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Vibrant, punchy and (often) political, London’s street art scene turns a rainy city into a bright one. In fact, the city was named the World Street Art Capital last year for its massive range of free art. Whether it’s dinky doodles or large-scale murals, there’s plenty to see across the city – and a new list by property company Barratt London has narrowed down the best boroughs for a street art stroll.
With a whopping 197 pieces, Tower Hamlets was revealed as having the most street art in London. As the canvas for some of Banksy’s earliest works, the East End borough (which also contains Shoreditch’s artist spots) is a hub of internationally celebrated street works. There are still some Banksy pieces remaining – like the weathered pink car in the Truman Brewery complex and the Designated Graffiti Area on Rivington Street – but many have been removed over time.
Still, there’s a lot of art to admire in TH, much of which is in the Truman Brewery. There’s a three-storey-tall crane painting by Belgian street artist ROA, a leftover sculpture from the 2018 Festival Iminente exhibition by Portuguese artist Vhils, and Crunchy the Credit Crunch Monster – a sculpted pink creature – which has been staring down at visitors from the roof since 2011.
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Hackney has the second most street art. With 106 artworks, the east London borough is the city’s creative hub and boasts outdoor art to match – like the 40-year-old Hackney Peace Mural by Ray Walker. Hackney Art Week has been increasing this number since it launched in 2025, with temporary street art exhibits being installed for free viewings. This year saw an installation of sandwich-slash-shoe sculptures by Jeanne Gourlaouen and a living collage made up of QR codes.
Third place went to Camden, which has seen a burst of colour across the last decade thanks to efforts by the Real Art of Street Art and the Camden Markets Group. Walking tours across Camden highlight some of the top works – one being Stephen Gonzalez’s interactive mural of a sofa, which you can ‘sit on’ by perching on the painted electrical box. For many, this vibrant borough comes to mind first when looking for London street art. In fact, in Barratt’s study it beat out Tower Hamlets for street art-related Google searches by more than 13,000.
There are a couple of areas on the full list which you may not have expected – namely Westminster. As a tourist hotspot, Westminster’s streets tend to receive lots of regular cleaning, removing lots of the art, but the area still has 19 notable artworks.
Lambeth was another highlight. Leake Street Arches under Waterloo Station are the borough’s standout spot with 300 metres of graffiti along an abandoned rail underpass. The project was started in 2008 by Banksy, and has since grown into a cultural hub with food, drinks and entertainment.
The top 10 London boroughs with the most street art
Check out the full list for London’s street-artiest areas:
- Tower Hamlets
- Hackney
- Camden
- Lambeth
- Waltham Forest
- Southwark
- Bromley
- Westminster
- Islington
- Newham
The great thing about street art, of course, is that it’s free. But London has no shortage of free art galleries, which you can find a full list of here.
Check out the 35 best art galleries in London, according to us.
Plus: The Design Museum is hosting a major new animation exhibition from the makers of ‘Coraline’.
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