Brick Lane Market
Formerly a traditional flea market, today Brick Lane and the surrounding streets are filled with trendy clothes boutiques, accessories shops and galleries selling the latest artworks from the area’s up-and-coming sculptors, printmakers and artists. What’s left of the market itself sells everything from tools, kitchenware, household goods and books. In 2004, the Truman Brewery opened its doors to a selection of new and exciting traders selling clothes and shoes, vintage clobber, contemporary lighting and food and drink. If you’re feeling peckish, the street is home to the famous 24-hour Beigel Bake as well as a wide-selection of Bangladeshi and Indian restaurants.

Columbia Road
Each Sunday Columbia Road turns into a blaze of colour as this street of terraced houses is transformed into the Flower Market. Columbia Road is a world of colourful plants and exotic flowers, with 52 plant stalls and 30 or so garden shops and cafes. The market is now visited by 1,000s of garden enthusiasts every Sunday throughout the year, searching for rarities or general plants at wholesale prices. The market also has a number of shops selling bread and cheeses, antiques and garden accessories. If you’re feeling thirsty, the Royal Oak pub has the associated market license and is open from 8am on Sundays. The market is popular not only with plant and flower buyers but also with photographers and television companies who regularly film there.

Petticoat Lane
Probably the most famous of all of London’s street markets, Petticoat Lane is the place to go for those looking for bargains galore – new clothes from well-known chains stores, cheap shoes, designer rip-offs, textiles, towels, underwear, you name it you’ll find it here. The market is open Monday-to-Friday on Wentworth Street alone, but on Sunday extends over many of the surrounding streets, with over 1000 stalls.

Spitalfields Market
Overlooked by Nicholas Hawksmoor’s great baroque Christ Church, Old Spitalfields Market, or simply 'Spitalfields' as it is fondly known, has over the last 14 years secured a place at the forefront of interiors, fashion, the arts and food.?It has been the site of a busy market since 1638, when King Charles gave a licence for flesh, fowl and roots to be sold in what was then known as Spittle Fields. Three hundred and sixty odd years later and now located within the historical Horner Buildings, the market continues to thrive. In one day a visitor to the market's stalls and independent shops can pick up anything from fair trade cushions and rare vinyl to lovingly crafted notebooks and hand carved toy trains. There are jewel encrusted vintage boots for individualist tastes, reconditioned art deco sofas for elegant sensibilities and an excellent array of food for all hungry bellies!?

Rich Mix
The Rich Mix building is a dynamic new cross-cultural arts and media centre in the heart of the East End. This vast former garment factory now houses a three-screen cinema; exhibition spaces, café; opening in the New Year are recording and music training studios; a 200-seater performance venue; a multi-media ‘Newsroom’; education and; workspaces, a bar; and a broadcasting centre for BBC London. In short, it’s 62,000 square feet of activity and innovation, designed to bridge cultures and disciplines to create an entirely new kind of arts centre. And it’s on Equity Square’s doorstep.

Shoreditch
For about 10 years Shoreditch has become the Mecca for hip young Londoners keen to show off their fashion credentials. Its Shoreditch renaissance was set in motion by artists who, on the lookout for cheap studio space, infiltrated a scruffy East End district in the early 90s. Old-Etonian art dealer Jay Joplin launched the White Cube gallery in 1993, and immediately began to exhibit one-man shows of the ‘young British artists’ such as Tracey Emin and Sam Taylor-Wood. The bars and clubs that emerged around this cultural phenomenon were scruffy yet forward thinking, and it wasn't long before the area had developed a reputation for hard partying and artistic posturing.