Walks:
- The Regent's Canal is particularly beautiful in this part of the city. Head east from Angel station and enjoy the canalside.
- New river walk is a beautiful hidden path in the middle of Islington. Trees bend over the small stream and you can find all sorts of plants here that you wouldn't expect, such as bamboo. Nice walk to be alone with your thoughts.
Eating:
- There are some really good restaurants on Upper Street north from Angel Station. La Porchetta is a fantastic Italian restaurant. The veggie calzone I ate here was one of the best I've ever had. Not very healthy food but so good!
- Gallipoli serves tasty Turkish cuisine in a fancy atmosphere with extraordinary decorations. There are plenty of vegetarian options available. The meze platter allows you to taste all sorts of things with very little money.
- Chinese restaurants in London may not always be that good. Yipin China on the other hand serves delicious and authentic Chinese food and the prices are not too high either. Excellent place to go if you like spicy food. There aren't that many vegetarian options available, but the ones they have are delicious. The seafood dishes are absolutely fantastic!
- Banana Tree is a small chain of restaurants serving absolutely delicious South-East Asian food. I had one of the best noodle dishes of my life here. The Laksa is excellent.
- The Gate has another restaurant in Hammersmith. This is a fantastic vegetarian restaurant. The prices are quite high, but you get delicious food for your money. Considering it's a complete fine dining experience, it's not actually that expensive.
- Delhi Grill is a phenomenal indian restaurant with amazing tandoori dishes, mouthwatering curries and even some craft beer. The walls are plastered with Bollywood movie posters.
- O2 Academy Islington is a quite small a venue for an O2 arena but more atmospheric than the bigger ones. Not very big names perform here, but the place is worth visiting for its excellent indie clubs. On Saturdays, O2 is the home for Burn Down the Disco. If you love Suede, Pulp and The Smiths, this is the place for you! All the most legendary indie hits from the 80's, 90's and 00's.
- Old Queen's Head is truly spectacular pub/music venue on Essex Road. The downstair's bar looks amazing with its skeletons and donkeys up the walls. It has one of the most impressive fireplaces as well. Upstairs music venue offers great indie folk acts almost every Thursday. Brooklyn ale on tap and a nice garden!
- The Islington is quite a new pub with beautiful decorative sofas and lamps. It's a good place for a beer or tea. They also have a music venue with some good small bands performing once in a while.
- Islington Assembly Hall is a music venue with excellent line-up of medium-sized bands. They host a lot of indie artists. The space itself is maybe not the most amazing, but it's worth checking out who's playing.
Drinking: - If you're looking for a more relaxed evening and you like microbrewery beers, Islington Brew House and Kitchen is the place for you. Excellent range of delicious beers with reasonable prices!
- The Narrow Boat is a nice small pub by the canal. This is a particularly nice place with a nice weather. There are a couple of balconies, or if they're pact, you can get your beer in a plastic cup and sit by the canal.
- The Drapers Arms is hidden behind the noises of Upper Street on a quiet back street. It's a fantastic gastro-pub with tasty beers on tap and a large secluded beer garden in the back.
- London Cocktail Club is a speakeazy-styled cocktail bar in an old apothecary. The clientele is not always the most pleasant and in the weekends the music may be a bit loud, but if you want a stylish place to enjoy a properly made cocktail, this is good place for that. It's quite pricey though.
- The Earl of Essex is a fantastic pub with a great beer selection. The changing craft beers on tap are more interesting than in your average craft beer pub.
- The Taproom is a heaven for a beer-lover. They have cask ales in just the right temperature and some excellent fizzy ones on tap. Lots of local microbreweries are represented here as well as some highlights from the rest of the world.
- The Alma is a great pub for a beer lover. They function as a taproom for One Mile End brewery. They have many experimental beers and the staff is passionate about telling you about their beers and they'll also let you taste them before you purchase.
- Flash Back is a wonderful small record store with vinyl and CDs. The prices are surprisingly low and you can find great albums from oldies to indie. Used vinyl is sold downstairs where they have great collection of rarities and bargains.
- Planet Organic sells organic foods and great groceries for vegetarians. Everything is fresh and pure. The prices are a bit high, but it's worth it.
- The Camden Head in Islington is just your average pub with good ales. There's something else here as well though. Every day they host great comedy nights, which are actually free! You are asked to give some donations though at the end of the show, which is fair, since you get good laughs here! It's always guaranteed good fun! They also have another venue now, called The Bill Murray, which usually has a shorter queue than Camden Head.
- Union Chapel is an active church in Islington, but they also host stand-up comedy shows, and gigs with quite big names. These events have nothing to do with church though. I saw Beck play an amazing gig there. It's one of the most beautiful venues for a rock concert, so if you have a chance, I suggest to go.
- Islington Assembly Hall hosts medium size artists and bands. The venue is not the most comfortable, since it looks a bit like a gym-hall, but they have quite a good line-ups, so you may want to check out what's on.
- Screen on the Green cinema is a nice old-school small cinema owned by the Everyman chain. They have some arthouse and retro film nights as well.
- Appestat is an excellent café with delicious espresso-based coffee, mouthwatering sweet bakery and rustic food. The decor is quite simplistic, but pleasant.
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