Ask most people what there is to do in Shoreditch and the answer defaults to one thing: a night out hopping between pubs and bars. We covered that angle properly in our Shoreditch pub crawl guide, and it's a genuinely good route if that's what you're after. But Shoreditch earns its reputation as one of London's most interesting neighbourhoods during daylight hours too — street art that changes by the month, markets that run on their own idiosyncratic schedule, and a density of independent shops you won't find strung together quite like this anywhere else in the city. Here's what's worth your time before the bars even open.
Start with the street art — it's free, and it's everywhere
Shoreditch has been one of London's unofficial street art capitals for long enough that it's practically part of the area's architecture. Rivington Street and the backstreets around Great Eastern Street carry some of the densest concentrations of large-scale pieces, and the railway arches near Great Eastern Street and Holywell Lane turn up new work constantly. Village Underground, just off Great Eastern Street, is worth a specific detour for the decommissioned Underground train carriages perched on its rooftop — a genuinely odd, photogenic landmark that sums up the area's habit of repurposing industrial leftovers into something playful. Brick Lane's gable ends and side streets add another layer, with large murals that often respond directly to whatever's happening in the news or the local area at the time.
The one thing to keep in mind: none of this is permanent. Walls and hoardings get repainted constantly as artists move through, so a piece you've seen photographed online might genuinely be gone by the time you turn up — treat anything specific as a snapshot rather than a fixture. The best approach is to allow an hour or two with no fixed route and just walk with your eyes up, rather than hunting for one exact mural.
Brick Lane's markets, and when to actually go
Brick Lane itself runs several linked markets — the Sunday Upmarket, the Backyard Market and a scatter of smaller food and vintage traders — that between them turn the street and its side alleys into one of London's better weekend browsing spots. Sunday is traditionally the busiest and most complete day for stalls, though exact trading days, hours and which vendors turn up shift over time, so it's worth checking a market's own site or social channels before you set off rather than assuming last year's schedule still applies. A short walk away, Boxpark Shoreditch — the stacked shipping-container development on Bethnal Green Road — runs more consistently through the week, with independent shops and food stalls under one roof, which makes it a useful fallback if you're visiting on a weekday and Brick Lane's weekend stalls aren't out.
If you've got a bit more time, Old Spitalfields Market sits about ten minutes south and trades most days, with food traders through the week and a bigger mix of vintage, antique and designer stalls at the weekend — a natural add-on if Brick Lane leaves you wanting more browsing.
Redchurch Street and the independent shops worth a detour
Redchurch Street has quietly become one of London's better strips for independent retail — menswear and streetwear boutiques, concept stores, small design studios and the odd record shop, sitting a world away from the chain stores further into the West End. Brick Lane itself carries a parallel but distinct scene in vintage clothing, with several long-running shops specialising in secondhand and reworked pieces by the rail. Neither street rewards rushing — the appeal is in actually going into shops you've never heard of rather than ticking off a list, which is a very different kind of browsing to a normal high street.
If you've got a bit longer: Columbia Road and Whitechapel
Two worthwhile extensions sit just outside Shoreditch's immediate core. Columbia Road Flower Market, a short walk or a single bus stop away in Bethnal Green, trades only on Sundays and turns a narrow residential street into a genuinely lovely tangle of flower stalls and small independent shops either side — it pairs naturally with a Sunday visit to Brick Lane. Whitechapel Gallery, a little further south, puts on contemporary art exhibitions worth checking in on if you're already in the area; current shows change regularly, so it's worth a quick look at their own listings before you go rather than assuming a particular exhibition is still running.
Building a full day out of it
A sensible order looks something like this: a late-morning wander for street art around Rivington Street and Village Underground, lunch from a Boxpark stall or whichever Brick Lane market is running that day, an afternoon browsing Redchurch Street's shops, and — if you're up for extending into the evening — easing into the route from our Shoreditch pub crawl guide as the light starts to go. None of it needs booking ahead or sticking to a strict schedule, which is exactly why it works well for a loose group where everyone wants to do something slightly different. If offbeat, locally-run London is what draws you to Shoreditch in the first place, our round-up of unusual things to do in London covers plenty of similar ground a little further out, from odd little museums to night walks and secret dining.
Prefer someone else to plan the night?
The link below is an affiliate link: if you book through it we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only suggest experiences we'd recommend anyway.
- Shoreditch Pub Crawl — a guided night out across Shoreditch's bars if you'd rather skip the planning and let someone else pick the route once your daytime wandering is done.
Why we don't run a tour in Shoreditch — and where to find the same feel
We're honest about this: our own tours don't run in Shoreditch. What we do run shares more of its character than you might expect. Our Hackney Wick Craft Beer Experience (£41.25pp, selected Saturdays) visits exactly the kind of independent, canalside, railway-arch breweries that give Shoreditch its creative, small-business feel, just a bit further east. If you'd rather stay closer to central London, our Bermondsey Beer Tasting Tour (£49pp, 2–3.5 hours, beer included across four independent taprooms, meeting at Southwark Brewing Co, 46 Druid St) does the same job south of the river. Both work for private groups from six people up to 60 or more via private and group tours, and we've been running tours like this since 2014.
If someone in your life would enjoy exploring an area like this with a guide rather than working it out themselves, a voucher for either tour is bought directly on our gift vouchers page, delivered by email instantly, and never expires.
Our honest take
Shoreditch's night-out reputation is deserved, but it's only half the story — the street art alone is worth a dedicated morning, the markets reward going on the right day rather than any day, and Redchurch Street's shops are a genuinely different kind of browsing to anywhere in central London. Treat it as a full day rather than just a prelude to the bars, and build the pub crawl in as the last stop rather than the whole point.