Shoreditch London: what's on and things to do

Shoreditch is the part of London that runs latest and changes fastest. It is not pretty and it is not trying to be: the appeal is that on any given night there is a gallery opening, a club night, a supper club and a warehouse party within ten minutes of each other, and most of them did not exist two years ago.

The geography is simple once you have it. Old Street roundabout at the north, Liverpool Street at the south, Brick Lane running down the eastern edge and Curtain Road and Rivington Street holding most of the bars in between. Everything worth doing is inside that rectangle and walkable in twenty minutes.

Daytime

Sunday is the day. The Columbia Road flower market runs from eight until about three and is best either at the start for the choice or the last hour for the two-for-a-tenner shouting. Brick Lane's markets run all day Sunday, with the Old Truman Brewery yards holding vintage, records and more street food than anyone needs. Spitalfields is open all week and calmer.

Away from the markets, the galleries around Redchurch Street and Vyner Street open through the afternoon and cost nothing. The street art changes constantly, which is the honest reason the walking tours exist.

Evening and night

Shoreditch drinks early and late. The pubs around Hoxton Square fill from six; the bars on Curtain Road and Great Eastern Street run past midnight; and the clubs go on until the Overground starts again. Food runs later here than almost anywhere in London, and Brick Lane's curry houses and the bagel shops at the north end are open when nothing else is.

Getting home

This is the part that matters. The Windrush line on the Overground runs all night on Friday and Saturday through Shoreditch High Street and Whitechapel, which is why the night lasts here and not in most of London. Old Street is on the Northern line, which also runs overnight at weekends. Any other night, the last trains go around half past midnight and it is the night bus down Kingsland Road.