City exploration...Alternative routes...City murals
Top 5 Places to see Street Art in London
London holds some of the largest and best collections of graffiti and street art in the whole world. Local and international artists have decorated London streets with an incredible set of creative pieces, raging from miniature paper sculptures to murals several stories tall.
Areas such as Shoreditch, Camden, Brick Lane, and Leak Street are well-known for their illuminated murals, the alternative atmosphere they create, the variety of artistic techniques, and the mutual respect between leading international artists and emerging street and graffiti artists.
This post contains all of the information you need to know about itineraries that include street art, as well as an alternative tour with a friendly street art map that gathers all of the main areas for you on one map.
- Exposed to street art & graffiti in the different neighborhoods
- Street art is displayed both on the map and in the list
- Discover the most interesting neighborhoods in the city (street art wize)
- Add your favorite street art to the city route you planned in advance
- Use the street art map (Google Map) as the navigation map for all other attractions
Graffiti and street art are a changing and dynamic – the appearance of an art work on the map, does not prove that the work still exists, and has not been disrupted/removed/deleted.
The maps contain about 50% of the art works in those neighborhoods – so you always have more to discover by yourself…
Shoreditch is an artisan district and one of the London's hubs when it comes to graffiti and street art. The area is home to some of Banksy's iconic creations. For years, Rivington street has been considered a mecca for many street artists, with the dream of presenting their work alongside Banksy's work. Today Shoreditch is one of London's best areas of street art with lots of works that change or added almost daily. The neighborhood offers a variety of graffiti and street art tours in different languages, and tourists from all over the world come to watch the changing exhibition. During an in-depth tour of the streets, you are likely to see artists' inaction, creating on the walls of the neighborhood.
Camden Town is located within the London borough of Camden. Camden is known as one of London's unique neighborhoods that are not afraid to do things differently.
This is a neighborhood with a hippie, punkish, alternative atmosphere, in the center of which is a huge market spread over a large area and built like a huge maze of shops alongside the famous Regents canal (in the market you will find mostly vintage, gothic and punk, but also food, tattoos, jewelry, clothes, accessories and more).
The area is an oasis of alternative culture and is very popular with tourists, teenagers, and punks. Camden is one of the London's main tourist destinations and the neighborhood's cafés are bustling throughout the day. The nightlife scene includes live performances in music clubs and pubs.
Urban art scenes...Street art cities...Graffiti hotspots
Brick Lane is one of London's most famous places in its high cycle of street art. It is a cultural, ethnic, culinary, and artistic center where millions of tourists come throughout the year. This historic street dates back about 450 years and on Sundays there is a bustling and huge market of food, clothes, second-hand, accessories, and equipment. If you are planning to visit Shoreditch, don't forget to take the time to explore and stroll around this iconic street – once one of London's poorest slums and a favorite place for The murders of Jack the Ripper.
The graffiti legal tunnel on lake street has become a popular tourist spot since the Cans festival of street art initiated by Banksy in 2008. Banksy held a graffiti and street art festival in the tunnel (300 meters) and invited all his friends, talented street artists from Britain and the world, to come and bring color to what was previously a gloomy, threatening, and neglected tunnel. After the festival, the Lake street tunnel was no longer a dank and dirty cult, but a bold, colorful and alternative place where artists could showcase their work and take pride in it.
Alternative routes...Offbeat attractions...Street art walks
This post is part of a dedicated series of posts on street art and graffiti in London
Among the artists in posts about London:
ROA, Stik, Zabou, Nerone, Banksy, Alice Pasquini, Soker Uno, Gary Stanger, Irony, Dan Kitchener, Voydor, Fanakapan, DRT, Sr.X, Decolife, JXC, Marija Tiurina, Woskerski, Luke Smile, Nerone , MadC, Rosie Woods, Camille Walala, David Shillinglaw, Clifton Street,
Dale Grimshaw, Busk One, Stik, Bambi, C215, Phlegm, Pegasus, Space Invader, Jonesy, Frankie Strand, Sweet Toof, Amara Por Dios, Fanakapan, Eine, Jimmy C