Cabbie's London — Free Tour
East London Walking Route
Spitalfields → Brick Lane → Tower of London → Pie & Mash
The Route
Walk Map
The Route
Stop by Stop
Spitalfields Market
Commercial Street
Old Victorian market that used to be the centre of the fruit and veg trade. Now full of independent stalls, street food and interesting shops. Good place to get your bearings and grab a coffee before you head into Brick Lane.
Huguenot Silk Weavers
In the late 1600s and 1700s this area was home to thousands of Huguenot silk weavers who had fled religious persecution in France. They produced some of the finest silk in Europe, much of it destined for the aristocracy and the royal court. The big windows you still see on some of the old houses were designed to give the weavers maximum light.
Brick Lane
Top of Brick Lane — Beigel Bake
Open 24 hours. Get a salt beef beigel — that's how they spell it. It's the proper East End version: simple, filling, and still one of the best cheap eats in London. Expect a short queue most times of day. Work your way south: thrift and vintage shops, street-food stalls, old textile warehouses. Keep going and the street signs start calling it Banglatown — the heart of London's Bangladeshi community for decades.
Hanbury Street, 1888
Just off Brick Lane is Hanbury Street. In September 1888 the body of Annie Chapman, one of the canonical Jack the Ripper victims, was found in the backyard of number 29. The same streets that once supplied luxury silk to high society were, a century later, among the poorest and most dangerous in London.
Whitechapel & Aldgate
Through Whitechapel
You're moving from the old immigrant and working-class areas into the edge of the City. Whitechapel has a proper East End feel — markets, old pubs, and a lot of history under the surface.
The Ripper's Square Mile
The Jack the Ripper murders of 1888 were concentrated in a very small part of Whitechapel and Spitalfields. The five accepted victims all lived and died within roughly a one-square-mile area of extreme poverty. The case exposed the huge gap between the East End's conditions and the wealth of the nearby City, and it remains unsolved.
Tower of London
Tower Hill
You can't miss it. Nearly a thousand years of history — kings, prisoners, the Crown Jewels, and a fair few executions. Even if you don't go inside, walking around the outside gives you a sense of how the old city was defended.
Built to Dominate
Built by William the Conqueror in the 1070s as a fortress to dominate London. Over the centuries it served as a royal palace, a prison for high-status prisoners, and the home of the Crown Jewels. Famous prisoners included Anne Boleyn (executed 1536), Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey, and the two young Princes in the Tower who disappeared in 1483.
Tower Bridge
Cross on foot
Not London Bridge — that's the plain one upstream. Tower Bridge is the famous one that opens. Cross it on foot for the views up and down the Thames.
Opened 1894
It was designed so the lifting sections could open for tall ships while still allowing road traffic across. The high-level walkways were originally for pedestrians when the bridge was raised.
Manze's
Tower Bridge Road
One of the last proper old East End pie, mash and liquor shops. Pie (usually minced beef), mashed potato, and green parsley liquor — it's a thin sauce, not alcohol. It's the real working-class London food that most tourists never try. Simple, cheap, and pure East End.
Finish Line
Manze's is one of the oldest surviving pie and mash shops in London. The green parsley liquor is a recipe that dates back generations. Order at the counter, eat at the long wooden benches. Cash is king here.
Sunday Extra — Columbia Road Flower Market
If you're doing this on a Sunday, start the morning at Columbia Road instead. It's an old East End street market that still sells flowers and plants the traditional way. Gets busy, but the atmosphere is excellent and it feels like proper old London. From there you can walk or hop on a short bus or cab down toward Spitalfields and begin the main route.
Quick Cabbie Tips
- Wear comfortable shoes — this is a solid walk.
- Brick Lane Beigel Bake and Manze's are cash-friendly but most places take cards.
- If you only have limited time, do Spitalfields → Brick Lane → Tower Bridge and save Manze's for another day.