Brick Lane is an iconic street in East London, best known for it’s hippy/street culture and alongside numerous markets, vintage shops, and curry houses, thanks to it’s large Bangladeshi community. Street art is everywhere- and it’s pretty incredible too!
There are many independent coffee houses for coffee enthusiasts, as well as a lot of vegan food places to dive into. I first discovered Brick Lane in East London over 10 years ago when it was a predominantly Bangladeshi community. It feels much more hipster nowadays and has a more artistic vibe to it.
Although busy on a Sunday, this is an excellent day to explore the markets and street food on offer. There’s so much choice from jerk chicken, Asian noodles, pulled pork buns and delicious gnocchi- most have samples to try too ๐
So here are a few things to do on Brick Lane starting from the Aldgate side and ending up at Shoreditch…
Whitechapel Gallery
If you’re into art then at the top of Brick Lane and next door to Aldgate East tube station is Whitechapel gallery. This is a great thing to do on a budget as the gallery is free and it’s contemporary art is ever changing. Although some exhibitions I find a little too contemporary, you can find some really interesting exhibits. Killed Negatives- Unseen Images of 1930s America was really interesting for me as I love that old black and white photography.
Street Art
Brick Lane has some awesome street art so I spent some time wandering around, off to a few side streets and snapping the talented art work of the local graffiti artists. If you like street photography then its heaven! Everywhere you look there’s something arty to photograph.
Check out the side streets
The streets just off from Brick Lane are quite interesting themselves and are always appearing on Instagram. The old brick buildings give a kinda of Jack the Ripper type feel about the place and you can just fell the history of previous generations. There are some pretty cool and colourful houses to check out here.
Vintage shops and Quirky Hangouts
As you wander down the street you will see many hipster and retro shops from vintage clothing and jewellery stores, huts selling jerk chicken to beigel shops, chocolate shops and bakeries.
Not forgetting the cereal killer cafe, a nostalgic place selling all your favourite cereals from when you were a child (mostly 90’s-00’s). There’s also a bookshop, barbers, the Brick Lance gallery and lots of arty shops.
Booking.com
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Have a Curry!
If you find yourself in this part of London then you cannot miss having a delicious curry- it would be a crime not too! There are numerous curry houses and food markets along Brick Lane, with all the restaurant staff standing outside trying to lure you in. I decided on a curry place called Aladdin as it has supposedly been recommended by Prince Charles himself!
There was a lunch special on which consisted of a starter, main and side for ยฃ10- pretty good deal! I sat right by the open window so got the chance to people watch at the same time! The food was good although the korma was a tiny bit bland but overall pretty decent for the price.
Vintage Markets
Check out the indoor market at the Old Truman Brewery which is huge, The Backyard Market and the Brick Lane Vintage Market. For anyone into vintage and quirky clothes then there are some old and unusual finds to be had here. If you are looking for a bargain or to find something different from the high street then this place is perfect- especially to find those high wasted Levi shorts for summer!
There is also a vegan market and the Tea Rooms open on weekends, selling handmade goods and what I found really interesting, old maps of London. The Sunday markets are busy but sell delicious food.
Grab a coffee
The are so many independent coffee shops in the area so if you’re a coffee snob like me (thanks Australia!) then you will really appreciate the quality of the beans. There are so many around- check out this app. It tells you where the good coffee shops are in London.
Nomadic Community Gardens
This was a special find and I’m so glad I came across it. What used to be an abandoned and derelict area has now been turned into a crazy cool hangout for the locals. Everyone comes together here and in between small allotment patches of pretty flowers are sofas, benches, graffiti, crafty artwork and sculptures with many different sections. Every corner I turned around there were a different group of people hanging out and chatting in the sunshine.
Although it’s local and quite alternative it’s also very welcoming and you can just happily wander through. I got talking to some of the local guys who were sitting down and they told me to come on Sundays as there is live music, lots of people, food, drinks, etc and a real community vibe.
So that takes us to the end of the street and seeing as I’ve only mentioned a fraction of what you can do here the next thing to do is check it out yourself! Whether a local or tourist it’s worth a visit to get a different perspective of London as opposed to the usual ‘tourist’ sites.
Hope you enjoyed this post on things to do on Brick Lane. Know any other things to do in the area? I would love to hear your comments below.
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