The choice to host the 2012 Olympics in Stratford has transformed the area from a place you’d think twice (and maybe another couple of times) about moving, into one of the most exciting parts of East London to live.

The investment and legacy left by the rejuvenation of E15 has given Stratford London’s biggest shopping centre, a world class 50m swimming pool, a Premier League football team and new independent restaurants, cafes and shops popping up all over the place.

There’s so much to take in, but are you wondering where to go, what to do and how long it takes to get there? Well, you are definitely reading the right blog.

5 Minutes From Your Home

The QEII Olympic Park is right on your doorstep, and now Usain and Sir Chris Hoy are done with the venues, there’s so many options available to you. The Aquatic Centre and Velodrome are both open to the public — you could do your own triathlon with the gym, pool and cycling facilities.

If watching sport is your bag then there’s plenty of events at the Copperbox Arena and hockey stadium.

There’s also all sorts of entertainment options on your doorstep. If doing everything al fresco’s your bag, then look no further than Roof East.

The outdoor cinema has a great programme of modern and guilty pleasure classic movies, where you can sit on deckchairs and munch on street food. It must be a huge roof because you can bowl, curl and shuffleboard, play crazy golf or go to London’s first baseball batting cage as well.

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10 minutes from Stratford

If you work in Canary Wharf (Jubilee line) or near Liverpool Street (Central line) it’s a really short journey to both of those stations on the tube, you won’t even be annoyed if you don’t get a seat.

One stop away on the Central line you’ve got the untapped gem of Leyton. There’s all sorts here to occupy your weekends.

Starting off in Perky Blenders or Deeneys for a coffee and brunch, the afternoon in Leyton Jubilee Park and on to The Leyton Star or Yard Sale for some outstanding pizza. If you’re not done there, The Luna Club is a local institution that has live music 7 days a week.

Obviously Westfield has its own huge multiplex, but for a bit of history to go along with your popcorn, we can’t recommend The Castle Cinema enough.

The 100+ year old building has been lovingly restored thanks to a kickstarter campaign for the locals of Homerton and is now a bona fide, beautifully refurbished community funded cinema.

20 minutes from Stratford

East London’s most picturesque green space/festival venue is not far away. As well as playing host to All Points East, a 10 day music and entertainment-fest, for the rest of the year it’s full of boating lakes, street food markets and a Sri Lankan breakfast cafe in the park’s pavilion.

Further afield you’re really close to Shoreditch and Brick Lane. It would take too long to go into everything available there — but briefly — Old Spitalfields Market, Junkyard Golf, Dinerama, Boxpark, amazing street art, Brick Lane Beigel, Cargo, XOYO, The Magic Roundabout, The Queen of Hoxton, Petticoat Lane Market, Columbia Road Flower Market….you get the idea. Go there, do everything.

30 minutes from Stratford

Now you can get pretty much anywhere in London by travelling 30 minutes from Stratford, so we’re gonna look in the other direction and say, you can get to Paris. Well kind of. Hop on a train at Stratford International and 30 minutes later you’re in Ashford, Kent. We are not suggesting you hang around there for long, because you can hop off the train and onto a Eurostar and be in Paris in less than 2 hours.

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