Welcome to London x London’s Bethnal Green Guide: your guide to the best bars, restaurants and things to do in this East London neighbourhood.
Bethnal Green sits in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, between Shoreditch to the west and Victoria Park to the east, with Hackney just over the border to the north.
Bethnal Green’s history wasn’t always as cool as its reputation suggests, but today it’s one of East London’s most characterful corners.
From a 16th-century hamlet to a Blitz-scarred slum to Kray twins territory, this is a neighbourhood that’s earned its edge the hard way.
Originally a farming hamlet, Bethnal Green shifted into a working-class commuter belt after the war, its tightly packed terraced streets heavily bombed during the Blitz of 1940 and 1941. High-rise blocks and green spaces replaced what was lost, and through the 1950s and 60s the area became notorious as the territory of the Kray twins.
Today it’s a different story entirely: quirky museums, bustling markets and genuinely good bars have turned Bethnal Green into one of the more interesting corners of the capital.
Gritty East London history, now home to museums, markets and good bars
