Welcome to London x London’s Islington Guide: your guide to the best bars, restaurants and things to do in this North London neighbourhood.
Islington sits in north London, bordered by Hoxton to the south-east and Highbury to the north, with Angel marking its centre.
Islington has built a reputation as one of London’s most sought-after addresses, all restaurants, bars and quietly grand terraces.
It has not always been this polished: for centuries this was simply where London got its milk and butter from.
The official borough is younger than it looks, formed only in 1965 when Islington and Finsbury merged as part of a wider reorganisation of London. Before that, the land here was largely given over to agriculture and dairy farming, supplying the rest of the city with milk, cream and butter.
As central London expanded outward through the 16th and 17th centuries, the area filled in with housing, and the historic terraces still lining its streets are the legacy of that shift. Islington’s first pub also dates to the 16th century, which may explain why the borough still has such a strong run of them today.
Bordered by Hoxton to the south-east and Highbury to the north, with Angel at its centre, Islington has spent the decades since knitting all of that history into one of London’s more consistently fashionable corners.
Grand terraces, independent theatre, old pubs
