From the Magazine
Idle Thoughts
Idler Academy
The History of the English Garden with Tim Richardson
Arts, Crafts & Husbandry
Join art critic and garden historian Tim Richardson for his illustrated tour of the English garden and discover the art and politics that have influenced its evolving style over four centuries.
Forthcoming Events
The Idler Gardens of Florence Retreat SOLD OUT
7 Sep 2026 | Retreat
Retreat to Florence and Chianti with the Idler and discover some of Italy’s most important landscape gardens hidden in this magical city and the countryside of Chianti around it.
Umbrian Harvest Retreat
31 Oct 2026 | Event
A celebration of the food and drink of Umbria with talks from our special guest, economist Guy Standing
Idler Egyptian Retreat, November
16 Nov 2026 | Event
Join the Idler for a retreat to little travelled Middle Egypt as we explore the ancient Egyptian hermetic philosophy that has influenced Western thinkers from the Renaissance to today.
Idle Beekeeping Day
10 Oct 2026 | Event
A fascinating and fun day out in the English countryside for everyone interested in bees, this day course with four beekeeping tutors will be especially useful for those of you who would like to get started in beekeeping the idle way.
Join the Idler
- Six issues delivered to your door
- Save 17% on shop price
- Access to digital edition, website paywall and archive
- Free entry to online events
- Subscriber-only newsletters
- Free copy of Idle Thoughts by Tom Hodgkinson, worth £8.95
£49.95
Digital
- A year’s worth of digital edition of Idler magazine
- Access to website paywall and back issue archive
- Free entry to online events
- Subscriber-only newsletters
£29.95
Academy
- A year’s unlimited access to 80+ Idler Academy courses
- A year’s worth of digital edition of Idler magazine
- Access to website paywall and back issue archive
- Free entry to online events
- Subscriber-only newsletters
- Option to add Print magazine
£69.95
Slow down. Have fun. Live well.
We publish a magazine seven times a year and run retreats and a festival. Our school, The Idler Academy of Philosophy, Husbandry and Merriment, comprises of an ever-growing set of online classes and courses. With us, you can learn about Socrates and the history of London, take a meditation course, discover the latest science on psychedelics, and get to grips with psychoanalysis, Jane Austen or the ukulele.
Libertas per cultum
Our Latin motto means “freedom through education” We believe that fulfilment and pleasure come from learning and laughter. That’s why we encourage everyone to slow down, have fun and live well.
“Wide-ranging, always interesting, and the perfect thing to read in the bath,”
India Knight, Sunday Times
“My bible for living,”
Emma Thompson
“The Idler’s appeal and relevance seem to increase by the day,”
Michael Palin
“The Idler offers me the chance to learn about everything that really matters and a respite from what we are told really matters – like working hard for your boss,”
Dominic West
“The Idler is a small, brilliant but perfectly formed magazine that celebrates loafing about and learning the art of living… eccentric, kind, curious, convivial and radical without being hectoring,”
Cosmo Landesman, Spectator World
“The absurd, apparently useless or bizarre concerns of the magazine – Latin, ukuleles, handwriting – have over the years given me a deep joy bordering on the religious,”
Sally Phillips