Summer in the City 2025
7 April 2025
Plan your City Living stay this summer
The English summer season is packed with events intended to reward us all for our patient hibernation, bringing us together to experience something special. Summer 2025 is no exception and with something for everyone depending on your passion, below is just a small selection of what London has to offer this year:
The Reunion
– Some thought this would never come - and it still might not given the brothers’ fractious relationship - but Oasis will be playing 7 stadium concerts in the Wembley suuuunshiiiiiiinnnnne between July and September for a nostalgia fest after a 16 year hiatus
The Queens
– Not only Beyoncé but Gaga are coming to London. Mrs Carter will be playing 6 nights in June at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Lady is set for 4 nights at the O2 across September and October
The Fringe event
– prefer your music a bit more underground? The Brick Lane Jazz Festival returns over 3 days in June, showcasing a huge range of new and established acts across a range of local intimate venues
One for the Geeks
– Olympia will host Tech Week in June; a huge hothouse of new tech seeking to solve the world’s biggest problems. The range of exhibitors is huge and you may even get to meet Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web
For Foodies
– Taste of London food festival comes to Regent’s Park offering five continuous days of feasting in June. Masterclasses are on offer as well as a chance to purchase direct from artisan suppliers and plenty of cocktail opportunities.
For Designers
– Clerkenwell Design Week takes place over 3 days in May with the usual plethora of talks and events as well as hundreds of brands and emerging talent exhibiting their latest offerings. A feast for the eyes with plenty of high quality options for you to rest your legs in style too by testing out one of the many chairs.
The Perennial Classic
– ah the Chelsea Flower Show; it just works. Held in the vast grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, this veritable institution is televised for the BBC and never fails to deliver. Its scale has to be seen to be believed. Warning: has the power to convert even the most reluctant gardener.
The Grand Master
– with the full programme not yet announced until late April, expect an eight week season of daily orchestral classic music concerns set in the Royal Albert Hall. “Prommers” can expect the pinnacle in the famous “Last Night of the Proms” which traditionally celebrates patriotic music of the United Kingdom. Pick up a “Day Promming” last minute ticket for just £8.
The Decadent Option
– for some of the most impressive set and costumes you will ever see, The Royal Opera House is a distinguished cut above the competition. Offering a range of both opera and ballet performances, this summer’s highlight is a deal with the devil; Faust runs from the 23rd of May to the 10th of June 2025.
The Niche
– tagging onto the end of the season to such an extent that it is almost off season, The Lapada art and antiquities fair returns to Mayfair’s Berkeley Square at the end of October. Exhibitors cover nearly every discipline across the art and antiquities spectrum, meeting strict knowledge and expertise requirements with highly vetted wares only. Browsing essential, purchases optional.
The Warm Up Act
– tickets to Wimbledon can be virtually impossible but the lesser subscribed Queen’s Club Tennis Championship takes place just before in June. Head over to West Kensington to assess the favourite’s form played on grass.
For Children
– a lovely venue in the heart of one of the Royal Parks; Regent’s Park’s Open Air Theatre is showing Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile (The Musical) in August and September. Bring an umbrella.
The Tragedy
– Shakespeare’s rarely performed Troilus and Cressida is showing at the Globe Theatre in September and October this year. A Greek tragedy about tired heroes who no longer live up to their mythic narratives and who knows when we might get another chance.
The History
– Back by popular demand, the South Bank’s Olivier Theatre is bringing back Michael Sheen to tread the boards as “Nye”; the story of Aneurin Bevan who spearheaded the genesis of the NHS and after whom the not so glamorous aneurism was named.
The Comedy
– it shouldn’t be funny but it is; The Book of Mormon continues its run at the Prince of Wales Theatre in the West End. Expect jaw dropping irreverence and a certain crisis of faith.
Each of these events is between 2 and 60 minutes' travelling distance from each of our 7 centrally located buildings.
View more
Journal
Bloomsbury has a strong academic and literary history and is, of course, home to the British Museum. As you would expect, there are various restaurants catering to tourists that are best avoided if you want a good meal out. Here is our guide to some of the best choices within a 15 minute walk of Virginia House. My Old Dutch is a pancake restaurant on High Holborn. Aside from a multitude of sweet options, they have a surprising selection of savoury options too. If you imagine the sort of toppings you might get on a pizza but instead on a large crêpe then you get the right idea. Absolutely every dish is customisable and they also have a really good salad menu. Reasonably priced. Cocoro on Coptic Street serves hearty bowls of authentic ramen, sashimi and hot pot in an izakaya setting. We love the display food so typical of Japan to help you choose your dish. Flight Club Bloomsbury is more of a social bar that serves food. After a competitive game of darts (yes, darts!) tuck into a sharing platter or a burger. A particularly good spot for groups and located on New Oxford Street. Uzumaki on Gt Russell St is an immersive anime restaurant where you can eat a lovely bowl of brothy ramen, admire the amazing character mural and then exit via the gift shop. Eggslut is just off Tottenham Court Road on Percy Street. It is messy food to eat but the sort of place where you want to eat without conversation so that you can concentrate on the food’s comfort. Everything is set within a sandwich and honestly it’s the best place eat when you are particularly starving. Make your choice and apply to face. The Life Goddess is a Greek deli restaurant on Store Street serving healthy fare such as giant butter beans, kleftiko and crispy liver. A great spot for lunch or dinner with limited outdoor seating. Honey & Co have two local spots; one on Store St and another on Lambs Conduit Street. It offers a modern menu with a Middle Eastern influence. They have a decent breakfast menu and a generous sharing menu for lunch or dinner. Fortitude Bakehouse is not a restaurant and, aside from some sandwiches, they mostly serve delicious pastries and filled doughnuts, sorry, "beignets", in a converted mews garage. All food is to take away and there is some outdoor seating but it’s really very good and has become an internet sensation which is why it is included here. Be prepared to queue unless you get there very early. Located just behind Russell Square underground station. Ciao Bella on Lambs Conduit St is an old fashioned Italian restaurant that has been there for years. It is not the kind of Italian that centres around pizza and pasta but an actual Italian restaurant with actual Italian food on the menu like actual Italians eat.
Temple is a riverside legal district sandwiched between Covent Garden and Blackfriars. Unless you are in the legal profession or follow the Knights Templar, you may not have heard of it. It can be tricky to find the right places to eat locally as many of the local eateries are grab and go sandwich bars so please find our recommendations which are no more than a 10 minute walk from Eldon Chambers. Where any establishment is closed on any particular day of the week we have tried to indicate that below. Firstly, The Humble Grape is a great little place located in the crypt under St Bride’s Church. It is a wine bar with a really good food menu that includes small plates or a massive Tomahawk steak for two. Closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Barrafina on Drury Lane is another lovely option if you like eating up at the bar. You must have the Estrella Galicia on draught which is so hard to find in the UK (the bottled stuff is in supermarkets) and then remember that anything with an “x” in it like txistorra is from the Basque country and so is particularly good. Ditto anything Galician and remember that croquetas are always superb. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese dates back to the 17th century and is the famous waterhole of Charles Dickens, Samuel Johnson and Mark Twain although not necessarily at the same time. Enjoy beer battered cod and chips, steak and kidney pie or (if you want to stay awake after your meal) perhaps the Chop House Salad, all at reasonable prices. They offer a fabulous cheese board but perhaps the best choice is their warm kosher pork(free) scratchings. Located down a tiny alley just off Fleet Street so look for “Wine Office Court” in Google Maps. Franco Manca St Pauls is a great place for a quick bite at reasonable prices. They offer gluten free options as well as lovely salads. Toklas is a Mediterranean restaurant with an in house bakery with choices which include peaches with green beans and almonds, rabbit cacciatore and Amalfi lemon sorbet. Closed Sundays. Sarastro is an Italian restaurant on Drury Lane. The sense of theatre comes from the décor as well as the food and they often have live music either in the form of a Latin singer, string quartet or live opera. Never a dull moment here. Rules Restaurant is an incredible 200 year old institution that has the power to give you goosebumps if you are a James Bond fan (it’s where M meets Q and Moneypenny in Spectre). It also features in the script for Downtown Abbey. In real life it has been a literary destination for many an actor and author but it’s the sense of going back in time that makes it so special. Understated, unpretentious, uncompromising you either get it or you don’t. Have a look at the website and if a slice of Old England looks like your thing then get yourself booked in. The food, cocktails and service are very, very good indeed old boy. Smith and Wollensky is an American steakhouse on John Adam Street. Lovely surroundings and great food. Zizzi the Strand is a decent Italian chain located nearby with a good children’s menu. Old Bank of England is a converted pub in the old law courts of the bank. Enjoy ham, egg and chips or a burger for a quick bite on Fleet Street.
