Belinha and I recently co-hosted a fabulously fun event with award-winning photographer Emma O’Brien – the ‘Shoreditch Street Art + Dogs Photo Walk’. We took to the streets of Shoreditch to capture two of my favourite things together, colourful street art and doggos. It seems I’m not the only one who thinks this combination is a fabulous one, so I wanted to share with you a self-guided tour that you and your pup can do in the first of our self-guided walking tours on the blog, the Shoreditch Street Art Dog Walk.
The Dogvine Guide To A (Colourful) Shoreditch Street Art Dog Walk
Before we dive in, I should mention that there are many more places for photographing good street art in Shoreditch but all the spots listed in our ‘Guide To A Shoreditch Street Art Dog Walk’ have been selected with a view to bringing fabulous street art and pawsome pups together and are ‘dog-friendly’ or as ‘dog safe’ as possible. For example, if they are on a busy main road or the street art is too high up they won’t be on the list.
Shoreditch is one of those London places that is undeniably hip and cool which translates itself onto the many colourful street art covered walls you come across as you stroll around. Add in a dog (or a few) and you have winning combo in our opinion.
Our Self-Guided Shoreditch Street Art Dog Walk
Starting at Shoreditch High Street Overground Station, come out of the station and turn left onto Braithwaite Street, walking up to Bethnal Green Road. At the corner, turn right and walk a short distance onto Sclater Street where you will find a long wall of street art with different colours and styles to suit all tastes, including the firm favourite with our group ‘Lil’ Rebel’, probably because we had quite a few four-legged rebels with us.
Then, head back to Bethnal Green Road, crossing at the traffic lights opposite Beach Blanket Babylon to head up Club Row. Take the first left and that will take you onto the quiet Whitby Street which is a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of Shoreditch. There are several spots to photograph along here from complete walls of art, to simple murals and garage doors.
Continue down Whitby Street and you will soon reach Chance Street, a firm favourite on any Shoreditch Street Art Tour with several different styles of art on offer.
Parallel to Chance Street is Ebor Street another Shoreditch Street Art favourite. If you walk up Chance Street (away from Bethnal Green Road), then walk along Redchurch Street to reach Ebor Street there are some bonus surprise pieces along the way too.
Take the next left into Ebor Street which is home to several walls by the famous street artist Eine known for his colourful and vibrant letter designs. You can even pick out your pup’s letter…
From Ebor Street go back onto Redchurch Street and turn left to walk towards Shoreditch High Street. We got lucky and found some of the (now famous) work of John Dolan and his dog George (a must-read story) on Shoreditch High Street so look out for these little gems along the way too.
Cross over Shoreditch High Street and head into New Inn Yard. You’ll soon come across the dog-friendly Visions Canteen on the right (as featured on the blog in Rusty the Schnauzers My Dog Friendly London Guide) which is perfect for a human and hound pitstop and you can even break a rule or two…
Carry on down New Inn Yard until you reach King John Ct. You’ll see a tall building covered from top to bottom in amazing street art (goodness knows how the artists actually painted it) on one side of the road and an eclectic mix of street art on the other. There is also a cul-de-sac area to the left of the street which is home to a big, partly enclosed area of street art.
Once you’ve captured enough photos to fill your insta feed for a month, carry on down New Inn Yard until you reach Great Eastern St. Turn right and walk up the road until you reach Garden Walk, the third street on the right. Garden walk looks very unassuming but if you head down it towards Rivington Street, you’ll come across an amazing piece of street art on one of the doors. Definitely a firm favourite of ours because of the stunning artwork and colours.
From there continue onto Rivington Street. If you turn left at the corner of Garden Walk and Rivington Street there is some more street art on the right hand side of the road a bit further down so you can include that if you wish. When you’re ready, head back down Rivington Street in the other direction until you reach Cargo on the left hand side. Cargo is home to an original Banksy and not only that, but a Banksy featuring dogs… what more could we have asked for in the Shoreditch Street Art Dog Walk Guide!
Although Cargo isn’t open until later in the day, the gate is left open to allow people to come in to see the Banksy piece. Of course we couldn’t resist a doggy group shot….
Outside of Cargo there are also a couple more walls that make for some fun four-legged shots too…
From here we finished the walk by heading up the Shoreditch High Street to Old Street to refuel at the super dog-friendly The Bike Shed, where our group of dogs and humans were welcomed literally with open arms, literally. Read our review of The Bike Shed here from a previous visit and it was also featured in Rusty the Schnauzer’s My Dog Friendly London guide too.
Barnaby even took the opportunity to pop into the Bike Shed’s dog-friendly barber, wearing his ‘Movember’ bandana obviously.
After you’ve refueled at The Bike Shed, you can either head back down Shoreditch High Street to Shoreditch High Street Station or go in the other direction to Old Street Tube whichever suits you best.
Self-Guided Shoreditch Street Art Dog Walk Final Tips
Find a handy map of the walk below:
- If you want to take photos in each spot then allow about two hours for the self-guided walk (excluding refuel time at any dog-friendly pit stops).
- On Sunday’s Sclater Street is taken over by a bustling Street Market so it’s best to do this walk on another day if you want to include Sclater Street.
- The route is flat so easily accessible from both a people and pups perspective.
- Finally…enjoy!
Let us know your favourite Shoreditch Street Art spots (or other London Street Art spots) in the comments below…
