The best things to do in Shoreditch

In its late-Nineties-early-Noughties heyday Shoreditch essentially invented a new sort of London, reimagining an infamous part of the city as a kind of live/work creative playground, a place of grit and glitter with its own studiedly urban glamour. It’s a different place these days – smarter, slicker, much more monied – but it’s still got that indefinable magic. It’s no longer about drinking warm white wine out of plastic cups at a gallery – now Shoreditch drinking is all about supremely brilliant cocktails at some of London’s best bars. And it’s got some of London’s best restaurants, too – more inventive and creative than many of their central London counterparts, often in interesting, re-purposed venues. And it’s not just eating and drinking, there’s more than enough to take up a lazy weekend of wandering, exploring and shopping. Here are our favourite things to do in Shoreditch and its surroundings.