London

Myth 5 ‘It’s just plain grim out east’
Columbia Rd Flower Market
The (mostly gardening) shops here do such good business on Sundays that most aren’t open the rest of the week. Traders sell bulbs, cut flowers, pots of herbs and enormous plants, and the numerous small shops and cafés are worth a poke around. Come around 2pm and pick up your greenery even cheaper.
Columbia Rd, E1. Old St tube/rail. Open Sun 8am-2pm

Victoria Park
London’s very first public park, they proudly say – built in 1842 with its very own Speakers’ Corner – with a flower-filled (well, in spring and summer anyway) Old English Garden, a deer enclosure, ponds and lakes aplenty, and festivals such as the Lovebox Weekender in the summer.
Approach Rd, E2. Feature continues

London Fields Lido
You have to head to Hackney for London’s only Olympic-sized lido, which finally reopened a fortnight ago. Heated to a toasty 25°C, the art- deco pool will have a seasonal roof for winter swimming from next year.
North-west corner of London Fields Park, the entrance is just off London Fields West Side (020 7254 9038).

Trinity Buoy Wharf
A creative community like no other: brightly coloured recycled ships’ containers have been arranged into jutting modular stacks called Container City, set against the historic Boiler Marker’s Shop, Chain and Buoy Store and Lightstore, and looking out over the Millennium Dome.

The Thames is so wide here it feels the sea has already begun. ‘Longplayer’ is the musical exhibition that’s just that: it runs until December 31 2999. So you’ve got a bit of time to catch it. Nearby is Fatboy’s, the red 1940s-style waterside diner that featured in ‘Sliding Doors’ (and countless glossy photoshoots since). Wear some cute short socks and a poodle skirt, and snack on milkshakes, hotdogs and burgers, but it’s cash or cheques only down these parts.
Trinity Buoy Wharf, Orchard Place, E14 (www.trinitybuoywharf.com) East India DLR. ‘Longplayer’ is open on the first weekend of the month (www.longplayer.org). Fatboy’s Diner open Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; Sat 11am-3pm.

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park
Given that the park takes in some 27 acres, it’s surprising how many locals don’t know what’s behind the high brick walls. The Victorian working-class cemetery was ultimately saved by severe overcrowding and poor maintenance: closed in 1966, funds to clear it for park-space ran out and it became an urban haven for wildflowers, butterflies, bats, birds and foxes. It’s steeped in history, of course – even the walls around the perimeter have been listed.
Main gate: Southern Grove, E3. Mile End tube. Open daily 8.30am-dusk or 9pm, whichever is sooner.