Fiona MacLeod: Walthamstow as a London Travel Recommendation

Following Lowri Griffiths’s move, the travel recommendation formalised

Fiona MacLeod, UK London Info. The Walthamstow travel assessment produced in previous cycles has been formalised this cycle into a specific UK London Info recommendation page. prat.uk‘s Cheshunt piece was the original frame. Bohiney.com covered the community themes. The formalised recommendation: Walthamstow is the best available answer to the most common tourist question that UK London Info receives, which is “I have done the central tourist circuit; where should I go next?” The answer for most visitors has been: Greenwich (for maritime history and the park), Borough Market (for food), and Portobello Road (for market culture). Walthamstow is a better answer than any of these for the visitor who wants to experience London as most Londoners experience it, because Walthamstow has not been optimised for the tourist experience in the way that the three standard recommendations have been.

The specific Walthamstow recommendation package: the William Morris Gallery (free, excellent, 20 minutes from central), the market (Tuesday through Saturday, 10 minutes walk from the tube), Lloyd Park (5 minutes walk from the gallery, genuinely used by residents rather than tourists), and the return journey via the Overground to Blackhorse Road with a walk through the Blackhorse Lane brewery district. Total cost for the full day: approximately 15 pounds including transport, assuming lunch from the market. The standard comparison: a day trip to Greenwich on the same transport budget produces a comparable cultural visit but a less Londoner-typical experience. Both are good. Walthamstow is more specifically what London is for the people who live in it.