Remember that awkward moment when you’re holding a takeaway coffee and it’s raining sideways? The new rooftop gardens at places like Sushi Samba and the Sky Garden’s lesser-known cousin, Fenchurch Street’s 12th-floor terrace, have solved this. You can now sip an overpriced flat white while pretending you’re in a Wes Anderson movie. I tried it last week, and I spent a solid ten minutes watching a pigeon trying to steal a croissant—it was more dramatic than most Netflix shows.
Pedal-powered pub crawls are a thing now.
If you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could drink beer, exercise, and annoy tourists all at once,” you’re in luck. London’s new pedal-powered party boats are basically a bike-meets-barge nightmare for everyone else, but a hilarious time for you. I joined one near Camden Lock, and we had to pedal uphill—yes, uphill on a canal—while the guide yelled “PEDAL HARDER” like a pirate with a vendetta. My legs hurt for two days, but I also got to high-five a swan, so worth it.
If you prefer dry land, there’s a new underground walking tour of the city’s old sewers near King’s Cross. It’s weirdly educational. I now know that the Victorians built tunnels to avoid smelling themselves, and I can’t stop telling people this fact at parties. You’ll come out smelling like history—and maybe a little damp.
