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London has never been very good at standing still. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, the city quietly reinvents itself - opens a new museum, restores a Victorian market, launches a bus that turns into a boat, or decides you should now be able to channel your inner chimney sweep from Mary Poppins and walk on rooftops. Here are a few things coming up in 2026 that have caught my eye - and might just take your fancy too.  Smithfield Market: a museum comeback story Coming to the historic Smithfield Market at the end of the year is the first phase of the new London Museum (formerly the Museum of London), which boldly claims it will “reconceive what a museum could be.” The mind boggles! This glorious Victorian market complex closed back in the 1990s, so it’s wonderful news that it’s being brought back to life as the new home for the museum’s vast collections, after it outgrew its London Wall site and closed in 2022. The General Market Building will open later this year, showcasing the museum’s permanent collections. The Poultry Market will follow in 2028, housing collection stores, learning spaces and major temporary exhibitions. Smithfield, it seems, is finally getting its second act.  The 2026 French exchange In July 2025 France and England signed a historic loan agreement. In return for some treasures from across all four nations from the UK, including some chess pieces, the British Museum will receive the 70m long Bayeux Tapestry, which is essentially an embroidered cartoon from 1066 depicting the Battle of Hastings. The tapestry is due to go on show at the British Museum in the autumn and will be the first time that it has been shown in the UK since it was made, almost 1,000 years ago. It’s expected to be one of the museum’s most popular exhibitions ever, so prepare to queue!  Is it a boat? Is it a bus? No it’s the duck tour! I’m all for encouraging people to step off the tube and explore London above ground, so I was delighted to hear that the amphibious ‘duck tours’ are officially returning to London this year. Fifteen years ago, these bright yellow bus-boats were a familiar sight, trundling through the streets before splashing into the Thames. They were forced to close in 2017 when their launch site was swallowed up by Thames Water’s super sewer works. Dates for the official launch are yet to be announced, but worth keeping a look out for! Talking about transport… Londoners love to complain about its transport network (that and the weather), but the city wouldn’t function without it – and there are some intriguing developments on the horizon for 2026. These include a trial of self-driving cabs across 20 London boroughs, the possible pedestrianisation of Oxford Circus, and the arrival of the new Piccadilly line trains. Expect walk-through, air-conditioned carriages, more capacity, double doorways, real-time digital displays and a smoother, more energy-efficient ride. No confirmed dates for any of the above yet - so try not to get too excited  Grosvenor Square’s glow-up After more than 300 years of quietly minding its own business (and watching Mayfair strut past), Grosvenor Square is having a glow-up. And this is not just any makeover. This multi-million pound transformation marks only the fourth redesign since the 1720s - proof that even London’s grandest addresses like to reinvent themselves every few centuries. Now managed as a public garden on a not-for-profit basis by Grosvenor Property UK, the new Square is due to open this summer. Designed as a natural haven for wildlife and habitats, it blends historic design with modern eco-thinking, and beauty with biodiversity, creating a place where residents and visitors pause and reconnect with nature. I, for one, can’t wait to visit. V&A East Museum - opening April 2026 The long-awaited V&A East Museum opens its doors on 18 April 2026. More than a decade in the making, this new branch of the Victoria & Albert Museum will be a cornerstone of the East Bank cultural quarter in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Conceived as part of the legacy of the 2012 Olympics, the project takes inspiration from South Kensington’s post-Great Exhibition boom and the South Bank after the Festival of Britain. The museum will feature two free permanent Why We Make galleries, displaying over 500 objects spanning global art, architecture, design, performance and fashion. Its first temporary exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story, explores 125 years of Black music-making in Britain. The exhibition will feature Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar, fashion worn by Little Simz and newly acquired photographs by Jennie Baptiste, Dennis Morris, Eddie Otchere and Sam White, as well as a partnership with BBC Music and East Bank. Up on the roof at Ally Pally Opened in 1873, Alexandra Palace, or Ally Pally, as it’s affectionately known - is getting a brand-new perspective in 2026. From 14 February, visitors will be able to take part in the Ally Pally Rooftop Adventure, the UK’s highest roof walk. Guided group and private tours will run at different times of day, from sunrise climbs to sunset and after-dark London lights experiences. It’s open to families, couples and anyone with a head for heights (or a taste for adventure). Booking slots are already available - and the views, I’m told, are rather spectacular.  Fancy going a bit deeper?
If all this has whetted your appetite for more London stories, allow me a small plug. This year I’m launching the Curistorian Club - a series of intimate evening events celebrating London’s history and culture. Each Curistorian Club night takes place on the last Tuesday of the month, upstairs at The Devereux, a cracking pub tucked just off Fleet Street. I host the evenings and invite two London experts along, one with a historical angle, the other more cultural, to share their specialist knowledge or chat it through with me. The first two events are already sold out. You can find out about future events here! If you like your London stories told in person, in a pub, by people who really know their stuff - I’d love to see you there!
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 Step into the (Muddy) Shoes of a Mudlark.You probably already know that the 95-mile stretch of the Thames from Teddington to Southend is tidal. But did you know that twice a day, when the sea water dramatically retreats, the river can drop by up to seven metres (23 ft)? And did you know there’s a whole band of people whose happy hobby is to scour the exposed riverbed in search of fragments from London’s past? These fascinating folk are called ‘mudlarks’ and some of the remarkable treasures they’ve uncovered over the years are now on display at the 'Secrets of the Thames’ exhibition at the London Museum Docklands, running until 1st March 2026. I’d genuinely recommend a visit. I’ve had a soft spot for the Thames and its mudlarks ever since I met my first one, Nicola White, back in 2015. That was shortly before I walked the entire length of the river, from the North Sea to the Source. Another adventure I’d recommend, if your knees are up to it.  I’ve been itching to see the exhibition since it opened, and I wasn’t disappointed when I finally popped in last week. It’s an absolute treasure of an exhibition - pun fully intended. And if you’re quick and you time your visit right, you’ll even get to meet a mudlark or two in person. They’re in attendance on Tuesdays and Sundays until 21st December. When I was there, Sean Clarke (a mudlark) who came on a walk with me a few months ago, was at the exhibition showing people his collection of finds, which included Roman dice and also 17th century trade tokens.  Mudlarking: London’s peculiar but popular pastime. Historically, 'mudlarks' referred to some of the poorest Londoners, sadly, often children, who searched the Thames riverbeds for anything they could sell to survive. Today’s mudlarks have uncovered all sorts of extraordinary finds from Bronze Age swords, Roman jewellery, Tudor clothing accessories, and even neolithic human skeletal remains. Doesn’t it make you want to don your marigolds and get down there? If so, you’ll need a permit, and there are currently 10,000 people on the waiting list. Turns out it’s not just me that’s got a burning ambition to roll my sleeves up and rummage for relics.  London’s liquid history London owes its very existence to the Thames - from the Romans settling here 2,000 years ago, to the reason medieval London prospered. In the early 20th century, politician John Burns called it London’s ‘liquid history’ – a term I’d love to have coined myself, but sadly can’t take any credit for.  I’ve devoted a whole chapter to London’s rivers in my book, ‘Why is Downing Street Painted Black? And 364 Other Fun London Facts’, but you should definitely visit the exhibition and step into the shoes of a mudlark, uncovering the artefacts and secrets of London and all its people – past and present. Check out this link to discover some of the highlights from the exhibition. If you visit the exhibition, then I’d love to hear what you thought of it!   |
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