London —sights to see

I'm from the US and will be in town for the last 2 London gigs (also Truro). I was wondering if people could recommend things to see in London besides the 'greatest hits' tourist spots. I'd like to know of any record shops, markets, gardens, Morrissey sights, etc that might be of interest. Also, what is open/closed on bank holidays?
thanks in advance
Langworthy

Proper Eastenders will probably tell you the East End isn't what it used to be, but it is still worth a visit both for historical reasons and recreational reasons - best thing is to go to Old Street tube station and walk down Old Street until it meets Shoreditch High Street, around that area there are lots of bars and cafes (for instance the Bricklayers Arms in Charlotte Road, Mother Bar on Old Street (which is free and open late), Jaguar Shoes and Catch on Shoreditch High Street and several cafes in Hoxton Square - also in Hoxton Square you'll find White Cube Gallery which sometimes, though not always has some interesting exhibitions, and it's free). There's a nice little record shop on Old Street which might be worth checking out but i think you're better off visiting the second hand record shops in Notting Hill Gate or the ones in Soho on Berwick Street or in Camden. Anyway, if you visit the (E2) area on a Sunday, make sure to see the Columbia Road flower market which is well worth a visit. On the other side of Cambridge Heath Road, around Roman Road/Globe Road there are two nice vegetarian restaurants, Happy Cow and Wild Cherry, if you're into vegetarian food. If you go there you might as well visit the Museum Of Childhood on Cambridge Heath Road by Bethnal Green tube station, it's not very big but it has lots of nice lod artefacts to look at and it's free. Other nice places in the Bethnal Green/Hackney area, just for hanging out, eating and drinking can be found on Broadway Market which is a very nice street by the canal. Oh well, once in this neighbourhood, you should go to Brick Lane, lots of cafes and nightlife and legendary curries if you like your indian/bangladesh-food. On a parallel road to Brick Lane (Commerical Street) you'll find the pub, Ten Bells which apparently was frequented by a certain Jack The Ripper, in fact this whole area is overflowing with Jack The Ripper and the Kray's references if you do your homework and look for them. Also, Whitechapel High Street is nearby, where you'll find the venue called the Rhythm Factory where bands like The Libertines played before (and after) they were famous and lots of other bands play regularly. You can also find the pub, formerly called the Grave Maurice, where Morrissey was photographed, but it's called something else now and isn't particularly interesting. Oh yeah, and a trip to the venue, Pleasure Unit, on Bethnal Green Road might be worth checking out as they often have good bands playing there, plus it's very close to Vallance Road where the Kray's apparently lived at some point. Bethnal Green Working Men's Club is also pretty good for a fun night out, either with or without live bands - I actually saw The Boyfriend's there in 2004 (not that i liked them very much).

Sorry for the long post but I'm quite enthusiastic about this area of London as I lived there for some years and am returning for the first time since last year this month

Other 'obvious' places to see include Camden Town - go to the Elephant's Head (pub) after the market has closed and most non-locals have gone home - it's just a pub, but it has a nice atmosphere and you can still catch a bit of a rockabilly/punk/skinhead scene there if you're lucky. A walk from Camden up to Chalk Farm/Primrose Hill is also nice when the weather's good and for a good view of London (maybe have a picnic there).

The Grapes pub on Narrow Street in Limehouse is lovely. And the Southbank near Waterloo is nice during the day if the weather is good - with the outside cafe at the NFT and the outside bookstalls and the Tate Modern nearby there's lots to do around that area as well. The last place I will suggest is the Notting Hill Arts Club, not surprisingly in Notting Hill, which I've had some fun times in (on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but I don't know what it's like now).
Get Time Out magazine and look at the listings for what's on. Hope you'll have a great trip

...oh i forgot, if you do visit the east end it might be worth it going one-two stations further out to mile end and stratford - not there's much to see here but then you can boast you visited the forthcoming olympic city-area for the 2012 olympics in london - i think they've already begun building some of the sites/buildings but whether it's worth looking at or not i don't know!!?!?!?

Thanks so much! I'll be there 10 days and will be seeing as much as I can while I'm there.

...a few more things.

if you walk from Old Street tube station, before you go down to Old Street/Shoreditch and all the fun parts, you might first wanna go down City Road, and after about 2 minutes walk (or less)on your right hand side you'll see a burial-ground/cemetery. It doesn't look special but if you go in you'll see the graves of William Blake and Daniel Defoe, which you may find interesting. another thing that's nice about visiting this East End area in general is that you can really see the left-overs of the old/real London with lots of historical sites (the Museum of London is also near here, by Monument, and is worth visiting for a run through of the history of London) and particularly when standing in the older parts and looking down towards the City with its new, shiny, tall, fancy office-buildings (think mini-Manhattan) spreading its way upwards to the older houses, taking over, smoothing out the rough spots for better and for worse - looking at that really makes you realise the charm AND the tragedy of a city evolving and changing, it's certainly a contrast between rich and poor and new and old that i think is very exciting.

ok, i'll shut up now, no more london east end advertising from me.

dandysweets are you trying to put this person off of london, no offence but mile end is an absolute shit hole, nothing much too do or see. mile end park is a no go zone and there are muggings on a daily basis. shoreditch is quite nice now but again keep your wits about you, brick lane has some nice bars and shops and the sunday market near shoreditch is nice.

well Please, if you read my post you'd have seen that i wrote that i didn't actually think that mile end/stratford were very interesting places, only if one is interested in the forthcoming olympics it might have some sort of touristical value. i have never been mugged in mile end but of course one could be unlucky. i don't consider shoreditch to be particularly dangerous, you say one shold keep their wits about them there, but one should keep their wits about them most places. as long as one stay on the 'beaten track' and don't disappear down scrummy looking alleyways in the dark it's usually not a problem. one can be unlucky of course, but there's just as much chance of being mugged on oxford street as in shoreditch!

More chance of being pick pocketed in oxford street, but you often get confrontation in brick lane, shoreditch. You don;t wanna be walking around mile end at night it is very dangerous. Nothing to see at stratford yet, just a crappy indoor market and a poundland store.

Shoreditch is nice though and i often go out there.

thanks for info regarding stratford. no point in going there then, even for olympic reasons.

where do you go out in shoreditch if you don't mind me asking? i used to go to george and dragon, catch, cargo and bricklayer's arms a lot. and vibe bar and 93 feet east in brick lane.

Vibe bar is quite good, no trouble, can have a nice drink. 93 feet east is a bit different, you get quite a bit of trouble in that place nowadays, and lots of drug dealing outside in my experience. Hoxton sqaure (just up the road) has some great bars and live music venues inc the cuban bar and the hoxton grill and bar. Central london has alot of the good indie/rock/punk clubs and bars now days.