November 2024:
Bradford: UK City of Culture 2025
Next year Bradford will be crowned UK City of Culture 2025. Championing the city’s diversity and its people, the celebration has been endorsed by leading homegrown creatives such as artist David Hockney, magician Dynamo and singer Zayn Malik. Kicking off in January, Bradford will host more than 1,000 new performances by local, national and international creatives including 365 artworks, as well as festivals and live music shows – many of which will be free. To celebrate 80 years since the first Moomin story was published, Bradford will be one of four English destinations to host brand-new Moomin80 public artworks. In the autumn, the annual Turner Prize will head to Bradford’s Cartwright Hall Art Gallery to showcase the most exciting new developments in British art, in the year the UK celebrates the 250th anniversary of JMW Turner’s birth. And during the Railway 200 anniversary year, The Railway Children theatre show heads to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (16 July – 7 September) – the location where the iconic movie was filmed – with audiences traversing this historic railway on a steam train before watching the new performance at a purpose-built auditorium. Also, keep an eye out for the new biopic TV series Gandhi, which was filmed in Bradford. Other city developments for 2025, include new dining hub Darley Street Market opening its doors (spring) and music venue Bradford Live and the Bradford National Science and Media Museum unveiling fresh renovations including improved accessibility.
Jane Austen’s 250th birthday
Jane Austen was born in Hampshire on 16 December 1775 making 2025 the 250th anniversary of her birth. Next year, Austen 250 events and experiences will entice Brits to revisit Austen’s era-defining novels, along with their iconic film and television adaptions, and the places that inspired them. In Bath, don your bonnet for three Austen-themed gala balls complete with Regency dance lessons (May, June and December) – while Jane Austen’s House in Hampshire will host festivals, pop up talks and writing workshops year-round. There will be Austen exhibitions at Bath’s No.1 Royal Crescent (July – November) and Winchester’s Gallery in The Arc (July – November). And for the first time ever, Austen’s schoolroom in Reading will open to visitors (April – October), as will No. 8 College Street in Winchester (June – August), where she spent the final few weeks of her life. With the new four-part BBC drama Miss Austen being released in 2025, this anniversary is a great opportunity to explore England’s famous literary and filming locations associated with the renowned author’s work.
200th anniversary of the modern railway
200 years ago on 27 September 1825, the world’s first steam-powered passenger train travelled on the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The anniversary will be celebrated with Railway 200 festivities all over England in 2025, kicking off with the New Year’s Day Whistle (1 January) with heritage locomotives across the nation sounding their whistles, horns and bells in unison at noon. Railway 200 events and attraction launches include York’s National Railway Museum reopening its Station Hall (spring), Stockton and Darlington Railway’s S&DR200 festival (March – November) and new exhibition Fuelling the Railway Revolution in County Durham (from June). 2025 will also mark the 60th anniversary of Worcestershire and Shropshire’s Severn Valley Railway which will host steam galas, diesel festivals and special events, and will see the launch of a new neighbourhood located by Stoke railway station – Goods Yard – set to become a major socialising and dining destination for locals and visitors alike. Meanwhile, in June the Britannic Explorer, A Belmond Train will become England’s first luxury sleeper hotel traversing London, Cornwall and the Lake District with fine dining, spa treatments and spectacular views. With scenic rail routes across the country linking cities, towns and villages, along with quirky railway attractions – from full-service restaurants in vintage train carriages to heritage steam train driving experiences – England continues to live up to its name as the birthplace of modern rail travel.
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025
Come on, Lionesses! The world’s elite women’s rugby teams will go head-to-head at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, at arenas all over England (August and September). Games will take place in Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Exeter, London, Manchester, Northampton, Sunderland and York – giving fans the chance to see top teams in action in some of England’s top city break destinations.
Bites for all budgets
England’s thriving dining scene continues to inspire travellers, with VisitEngland’s Domestic Sentiment Tracker* revealing that close to a third (32%) of UK holidaymakers say a top holiday activity in early 2025 will be trying local food and drink. And we have a huge range of new foodie openings this year: from fresh street food markets in Bristol, Birmingham (Society Birmingham and Boxpark), London’s St Paul’s and Derby, to the launch of Gordon Ramsay’s latest restaurants on the 61st, 60th and 59th floors of London’s 22 Bishopsgate – Europe’s highest new dining spot (February). In Manchester, members can enjoy fine dining at the new Soho House (early 2025), or feast on street bites in STACK’s trendy market (spring). Elsewhere in the north, Hairy Biker Si King will launch new takeaway restaurant PROPA! in Sunderland early next year and Bradford’s Darley Street Market will open its doors in spring during the city’s reign as Capital of Culture. Also in spring, phase one of the new Cotswolds Designer Outlet will open featuring fashion and lifestyle brands as well as bars, restaurants and street food festivals, whilst in Kent wine lovers can savour the first ever sip of Domaine & Evremond vineyard’s sparkling vintage and experience its new winery and visitor centre. In the West Midlands, Judith’s in Stratford-upon-Avon will host new rum tastings from February. For something a little different, go calvados tasting at The Angel Inn, Suffolk (April), or toast a fruity kir royale on an e-bike tour of White Heron Estate – a family-run Herefordshire cassis farm (April).
Amazing new attractions and events
Major openings for 2025 include the modern masterpieces of Tate Liverpool (autumn), V&A East Storehouse in London (May), the new-look Power Hall at Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum (summer) and the £40m transformation of Hull’s Maritime City with two new attractions (spring and autumn). Cultural must-sees in the capital include the new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in Clerkenwell, the Museum of Shakespeare in Shoreditch and the inaugural SXSW London festival (June), featuring top creative talents and speakers from across the globe. Elsewhere in the country, a new £5 million planetarium will launch at Sherwood Observatory in Nottinghamshire (January) and the Schwarzman Centre for learning and culture will open in Oxford (autumn). Come summer, Kylie, Oasis, Coldplay and Scissor Sisters will be headlining concerts all over the nation and colourful sculpture trails will pop up in Hull, Bristol and Gloucestershire, while Portsmouth will be adorned with rainbows as it becomes the host city for UK Pride 2025 (June). With Lonely Planet recently naming East Anglia as one of its top global destinations for 2025, now’s the time to explore the characterful towns, lush countryside and unspoilt coastlines of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire – and from spring 2025 you’ll be able to access Norwich Castle’s Keep for the first time in history, which will offer impressive vistas of the city and its other medieval marvels.
Wellness and nature experiences
England has a wealth of new ways to put a spring in your step: from yoga and meditation (and wine aplenty) on Three Choirs Vineyards’ wellness weekends (January), to Pilates and breathwork at Swindon’s inaugural Wellbeing Festival at STEAM Museum (February). Hop on the hot sauna trend at Lancashire’s Hidden Hills Glamping, whose cabins will all feature private saunas (January) or splash out on the two-storey hydrotherapy suite at Mayfair’s Cambridge House (winter). Wellbeing Escapes’ new retreat at Tofte Manor will be a pick-n-mix of restorative experiences, featuring Qi Gong, yoga workshops and bedtime sound baths (March) – while Tudor Farmhouse Hotel will debut new journalling and mindfulness tours in the Forest of Dean (June). For a breath of fresh air, explore the Lake District and Yorkshire on the newly designated Coast to Coast National Trail (late 2025), meaning improved accessibility and higher maintenance and environmental standards, whilst wheelchair users in Nidderdale, York and Selby can access free accessibility info packs for action-packed days out. Whether you’re discovering Leicestershire’s ‘lost’ stories on the new Bosworth 1485 Trail (spring) or joining the 20th Malvern Walking Festival for guided hikes and nature trails (May – June), there are lots of new ways to explore the great outdoors.
Top hotel launches
From shepherds’ huts to city havens, a vast range of new hotels will open across England next year. In the capital, look out for the deluxe Six Senses London (spring), Dorsett Canary Wharf (spring) and The Newman (summer) – while in June, The Chancery Rosewood will bring five-star flair to the former US Embassy in Mayfair. Elsewhere, other hot properties include Treehouse Hotel Manchester (early 2025), Northumberland’s Bailiffgate Hotel in Alnwick (April) and Hotel Gotham in Newcastle (early 2025). Lots of new hotels are going green too, from Zeal Hotel Exeter’s energy-saving smarts (January) and the 25-mile menu at THE PIG-on the Farm in Stratford-upon-Avon (autumn), to exclusive discounts for guests who use public transport to reach Hertfordshire’s Bethnal&Bec Luxury Stays (spring). In Lancashire, you can look skywards from the hot tubs at Hidden Hills Glamping (opening in January), while Beamish in County Durham and Chester Zoo in Cheshire will be launching accommodation – your chance to bed down in a Georgian-style cottage or a cabin overlooking the snoozing giraffes.
England starring on screen
Calling all film buffs and TV lovers; England’s landscapes and landmarks take a starring role for 2025. Maybe The Salt Path (April) – based on Raynor Winn’s best-selling novel – will inspire you to hike the South West Coast Path, which will see a new visitor centre open in Plymouth (summer). Or perhaps you’ll track Tom Cruise to the Lake District, where he shot daredevil stunts for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part II (May)? Birmingham sets the scene for the hot new Peaky Blinders film, while Netflix’s adaptation of The Thursday Murder Club was shot in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire (both release dates TBC). And in February, the Bridget Jones films will reach their finale with Mad About the Boy – a love letter to London, as its haphazard heroine returns to her roots. Also next year, Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College celebrates 100 years as a film location: to mark the occasion, it will offer special themed tours.
More all-star anniversaries
Beyond the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth and the 200th year of the modern British railway, London-born artist J.M.W. Turner will also turn 250 in April with celebrations including Margate’s Turner Contemporary gallery displaying the Turner painting Margate Beach from February 2025 and West Yorkshire’s Harewood House bringing together the work of two British icons for the first time for Austen and Turner: A Country House Encounter (2 May – 19 October). In the capital, the Greenwich Royal Observatory will mark its 350th year, honoured by the launch of a three-year regeneration programme which will include new galleries, refurbishments and accessibility improvements and the London Eye will turn a comparatively youthful 25 years old in the spring. The New Forest will celebrate its 20th year as a national park, while Bristol will mark 10 years since it became the first UK city to be awarded European Green Capital status making it the perfect time to leap into its vegan dining scene, vintage emporiums and trailblazing hydrogen-powered cruises. In Yorkshire, the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales will host their 10th Dark Skies Festival (14 February – 2 March), featuring night cycling tours, astrophotography workshops and dark sky safaris – a chance to stargaze in expert company. Finally, UNESCO, the UN’s cultural conservation organisation founded in London, will blow out 80 candles on its cake. To celebrate, visit one of England’s 19 UNESCO-listed treasures, such as Stonehenge, the Lake District or Derby’s Derwent Valley.
