The Greatest Walking Route in East London

Its 2023. I have now been living in London for a little over two years. In this time, my wife and I have had a lot of time to ramble around the city and explore some of the nooks and crannies. I say “some of” the nooks and crannies because London is seemingly a large scale ‘Nook-and-Cranny’ factory. New ones come and go as they please, waiting to be walked past and remarked upon; “We should go there!”.

When I first moved to London, I was living on Cleveleys road in Hackney (Clapton if you want to get specific). It was an old 2 story victorian house, extremely similar to the old houses that line the streets of Toronto. But this house had all of the classic British charms:

Very small kitchen
Laundry machines in the kitchen. I still dont really understand this but I am not one to question the habits of the brits. They go with the flow very well, and if this is the layout that has emerged as normal over time, it must be for a logical reason.
A back garden filled with what felt like hundreds of foxes and spiders the size of baseballs.
A bathroom only accessible from the back garden. Convenient during summer BBQs, but it being the only bathroom on the ground floor was a bit strange.
A stray cat that entered and threw up in our house as it pleased.
A boiler that I am convinced was sentient and a little bit lazy.
Zero insulation. An interesting choice to be sure.
A corgi named Fafa.

In the mornings, the streets outside would be sometimes littered with the sparkling piles of tempered glass left behind from successful teams of local scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells. It’s important to have the threat of bandits in your daily life, it sharpens your mind. These piles of glass have a name: Hackney Diamonds (Dalston Diamonds), and its the name of The Rolling Stones new album (hey isn’t that neat!).

I loved my time on Cleveleys. It was a defining moment in my life and I look back on it with incredible fondness.

As time passed, I ended up finding a flat right at Seven Sisters Station up in Tottenham (go spurs). This is when I truly started exploring London. Seven Sisters was now my home-base. Right on the Victoria Line (the hearing damage machine, more on that later) and an Overground station, I could inject anywhere throughout London in about 30 minutes.

And so, this brings us to the focus of this post. I submit for the publics approval, what I believe to be an extremely formidable walking tour of East London. Beginning at Seven Sisters, and ending in Bermondsey. My wife and I have perfected this route on many Saturdays, and now we must share it with the masses. If you are visiting London, or if you live here and are looking to stomp out a few thousand steps, I implore you to give it a whirl. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Saturday Slither:

Seven Sisters to London Fields

Ok look. There are two options to start this route. If you wake up early I recommend going on foot from Seven Sisters to London Fields. Its a lovely walk through a fantastic park, along canals lined with longboats and canal side pubs. The pubs aren’t specifically included on this walking path but I recommend returning to them if you get the chance.

This is a 1.5 hour, 6km walk, that could be a 15 minute train ride. Only continue this route if you’re really vibing on some explorer energy for the day. Alternatively, you can head to the Seven Sisters Overground station, and board the southbound train towards Liverpool Street Station. You will be getting off at London Fields station. This brings us to our first stop:

London Fields

London Fields is a special park. Right smack dab in the middle of Dalston and South Hackney. There is loads to explore in this area, but we dont have time for that! Focus; you are on the Saturday Slither. This isnt a joke. Your day is full. March on. Boy, I sure havent taken any pictures of London fields huh. No matter, you will see it for yourself! Imagine a large sprawling field filled with hundreds of people engaged in a variety of activities. If youre really lucky, someone might be playing a saxophone to a cat on a leash. Ok, now youre going to walk south through London Fields, to Broadway Market. Hurry along now.

Broadway Market

Perfect time for hunger to arrive within your nervous system. You have arrived at a spectacle of offerings. Walk up and down this market a few times, just to make sure you dont miss anything. A large man in an apron will practically throw meat at you as he slices it off a giant hog roast and offers it to you as a free sample. Beyond the market in the middle, take in the shops that line the perimeter. There are some gems here. Mainly, two high quality book shops, that sell an amazing selection of unique hard copies.

Donlon Books

This book shop should be visited. You should buy something here. You will find something here that you will not find anywhere else. The book that you buy here and carry with you for the rest of the day should have weight to it. You are now carrying a weight for the rest of the day, and the entire rest of the day counts as a workout. Eat up, you’re going to be burning a lot of calories.

Artwords Bookshop

Another amazing book shop. Head in here and buy another book to load up. I am sure that you will find something that intrigues you and that is lightweight. If youre really feeling up for it, snag an industrial design coffee table book from that southern wall bookshelf. This will leave you fully loaded for the rest of the day, but you can handle it. I believe in you.

Once you are happy with the amount you have seen in Broadway Market, its time to get hoofing. We’ve got a flower market to visit.

Columbia Street Flower Market

Ok. This is where things get a little weird. Technically this market is only open on Sundays. But I am including it in this walking route because it is still a lovely place to walk through on Saturday, and the shops that line it are much less busy on Saturday. But, I must confess, if you are looking to buy fresh flowers from the market, or a bundle of dried Lavender, you must return tomorrow (Sunday). I know this is hard to hear in the middle of the long walk, but trust me, the area is nice.

I do recommend coming here when the market is open on Sunday. Stall after stall of flower mongers hucking fresh flora at any passer-by. And what a deal to be had. What a shame it is Saturday and is closed. My wife and I remark on the Saturdays that we walk through; “Wow, sure is a lot less busy”. But guess what, the shops are all still there! They are fantastic. Be careful though, you have already purchased 1 or 2 books… one of them is pretty heavy…be wise with your further purchases. There is still another busy market to visit. One which Jack the Ripper himself likely strolled through. How exciting!

Flower Market to Brick Lane Market

Now its time to leave the comfort of the quiet North East London, and head into the meat of the city. We are approaching the east end of Shoreditch, near Spitalfields. Travel bloggers have filled textbooks with this area. We dont have time for this on the Saturday Slither, we are just passing through. Passing through Brick Lane to be specific. This area on Saturdays has a lot to offer. Dont look at the map. Enter on the north end on Bethnal Green road and walk south. There is so much here, but we must remain vigilant. I have laid out a few offerings, stray from them if you wish, but keep the time.

I cant find the name of this place

Enter into this alleyway to find an amazing vintage market with a lot of peculiar objects to purchase. If you’re really feeling up for it, you can buy an entire set of vintage British cutlery and silverware. I wish that I had more pictures from this place to post, but I think searching for it and discovering it is half of the fun. Dont stop until you find the underground cutlery store.

Hang around Brick Lane for a while, there are food halls, vintage clothing markets, and a variety of interesting bars and coffee shops. This area and Whitechapel is famous as the ol’ Jack the Ripper stomping grounds, so have a look around if your a fan of serial killers (which a lot of people seem to be nowadays??). Pack up and get ready, we are heading to the Tower of London.

The Tower of London

Continuing south through Brick Lane and Whitechapel brings us onto one of Londons most iconic marvels. The Tower of London. Every time I walk past this thing I notice something new about the structure. A new window that I hadnt seen before, a new turret that is peeking from behind an armoured wall, a new shadow that only shows during a specific time of day. No matter when you arrive here, you are sure to see something interesting.

I suggest circling the entire structure once. Eventually you should go in for a tour, but that day is not today. The Saturday Slither does not allot the time for this. Once you have strutted around the perimeter once, you should be back at the north end of the Tower Bridge. Often incorrectly referred to as the London Bridge, this is about as iconic London as you can get.

Keep those shoulders strong, you are about to push through masses of people stopping in the middle of the walkway to take pictures (myself included). You can take a tour up to the top of this pile of bricks, but really I think its best taken in from afar. Its hard to appreciate the Tower Bridge while walking across it, because the act of crossing this bridge is usually chaos. While youre crossing, look out to the west to see the London Bridge! My, what a bridge. It looks exactly as a bridge should, none of the bells and whistles of the Tower Bridge that make it iconic. Instead, the London Bridge is a platter of cement; stable, water flows under it, and cars overtop. What a thing of beauty. In the mid-section of the bridge, look north-west to see a fantastic skyline of the City of London. If you look very closely, you can see the Walkie Talkie building reflecting the suns rays onto an unlucky parked car below. Melting it into a puddle of scrap metal that will be used to make die-cast souvenirs. The circle of life.

Crossing over the Thames onto the south bank you enter into a different London entirely. You are now in South London. Listen to the birds, they sound different. The air feels slightly heavier. It is a common joke that the south side of London is worse off than the north, but I have not found that to be the case. I think its a bit of a Springfield / Shelbyville situation going on. But hey, a little bit of rivalry is healthy for any modern day metropolis. Just make sure you don’t venture so far that you’re in Peckham! (please go easy on me Peckham its just a joke).

Now, coming to the south side of London should be saved for special occasions of course, because one can only hold their breath for so long! (Ok thats the last one, south of the river really is nice I swear). And what a special occasion this is. You are about to set upon The Bermondsey Beer Mile.

The Bermondsey Beer Mile

I remember the first time I heard about this. “Theres no way”, I said to myself. Confident in my answer, and immediately proven dead wrong. I was introduced to this by my friend Alex, a fellow Canadian who was living in Bermondsey. I was showing another friend around town at the time. We had just left a ridiculous cigar shop near Hyde park where we had consumed multiple glasses of whiskey and tequila, each had a few cigars, and had been told the dying wishes of the shop owner to be burned at sea on a yacht of his own creation. We were in the perfect condition to set out on an ungodly amount of breweries.

Heres what it is: About two miles of craft breweries and distilleries that live within railway arches underneath the National Rail line. Refer to the link above for a full up to date list. You will also pass through another market as you pass from brewery to brewery. The Maltby St Market. I cannot possibly sit here and pretend to recommend some of these breweries over the others. You simply must walk the entire stretch, and decide for yourself. This is no easy task. By now, it is late in the day, you have multiple large books in your possession, along with any other purchases you have made that I tried to warn you against (I am proud of you for soldiering on). But you must keep your wits about you. One drink maximum at each establishment would already put you at over 16 drinks to end the day. You do you. You’ve just walked over 14km, you deserve a few jars of lager to quench that thirst. If you are with friends, take time to invent products that will change the world. Such as the 3 person hat, a product that struck myself, my wife, and my friend Imaad while at Hiver. This hat has a balancing system that self centres the larger hat on top of the group to ensure the stem is always in the centre. We have yet to craft a prototype.

*The inside* *of one of the fine establishments. Notice the fine arch, we are under the railway. The Romans were on to something…*

If you have made it this far into the walk. I applaud you. You have seen a side of London that few tourists gander upon. You are stronger from having carried weights for the entire day. You are sharper for having dodged the bandits of Hackney. You are whole in your journey, and you have ended it in possibly the best string of bootstrapped establishments that London has to offer. The rest of the night is yours, head back to your hotel to rest your swollen feet, or head to Fabric to double down on the night. I hope that this walking route that my wife and I have shared with you is something that you will remember for the rest of your life. Because I sure will.

Cheers,