33 Old Streets of London & Exactly What They’re Famous For (+ map!)

London is about 2,000 years old, with the original Roman occupation of Londinium on the north bank of the Thames lasting from the 1st to 5th centuries. It’s no surprise that some of the old streets of London still exist!

Since then, London has only expanded around this original river location. Roads for trade and travel spurted off in every direction, and much of London’s layout today is because of those original old streets.

Old Streets of London Map

The oldest and most historic streets in London are right beneath your feet! Use my London dark history map below to navigate every old, original street in London.

Filter by “historic streets” and you’ll see each location on this list for easy navigation. The map will also show you the details of the streets and their history, also in this post.

You can also see what’s nearby of interest, included in the map.

Old London Street Names & the Stories Behind Them

London’s original streets sometimes bear quirky and odd names.

Many of these names can be traced back to ancient origins, such as “Pudding Lane,” which got its name from the medieval “pudding,” a type of sausage made there.

Other peculiar names like “Cock Lane” or “Goose Lane” often arose from the presence of particular trades or establishments, adding a unique charm to London’s street map.

You’ll find many with “gate” included in the name, as they once connected to one of the 7 original gates to the city.

Below I explain the origin of each street name and how they’ve changed over time.

The Most Historic Streets in London: The Ultimate List

Here are some of the oldest, most famous, and historically significant streets of London. Some are 2,000 years old and some are only a few hundred, but they’re all full of interesting history.

1. Watling Street

Originally built by the Romans, this portion of Watling Street was uncovered after the Great Fire and has since remained a thoroughfare through the City of London.

Today, Watling Street takes you straight to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s one of the most historic streets in London that people walk down everyday, totally unaware of its ancient history.

What to see on & near Watling Street:

• Haunted & historic Bank Station
• The London Mithraeum
• St. Paul’s Cathedral
• Temple Bar, where traitor’s heads used to sit on spikes
• Amen Court, where you can see the last remaining wall of ancient Newgate Prison.
• The Old Bailey
• The haunted Viaduct Tavern

2. Cloth Fair: The Oldest House in London

In the medieval period, cloth merchants used to sell their wares here. Today the street is remarkable for how original it looks, particularly the oldest house and the view looking toward Little Britain street.

Visitors flock to Cloth Fair to see the oldest house in the City of London, which was built in the late 1500s and survived the great fire. This is one of the coolest and most historic old streets of London.

What to see on & Near Cloth Fair:

• The William Wallace Memorial (of Braveheart fame)
• St. Bart’s (ancient) Hospital
• “The Elms” where traitors were executed
• The oldest house in the City of London (and loop around Rising Sun Court to Cloth Court and back. This little loop is my favorite street that really takes you back in time–everything looks original).
• The Rising Sun Pub, where the London Burkers used to hang out amongst their body-snatching shenanigans.
• The Charterhouse, where there’s beautiful architecture and a massive plague pit.

3. Fleet Street

One of the oldest streets in London, Fleet Street is a Roman thoroughfare that still stands in the same place today! Named after the River Fleet at its boundary, it became known in the 1600s as the center of the publishing trade.

You may know it from a certain demon barber who lived there…though the story of Sweeney Todd is fictional. Fleet Street becomes The Strand, which you’ll find later down this list. Fleet Street is one of the most iconic old streets of London.

What to see on & near Fleet Street:

• 500 year-old pub Ye Olde Cock Tavern
• Over 900 year-old St. Dunstan in the West Burial Ground
• Fetter Lane execution site
• Old and very haunted Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub
• The remains of the ancient Fleet Prison

4. Cheapside

You’ll notice that a lot of the streets that sprout off from Cheapside have food names: Bread Street, Honey Lane, and Poultry, to name a few. That’s because in the middle ages, Cheapside was a “cheap”: a street market. It seems like one of the most unusual and cryptic old London street names, until you learn the meaning.

In Georgian and Victorian times, it was a very busy thoroughfare, and still is, though it was heavily damaged in the Blitz so there isn’t as much charm as some of the more original streets.

What to see on Cheapside:

• Check out St. Mary Le-Bow and hear the famous Bow Bells. Legend says that anyone born within earshot of the bells is a true Cockney.
• Stand in the spot where protestant rebels were executed.

5. Lombard Street

Lombard Street began as one of the first Roman roads in Londinium, and later became known as the banking capital of England. In the late 13th century, King Edward I granted the land to goldsmiths from Italy’s Lombardy region; the street is named after them.

Since then, Lombard street has been home to the financial center of London. Most unique to Lombard Street are the signs, none of which are original, but allude to ancient history.

The signs signify the type of business without words. Not everyone could read, so having a symbol for a business was important. At least one is still used today: the red and white stripe barber’s pole.

What to see on Lombard Street:

• The signs! Try to decode them.

6. Bishopsgate

Bishopsgate used to be a gate & wall of the Roman city of Londinium. The gate itself is long gone, and Bishopsgate today is simply a portion of the A10 thoroughfare that borders the eastern side of the City of London. It’s still one of the most historic streets in London.

The most notable architecture on Bishopsgate is the church of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate. The original church was founded next to the Roman wall, and was destroyed and rebuilt a number of times over the centuries.

The churchyard was one of the first to be transformed into a public garden in 1863 following the Burial Act of 1852.

What to see on Bishopsgate:

• Come out of (haunted) Liverpool Street Station and look for the plaque that marks the original location of Bedlam (Bethlehem) mental hospital.
• Explore the nearby plague pits at Hand Alley and Artillery Lane.
• Walk South to St. Botolph-without-Bishopsgate and explore the garden, where you are literally walking on centuries of bodies.
• Stop by the pretty and curiously-designed Victorian Bathhouse.

7. The Strand

Although Fleet Street becomes The Strand, these two portions of one long road are known for very different things. First established in Roman Londinium, The Strand later became an important route connecting the City of London and the Palace of Westminster during the middle ages.

Between 1866-1922, The Strand was the border of the parish called the Precinct of the Savoy. The famous hotel of the same name was opened in 1889, the first purpose-built luxury hotel in Britain.

The luxury hotel is probably what The Strand is most known for today, but there are several other important sights to see when you walk down this street. This is one of the old streets of London that has become a very posh tourist destination.

What to see on The Strand:

• St Clement Danes Church, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. A church has stood on this spot for at least 1,000 years.
• The Adelphi theatre, where actor William Terris was murdered by a jealous colleague.
• King’s College, whose anatomy school in the 1800s was integral to our modern medical research. It’s also where the London Burkers were finally caught after selling a suspiciously fresh body to an anatomist there.
• The Savoy. You can walk around the lobby and take in the opulent surrounds, dine in one of the posh restaurants (Gordon Ramsay has one at the Savoy). It’s reportedly haunted, and several murders have taken place there.

8. Brick Lane

Looking for one of the coolest old streets of London? Go to Brick Lane, for sure.

Brick Lane was first established in the 1500s when East London was mostly fields. There were rich clay deposits here, and several kilns were built to manufacture bricks, hence the name. In the 1600s, breweries were established using deep wells under Brick Lane to draw water.

Also in the 17th century, French Huguenots settled in the area, creating a thriving weaving and garment-making community. Today there are still a large amount of fabric and clothing stores on nearby Fashion Street, along with vintage shops, excellent Bangladeshi shops and restaurants, and very cool street art.

What to see on Brick Lane:

• Brick Lane is an excellent street to just wander and take in the street art (spot the Banksy), thriving culture, bakeries, coffee shops, vintage stores, and Bangladeshi markets.
• On weekends, the Brick Lane Market runs at the Truman Brewery.
• This is Jack the Ripper territory, and there are several locations connected to Ripper Victims nearby. Follow along on my map for all Ripper-related locations.

9. Chancery Lane & Lincoln’s Inn

Originally called New Street, Chancery Lane has always been an important street in law and justice in London. It is named after the High Court of Chancery which stood here in the 11th century.

Nearby is Lincoln’s Inn, one of the four Inns of Court to which every barrister must belong in order to practice law. Chancery Street intersects the Strand, on which lies the Royal Courts of Justice.

The headquarters of the Law Society holds a prominent place on Chancery Lane, as well as the beautiful Maughan Library. These two old streets of London are iconic and important for their role in the British legal system.

What to see on Chancery Lane & Lincoln’s Inn:

• See the undercrofts of Lincoln’s Inn Chapel where the floor is made of gravestones (pictured above).
• Check out the London Silver Vaults and the Soane Museum.
• Stroll though Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the largest public square in London, where executions used to take place.

10. Shoreditch High Street & Curtain Road

The first instance of this old London street name comes from maps in the 12th and 13th centuries, when Shoreditch was a boggy marshland outside the city.

It wasn’t until the 1500s that it became prominent, and for a very English reason. In 1574, building of playhouses was banned within the City of London. So what did Shakespeare and his compatriots do? They built playhouses outside the city in Shoreditch.

The name ‘Curtain Road’ comes from the first of these: The Theatre, built in 1576. Though none of the original theatres remain, Shoreditch is still where the creatives hang out, and it’s a lovely area to grab a coffee and gaze at all the amazing art.

It’s one of the coolest old streets of London that still stays close to its history as an art and creative hub.

What to see in Shoreditch:

• Shoreditch Church, which has stood on this spot since at least 1185. During Shakespeare’s time it was known as “the actor’s church.” The church’s water pump has been here since at least the 1800s and taps the spring which may have given Shoreditch its name.
• The Courthouse Hotel, which used to be the Old Magistrate’s Court. Have a drink in the bar, which used to be the holding cells for infamous inmates such as the Kray twins.
• The unique and original architectural homes on bordering Fournier Street, Princelet Street and Wilkes Street.

11. Haymarket

Before Haymarket became Theatreland central, it was an agricultural market in the Elizabethan era.

It was also known as a downtrodden place of vice and sex work; nothing like it’s glitzy facade today. Some theatres sprung up in the 1700s, and in the 19th century the market was moved and the roads were paved and taxed.

Today you’ll likely walk down Haymarket to catch a West End show. The theatres themselves are beautiful and worth noting, but this is one of the old streets of London that is nothing like its humble roots.

What to see on Haymarket:

• Her Majesty’s Theatre, first built in 1705 and renamed and rebuilt several times. It’s haunted by a ghost with the best name ever.
• The Theatre Royal was first built in 1720, and Dame Judi Dench and Sir Patrick Stewart have talked about their ghostly experiences in this haunted theatre.

12. Pudding Lane

Arguably one of the the most famous old streets of London, Pudding Lane runs from Eastcheap (the eastern counterpart to Cheapside), which was a medieval market. In the 1402 the butchers of the market were granted an alley in which to dispose of entrails and offal (“pudding”) and the name was coined.

In 1617, Pudding Lane was made the first one-way street in London, but later became infamous for the starting point of the Great Fire of London.

In 1666, an oven in Thomas Farriner’s bakery caught fire and, since London was then built mostly of wood, the fire spread quickly. There’s not much to Pudding Lane today other than plaques and monuments to its notable history.

What to see on Pudding Lane:

• Locate the plaque on the wall of Farynor House which is the approximate location where the bakery stood. The original site of the bakery was paved over when Monument Street was built.
• Around the corner, see the Monument to the Great Fire of London, built by Sir Christopher Wren a decade after the fire.

13. The Mall

One of the most historic streets in London, The Mall connects Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. It was formerly a croquet field (pall-mall), but after the Palace of Whitehall burned down in 1698, the Mall became a major route to St. James’s Palace, where the monarch lived before Buckingham Palace was built in 1703.

This is where Royal processions take place, and many Kings and Queens have traversed this route in grand carriages, both in life and in death. For the monarchy, this is one of the most significant old streets of London.

The Mall is closed to traffic on weekends and holidays and is a lovely route to walk down, though the area is often crowded with tourists.

What to see on The Mall:

Starting at Trafalgar Square and walking west:

• Admiralty Arch
• South African Royal Artillery Memorial
• St. James’s Park
• King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Memorial
• St. James’s Palace
• Clarence House
• Victoria Memorial
• Canada Gate
• The Memorial Garden
• Buckingham Palace

14. Horse Guards Road

Running south from The Mall and parallel to Whitehall, Horse Guards Road runs along the eastern border of St. James’s Park.

The name comes from what is now Horse Guards Parade, the former jousting yard of the Palace of Whitehall, which Charles I established to house his royal guards and their cavalry. In 1663, Charles II made it official and created barracks for his guards: the first Horse Guards building.

It was rebuilt in 1749 and that’s the building you see today. This is one of the old streets of London that is still regularly used by horses!

What to see on Horse Guards Road:

• The Old Admiralty Building
• Household Cavalry Museum and the hourly sentry change outside (this is where you see photos of people standing with the horse guards. You can gently touch the horses but not the reigns, and especially do not touch the guards–this is a working military regiment)
• Statue of the Earl Mountbatten
• Imperial War Museum’s Churchill War Rooms
• Pop into St. James’s Park and see the picturesque Duck Island Cottage

15. Whitehall

The Palace of Whitehall stood here from 1530-1698, and was the main residence for the monarchy until it burned down. Whitehall was the Buckingham Palace of the Tudor period.

Today Whitehall is one of the old streets of London that is synonymous with the British government. The Ministry of Defense, the Royal Horseguards, the War Office, and several other government buildings are all located on this street.

The only original building from the period that still stands is the Banqueting House, where Charles I was famously executed.

What to see at Whitehall:

• Start at Trafalgar Square and see the world’s smallest police station!
• The Silver Cross: the only pub that is still licensed as a brothel. It’s not a brothel anymore; the license King Charles I granted was simply never revoked.
• The Banqueting House, where Charles was beheaded on a specially constructed balcony for the occasion.
• Downing Street. Though you can’t get too close to #10 where the Prime Minister resides.
• The Churchill War Rooms are on nearby Horseguards Road and incredible. Book ahead.
• Several memorials are on Whitehall; look for statues and plaques as you go.

16. Leadenhall Street & Cornhill

Leadenhall Market, for which the street is named, has been trading since 1321. It originally connected the market with Aldgate, the eastern gate to the city.

It’s very likely that this street was originally Roman as remains of Roman trade have been found under both sides of the street. Sometime after the 1200s it was named “Cornhulle” in the western portion, and that street is still named Cornhill today.

In the 1700-1800s, The East India Company was headquartered here. This is one of the old streets of London that retains some original features.

What to see on Leadenhall & Cornhill Streets:

• Leadenhall Market. It’s a chic place to shop and dine, as well as the location of the entrance to Diagon Alley in the first Harry Potter film.
• The Royal Exchange. Another lovely market from the Victorian period.

17. Borough High Street

Borough High Street is one of the oldest roads in London, and before Westminster Bridge was built, it was a major travel route for anyone going in and out of the city via London Bridge.

Borough High Street (though it has held different names over the centuries) held lots of coaching inns for travelers, only one of which remains today: The George.

Borough Market is probably over 1,000 years old and is the main attraction in the area today. It’s fun to walk down these old streets of London, visit the market, and try to feel what it would have been like in days gone by.

What to see on Borough High Street:

• Borough Market. On weekends it gets way too crowded; try to do a weekday if you can.
• Historic and beautiful Southwark Cathedral
• The George Inn
• St George the Martyr and the stained glass window of Dickens’ Little Dorrit
• The Old Operating Theatre, a fabulous little museum of dark medical history

18. Clink Street

One of the old streets of London that has a very dark history? Clink Street.

Clink Street was within the medieval estate of the Bishops of Winchester in the 11th century. It was outside the jurisdiction of the City of London, so was known for forbidden activities: vice, sex work, and theatre.

But Clink Street was–and is–most famous for The Clink Prison.

There is now a small attraction called the Clink Prison Museum, and although the entry fee is a little steep, inside you can see original artifacts from the prison and part of the original wall.

What to see on Clink Street:

• The Clink Prison Museum
• Remains of Winchester Palace
• The ancient and picturesque Old Thameside Inn pub
• The Golden Hinde, replica of the famous ship that was first English vessel to circumnavigate the globe. There’s also an escape room inside.

19. Shad Thames

Shad Thames is one of the old London street names that remains a bit of a mystery. The area of Shad Thames, or Butler’s Wharf, was originally a grazing ground for horses and cattle, and was first called Shad Thames in a 1747 map.

In the Victorian period, Shad Thames was the “larder of London”; the largest warehouse complex in the city where grains, tea and spices were unloaded and redistributed.

Today it’s known for the Instagram-vibe, with the warehouses converted into pricey loft apartments and interesting skybridge walkways over the street. This is one of the most picturesque old streets of London!

What to see on Shad Thames:

• Access a beautiful view of the river on Maggie Blake’s Cause or take photos on Horselydown Steps
• See the inside of Tower Bridge in the Engine Rooms
• See the historical wharf bridges that soar over the street connecting the former warehouses
• St Savior’s Dock, a good photo point but once a horrid, putrid collection of rotting offal and made infamous by Dickens.

20. Tower Hill

Along with Clink Street, Tower Hill is one of the old streets of London with a very bloody history.

Though the street has not always gone by this name, it has encircled the northwest border of the Tower of London since its construction in the 11th century. But it became infamous in from the 14th to 18th centuries as a bloody hill where traitors and other criminals were executed. Prisoners were held in the Tower, then marched to Tower Hill where they were beheaded or hung.

What to see on Tower Hill:

• The Tower of London
• Tower Hill Execution Memorial
• The Sundial
• Memorial to the Mercantile Marines (Tower Hill Memorial)
• Remains of the Roman Wall
• Merchant Seafarers Memorial
• All Hallows by the Tower and the Crypt Museum

21. Temple

Middle Temple Lane and Temple Lane (collectively I’m just calling them Temple) was originally the land of the Knights Templar. They had two halls: Inner Temple and Middle Temple, as well as the Temple Church, opened in 1185 (as featured in The DaVinci Code).

After King Edward II abolished the Knights Templar in 1307, the land and buildings were leased to groups of lawyers, and this area has remained a center of English law ever since.

Inner and Middle Temple are two of the four Inns of Court to which every barrister must belong to practice law. It’s a lovely quiet area away from the nearby bustle of Fleet Street, and one of the old streets of London with many historic features.

What to see on Temple:

• Temple Church
• King’s Bench Walk, many of the buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren
• Inner and Middle Temple Gardens

22. Seven Dials

This is not one street, but seven (seven!) that all converge in Covent Garden.

In the middle ages it held a monastery that ran a leper colony, and in 1690 Thomas Neale was tasked with redeveloping the area. He designed several roads converging to maximise street frontage space, as rents were charged not by square metres but by frontage area.

He envisioned a new neighborhood for the wealthy elite, but it wasn’t to be; by the Dickensian era it was one of the most notorious slums in London.

Today it’s a fashionable district for posh shopping and dining in theatreland, and one of the old streets of London where you can get very turned around if you don’t keep your bearings!

What to see in Seven Dials:

• The sundial in the centre. The original sundial pillar was taken down in 1773 to prevent “undesirables” who congregated around it. It didn’t help.
• Pick any of the seven streets and enjoy the shopping, dining, and ambiance. The new Seven Dials Market is a fantastic food hall.

23. Commercial Street

Old London street names that are really boring? Commercial Street. But despite the name, it’s one of the old streets of London that is very cool to walk down and has a lot to offer.

This Spitalfields thoroughfare has long been a center of commerce, beginning with the French Huguenots who brought the silkweaving trade to the area in the 1600s.

Historic Spitalfields Market has existed since 1638. In the mid-1800s, the whole road was redeveloped in slum clearance; it didn’t help. The area remained poor and crime-ridden until well after the Ripper murders when council housing slowly developed in the early 1900s.

Today it’s a fashionable and artsy area and a great place to wander and shop.

What to see on Commercial Street, Spitalfields:

• Spitalfields Market: newly redeveloped, it has everything from food stalls to high street shops to vintage and antique traders.
• Jack the Ripper locations: The Ten Bells Pub, the murder site of Mary Jane Kelly, the former Queen’s Head Pub, and the remains of Flower and Dean walk a few streets away.
• Christchurch Spitalfields: historic church designed by Hawksmoor

24. Whitechapel Road

This is another one of the old streets of London with a dark history. Whitechapel Road was part of the original old Roman road that stretched all the way to Colchester and was an important coaching route, especially as it connected rural farms with Smithfield Market.

It became more developed in the 1700s, and in the late 1800s became notorious for the Jack the Ripper murders. Joseph Merrick, the “Elephant Man,” also lent his notoriety to Whitechapel as he was cruelly displayed as a circus freak in a Whitechapel Road shop.

Later this area became notorious for the Kray twins, and their murder of George Cornell at the Blind Beggar Pub.

What to see on Whitechapel Road:

• The Blind Beggar Pub
• The murder site of the first canonical Ripper victim: Polly Nichols
• Joseph Merrick’s first london “home” and workplace

25. Tooley Street

Tooley Street in Southwark probably gets its name from a convoluted corruption of the Church of St Olave which occupied the area from the 11th century to the early 20th.

Much of Tooley Street’s history is tragic: in the 1500s there are records of pillories and drunk tanks on the street. In 1861, a massive fire erupted at Cotton’s Wharf, and it took two weeks to extinguish. It was coined the “Great Fire of Tooley Street,” and led to much of the area being destroyed. It was the worst fire in London since 1666.

In Hay’s Wharf, Ernest Shackleton’s ship Quest was fitted in 1921; Shackleton died on the ship while on an expedition the following year. Hay’s Wharf is now a shopping centre.

Tooley Street had two notable literary residents: George Orwell lived with “tramps” in Tooley Street for research, and John Keats lived here when he was a medical student at Guy’s Hospital.

During WWII much of the area was bombed and many died.

What to see on Tooley Street:

• Hay’s Galleria: shopping centre in the former wharf where Shackleton’s ship was fitted.
• Blue plaque commemorating the 68 deaths in a WWII bombing raid here, on nearby Stainer Street.
• The London Bridge Experience and London Tombs
• See nearby Potter’s Fields, where the poor were buried for centuries.

26. Oxford Street

Oxford Street has always been a bustling thoroughfare, but in the middle ages it was not because of shopping. Originally a Roman road, Oxford Street was known as Tyburn Road until the 18th century.

Public hangings at Tyburn were a spectacle, designated public holidays and drawing crowds from all over. In 1571, the “Tyburn Tree” was erected, with three beams of nooses in a triangle, to make mass executions easier.

Today Oxford Street is a shopping destination, but pieces of its dark history can still be found.

What to see on Oxford Street:

• Tyburn Tree Marker
• Marble Arch
• Selfridge’s, the original and pioneering department store

27. Piccadilly

It’s a circus, but also a street!

Piccadilly dates back to at least the middle ages, but gained its current name from Robert Baker, a businessman who bought the land after making his fortune selling piccadills, a type of fashionable collar popular in the 1600s. Some parts were also called Portugal Street at times, but by the 1700s the Piccadilly name stuck.

Since then it’s been a fashionable center for shopping. This was bolstered by the opening of Fortnum & Mason and much later the Ritz Hotel.

What to see on Piccadilly:

• Piccadilly Circus, full of its bright neon lights which first made it famous
• The Ritz Hotel, which is definitely haunted
• Fortnum and Mason, founded 1707
• The Piccadilly Arcade, a historic and beautiful little shopping centre
• St. James Church, designed by Sir Christopher Wren

28. Roupell Street

This conservation area, protected from the march of time, is pretty close to stepping back to the 1800s.

In 1820, John Roupell purpose-built this block of modest housing with the intention of leasing them to the working class. They’ve remained untouched ever since, and the little village includes a nearby pub and school.

This street has been used in numerous television and movie productions, including Dr. Who, Call the Midwife, James Bond, EastEnders, and Mr Selfridge, just to name a few.

What to see on Roupell Street:

• Walk the conservation area, including Theed Street, Whittlesey Street, Cornwall Road and Windmill Walk.
• Note the small fire insurance plaques on the sides of the homes. This is from an era when you had to pay an independent fire brigade to protect your house.
• Visit the King’s Arms Pub

29. Rotherhithe Street

Rotherhithe Street stretches around the bank of the Thames for 1.5 miles; the longest street in London. It has been developed for centuries to support the river trade.

The infamous Mayflower ship left from Rotherhithe in 1620, and there is a historic pub where the dock was, potentially the oldest riverside pub in London.

What to see in Rotherhithe:

• Historic, grade-listed Nelson House
• The Mayflower Pub
• St Mary’s Church Rotherhithe, with crypt, where a church has resided since 1282
• Columbia Wharf

30. Carnaby Street

Carnaby’s name comes from Karnaby House, which sat here in 1683. In the 1800s a small market popped up, but the most notable history is of a cholera outbreak in 1854.

Nearby was the Broad Street pump, and Dr John Snow was the first to recognize the source of the illnesses.

Carnaby Street became notable again in the 1960s, when fashion boutiques popped up and famous faces like the Rolling Stones appeared to shop, socialize, and make music. Today it’s a posh little shopping street very much worth visiting.

What to see on Carnaby Street:

• Plaque to John Stephen, who began “mod” fashion
• Plaque to the band The Small Faces
• The Broad Street Pump

31. Abbey Road

No list of London streets is complete without this classic. In the 1700s this was still mostly a rural road to reach Kilburn Priory (est. 1100s), and only became developed in the 1800s.

It’s still a quiet, leafy part of London, and an odd location for such a famous recording studio. Of course the crosswalk is the most famous part of Abbey Road, as is the recording studio.

It’s still very much a working studio and is open only occasionally for tours. I was inside once for an event and it was unforgettable.

What to see on Abbey Road:

• The crosswalk, of course. Keep in mind that this is a thoroughfare with several bus routes, and vehicles must stop when you are in the zebra crossing. Don’t pose several times or walk back and forth. Be courteous to the locals.
• You can see the outside of the studio and pose for photos.
• Further south you can see the famous Lord’s Cricket Ground, the home of English cricket.

32. Savile Row

This pretty little Mayfair street was mostly residential until tailors began to occupy storefronts in the 1800s.

“Through the remainder of the Victorian age and into the twentieth-century, Savile Row firmly shifted its character from a residential enclave to a thriving street of suit makers – enjoying the custom of many high-profile clients including royalty, statesmen, sporting stars, and literary and theatrical celebrities,” says the Savile Row Company.

The song ‘You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile’ from the musical Annie would cement Savile Row’s infamy in London’s history.

What to see on Savile Row:

• 3 Savile Row: formerly the Beatles’ corporation, Apple Corp. On 30 January 1969, their final live performance, forever known as “the rooftop concert,” took place on the roof of the building.
• Henry Poole & Co, one of the first tailors on Savile Row, still occupies the storefront at number 15, and famously makes bespoke clothing for the Royal Family.
• Around the corner on New Bond Street is the historic Sotheby’s Auction House.

33. Portobello Road

It’s hard to believe that the posh Portobello Road was once undesirable. It was formerly a country lane leading from the Kensington Gravel Pits, and housed many brick kilns and poor laborers.

The name comes from a farm that was in the area in 1740, and that farm was named not for the mushroom but for the Spanish victory in the battle of Puerto Bello. The area wasn’t fully developed until Victorian times, when the railway was built nearby and grand housing brought an influx of wealthy inhabitants.

The market has probably been here for centuries, and only in the last several decades has become a popular tourist attraction.

What to see on Portobello Road:

• Portobello Road Market, parts of which are open daily, but the full market with antiques, food, clothing, vintage items, and produce, is only open Saturdays.
• The Electric Cinema, a delightful art-deco building.
• Nearby is Rillington Place, marked on my map, where serial killer John Christie killed and buried his several victims.

Old Streets of London: Final Thoughts

You’ll likely stroll down many of these streets while visiting London, but it’s also fun to look up the history of whatever street you’re on.

London is ancient, and so many things have happened here on every single street that exists! If you’re looking for the most historic streets in London, it may be right beneath your feet.

More on Visiting London: 

London Hotels for Family: 10 Great Values to Book Now

Your Ultimate Guide to a Family Trip to London on a Budget

33 Best Non-Touristy Things to Do in London

Printable London Packing List to Save you Money

Where to Stay your First time in London

15 Things to Buy in London

Best Free Museums in London

Weekend in London like a local 

The Best Viewpoints in London