London/East

East London is the outer eastern part of London, north of the River Thames.

Location of the East London area in London

Understand

Many outer areas of East London were once part of the county of Essex. Essex is sometimes used as part of the postal address for these areas.

East London consists of the following boroughs:

• Barking and Dagenham — the borough includes:

• Barking
• Dagenham

• Havering — the borough includes:

• Hornchurch
• Romford
• Upminster

• Newham — the borough includes:

• Stratford - Location of the London 2012 Olympic Games. (Note: this is not Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, the birthplace of Shakespeare.)
• East Ham
• West Ham

• Redbridge — the borough includes:

• Ilford
• Woodford

• Waltham Forest — the borough includes:

• Walthamstow - This town was made famous by a teen pop band E-17 (the postcode of the area) who came from here and had a number of hits. Soak up the multicultural atmosphere.
• Chingford
• Leyton
• Leytonstone the birth place of Alfred Hitchcock

Get in

By plane

London City Airport

🌍 London City Airport (LCY  ^IATA). London's fifth largest airport. A commuter airport close to the City's financial district, and specialising in short-haul business flights to other major European cities. There are also routes to holiday destinations that include Malaga, Ibiza and Mallorca.  

The airport is 11 km (6.8 mi) east of the City of London and a short distance east from Canary Wharf. It mainly offers flights to major European cities by full service carriers. British Airways operates one flight a day to New York JFK using an Airbus A318 in an entirely business class configuration.

You may find that this may be your cheapest London airport to fly to, especially if you add £10 or more in transfer costs from outlying airports. It has a convenient link to the Docklands Light Rail (DLR). Minimum check-in time for most airlines is around 30 minutes, with some offering 15 minute check-in deadlines. Queues for security can be long at peak business times. Touchdown to the DLR (including taxi, disembarkation, immigration and baggage reclaim) can be as fast at 5 minutes, although 15 minutes is normal.

To get to the city centre the following options exist:

• By Docklands Light Railway (DLR). The DLR runs to Bank station. Change to the Jubilee line at Canning Town (for Canary Wharf or Stratford). Travelcard valid. 
• By taxi. Journey time approximately 30 min. £20-35. 
• By car. 10 km (6 mi). 
• By bus. Take the 474 bus to Canning Town station and then the 115 or N15 into central London. Travelcard valid. 

By Tube

• Victoria Line (Light Blue) to Walthamstow.
• Central Line (Red) to Woodford or Hainault.
• Hammersmith and City Line (Pink) to Barking.
• District Line (Green) to Upminster.
• Jubilee Line (Silver) to Stratford.

By DLR

• DLR to Canning Town then branches to Beckton, or London City Airport and Woolwich.

By train

• From Liverpool Street to Chingford and Ilford.
• From Fenchurch Street to Southend or Grays.
• From Stansted Airport, Ipswich, Colchester and Norwich to Liverpool Street.

By Overground

• The Overground line (Orange) is useful for getting across the district from Barking to Blackhorse Road.

See

Walthamstow

• 🌍 Epping Forest (tube: Central Line), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Dawn-dusk. 19 km (12 mi) long in East London and Essex. Free.  
• 🌍 Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road, E17 9NH (tube/rail: Walthamstow Central), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. W–Su 10AM–5PM. Presents the history of Waltham Forest. The building was constructed to be a work house and has since been used as a police station and a private home. Its collection includes the Bremer car, built by engineer Frederick Bremer in 1892 it has a claim to being this first petrol-driven car made in Britain. Free.  
• 🌍 Walthamstow Village (tube: Walthamstow Central / rail: Walthamstow Central/Wood Street). The ancient nucleus of present day Walthamstow centred around the 12th-century St. Mary's Church.  
• 🌍 William Morris Gallery, Lloyd Park, Forest Rd, E17 4PP (tube/rail: Walthamstow Central), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. W–Su 10AM-5PM. Dedicated to William Morris, the Victorian arts & crafts designer and writer. Located in his old Georgian family home, Water House, which is now a Grade II* listed building. Free.  

Ilford

• 🌍 Redbridge Central Library & Museum, Clements Rd, IG1 1EA (rail: Ilford). M–F 9:30AM–8PM, Sa 9AM–4PM. Interesting structure from an architectural point of view. Unfortunately it is also the locale of choice for the native rude-boys to hang out, alas this is not due to the educational value of the institution. 
• 🌍 Valentines Park (tube: Gants Hill). A pleasant green area, Essex County Cricket team used to play on the pitch in the western side of the park.  

Barking

• 🌍 Eastbury Manor House, Eastbury Square, Barking, IG11 9SN, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail].  

Do

Stratford

• 🌍 Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, E15 1BN (tube: Stratford), ☎ [phone]. Watch a live performance: comedy, music and more. £12.50–22 depending on time and seating.  
• 🌍 Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Site of the London 2012 Olympics and the ArcelorMittal Orbit with the world's longest slide.  

Walthamstow

• Bicycle along the River Lea or Epping Forest.

Buy

Walthamstow

• Selbourne Walk (tube: Walthamstow Central; just over the road). Walthamstow's shopping mall, with the usual selection of shopping mall type shops. 
• Walthamstow High Street market. early-approximately 5:30PM. All manner of items may be purchased here. 

Ilford

• The Exchange Shopping Centre. It was one of the largest American-style malls when it was constructed in the early 1990s. Although now it has an extensive array of shops now it can only really be considered a bog standard shopping centre. The town centre has most high street chain shops. 

Eat

Goodmayes is a great area for really good cheap Indian/Pakistani food.

• The Pantry Café (ten seconds' walk from Stratford High Street DLR, on the same side of the road). Traditional British café. Different menu options are placed on the wall to make ordering easier "I want a 4, I'd like a 9" but the friendly owner will of course accept any variation you want. This café beats the chain hotel breakfasts for price and quality. Stay away if you want haute cuisine. (updated Oct 2015)

Walthamstow

There are a number of cafés and restaurants down the high street.

• Kebabish, Hoe St. Does a nice kebab and also tasty Indian food. 
• Thainese, Hoe St (turn right from Walthamstow Central), ☎ [phone]. 12-midnight. Halal Singaporean Chinese and Thai, black pepper crabs, chilli lobster, private rooms, prayer rooms expensive. 

Drink

Walthamstow

• 🌍 The Ferry Boat Inn, Ferry Lane, N17 9NG (tube: Tottenham Hale/Blackhorse Rd), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Daily noon-11PM. A quaint country-style pub in a lovely river side setting. 
• 🌍 The Goose, 264 Hoe St, E17 3AX (tube: Walthamstow Central, opposite), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Su–Th 10AM-midnight; F Sa 10AM–1AM. Updated Victorian gin palace. Popular with commuters. 

Sleep

• 🌍 Ibis Hotel Stratford, 1A Romford Rd, Stratford E15 4LJ (tube: Stratford), ☎ [phone]. 104-room hotel with the usual identikit, Ibis set-up. From about £50. 
• 🌍 Newham Hotel, 349-353 Romford Rd, Forest Gate, E7 8AA (rail: Forest Gate / tube: Wanstead Park), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Budget hotel in the Forest Gate area of Newham From £44. 
• 🌍 Viking Hotel, 162 Romford Rd, Stratford, E15 4LD (tube: Stratford), ☎ [phone], fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 
• 🌍 Devonshire Hotel, 94 Station Lane, Hornchurch, Essex, RM12 6LX (tube: Hornchurch), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Opened in 2011, it is a family-run boutique hotel with free wi-fi and secure parking. Some rooms have been adapted to allow for easier access. Breakfast & homemade snacks available. 
• Travelodge London Stratford, High Street, Stratford, E15 2JG (five-minute walk from Stratford stations (walk to the High Street, turn right). Even nearer to Stratford High Street DLR (come out, turn left)), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Usual Travelodge set-up. New hotel, spotless rooms with private facilities. 24-hour bar. Friendly staff prepared to go the extra mile. Price - depends, can be as low as £30 for a double room if you pay well in advance and pay up front ("Saver Rate"). 
• 🌍 Sunborn London (Sunborn Yacht Hotel), Royal Victoria Dock, London, E16 1AA, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 11AM. Luxurious 4-star yacht hotel. London's only and one of a kind yacht hotel situated at the Royal Victoria Dock in London. This floating hotel boast of their surrounding views of Canary Wharf, ExCeL and O2 Arena and the hospitality. It also has a sea themed tea room named Under The Sea Afternoon Tea. from £131. (updated Jun 2017)
• 🌍 Ridgeway Hotel, 115-117 The Ridgeway,North Chingford, London E4 6QU (rail:Chingford), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 

Connect

Go next

• Hackney
• East End of London
• Hornchurch (including Rainham and Upminster)
• Epping

Routes through East

The City ← East End ←	W  E	→ Epping, Essex → END
The City ← East End ←	W  E	→ END
The City ← East End ←	W  E	→ END
Westminster ← Greenwich ←	W  E	→ END
Bloomsbury ← North London ←	S  N	→ END
The City ← East End ← Beckton branch ←	W  E	→ Beckton branch → END
Southwark-Lewisham ← East End ← Stratford branch ←	S  N	→ Stratford branch → END
The City ← East End ← Woolwich branch ←	W  E	→ Woolwich branch → Greenwich → END
Camden ← Hackney ← North London Line ←	W  E	→ North London Line → END
Hampstead ← North London ← Gospel Oak to Barking Line ←	W  E	→ Gospel Oak to Barking Line → END

Routes through East

Cambridge ← Old Harlow ←	N  S	→ END
Central London ← Stratford ←	W  E	→ Brentwood → Chelmsford
The City ← Tower Hamlets ←	W  E	→ Tilbury → Southend-on-Sea