22 Things to do in Shoreditch That Are Cool, Weird and Totally Street

Explore London’s coolest neighborhood with these 23 things to do in Shoreditch. This East End neighborhood is hip, hoppin’, and it sure ain’t your Grandma’s London. Grandma’s London is full of old jewels, dusty Royal artifacts and dudes with ridiculously tall hats, but Shoreditch is having none of that. It’s a living, evolving neighborhood full of weird museums, street art, street food, markets and neighborly pubs.

Why These Things to Do in Shoreditch Are so Cool

Shoreditch used to be the industrial engine for London’s economy. Over time the East End has supported the brick and artillery industries (1600’s), weaving (1700’s), tailoring and rag trade (1800’s). Shoreditch’s complicated history includes successive waves of immigration, an economic underclass, Dickensian slums and Jack the Ripper.

But the neighborhood has always been an evolving community and there is now the emergence of a creative class in the East End. This creative class has brought street art, street food, markets and an energetic culture that makes the neighborhood a blast to visit. I prefer to stay in Shoreditch whenever I visit London and I spend a lot of time in the neighborhood seeking out street art, finding friendly pubs and seeing what that creative class has been up to.

If you want to do the same, this guide for what to do in Shoreditch will take you deep into the neighborhood and help you explore everything that’s cool, weird and tasty.

For more on the history of Shoreditch, check out this historical walking tour.

Cool Hotels in Shoreditch

Budget & Convenient: Point A Hotels

London is a pricey hotel market and Point A has managed to create budget hotels that are cool, well appointed and conveniently located in fun neighborhoods. They have two locations in Shoreditch. I’ve stayed at both and they’re each convenient for exploring the neighborhood with good access to the Liverpool street transportation hub.

The Point A Shoreditch is in a newer building on a more quiet street. The Point A Liverpool has a nicer lobby with a great outdoor seating area. Both have small but ingeniously designed rooms with all manner of little hooks and shelves that will store your stuff very efficiently.

Check reviews or book at Booking.com.

Amazing Lobby: Citizen M Hotel

Citizen M is a bit pricier and they also have small rooms. However, they make up for it with an amazing lobby. The hotel has a bar, games, co-working spaces and a ton of seating. The lobby had a buzzing vibe without being too loud. The hotel itself is very conveniently located near Boxpark, Shoreditch High Street and it’s surrounded by some beautiful murals. Check reviews or book at Booking.com.

Killer Rooftop Views: Montcalm Royal London House

There are several Montcalm’s located in or near Shoreditch. The Montcalm Royal London is actually located in The City near the Liverpool train station. They are a 5-star property with swank rooms and a killer rooftop deck with views of Shoreditch and The City. Check reviews or book on Booking.com.

Even if you don’t stay at the Montcalm, you should visit their Aviary Bar on the roof. It’s stuffed with comfy seating and great views. You can also find more killer views with this guide to finding them all over London.

Weird Museums in Shoreditch

Explore the Middle Class: Museum of the Home (formerly the Geffyre Museum)

The Museum of the Home was originally a 18th century almshouse and hospital built to support London’s East End economic underclass. It has been recast as a museum designed to illustrate typical London home life from the 1600’s to present day. It features a series of sitting and living rooms that demonstrate how daily life in London has changed over the centuries.

It might sound weird to tour a museum of living room furniture but I found that the format highlights the life of a typical Londoner. The museum offers a good counterbalance to the wealthy Royal history presented by London’s more popular tourist sites.

Tips for visiting: The nearest tube stops are Hoxton or Old Street. They are typically open Tuesday-Sunday and it’s free.

See (and Smell) History: Dennis Severs Museum

The Dennis Severs museum is one of the weirdest things to do in Shoreditch…nay in all of London. It’s less a museum and more of an art performance piece. Grandma’s historical home tour might visit some grand and polished manor house, but the Severs house is far more gritty and realistic.

Dennis Severs himself lived in the home and designed a series of rooms furnished to represent period living from 1724 to 1914, but the home’s authenticity goes way beyond the furniture. Severs never installed electricity or indoor plumbing in the home, preferring to live in the old school manner.

The tour is designed to make you feel as if you are lurking in the house while the residents are home. You’ll hear muffled conversations, see actual food on the table and smell aromas in the home as if it were occupied. Nothing is roped off, allowing you to closely study the set pieces. The museum meters visitation so there are never more than a few people in the house at any given time, giving you an opportunity to soak up the atmosphere.

Tips for visiting: You must book ahead. Normal tickets are £15 per person but they sometimes do special events with different fees. The closest tube stop is Liverpool.

Find Shoreditch Brick Lane Street Art

Street art tends to flourish in neighborhoods with economic adversity or an immigrant culture and Shoreditch is no exception. In the 1600’s, they made bricks on Brick Lane but now they make street art. Street art is still (sorta) illegal in London, so the pieces on Brick Lane and the surrounding area tend to have a furtive political edge. There is also a layered element to the murals where one artist might add to or cover up the work of another. Sometimes this is done in the spirit of post-facto collaboration but sometimes it is done as a statement of disapproval of the previous artist’s work.

The walls (and street signs and doors) are not sacred. You can visit the neighborhood once and then return a month later, and you’ll see something completely different. Wander the streets and alleys around Brick Lane and you’ll get an eyeful.

Tips for visiting: Get this thorough guide to street art on Brick Lane and suggestions for guided tours.

If you like immigrant inspired street art, check out San Francisco’s Mission, San Diego’s Chicano Park and Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhoods.

Exploring Shoreditch Markets

The best way to discover any neighborhood is on foot and one of the best things to do in Shoreditch is strolling the weekend markets. Saturday and Sunday in Shoreditch hops with markets featuring flowers, crafts, fashion, vintage items and antiques.

Shop and Eat: Spitalfields Market

The original charter for Spitalfields market was granted in 1682 and the site sits smack in the center of Shoreditch’s evolving history. Spitalfields started as a series of fruit hawker sheds, evolved into a thriving food market, outgrew itself, then went idle for awhile before being reborn in 2005 as part of an urban renewal project. The market is full of designers and makers selling fashions, vintage items, housewares and kitschy goods. There are also food stalls and several restaurants within the market.

The Paninni Gourmet (above) has hearty grilled Italian-style sandwiches…so good! The Department of Coffee has jet black filter coffee and muffin donuts that will satisfy your craving for both fat and sugar. Pilpel uses grandma’s falafal recipe for pitas and bowls that are heavy on vegetables and popping with flavor.

Tips for visiting: Open everyday 10a-5p, although there are more vendors on Saturday and Sunday. During the week, the food trucks are usually only open between 10-2. It’s located @Brushfield two blocks west of Brick Lane. The nearest tube is Liverpool street.

Smell the Roses: Columbia Road Flower Market

If flowers make you happy, then be sure to visit the Columbia road flower market. The road is blocked off on Sundays for plant and flower sellers. Hidden behind the market is a two block stretch of cute boutiques selling kid’s clothes, jewelry, sustainable designs and antiques.

Tips for visiting: Columbia road is in Hackney (10 mins walk north of Brick Lane). The market is open on Sundays from 8am-3pmish.

Wander Around: Brick Lane Markets

On typical London streets, the right of way does not usually favor the pedestrian. But on Sundays, Brick Lane closes to traffic for the Sunday Market. It’s a great way to wander the streets without fearing for your life. The street fills with pedestrians, baked goods, food stalls, used goods purveyors, crafts, jewelry, shoes and clothing. Hung over locals come out to fill up on lunch (with a beer chaser).

Tips for visiting:

• Brick Lane Street Market: located on Brick Lane- Hanbury to Buxton. The market runs Sunday from 10a-5p.
• Brick Lane Upmarket: located in the Old Truman Brewery right on Brick Lane. The market runs Sunday 10a-5p.

Browse Books at Libraria

Libraria is one of the coolest bookstores in London. It’s located just off Brick Lane on Hanbury. They have an usual approach in that they don’t shelve books by genre. Rather, they shelve the books using esoteric topics like “brain and being” or “ways of seeing”. It’s their way of encouraging browsing and stimulating serendipity.

The store also has a strong social ethic. When they are closed on Mondays, they loan out their store space to social service organizations helping recent immigrants with language and assimilation skills. Because, that’s what makes for a good indy bookstore.

Tips for visiting: Open Tues-Sat 10a-6p, Sun 11a-6p. Be sure to chat up the staff, they loving talking books and will be glad to help you find something interesting.

Shop Local: Hoxton Market

The Hoxton market is definitely a local’s market and if you are visiting the Geffyre on a Saturday, you should stop in because it’s only two blocks away. The market has used goods, baked goods, food stalls and an odd assortment of clothing. It’s not a tourist trap and it’s one of the most authentic things to do in Shoreditch.

Support Literacy: The Monster Supply Store

While you are there, please stop into the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Store. They offer “service with a snarl” and assorted snacks for feeding your monster. I purchased the “salt made from tears of anger” (smoked salt), but you can also feed your monster with “night terrors” (rainbow candies) or “impacted earwax” (caramels…I hope).

What’s really going on at the Monster Supply is a brilliant literacy program started by the author Dave Eggers in the US and perpetrated by Nick Hornsby in the UK. The organization inspires kids to become storytellers through literacy workshops. Sales of the night terrors and earwax help to support the nonprofit’s programs.

Tips for visiting: The Hoxton market is open Saturday 10am-4pm. The Monster supply store is open Thur/Fri 1pm-5pm and Saturday 11am-5pm.

Shoreditch Parks & Gardens

Pet Donkeys: Spitalfields City Farm

The Spitalfields City Farm is what you do in Shoreditch if you need to get your animal fix because they have a whole lotta farm animals on this tiny little farm. The farm was founded in 1978 as a way to give back garden allotments to people who had lost their green space to development. It has evolved into a demonstration farm with heritage breed animals, a flower and veg garden and play space for kids. It’s located just a few minutes south of the Nomadic Community gardens so you can easily visit both in one morning.

Tips for visiting: It’s free and open Tues-Sun 10a-4:40p.

Best Places to go in Shoreditch for Street Food

Grandma’s food tour of London might feature crustless cucumber sandwiches chased with a tipple of sherry served in an overly warm room crowded with doilies. Not so with Shoreditch, where the best food is served street-style, a la carte and “in plein air”. All of the markets noted above offer street food, but here are a few additional options for you:

Eat and Drink at Box Park

Box Park is a two story pile-up of shipping containers featuring pop-up retail stores and street food. The food offerings range from barbecue, burgers, pasta, Mediterranean, donuts and crepes. The Box Bar helps you wash it all down with beer and mixed drinks. I’ve had a deliciously filling mezze platter from The Athenian, a juicy burger from Black Bear Burger and the squash quesadilla from EDU.

The seating area is communal so you and your friends won’t be required to eat from the same booth–just grab what you want and meet up at one of the tables. The Box Park also has a lower level of permanent and pop-up retail stores featuring jewelry, clothes, gifts and eye wear.

Tips for visiting: They are open Mon-Sat 8am-11pm, Sunday 10am-10pm. The place is hoppin’ on weekends and check their schedule for events.

Pop-up food villages

There are several pop-up food truck courts that are semi-regularly located on Shoreditch High Street just north of Box Park. They all have street food, bars, whacky seating, games and loud music. You can get the full variety of street food there and they are a fun but noisy place to hang out and kill and afternoon. The Urban Food Fest is seasonal and runs spring through fall from midday to midnight. The Shoreditch Food Village runs daily 11am-midnight and Block runs noon to 11pm-ish.

Tips for visiting: Just head over to Shoreditch High Street (north of Bethnel Green road) and wander around. Check out all three food courts and pick the one with the best vibe, best bar or best pizza.

Eat at Old Truman Brewery and Ely’s Yard

The Old Truman Brewery has been repurposed from an abandoned brewery into a craft market and foodie scene. In addition to the Upmarket (noted above), they also have a weekend food hall and several fixed restaurants, but the real gem at the Brewery is Ely’s Yard. It’s located in the back lot of the Brewery and it hosts a handful of street food geniuses making hand-crafted fried chicken, pizza and jerk chicken. I had the fried chicken from Cluck Cluck. It took forever to get because it was made from scratch and came out piping hot. It’s the crispiest fried chicken I’ve ever had.

Tips for visiting: Ely’s is open everyday but the times for individual trucks vary. I’ve been there as late as 10pm and they were still serving.

Six Great Pubs in Shoreditch

The beer culture in Shoreditch was created in the 1790’s when the local workers were encouraged to “stay healthy” by drinking alcohol. Of course, the neighborhood was an open sewer slum so clean drinking water was unheard of. The process of brewing and the resulting alcohol was sufficient to kill off the bacteria from the bad water so the workers were encouraged to drink four beers a day. While today’s London does have potable water coming from the tap, there’s nothing to prevent you from immersing yourself in East End history with a pub crawl.

Pride of Spitalfields

The Pride of Spitalfields is a traditional East End boozer favored by residents of Brick Lane…but visitors can drink there too. They have a great selection of local beers and a snug interior that spills out into the sidewalk on warm nights. The owners of the pub run the bar along with their gigantic fat cat.

Tips for visiting: Located just off Brick Lane on Heneage street.

The Ten Bells

The Ten Bells pub is a Spitalfields institution named for the ringing bell of the nearby Christ Church Spitalfields. It was opened in the 1890’s and still has some of the original interior tiles. Drinking there can let you experience the darker side of London, because many of Jack the Ripper’s victims used to imbibe there. They specialize in pulled ales.

Tips for visiting: Located kitty corner from northeast Spitalfields market.

The Princess Pub

The Princess is located on a quiet corner near Old Street. They pride themselves on their food, offering a full dinner menu and a Sunday brunch. In addition to beer, they have a good wine selection and carry local gins.

Tips for visiting: Located just south of Old Street on Paul.

The Old Fountain

The Old Fountain is a cozy little pub in the western edges of Shoreditch. The pub doesn’t have a fancy history but it’s a very friendly local’s bar that stocks a huge selection of craft beers. Even though the bar is busy, the bartender will take the time to explain what they have on offer and help you select something delicious.

Tips for visiting: Located two blocks north of the Old Street tube station on Baldwin.

The Commercial Tavern

The Commercial Tavern is located on Commercial street, in the heart of the Brick Lane area. It’s a large, friendly place with an outside patio and a good selection of local beers on tap. It attracts a lot of locals in for a pint before taking the train home.

Tips for visiting: Go between 5-6, mingle with the after work crowd and strike up a conversation with a stranger…which is how I found myself having an illuminating conversation about street art with two complete strangers.

The Red Lion

The Red Lion is a surprising little spot just a bit east of Hoxton Square. They have a tiny indoorpub space right off the street which is the kind of spot where the old guys hang out and shoot the breeze. But if you take your pint up four floors, you can hang out on their huge rooftop deck. This spot is perfect for a warm days but beware, because if you want a second beer, you’ll need to go all the way back downstairs to get it.

Tips for visiting: Go when the weather is nice.

If you aren’t drunk enough yet, you can also check out the following pubs for good atmosphere and local brews: the Birdcage, the Well & Bucket pub, the Carpenter’s Arms, the Crown & Shuttle or the Fox & Anchor.

(Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that if you chose to purchase, I’ll get a small commission.) 

Three Great Guided Tours

If you aren’t sure where to start, consider having a guide showing you the best places in Shoreditch. Guided tours can be a great introduction to a neighborhood, giving you the basics from which you can later explore on your own. Here are a few cool tours in Shoreditch worth taking:

• 2.5-hour small group walking tour of Brick Lane street art and Spitalfields offering a good introduction to the neighborhood.
• Indian food features heavily on Brick Lane and this food tour samples Bangladeshi snacks and treats and includes a sit down dinner.
• Take a craft beer tour with Alternative London. The guy running the tours lives on Brick Lane and he know all the best pubs.

Explore several other neighborhoods with this alternative itinerary for three days in London.

Next time you’re in London, ditch Grandma and use this Shoreditch guide to find what’s cool and street in London. Have fun and happy trails.

Share these things to do in Shoreditch with your friends by pinning the article:

Get more Wayfaring Views and subscribe to the newsletter.