Spitalfields: the market, the streets, the silk
The best preserved 18th-century streets in London, and a neighbourhood that's been immigrant and radical since the Huguenots. Walked and written by the editor.

1. Old Spitalfields Market
Weekday stalls, Sunday traders, the original market hall. Better on Thursdays and Sundays. The food stalls in the east end are the ones worth stopping at.

2. Fournier Street
One Huguenot terrace after another. Number 19 has been a chapel, a synagogue, and a mosque as the neighbourhood changed hands. The most historically dense street in London.

3. Dennis Severs' House
18 Folgate Street. A candlelit recreation of an 18th-century silk-weaver's home, left as if the family just stepped out. Book at least a week ahead; it books out.

4. Hanbury Street
Where Jack the Ripper's second victim was found; now known for good coffee and the Ten Bells at the southern end. The street itself tells four centuries of east London history.

5. Whitechapel Gallery
Free. At the far end of Commercial Street. The gallery that gave Francis Bacon and Picasso their first London shows. The end-of-walk show, whatever it is.

Spitalfields: the market, the streets, the silk