local gems

Local gems in London

The London that locals actually inhabit sits a few streets away from the postcard version. Granary Square in King's Cross, once a grimy coal basin, has quietly become one of the city's most energetic creative hubs, with water jets, independent kitchens, and the Barbican's spiritual younger sibling across the canal. In the East, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner clings to a wall near Smithfield Market — a small gilded cherub that marks, almost invisibly, where the Great Fire of 1666 finally died out. Underground entirely, the Chislehurst Caves wind through kilometres of chalk tunnels used as air-raid shelters during the Blitz. London has always rewarded the curious who peel back one layer further.

251 places · London, United Kingdom · Editorially curated