The summer heatwave edition

For something that feels like stepping into a Slim Aarons photo, book a private launch from Cliveden’s boathouse. You’ll drift down a lesser-seen stretch of the Thames, just outside the M25, aboard a restored vintage cruiser. Picture polished wood, chilled champagne and views that haven’t changed in a century. Routes can take you toward Windsor or Bray, but honestly, the point is to slow right down. Add a picnic packed by Cliveden’s kitchen (Yorkshire puds, caviar blinis, the works) and you’ve got a day that’s part ritual, part indulgence.

Early mornings at the Heath feel cinematic - water still, light soft, the city not yet awake. By midday, especially on weekends, it’s a shoulder to shoulder affair, you will want to avoid that. The men’s, women’s and mixed ponds each have their loyalists, but all offer the same cool, slightly bracing calm. Go early, go midweek if you can, and treat it like a reset. There’s nowhere else in London that feels so elemental, or so far from the noise.

Live jazz played slow as the river curves. These Thames river cruises aren’t loud, but they’re atmospheric - horns and bass echoing under bridges as the city passes by. Ideal at golden hour, glass in hand. It’s not pompous or brash, but more wholesome. One of those evenings where nothing happens, and that’s the point.

Feels like you’ve stumbled onto a country estate. The woodland’s dense, the grass goes forever and there’s a swimming lake with sand - perfect for a dip or some paddle boarding. It’s a hidden gem that opened not long ago, so make the most of it before it gets busier.

Far below the Mayfair hum, Claridge’s spa feels like a secret. Designed by André Fu and scented like stone and stillness, it’s one of the few truly cooling sanctuaries in the city. Go midweek, ask for the cold plunge after your treatment, and let the marble do the work. For those who find most spas too loud, too bright, or too busy, this one understands restraint.

If you’re hosting something intimate this summer the Orangery is worth a call. Tucked inside Holland Park’s Kyoto Gardens, it’s one of the city’s most quietly cinematic spaces: pale stone, tall windows, and birdsong for atmosphere. Shaded, open to the elements, and rarely seen by the masses. No footfall, no influencers, just a moment of civility that feels borrowed from another time.

Strauss’s Salome arrives at The Barbican on July 18, as the London Symphony Orchestra and Antonio Pappano present a concert staging led by Asmik Grigorian - a role debut that’s already drawing serious critical heat.

No President lands at Queen Elizabeth Hall this week. A surrealist, off-beat satire from Nature Theater of Oklahoma blending Trumpian absurdity, ballet shoes, and philosophical theatre with anarchic charm.

The King’s Tour Artists opens at Buckingham Palace with 72 works from Charles’s private collection. A quietly majestic look at art created on royal tours, running daily through the heat.