23 cool things to do in Brixton, from hidden street art to the reopened O2 Academy

Looking for the best things to do in Brixton? Look no further, we’ve picked our favourite things to do in this South London neighbourhood. From hunting out incredible street art to sampling beers at a craft brewery, here’s what to keep you out of trouble.

Wondering what to do in Brixton?

This is one of our favourite parts of London: it’s packed with things to do.

Whether it’s your first time in the area or it’s been a long-time haunt, we’ve pulled together a Brixton guide worth working through properly.

Brixton by day

Hunt out the street art

London has plenty of great street art (check out our guides for Shoreditch and Camden to give you an idea or two), but what’s on offer in Brixton is particularly special.

It very much reflects the neighbourhood’s heritage, expect plenty of homage to the arts, as well as some political statements.

Much of Brixton’s street art is constantly in flux, so one of the best ways to explore it is just to stumble upon pieces as you walk. We came across a stunning piece by Mr Cenz while looking for Brixton Windmill, it’s on Josephine Avenue at the Brixton Hill end if you want a look yourself.

In particular, head for Electric Avenue to check out some quirky and colourful works. There’s also the well-known, and possibly a little unnerving, portrait of David Bowie on Tunstall Road.

One stalwart of the Brixton street art scene is the Brixton Murals. Created in the aftermath of the 1981 Brixton riots, these often politically charged murals speak directly to the area’s history, colourful, unapologetic and a real piece of living history.

You’ll find some along Stockwell Park as well as at the railway station.

Find your next great read at Bookmongers

A good bookstore is more than a place to grab a new paperback. Entering a good one should feel like entering the living room of a good friend, and a really good bookstore needs a loveable dog to welcome customers through the door.

Bookmongers in Brixton is a good bookstore by our reckoning.

Boston-born book-lover Patrick fell for London and opened a cupboard-sized secondhand bookstore in Brixton, which soon outgrew its home and moved into its now-familiar spot on Coldharbour Lane.

Books are piled up on every corner, tempting you to search through the stash. You never know what you’ll stumble on, the shelves run from queer history to small-space gardening. You’re sure to leave with a fascinating and diverse selection.

Shop the indie stores in Brixton Village

Brixton Village is a microcosm of what makes Brixton great.

Huge street art pieces line the walls, while a mouthwatering selection of multicultural food stalls promises to leave your stomach bursting. Then there are the indie stores, forget the high street chains and find yourself something genuinely distinctive.

Full Moon Designs does quirky, handmade jewellery from colourful crystals, and Rachel and Malika’s sells accessories and homewares inspired by every corner of the globe, a bit like the area itself.

If you’re around at the weekend, check the weekend markets too, including the retro clothing market, or see our full round-up of London’s best markets for more like it.

Feast your eyes on the fresh produce at Brixton Market

If the flavours and aromas of Brixton’s multicultural food scene have you ready to unleash your inner cook, you’re in luck.

You’ll find plenty of fresh, seasonal fruit and veg at great prices at Brixton Market, plus the spices and sauces to recreate the flavours at home.

Soak up the sun in Brockwell Park (and pop into the Lido)

We love the hustle and bustle of central Brixton, but sometimes you crave a little peace and quiet.

Brockwell Park is a sprawling 50 acres of green space nearby, with wooded sections, floral beds and wide-open expanses, everything you’d want from a London park, and one of the better ones in this part of South London.

During the warmer months, a swim at the Lido is practically a rite of passage. It was first built in the 1930s to raise local spirits, and has since been restored to its former glory. Nothing beats an open-air London swim in summer.

Brunch at The Blues Kitchen

The Blues Kitchen brings a welcome bit of deep-south soul to the heart of Brixton.

It’s known for offering over 80 varieties of bourbon (a hint: don’t try them all), but the weekend brunch is the other big draw, running every Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 3.30pm, with soul food and unlimited refills of your drink of choice, prosecco, mimosas or Bloody Marys among the options.

If you can’t make it during the day, swing by at night instead, when there’s a full calendar of blues, soul and jazz music.

Sip natural wine at Bottle & Rye

For something a little more grown-up, Bottle & Rye is chef Robin Gill’s Parisian-style wine bar tucked into Market Row, walnut furniture, a marble-topped bar, and a hand-picked, largely natural wine list built to go with seasonal small plates.

It’s also the venue behind Brixton Kitchen, the grassroots pop-up competition that first spotted future Michelin-starred chef Adejoké Bakare, giving each year’s finalists their first proper sit-down dinner service here.

Try the craft beers at Brixton Brewery

Brixton wouldn’t be a proper South London neighbourhood without a craft brewery, and you won’t be disappointed by what’s on offer from Brixton Brewery.

As one of the more established craft breweries in London, the team really led the charge on perfecting the microbrew, and their beers have picked up plenty of acclaim along the way, without losing that unassuming, personal touch.

The taproom is open Friday and Saturday to drink in or take out, alongside a handful of permanent offerings and limited releases, the bold and hoppy Atlantic A.P.A. remains a favourite of ours.

Pull a pint at Dog’s Grandad Brewery Tap

Round the corner from Brixton Brewery, Dog’s Grandad is a small, no-frills microbrewery tap under the railway arches, known for natural, vegan-friendly beer and a genuinely local, unpretentious crowd.

It’s the kind of spot regulars protect fiercely rather than shout about, worth the short detour if you’re already brewery-hopping through this part of Brixton.

Visit Brixton Windmill

Street art, street food, live music, and a windmill? An old-school windmill surrounded by flowers might not be exactly what springs to mind for Brixton, but that’s exactly what makes it worth a visit.

Just south of the centre, you’ll find a large 19th-century windmill that played a genuine role in the area’s history. Built in 1816 and leased to the Ashby family to mill flour, it stayed in the family’s hands until 1934, when the last miller passed away.

For more than two decades the Brixton Windmill sat forgotten before the surrounding land was turned into a park, opening to the public in the late 1960s. It was renovated again in the 2000s, and remains a genuinely under-visited corner of Brixton worth the short walk.

Catch a show at Brixton House

Brixton House is a theatre and performance venue on Coldharbour Lane built around new writing, dance and work from artists outside the usual West End pipeline, a genuinely different night out from the big commercial houses.

The programme runs pretty much year-round, though it does go dark for the odd stretch between productions (usually January), so it’s worth checking what’s on before you commit to a specific date.

Bottomless brunch at The Ferndale

Canova Hall, long a fixture of this list, closed and has reopened under new ownership as The Ferndale, a “proper pub” from Urban Pubs & Bars.

The bottomless brunch tradition lives on regardless, running every Saturday, alongside a full Sunday roast and a genuinely solid pizza, wine and beer offering. It’s shed the old shabby-chic branding for something more straightforwardly pub-like, but it’s still a good, easy spot for a long, boozy weekend sitting.

Brew it yourself

Ever fancied yourself a beer connoisseur? Don’t pass up the chance to brew your own ale at London Beer Lab, one of the more unusual activities in Brixton.

This independent microbrewery lets you make and taste your own beer, weighing grains, pitching yeast and sampling plenty along the way. You’ll also go home with a 5-litre brew-your-own kit to put your new skills to the test. Or, if that sounds like too much effort, just stop by and grab a few cans for the road.

Learn about Brixton’s heritage at the Black Cultural Archives

Brixton, like much of London, has been hugely shaped by its Afro-Caribbean community. When the Windrush generation arrived after the war, they were shunned by many, refused places to board and work.

The lives and contributions of those generations shouldn’t be forgotten.

The Black Cultural Archives is Britain’s only national centre preserving and celebrating the culture and heritage of those of African and Caribbean descent, holding photographs, letters and literature that trace generations of Black British history.

Worth knowing before you go: this isn’t a casual drop-in. The main building has been closed since February 2025 for a planned transformation, with no confirmed reopening date, but the reading room and library keep running on a reduced, appointment-only basis, Wednesday to Friday, for anyone who emails ahead to book a slot and lists the items they’d like to see. Worth building into a Brixton day if you plan properly, not something to turn up to on spec.

Check out Herne Hill Sunday Market

London loves a good Sunday market, and one of the newer additions to the scene is Herne Hill Sunday Market. What it lacks in age it makes up for in variety, much of it produce shipped in from local farms, artisanal baked goods, handmade craft and art, and a good few street food stands if you get peckish for something more filling than cake.

It only runs on Sundays, from 10am to 4pm, but it’s worth building a visit around if you’re in the neighbourhood that day.

Brixton by night

Still in Brixton when the sun goes down? We’ve got you covered.

Drinks and dinner at Pop Brixton

Pop Brixton is both a time and a money vortex, the kind of place where an afternoon becomes evening, evening becomes night, and suddenly it’s 2am and you’re dealing with Uber surge pricing.

Part social project, part street food market, part gathering point for interesting people, what used to be scrubby, unused land has been transformed into a genuine destination, home to dozens of independent traders from jewellery makers to a youth radio station.

Go for drinks and dinner, the food is great, the atmosphere is easy, and live music tops it off.

Worth knowing: Pop Brixton’s long-term future is genuinely uncertain, Lambeth Council has put forward redevelopment plans that would replace the site with housing and workspace. Nothing’s confirmed yet, a formal planning application isn’t expected until 2026 with any completion years off, but it’s worth visiting sooner rather than assuming it’ll always be there.

Explore Brixton’s restaurant scene

There’s a lot to love about Brixton, but its food scene is definitely up there for us.

The area’s heritage as a cultural melting pot means genuinely good food, and you could return many times without trying the same thing twice.

Fish, Wings + Tings remains a Brixton Village institution, run by Trinidad-born owner Brian Danclair since 2012, expect proper Caribbean cooking, communal outdoor tables and reggae wings that live up to their name, the cod fritters are a must. Nearby, Etta’s Seafood Kitchen grew out of the market’s “empty shops” initiative back in 2011, run by long-time Brixton resident Etta, and turns out some of the best Caribbean seafood in the area.

For something different, hop between the stalls of Brixton Village itself, Okan does excellent Japanese okonomiyaki pancakes, and Kaosarn has been pulling in crowds for its Thai cooking since 2011, still BYOB, still one of the best in the market.

Party at Freight Brixton

Opened in May 2026 right next to Brixton Village, Freight Brixton is a 1,000-capacity open-air rooftop from the team behind Manchester’s Freight Island, already being talked about as one of the biggest rooftop venues in London.

Expect food traders, DJs and themed parties running through the warmer months, The Big Brunch, a run of bottomless themed Saturdays, was one of its first proper residencies. Check the events calendar before heading down, the programme moves fast.

Have a rowdy night at Hootananny

Sometimes you just want to get rowdy, and Brixton’s Hootananny is the place to do it.

Those nights that end up on the dancefloor, or any other surface, tables are good too, in the small hours: Hootananny was made for those. It’s got a calendar of genuinely good multicultural bands and artists to get you moving, plus Caribbean food stalls on Friday and Saturday nights, there’s no better accompaniment to a good night out.

Catch a film at the Ritzy

Long before streaming had us all cosied up at home, a trip to the flicks was the only way to catch up on the latest releases.

The Ritzy was one of Britain’s first purpose-built cinema theatres, constructed back in 1911 as the Electric Pavilion. More than a century later, it’s still drawing crowds, restored to its original style in the 2000s, and upstairs at the Ritzy is also known for its stand-up comedy shows alongside the usual blockbusters and awards contenders.

Drink in a proper old-school boozer at the Effra Hall Tavern

You might have heard Londoners lament that old-school boozers are being slowly gobbled up, replaced by trendy gastropubs with deconstructed avocado toast and beers named after obscure historical figures.

Whatever a proper boozer is, you’ll know it when you see it, and you’ll see it at the Effra Hall Tavern. It’s the kind of place you walk into and feel at home amongst decor that’s seen better days, live music adds to the charm, and the suntrap out back is a genuinely lovely spot for a pint.

Named after the River Effra, the “lost” waterway that still flows beneath South London, this is one of the best-loved pubs in Brixton, and a fair contender on any list of London’s best pubs, so grab a hand-pulled beer from the friendly bar staff and settle in.

Catch live music at Effra Social or Phonox

Brixton is a hub of art and self-expression, so there are few better places to catch live music in London, see our full round-up of London’s best music venues for more of the city’s best stages.

Effra Social, next door to Hootananny, has become one of the area’s most reliable nightlife anchors, expect DJ sets and live music most nights from Wednesday through Sunday, and a crowd that doesn’t really get going until closer to 11pm.

For something more club-focused, Phonox is an ultra-cool nightclub that shows exactly why London remains one of the world’s great nightlife destinations. It’s free before 9pm, so settle in early if you’re on a budget.

Catch a big name at O2 Academy Brixton

The O2 Academy Brixton is a legendary, Grade II listed venue that’s hosted everyone from David Bowie to Lady Gaga to The Clash since it began staging live music in the early 1980s.

The venue closed in December 2022 following a fatal crowd crush outside a sold-out show, in which two people, Gaby Hutchinson and Rebecca Ikumelo, lost their lives. It reopened in April 2024 after implementing 77 new safety measures agreed with Lambeth Council, including stronger doors, an overhauled ticketing system and new security arrangements, and it’s back to hosting a full calendar of major shows (we covered the full reopening plan in detail at the time).

Check the website ahead of time and buy a ticket in advance so you’re not turned away at the door.

Brixton: practical tips and map

If you’re short on time in London, it can be tempting to skip areas like Brixton, we think that’s a mistake. Areas like this are where actual Londoners live, and they’re the best way to get a true taste of the city beyond the big central landmarks.

Is Brixton safe? Some people will try to scare you off spending time in Brixton by saying it’s unsafe. We’ve never had reason to feel remotely perturbed, use your common sense as you would (or should) across all of London.

Where to stay in Brixton? Don’t book an Airbnb apartment or house unless you absolutely have to, it’s been a real factor in driving up housing costs in neighbourhoods like Brixton. Booking a room in a host’s own home, where they actually live, is a different matter and generally fine.

Brixton map