It’s time to discover South London, from dinos to street art, these are the top things to do in Crystal Palace. Here’s where to dine, drink, visit and more.
Although the eponymous Crystal Palace is sadly no longer with us, the area that shares its name remains one of South-East London’s most rewarding places to spend a day.
The area has undergone significant regeneration in recent years and is now a bustling area full of great places to eat and drink and plenty to see and do.
Ready to explore? These are our favourites.
What to see and do
Walk among dinosaurs
Yes, you read that right, take a step back to the Neolithic, Jurassic and various other prehistoric eras in the park by wandering among the park’s famous dinosaur sculptures.
Sure to send children of all ages (even fully grown ones with beards) into raptures, stroll around the park and marvel at the intricate sculptures that helped shape our understanding of what dinosaurs looked like. The park was constructed between 1853 and 1855 and has mainly remained intact ever since. Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins sculpted the creatures, set in a landscape designed by Joseph Paxton, and the exhibition was a favourite of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
The dinosaurs spent years on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register after cracks developed in the sculptures, but a major restoration completed in July 2026 has brought them back, repainted in their verified original 1854 colours.
Read next: Where to spot the Crystal Palace Park dinosaurs
Explore the restored Victorian subway
This one’s a genuine turnaround story. The Crystal Palace Subway was closed to the public in 1954 and stayed shut for 70 years, but a £3.5 million restoration completed in September 2024 has finally reopened it, and it’s one of the most striking things you can see in this part of London.
Designed by Charles Barry Jr and opened in 1865, the Grade II* listed subway originally gave first-class rail passengers a suitably grand route from the High-Level Station straight into the Crystal Palace itself, a forest of ornate brick columns fanning out overhead. Over the decades it served as an air raid shelter during the Second World War, was more or less forgotten, and even played host to illegal raves before it closed for good. It’s also where the Chemical Brothers filmed their 1996 video for Setting Sun.
The restoration, a joint effort between Bromley Council and the Friends of Crystal Palace Subway with support from Historic England, won a National Railway Heritage Award for its collaborative approach. Access is currently via scheduled public open days rather than daily opening hours, so check the Crystal Palace Park Trust’s website for upcoming dates before you go. Be aware there’s currently no step-free access, entry is via two flights of stairs.
Hunt out the street art
You can tell an area has reached “cool” status when its street art becomes an attraction in itself. The area is no different, with several incredible pieces springing up throughout the area.
Renowned Crystal Palace-based artist Mr Cenz has more than three decades of experience in the street art scene and has inspired a whole new generation of street artists. Our favourite pieces by Mr Cenz are on Park Road, just around the corner from Crystal Palace FC’s Selhurst Park, and his piece next to Tesco Express on Anerley Hill, along with nearby Rinse and Repeat by Sr.X, also on Anerley Hill.
Get your camera phones out, dial up the resolution, and snap these wonderfully vibrant and diverse artistic creations.
Spend a day in the park
Crystal Palace Park is one of South London’s best parks, worthy of a day out in its own right. The park formerly housed the famous Crystal Palace, sadly destroyed by fire in 1936. Only a few remains of the site still stand, including the steps that originally led up to the palace, along with the recently restored Italian Terraces, once part of the palace’s own grounds.
Go hunting in the maze while you’re there, it dates back to 1870, genuinely older than the Eiffel Tower, and getting properly lost among its hedges is one of the park’s more overlooked pleasures. Other attractions include a 1,100 square metre skatepark, a brand-new dinosaur-themed playground added as part of the park’s latest restoration, the Crystal Palace Museum and the National Sports Centre, which hosted the FA Cup final between 1895 and 1914.
Steeped in history and thriving with activity, we love spending sunny days there, and we’re convinced you will too.
Catch a film at the Everyman
The Everyman Crystal Palace has a genuinely lovely backstory. The Art Deco building dates back to 1928, but it sat disused for eight years before a local campaign, Cinema4CrystalPalace, fought to bring cinema back to the area. It worked, a £3 million restoration saw the Everyman chain reopen the building in November 2018, and it’s been a proper community fixture ever since.
Expect four screens, luxury sofa seating, its own Spielburger kitchen, and two bar areas serving craft beer, wine and cocktails. Beyond the films themselves, it regularly hosts the Crystal Palace International Film Festival, school screenings and charity events, genuinely more of a cultural hub than a standard multiplex.
Wander through Sydenham Hill Wood
One of the many things we love about living in London is the easy access to unspoiled nature reserves. Sydenham Hill Wood is the oldest nature reserve currently protected by Wild London.
Open all year round, we love the colours of springtime and the changing hues of autumn, but this stunning walk takes in ancient woodland and Victorian gardens. The wood is home to more than 200 species of trees, rare fungi, birds, insects and woodland mammals you simply wouldn’t expect to find anywhere near South-East London.
Explore Cox’s Walk, an 18th-century oak-lined avenue, and the old Nunhead to Crystal Palace railway, complete with a disused tunnel that’s now a registered bat roost. Spooky.
Go cafe-hopping around the Triangle
The Triangle has become genuinely spoiled for cafes in the last few years, enough that a lazy weekend spent hopping between them is a legitimate way to spend a day.
Start at Chatsworth Bakehouse, a lockdown micro-bakery turned two-site cult favourite (expect a queue, it’s worth it), then work your way toward Brown & Green, with branches at the station, in the park and on the Triangle itself, before finishing wherever takes your fancy. Half the fun is simply wandering between Westow Street, Westow Hill and Church Road and seeing what you stumble on.
Taste something new at the Sourcing Table or Crystal Palace Wine Club
If you’d rather sip than snack, The Sourcing Table is a proper wine bar for people who love wine but can’t be doing with the fuss that usually comes with it, relaxed, unpretentious, and genuinely knowledgeable staff behind the counter.
For something bigger, keep an eye out for events from Crystal Palace Wine Club, who run the annual South London Wine Fair each August, taking over the so-called “laptop stage” at Crystal Palace Bowl with more than 100 wines to sample from winemakers and importers from around the world. It’s a proper afternoon out, wristband and glass in hand, with a private outdoor area for snacks and other drinks once you’ve had your fill of tasting.
Go plant shopping at The Secret Garden
Tucked behind Sainsbury’s on Westow Street, The Secret Garden is exactly the kind of place you’d walk straight past without knowing it’s there.
It started life in 1986 as the barren patch of land used to store materials while the supermarket next door was being built, before its founder transformed it into the leafy, multi-level garden centre it is today. Expect a genuinely good range of shrubs, climbers, planters and roses, herbs sourced from Surrey and perennials from Essex, plus an impressive wisteria that puts on a proper show every spring. Keep an eye out for Cyril, the resident dog, usually found snoozing somewhere near the entrance.
You can park for free at the Sainsbury’s next door for up to three hours, making this an easy stop to fold into a wider wander around the Triangle.
Join a local meetup
The area has a genuinely active, welcoming LGBTQIA+ social scene. South East London Queers (formerly known specifically as Crystal Palace LGBTQIA+) organises regular pub meets and socials across the area, including a recurring LGBTQIA+ social night hosted at Westow House, a genuinely nice way to meet people if you’re new to the area or just fancy a friendly night out.
Browse local art
The local creative scene runs deeper than the street art. The annual Crystal Palace Artists Open House sees dozens of local artists open their homes and studios to the public over a single spring weekend (sometimes two), everything from paintings and jewellery to furniture and bespoke wedding dresses, scattered across venues throughout the area. It’s a genuinely lovely way to see a side of Crystal Palace most visitors never get close to, and to meet the artists behind the work rather than just look at it on a wall.
Eating and drinking
Yak & Yeti
We love the subtlety of Nepalese cuisine, and the Triangle is spoiled with the fare offered by Yak & Yeti. This modern Nepalese and Indian restaurant also offers some of the most delightful dishes on its diverse and mouth-watering menu.
You cannot visit here without trying the momos, light and soft parcels of salty delight, complete with a tangy dip, one of snacking’s treasures. We adore their samosas, light and fluffy rather than heavy and oily, while their lamb curries provide a melt-in-your-mouth flavour party that has to be tasted to be believed.
Brown & Green at the station
The Crystal Palace station branch of Brown & Green, like the other branches dotted around South-East London, is ideal for a leisurely weekend brunch or midweek lunchtime catch-up.
Their sandwiches come packed with tasty goodness, and we’re suckers for the scrambled eggs with Marmite (it’s controversial, we know). If this station cafe is too busy, don’t worry, there are others in the park and at the Triangle.
Westow House
Westow House is one of the area’s finest gastropubs, combining fantastic pub grub with the perfect pint, plus an extensive range of gins that will tickle every palate.
Best of all, we love a pub with books lining the shelves, and Westow House ticks this box with an eclectic selection of reading matter to accompany your beer or cocktail, from classic Shakespeare to the steamier end of DH Lawrence, self-help from Pamela Stephenson, or a few tomes on South-East London itself.
With a glorious outdoor space to enjoy in spring and summer, and a regular LGBTQIA+ social night too, Westow House will quench your every imaginable thirst.
Looking for more? Read our full guide to the best restaurants in Crystal Palace.
The London x London Take: the Subway and the Everyman are the two stories in this guide that genuinely surprise people, both were written off, one for 70 years, and both are back thanks to local campaigns that simply refused to let them go. That’s Crystal Palace in miniature, an area that fights for its own history rather than letting it quietly disappear.
Practical tips
- The area is easily accessible by public transport, with regular services further out into South East London and to London terminuses at London Bridge and London Victoria.
- It’s also on the London Overground network, linking West Croydon and Highbury & Islington in North London.
