100 Ways To Explore Parts Of London You've Never Visited Before

By Sponsor Last edited 96 months ago
100 Ways To Explore Parts Of London You've Never Visited Before

This is a sponsored article on behalf of the Mayor of London.

Photo by Matt Brown on Flickr

London's vast, we know that. You can live here for years and feel like you're only just scratching the surface of this sprawling city, but help is on hand to get out and explore, thanks to the Find Your London Festival.

This new 11 day festival consists of over 100 free or low cost events taking place in gardens, parks and high streets across London, with the aim of getting Londoners to explore a part of town they've not explored before or to try something new.

Tea parties, nature trails, fun runs and Easter egg hunts are just some of the many events taking place.

Use the interactive map to find events close to you, or flex your Oyster and venture further afield. If you're overwhelmed by the immense choice of things going on, the clever people behind the festival have broken them down into categories, depending on what you feel like. Here are our top picks from each category:

Active

Kingston Urban Fox Walk: Love them or loathe them, urban foxes are part of London. Join fox expert Marina Pacheco for a twilight walk through Kingston, where you'll learn all about foxes and their lifestyles.

Trees & Treats: Get involved in planting small trees and plants at the Community Food Garden in Tower Hamlets, which provides a year round wildlife habitat. Once the dirty work is done, kick back and enjoy afternoon tea in the garden, and take a packet of wildflower seeds home with you.

Curious

Frog Day: Ribbit! Get to know your froggy neighbours at Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park with pond dipping, frog themed arts and crafts and wildlife gardening workshops. It's the perfect time of year for it — they'll be waking up from hibernation and returning to ponds to lay frogspawn.

Charlie Chaplin's Elephant: It's widely thought Charlie Chaplin was born in Walworth, and this walk, led by local guide John Constable, covers the back streets and local area of Chaplin's early, poverty-stricken, life, and interweaves the locations with modern film locations.

Playful

Credit: Streatham Common Co-operative. Event: Streatham Common Woodland Activity Day.

Hidden spaces of Hackney: This family-friendly event invites families from across London to discover little-known play spaces in Hackney. It might be about getting children playing outdoors, but with den building, rope climbing and toasted marshmallows on the agenda, we're tempted by this one ourselves.

Big Stick Day: Winnie the Pooh knew the potential of a stick as a plaything, and he was a wise guy. Head to Rotherhithe's Stave Hill Ecology Park to put sticks to good use in creating places for stag beetles and mini beasts to live.

Relaxed

Music of London: What could be better than kicking back in one of London's oldest public green spaces, Southwark Park, and listening to the talented Southwark Concert Band play music relating to London.

Find Yourself in Mitcham: Make a beeline for the south of our great city and immerse yourself in the Mitcham Festival. Choose from Tai Chi, massage, colouring-in and more — and that's just for the adults. Little Londoners can take part in Easter inspired crafts, jewellery making and seed planting, or let off steam on the soft play and bouncy castle area.

Inspired

London at Dawn Photography Workshop: Try seeing London at a different time of day with this dawn photography workshop. Kicking off at 5.30am (don't wince), the workshop is aimed at photographers of all abilities who want to snap the city at its most peaceful. Think of all you'll have achieved before the rest of the world has even woken up.

Paint Your London: Everything looks better in colour, which is why we're excited to see the walls and buildings of Waltham Forest brought to life in a kaleidoscope of street art. Why not walk or cycle through the streets to see it in its full glory?

What will you discover? Take a look at the interactive event map for a complete overview of the events, and get stuck in.

Find Your London Festival takes places 18-28 March. Check individual events for booking details.

Last Updated 23 March 2016