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Bow, London — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Bow is a district of London, gathered around Bow Church on Bow Road and the memorials to Sylvia Pankhurst and George Lansbury.
About Bow
Where to stay in Bow
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
Bow offers a working residential base in London, better known for its terraces and parks than for hotels. Rooms are few among Bow's terraces, with only a scattering near the ArcelorMittal Orbit and Bow Church. Visitors who want the ArcelorMittal Orbit within a short walk, with Bow Church and the Ragged School Museum closer still, will find Bow a plain and honest place to sleep.
The markets stay local.
About Bow
What are the main landmarks in Bow?
Bow keeps a scatter of landmarks across its old parish. Bow Church stands on Bow Road, its churchyard holding the monument to Joseph Dawson. St Paul's Bow Common and St Paul Old Ford serve the wider district, and the Ragged School Museum recalls the Victorian charity schools that once filled these streets.
The ArcelorMittal Orbit rises over the parkland. Tredegar House marks the Georgian streets.
What is the history of Bow?
Bow grew around its church. Bow Church has stood on the Bow Road since the Middle Ages, at the heart of the old parish that gave the district its name. The Ragged School Museum recalls the Victorian years, when poor children of the crowded district were taught for free in converted warehouses.
Sylvia Pankhurst ran her suffragette campaign from Bow, and George Lansbury led its Labour politics. The ArcelorMittal Orbit came last, with the Olympic Park.
Where is Bow?
Bow lies within London, next to Bethnal Green, taking in Old Ford and the parkland below the ArcelorMittal Orbit.
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Updated July 2026