15 Things You Must Do In East London
To say you’re going to tour central London in one day is quite a big crack, so we thought we’d make your tour hopping a little easier and highlight the best of East London (it soon comes to light that touring London by postcode areas and tube lines is the way to go!)
1. Slide down the world’s longest & tallest tunnel slide – ArcelorMittal Orbit
Known for its design by sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor and engineered by Cecil Balmond, the ArcelorMittal Orbit is one of the legacies of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic games situated in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford. But it’s not there to just admire from far, take the lift up 80m into the air and admire a 360 view of London and all its infrastructure from the viewing platform, before racing down to the bottom via the tunnel slide. Tickets are sold at the box office or are also available to pre-book online to guarantee entry!
2. Spending Sprees at Stratford Westfield
Located about an hour away from Romford central, Stratford is home to 1 of 2 Westfield’s in London (the other being White City Westfield), and is a day trip in itself! With over 250 stores to explore including Jaeger, Mulberry, Hugo Boss and other big labels, over 65 restaurants, one of the largest Vue cinemas across Europe and even a bowling alley and casino – you’re sure to find something to suit everyone. Tax free shopping is also available at Westfield and parking is always plentiful with 3 car parks being situated around the shopping centre and Stratford station being a few minutes’ walk away.
3. Wind down on top of a car park
At Roof East in Stratford. Holding a series of bars and street-top food vendors, open air cinema and event space – Roof East is definitely a way to spend your summer in East London. Making the most of being in London – an industrial site at the best of times, Roof East utilised recycled pallets and scaffold boards to maintain and bring to life this urban rooftop car park lounge! Keep an eye on opening times however, as they aren’t around until May 2018!
Location: Stratford Multi Storey Car Park, Great Eastern Way, London, E15 1BB
4. Visit Gerry Raffles Square in Stratford
Most known for being land space to Theatre Royal Stratford (the other iconic red theatre building that isn’t the Moulin Rouge), and surrounded by restaurants, bars, shops and other cultural art centres, Gerry Square provides a family friendly night out in Stratford located just by Westfield and Stratford High Street Station.
Location: Gerry Raffles Square, London. E15 1BN
5. Indulge in chocolate cocktails and street art around Brick Lane
Brick lane being known for its ‘completely out there’ and well known artwork along every twist and turn in the street and plenty of Instagram photo opportunities against a variety of backdrops, also houses a tucked away chocolate shop. But this isn’t just any chocolate shop – how about having a ‘choctail’? yes, you read that right. With liquor chocolate shots and more available alongside your normal cocoas and chocolate to take away, be sure to drop by and sample some of their amazing chocolate concoctions!
Address: 124-126 Brick Lane, London, E1 6RU
6. Buy a salted beef bagel from Beigel Bake
It’s becoming quite known for this one bagel, even though it’s been serving Brick lane fresh bread abd bakery goods since 1974! However their salted beef bagel is their gem, as well as rainbow bagels too – but being a 24hr bakery definitely gives them an advantage to being a longstanding business within London!
Location: 159 Brick Lane, London, E1 6SB
7. Experience The Shard – in more ways than one!
Known for its stunning 360 views of London, The Shard has been most popular for marking those special occasions in all forms! But now there’s a new experience to undertake as if immersing yourself in London’s culture from up above wasn’t quite enough. Take part in the UK’s highest virtual reality experience from The Shard in 2 ways: experience travelling up to 100mph on ‘The Slide’ that sweeps through the city skyline on an extreme multi-sensory ride or overcome your fear of heights on ‘Vertigo’ – experience seeing the building fall away leaving you to make your way across on the early stages of The Shard’s infrastructure and construction links. Tickets for all experiences of The Shard can be bought online – we recommend pre-booking to save on the pocket! If the Shard wasn’t enough – you can also see the city skyline from One New Change, St Paul’s Cathedral, The Monument & the iconic London Eye.
8. Visit the Tower of London & London bridge
Throw yourself back in time with a visit to the Tower of London & Tower Bridge. Wander around the gardens and gems of the crown, head down onto the pier to admire the cityscape before heading out to Tower Bridge, and take it to another extreme of booking on for the exhibition tour and experience the all glass walkways with added Virtual Reality experiences available too! Find out more information and pre-book tickets online now.
9. Wander around the old Spitalfields Market
Home to various market traders, artists, pop up shops and other amazing instagrammable restaurants and bars alike, Spitalfields market is one to visit! Having a variety of art and cultural events throughout the year and stall holder events too, Spitalfields is the perfect place to pick up surprising quirky little finds from everything contemporary to vintage and old-school gems!
10. #throwback to your childhood days at the V&A Museum of Childhood
The world’s finest collections of children’s toys, doll houses, games, costumes and so much more – the Museum of Childhood (after a recent revamp) shines brighter than before and brings to light all of our old favourite pastimes. Bringing back those memories from anything childhood related since 1872 including ‘Incredibles’ figurines with puppets and the Barbie collection, the museum has loads of hands-on stuff for kids dotted across the artefacts as well as a café upstairs.
Location: V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 9PA | Free Admission Opening Hours: 10am – 5:45pm daily (last admission at 5:30pm)
11. Grab food from boxpark in Shoreditch
Boxpark is the world’s first pop up mall based in Shoreditch (and Wembley & Croydon too), fusing modern street food, cocktails, fashion and more shopping within one mall – with the concept design being around shipping containers! With over 15 restaurants and bars to choose from, events on the regular and being so closely located to Shoreditch high street tube station – it’s a must go on your visit to East London!
Location: 2-10 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6GY
12. While you’re in Shoreditch, catch a movie at the electric cinema
You know how we all get frustrated at those irritating plastic seat dividers in most Vue or Odeon cinemas? Well, Electric Cinema took into all of our considerations and brought about London’s luxury cinema – think leather armchairs and footstools with cashmere blankets and pillows with cute little tables to hold your drinks. With a fully licensed deli-bar and coffee station on-site, go all out on a cinema trip in pure style in Shoreditch.
Location: 64-66 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, London, E2 7DP
13. Go crazy on driving ranges at TopGolf, Swingers & Junkyard Golf
Ever fancied your hand at crazy golf or just simply letting out the 9-5 rat race life steam? Well we’ve got our top 3 golf courses for you to hit up!
Swingers merges crazy golf with street food and cocktail bars and nightly DJ’s to make it the perfect place to unwind after work, in a form of complete de-stress!
Topgolf Chigwell brings competition to the driving range with food and drink on site. Choose from 5 different game plays to compete against other range goers and walk away with a belly full of food & some healthy competitive scorecards!
Junkyard Golf – well, think, junkyard precisely! The home of crazy golf, cocktails and well, all things junk foodie like! On a mashed up 9-hole crazy golf course in 4 different forms, rave it out weekly with the venue having flashing lights, UV lights, loud music & good food. Golf party anyone?
Swingers golf: 8 Brown’s Building, London, EC3A 8AL
Topgolf Chigwell: Abridge Road, Chigwell, IG7 6BX
Junkyard Golf: Dray Walk, Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL
14. Indulge in British summertime in Victoria Park
Good old Victoria Park – home to some of London’s greatest festivals like All Points East and Lovebox across the summer, but provides the people of London with a blast of greenery in the ever-growing concrete jungle! With the V&A playground equipped with swings and other amazing child-friendly parts, the pools playground encouraging creative play and wildlife scattered around the park, catch the hustle & bustle of London throughout the park on a wind-down across the year.
15. Wander Canary Wharf and it’s corporate life from their rooftop garden
It’s not just known for the likes of KPMG, Citi and HSBC – Canary Wharf actually has some of the best underground shops located just underneath the towering bright buildings – with a selection of shops, bars and restaurants – including One Canada Square restaurant overlooking the cityscape and a rooftop garden that provides an indoor jungle at the heights of London, Canary Wharf brings about the best of London during the day and night from the 9-5 professionals to food lovers and long exposure photographers to capture some of the city’s best shots by night.
