A lovely place for a weekend pint by the Lea Navigation Canal, which runs from Lea Bridge Road to Bow Lock. Opened in 1768 to bypass Old River Lea & the start of a route towards the Olympic village Read more.
Hackney also has a huge amount of green space: of its 19.7 sq km expanse, 3.3 sq km are green. The canal – built to make transporting goods easier – runs right up to the Olympic Park. Read more.
For concrete-weary city-dwellers, the Middlesex Filter Beds are a true delight. They were decommissioned in 1969 and turned into a nature reserve that is open at weekends and holidays. Read more.
From where you are standing you can see a huge number of football pitches here, leading Hackney council to claim this is 'the spiritual home of Sunday-league football'. Read more.
Leslie and Rodney Smith (no relation) joined forces to create the catchy 'Lesney' product range, including a miniature toy car small enough to fit into a matchbox. Some great graffiti around here too. Read more.
Peeping through the sky-high security fence you can see the media centre, where thousands of journalists will be broadcasting to around the world in hundreds of languages. Read more.
On the opposite side of the bank you can see the Eton Mission Rowing Club, which despite appearances is still going. Established in 1885 by old Etonians, rowers have been up the cut for 100 years Read more.
On this side of the bank you can see the Copper Box, venue for handball, goalball and the fencing -made from more than 3,000sq m of copper cladding designed to develop a rich natural colour as it ages Read more.
All around the Olympic site you can see yellow sentry posts, part of the security operation to make sure the London 2012 Olympics are safe. Behind this you can see more Hackney Wick street art. Read more.
A great local stopping-off point for a warming hot chocolate or a superlative pie. It also has a pretty unbeatable view of the Olympic stadium. Read more.
On the right are Hackney Wick warehouses where Percy Dalton's once made peanuts and now artists like Bridget Riley make art in studios but also on the street. If it's stationary, it's a canvas. Read more.
Beneath your feet here is the track from the athletes' warm-up area to the stadium. Real Olympians will run on it. That's it Read more.
This is where it will all happen. The stadium will have 80,000 seats for the Games and shrink to a 60,000-seat venue for a variety of sporting and cultural events. Read more.
The swooping curved roof of the Aquatics Centre – designed by architect Zaha Hadid – is the first venue visitors see upon entering the Olympic Park and a good thing too. Read more.
In the distance you can see the roof of the amazingly brilliant velodrome. Nicknamed the giant Pringle for its curves & a runner-up for the Royal Institute of British Architects building of the year. Read more.
