Street sights in Europe
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Brick Lane
Full of noise, colour and life, Brick Lane is a vibrant mix of history and modernity, and a palimpsest of cultures. Today it is the centrepiece of a thriving Bengali community in an area nicknamed Banglatown. The southern part of the lane is one long procession of curry and balti houses intermingled with fabric shops and Indian supermarkets. Sadly the once-high standard of cooking in the curry houses is a distant memory, so you’re probably better off trying subcontinental cuisine in Whitechapel.
Just past Hanbury St is the converted Old Truman Brewery, a series of buildings on both sides of the lane that was once London’s largest brewery. The Director’s House on the left…
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The Scores
From the castle, the Scores follows the coast west down to the first tee at the Old Course. Family-friendly St Andrews Aquarium has a seal pool, rays and sharks from Scottish waters and exotic tropical favourites. Once introduced to our finny friends, you can snack on them with chips in the cafe.
Nearby, the British Golf Museum has an extraordinarily comprehensive overview of the history and development of the game and the role of St Andrews in it. Favourite fact: bad players were formerly known as 'foozlers'. Interactive panels allow you to relive former British Opens (watch Paul Azinger snapping his putter in frustration), and there's a large collection of memorabilia…
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King’s Road
In the 17th century Charles II fashioned a love nest here for himself and his mistress Nell Gwyn, an orange seller turned actress at the Drury Lane Theatre. Heading back to Hampton Court Palace at eventide, Charles would employ a farmer’s track that inevitably came to be known as the King’s Road. The street was at the forefront of London fashion during the technicolour ‘60s and anarchic ‘70s, and continues to be trendy now, albeit in a more self-conscious way.
Near the Sloane Sq end, the Saatchi Gallery offers 6500 sq metres of space for temporary exhibitions.
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Regent Street
Regent St is the border separating the hoi polloi of Soho and the high-society residents of Mayfair. Designed by John Nash as a ceremonial route, it was meant to link the Prince Regent’s long-demolished city dwelling with the ‘wilds’ of Regent’s Park, and was conceived by the architect as a grand thoroughfare that would be the centrepiece of a new grid for this part of town. Alas, it was never to be – too many toes were being stepped on and Nash had to downscale his plan.
There are some elegant shop fronts that look older than their 1920s origins (when the street was remodelled) but, as in the rest of London, the chain stores have almost completely taken over.…
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Strand
From the time it was built, at the end of the 12th century, The Strand (from the Old English and German word for beach) ran by the Thames. Its grandiose stone houses, built by the nobility, counted as some of the most prestigious places to live, sitting as they did on a street that connected the City and Westminster, the two centres of power; indeed, its appeal lasted for seven centuries, with the 19th-century prime minister Benjamin Disraeli pronouncing it ‘the finest street in Europe’. Buildings included the Cecil Hotel (now no more), the Savoy Hotel, Simpson’s, King’s College and Somerset House.
But modern times haven’t treated The Strand with the same sort of…
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Whitechapel Road
The East End’s main thoroughfare, Whitechapel Rd hums with a cacophony of Asian, African and Middle Eastern languages, its busy shops and market stalls selling everything from Indian snacks to Nigerian fabrics and Turkish jewellery, as the East End’s multitudinous ethnic groupings rub up against each other more or less comfortably. It’s a chaotic and poor place, but it’s full of life. Within a few minutes’ walk of Whitechapel tube station you’ll find the large East London Mosque and, behind it, the Great Synagogue, built in 1899. Further down Fieldgate St, the enormous Tower House was once a hostel and then a dosshouse but is now a redeveloped apartment block.…
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Calle Calderería Nueva
Centre of the city’s modern Muslim community. The touristy shops brim with hookahs, slippers and scarves, but the mellow teahouses, such as Tetería As-Sirat, are popular with nondrinking Muslim youth.
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High Street
Lined with surprisingly posh boutiques, the High St climbs from the town church to the adorable Georgian town hall abutting the crooked 16th-century House on Crutches which also houses the town museum.
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Cours Julien
No address is more telling of the city’s extravagant cultural diversity than cours Julien, an elongated square with a fountain that has long dried up and an exotic forest of palm trees, beneath which neighbourhood kids play football. Various morning markets fill the pedestrian-only space with life – fresh flowers on Wednesday and Saturday, antique books alternate Saturdays, and stamps or antique books on Sunday – and a line-up of café terraces on its western side cook up world cuisine. On its eastern side square, a couple of fringe theatres and the alternative Espace Julien entertain after dark. Everything from rock, opérock, alternative theatre and reggae to hip…
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Avrupa Pasajı
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Calle Sierpes
Pedestrianised Calle Sierpes, heading north from the Plaza de San Francisco, and the parallel Calle Tetuán/Velázquez are the hub of Seville's fanciest shopping zone. Between the two streets is the 18th-century Capilla de San José, with breathtakingly intense baroque ornamentation.
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Via de' Bardi
Walking east from Ponte Vecchio, the first stretch of Via de' Bardi shows clear signs of its recent history. This entire area was flattened by German mines in 1944, and hastily rebuilt in questionable taste after the war. The street spills into Piazza di Santa Maria Soprarno. Follow the narrow Via de' Bardi (the right fork) away from the square and you enter a pleasantly quieter corner of Florence. The powerful Bardi family once owned all the houses along this street, but by the time Cosimo the Elder wed Contessina de' Bardi in 1415, the latter's family was on the decline.
Via de' Bardi ends on Piazza de' Mozzi, surrounded by the sturdy facades of grand residences. Pope…
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Via Ricci
From Piazza Grande, Via Ricci runs downhill past Palazzo Ricci, now home to a German music academy. From the palazzo's courtyard, stairs lead down to another historic wine cellar, Cantina del Redi. A bit further downhill is the Museo Civico, home to an eclectic collection of artworks and artefacts. The street terminates in Piazza San Francesco, where you can admire a panoramic view of the Val di Chiana.
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Il Corso
The main street, called in stages Via di Gracciano nel Corso, Via di Voltaia del Corso and Via dell'Opio nel Corso, climbs uphill from Porta al Prato, near the car park on Piazza Don Minzoni. At the upper end of Piazza Savonarola is the Colonna del Marzocca, erected in 1511 to confirm Montepulciano's allegiance to Florence. The splendid stone lion, squat as a pussycat atop this column is, in fact, a copy; the original is in the town's Museo Civico. The late-Renaissance Palazzo Avignonesi by Giacomo da Vignola is at No 91. Several mansions line Via di Gracciano nel Corso, including the Palazzo di Bucelli at No 73, the lower courses of whose facade are recycled Etruscan and…
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Deichstrasse
Hamburg’s Great Fire of 1842 broke out in Deichstrasse, which features a few restored 18th-century homes, most now housing restaurants. You can get a feel for the old canal and merchants quarter here.
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Riverfront Promenade
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Herbertstrasse
Along Davidstrasse, a painted tin wall bars views into Herbertstrasse, a block-long bordello that’s off-limits to men under 18 and to women of all ages. It's the notorious sinful heart of the district.
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Via dei Condotti
The place to head for high-rolling shoppers, this is Rome’s smartest shopping strip. At the eastern end, near Piazza di Spagna, Caffè Greco was a favourite meeting point of 18th- and 19th-century writers. Other top shopping streets in the area include Via Frattina, Via della Croce, Via delle Carrozze and Via del Babuino.
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Moscow Triumphal Arch
This long avenue, heading due south from Sennaya ploshchad to the airport, is the start of the main road to Moscow. Along it you’ll find the iron Moscow Triumphal Arch, built in 1838 to mark victories over Turks, Persians and Poles, demolished in 1936, then rebuilt from 1959 to 1960.
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Via dei Coronari
Named after the coronari (rosary-bead sellers) who used to work here, this elegant pedestrian street is famous for its antique shops. A lovely, quiet place for a stroll, it follows the course of the ancient Roman road that connected Piazza Colonna with the River Tiber and was once a popular thoroughfare for pilgrims.
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Shambles
The narrow, cobbled lane known as the Shambles, lined with 15th-century Tudor buildings that overhang so much they seem to meet above your head, is the most visited street in Europe. Quaint and picturesque it most certainly is, and it hints at what a medieval street may have looked like – even if it's now overrun with people told they have to buy a tacky souvenir and be back on the tour bus in 15 minutes. It takes its name from the Saxon word shamel, meaning 'slaughterhouse' – in 1862 there were 26 butcher shops on this one street.
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Karl-Marx-Allee
It’s easy to feel like Gulliver in the Land of Brobdingnag when walking down monumental Karl-Marx-Allee, one of Berlin's most impressive GDR-era relics. Built between 1952 and 1960, the 90m-wide boulevard runs for 2.3km between Alexanderplatz and Frankfurter Tor and is a fabulous showcase of East German architecture. A considerable source of national pride back then, it provided modern flats for thousands of people and served as a backdrop for military parades.
Until the early 1970s, this was also the 'Ku'damm of the East', lined with shops, cafes, restaurants and the glamorous Kino Kosmos. Living here was a privilege and, in fact, for a long time there was no better…
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Port'Alba
A Mediterranean Diagon Alley, Port'Alba is an atmospheric porthole into the centro storico, best experienced on weekday afternoons. Crammed with bookshops and stalls, it's the place for leather-bound classics, a dog-eared Manzoni or retro postcards and magazines. The gate, which leads through to Piazza Dante, was opened in 1625 by Antonio Alvárez, the Spanish viceroy of Naples.
At the eastern end of Via Port'Alba, southbound Via San Sebastiano boasts the world's greatest concentration of musical-instrument shops, alongside 49th St in New York.
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Carrer de Montcada
An early example of town planning, this medieval high street was driven towards the sea from the road that in the 12th century led northeast from the city walls. It was the city's snootiest address for the merchant classes. The bulk of the great mansions that remain today mostly date to the 14th and 15th centuries.
This area was the commercial heartland of medieval Barcelona. Five of the mansions on the east side of the street have been linked to house the Museu Picasso. Across the road, others house the Museu Barbier-Mueller d’Art Pre-Colombí and the Disseny Hub. Several other mansions on this street are commercial art galleries where you’re welcome to browse. The…
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Via del Governo Vecchio
Striking off west from Piazza Pasquino, Via del Governo Vecchio is a lively, atmospheric street full of boutiques, eateries and vintage clothes shops. The road, once part of the papal thoroughfare from Palazzo Laterano in San Giovanni to St Peter’s Basilica, acquired its name in 1755 when the papal government relocated from Palazzo Nardini at No 39 to Palazzo Madama on the other side of Piazza Navona. Bramante is thought to have lived at No 123.
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