Simona Scavo has been living in London for the past 6 years.  Paralegal 9-5, tea junkie, fitness fanatic and cocktail and restaurants lover -Check out her blog Shoreditch Girl.

Those who say the high street is dead, have clearly never ventured on the right side of London Bridge station.

Put firmly on the maps by what is very soon going to become the tallest building in Europe, The Shard, there is one particular high street that is pulsing with vitality: Bermondsey Street.

If the mention of the name Bermondsey conjures thoughts of insalubrious council blocks, sprawling estates and riotous teens to die-hard North Londoners, try coupling it with “street” and the reaction immediately will turn into sincere curiosity. For this neighbourhood is the talk of the town.

Very easy to get to, a 10 minute walk down St Thomas’ Street and slap bang in between London Bridge and Tower Bridge Road. You will be excused if you believe you have stepped back in time!

Welcome to Bermondsey Street. A lovely conservation area and mile long stretch that incorporates different feels from 18th century houses, an early Grade II listed 19th century three-storey red brick house, contemporary warehouse buildings and a striking orange and pink coloured 1950’s warehouse/garage conversion, now housing Zandra Rhodes’ Fashion and Textile Museum.

If art is your thing, then you are in the right place. Opposite the Rhodes’ museums, you’ll find Peter Layton’s Gallery of contemporary glass, complete with glowing furnaces visible from the gallery entrance, and a viewing area. The third and largest of The White Cube’s London Galleries housed in a 1970’s warehouse, opened during last year’s Frieze and the abstract art specialist Poussin Gallery is housed at Bell Yard Mews.

As for shopping, Vogue recently described the street as “a destination for London’s most stylish shoppers”.

There’s the traditional Bermondsey Antique Market (also called New Caledonian Market from its former location on the Cally Road). It takes place each Friday in Bermondsey Square, and regulars recommend you arrive at 5am to get the best deals. There are also a cluster of great boutiques, including Cockfighter of Bermondsey Street, which sells cute accessories such as hats, belts, bags etc.

For those trendy pets, Holly & Lil caters for everything a pet wishes for: do you prefer a boho collar or a country one? If its couture fit you are looking for, Pussy Willow offers women’s wear made-to-measure and bespoke services for every occasion.

Lovely and British is the place for gifts, all British-made, with an eclectic mix of antique, vintage, handmade candles, chocolates, jewellery and more.

New kid on the block Cave, with its explosive combo of amazing flowers, great wines and chocolate (oh yes!) is a gem in itself, and worth a trip.

Nearby Bermondsey Square, the pinnacle of the regeneration of the area, boasts an independent bookshop, Woolfson and Tay, whose social calendar is brimming with events, workshops and exhibitions, and small gallery Vitrine.

Read part 2 of this blog:

Our guest blogger for this week, Taani Lin, tells us about her perfect day in London. Taani, a New Zealand native with a serious passion for travel, has been living in London for 6 months. She says, “I am in love with this city even more than any other. I make it my constant aim to discover unique things about London and I haven’t been disappointed yet.”

My perfect day in London would start out in a stroll down Brick Lane. Brick Lane is one of my favourite places, not only because of the bustling markets held on Sundays but also because the area hosts amazing street art. London is known as an expensive city but for art, it is not. Museums and galleries are free of charge, but if you want to get away from the classics and indulge in some local talent, I find wandering down Brick Lane and Shoreditch to be a real treat. Parts of the area can appear to be a bit run down but this just creates an atmosphere of authenticity. I mean, street art and graffiti just doesn’t seem genuine unless it’s randomly yet strategically placed on the side of slightly rotting building.

Seeing I was already in the Brick Lane area and it would be a beautiful sunny Sunday, I would be tempted to join the crowds at the Brick Lane Market. You can buy anything here for a reasonable price. It can actually be quite a dangerous place to be because the bargains seem too good to be true and I have a weakness for coats of all varieties and end up buying at least one every time I visit

simply because it’s cheap and pretty. The Sunday Up Market in the Old Truman Brewery is always worth a visit, not for the pretty arts and crafts which are usually too expensive for my budget, but for the most delicious chocolate brownies in the world.

Somewhere within this market is a vendor that sells unique combinations of muffins, such as pistachio and ginger but if you ever find him, just beeline for the brownies. It’s worth the calories. All that shopping and absorbing of art would then make me incredibly hungry for proper food and nothing seems more London to me than the Rootmasters Bustaurant. Where else but in London could you find a vegan restaurant inside a double decker bus! At first I was hesitant of the food as it is vegan food only and I am a huge fan of dairy and meat products, but the falafel plate looked amazing and I wasn’t disappointed.

London is just too big to describe in a short blog and well worth just wandering around yourself, however, many people find they get more out of a visit with a guided tour. There are many local tours and really unique ones that run in London, but at Get Your Guide, you can find many of the local listings in London. There’s something like 200 tours available so knock yourself out.

Chocolates by Melt

Perhaps when you think of Notting Hill you picture Julia Roberts falling for Hugh Grant against the Portobello Road Market backdrop, spurring fantasies about visiting fictional coffee shops and the closed-down bookstores used as filming locations for Notting Hill the next time you find yourself in the area. Or maybe you’re dreaming of the gorgeous antiques the guide book said you might find here. But forget that; there’s more to this West London neighbourhood than guide books and cinema have to tell you.

Start out at the Electric Brasserie for lunch near the Ladbroke Grove section of Portobello Road. This restaurant/bar/cinema is open daily from 8am and offers outdoor seating year round alongside mainstream and art house films.  However, they are open till midnight (or later) most nights so it also makes a great place to end a long day of traipsing about Notting Hill.

From here pop around the corner to Rough Trade West and listen to some tunes. The shop is much smaller than the Rough Trade East counterpart, but it’s well worth the visit. Also, unlike the Brick Lane sister store this shop isn’t mobbed at the weekends so you can rock out to their pre-selected sample tracks (which come in every genre and are typically excellent incase you aren’t familiar with the Rough Trade ethos) before deciding if you’d like to buy from this independent music shop. And if they don’t have the album out that you’d like to listen to? Not to worry! Just ask any staff member and they’ll be happy to play what you want to hear.

Once you’re done jammin’ to the personalised tunes on the headphones and read up on what in store gigs are on the Rough Trade schedule, it’s probably time for desert. And what better way to do that then take a detour from Portobello Road Market itself and wander over to Ledbury Road for Melt Chocolates.

This shop is filled with handmade luxury chocolates – note the chocolate kitchen at the back of the store – some of which you are free to sample. Keep in mind that the prices can be a bit steep, so make sure to talk with an employee to hear their opinion of the chocolate you are considering buying. Tell them what you like (or dislike) and they can come up with appropriate recommendations just for you. (And if you’re lucky they may even toss a little treat into your final purchase!)

Finally, when you’re ready to relax, you can head towards Holland Park Tube and up the hill to Holland Park. This park is not usually as crowded as other London parks (ie: Hyde Park) but still presents a high standard of horticulture and gardening. Here you can find peacocks wandering about the rose garden and all sorts of fauna, including trees with giant branches that provide excellent shelter from London’s unexpected rain.

All images by Katie Poole