Culture,
January 19 2024
If you’re a David Bowie fan, then London really is a rock and roll pilgrimage and a place to remember and honour his creative genius. We take you on a Bowie London tour to see sights either made famous by their connection to the great man, or a place with a sprinkle of Ziggy Stardust to it. Here are some ideas of where to go.
There’s no museum or plaque here, but this unassuming house is the childhood home of David Jones, aka David Bowie. This is where he was born and spent his early childhood with his mother, Peggy, and father, John, and attending Stockwell Primary School, just round the corner. Peggy was an usher at the Ritzy Cinema, which is still open today. Brixton is a good place to start your Bowie pilgrimage. You can wander around the same street and neighbourhood he would have played in as a kid. While you’re in the area, you should also check out the Bowie Aladdin Sane mural on Tunstall Road, opposite Brixton tube station.
Camden’s Walk of Fame – London’s version of Hollywood’s – has the music record plaques dedicated to rock and roll greats embedded in the road along Camden High Street. With a phone app, you can find out about why each person appears and explore their connection to London’s music scene. There is, of course, a record plaque to David Bowie, laid in September 2022 to coincide with the release of Moonage Daydream, the movie about Bowie’s creative, musical and spiritual journey.
This small alley off Regent Street is the ultimate Bowie spot in London. It was outside 23 Heddon Street on a cold January in 1972 where Bowie, dressed as his alien alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust, was photographed for the legendary album cover of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. Today, there’s a plaque to mark the spot where Ziggy ‘landed on earth,’ so you can recreate the iconic moment.
Visit the outside of the former Trident Street Studios at 17 St. Anne’s Court in Soho, where David Bowie recorded Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Space Oddity. Look for the blue plaque marking Bowie’s connection to the building. It’s also famous for being the studio where The Beatles, Queen and Elton John made iconic recordings. While you’re in the area, you could walk by the former Marquee Club site at 90 Wardour Street, where Bowie played his first gig in 1964 – as Davy Jones – and where he recorded his TV special and said goodbye to Ziggy. Then stop at The Ship pub for a drink in what was Bowie’s regular haunt.
If you’re in London for a dose of Bowie nostalgia, stay with us at Thistle Trafalgar Square or Thistle Piccadilly, and you’re close to Bowie’s Soho hangouts and just a short tube trip from Brixton. It’s perfect if you want a great hotel stay in the centre of London for an affordable price.
