in the centre of West London! Free your mind and embrace the diversity of this special city that we live in.

3. Go for Taiwanese brunch in Peckham

Hallelujah, PRAISE THE LORD! South London will be the new home of our favourite Taiwanese in town. Opening in January 2016, Mr Bao, the Soho restaurant’s cooler older brother, will be serving all your favourite steaming pork buns, stuffed with everything from pork to ice cream! The new set-up is also promising special Taiwanese-inspired cocktails (think lychee, green tea and elderflower flavours), as well as a brunch menu on the weekend. Bao + Brunch = our dreams officially made.

Mr Bao opens in January 2016 at 293 Rye Lane, SE15 4UA.

4. …Or try a Pig’s Head kebab at Kingly Court…

Move over burgers, there’s a new bad boy in town and he’s about to get the London treatment. Introducing Le Bab – or as we like to call it, posh kebabs. Aiming for a “kebab renaissance”, this new restaurant set to officially open in Kingly Court this January, will be serving up seasonal skewers like you’ve never seen before. The winter menu includes daredevil meats, such as the Roe Deer Shish (sorry Bambi) and the rather brutal sounding Rare Breed Pig’s Head sharing plate. You certainly won’t have eaten food like this last year. This ain’t no Saturday night kebab shop.

Le Bab opens officially in January 2016 at Second Floor, Kingly Court, W1B 5PW.

5. Get the travel bug at the Adventure Travel Show

Okay, admittedly this one has been going a few years (ahem, did anyone say 20th anniversary?) but it’s the perfect thing to do to brush away the January blues. The large-scale show is held in Olympia and offers anything and everything to get you in the mood for travelling. With stands from tour operators, volunteer services and tourism representatives from all over the world, as well as over 100 free talks, The Adventure Travel Show is for anyone that has that urge to explore. Booking is recommended and you may want to stay away from your bank card for the next following days. There are no guarantees that you won’t be making some spontaneous flight bookings afterwards…

23rd and 24th January 2016, see their website for more info.

Featured Image Credit: The Adventure Travel Show

Tags: january, new year