Favourite local attraction
You voted: Brick Lane!![Brick Lane area](/topten/media/myqmul/images/brick-lane-area-1.jpg)
Brick Lane and the surrounding area comes out on top for your favourite local attractions. This isn't surprising, since the area is now extremely popular with London’s young and edgy crowd. There's plenty to see here, including galleries, restaurants, markets and festivals throughout the year! Why not explore all of the weird and interesting street art that characterises this trendy part of the East End?
What else is there to see?
Local markets
There are plenty of local markets offering a range of exciting and bespoke goods:
Broadway Market – Here you will find independent shops, pubs, restaurants, cafés and stalls offering amazing fresh produce, authentic street food, and some of the most original clothing, arts and crafts in London.
Spitalfields – Spitalfields Traders Market, Spitalfields Arts Market and the Market Street shops offer cutting edge fashion and interiors, original artworks as well as independent shops, cafes, bars and award-winning restaurants.
Borough Market – This is London’s oldest food market, serving the people of Southwark for 1,000 years. You can find genuinely exceptional produce, often produced by the stallholders themselves!
Columbia Road Flower Market – Why not take a leisurely Sunday stroll down Columbia Road when it transforms into an oasis of foliage and flowers. Everything from bedding plants grown by the flower sellers themselves to 10-foot banana trees imported from around the world are up for grabs – perfect for finding those ideal plants to add some vibrance to your student house.
Mile End Art Pavilion and Ecology Pavilion
Looking to exhibit your art or admire that of others? Nestled in a grass bank overlooking a small lake in Mile End Park, The Mile End Art Pavilion is a gallery space available for hire by artists and is a perfect space for exhibitions and installations. The Ecology Pavilion situated among the picturesque lakes and reed beds provides an ideal large contemporary space within natural wild surroundings.
Victoria Park
Just a short walk north from the Mile End campus along Regent’s Canal, you’ll find Victoria Park. It’s one of London’s most important historic parks and its oldest public park, visited by millions of Londoners for nearly 170 years as a place of healthy recreation, sports, play and relaxation. It’s a key link in a green corridor that stretches from the River Thames at Limehouse, along the Regents Canal and through Mile End Park, along with the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park virtually next door.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the site of the London 2012 Olympic games, and is home to the London Stadium, the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower and slide, the London Aquatics Centre, the Copper Box Arena, Lee Valley VeloPark and Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre. It features interesting parklands, waterways, playgrounds and cafes, and you can experience sports, events and iconic venues, or just relax and take in the views of London.
Westfield Stratford City
Just one stop away from the Mile End campus on the Central Line, Westfield Stratford City is Europe’s largest urban shopping and leisure destination, offering a huge variety of shops and restaurants, and a dazzling array of leisure facilities.
Go Karting
Zoom around the track with your friends at central London’s best outdoor karting track. Revolution Karting is based in Mile End and boasts a 750m floodlight track, providing speeds in excess of 50mph making it the fastest track in central London.
Rock climbing
Fancy developing yourself physically while helping the community? The Mile End Climbing Wall maintained by the registered charity ‘Development through Challenge' lets you get fit by climbing while helping them to offer opportunities for youth groups, vulnerable young people, groups with special educational needs, and more.
Other mentions:
Covent Garden (especially at Christmas)