Leake Street Tunnel
london's legal graffiti tunnel
London's only legal graffiti tunnel, under the platforms at Waterloo. Started by Banksy, repainted constantly, and you are welcome to bring your own spray.
Free to visit · Waterloo · Waterloo · SE1 7NN
Opening: Open access · lit · artists about most days
Leake Street is a three-hundred-metre road tunnel running under the platforms of Waterloo station, and it is the one place in London where painting the walls is not only legal but encouraged. It started in 2008 when Banksy held his Cans Festival here, and it never stopped.
Because anyone can paint, nothing lasts. The walls are a churn of murals, tags, stencils and full-colour pieces that get covered over within days, so the tunnel you walk through today is genuinely unique to that week. Come back in a month and it is a completely different place. You will often find artists mid-piece, cans rattling, and they are happy to be watched.
It is gritty, loud and brilliant, lit up but with a proper underground edge, and at the far end it opens out into bars and street food in the arches. Bring your own spray can and a wall is yours, no permit, no charge. It is one of the most alive free things in the city.
Getting there: Right by Waterloo station, the tunnel runs off Lower Marsh and York Road underneath the platforms.
Best time to go: A weekend afternoon, when you will usually catch artists actually at work. The walls change week to week so it is never the same place twice.
Insider tip: Bring a can and have a go, the whole point is that it is legal to paint here, no permit needed. If you would rather just look, come at a weekend when the artists are out in force, and do not bother memorising a favourite piece because it will be gone by next week.
Official site: https://leakestreetarches.london
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide