From the dock at the front door to Borough Market along the river, almost everything worth knowing in this part of London is within a short walk. Here is where to go, and what not to miss.
On the doorstep
The dock at the building's head is the tidal mouth of the lost River Neckinger, walled on both sides by tall Victorian warehouses now converted to homes. At high water the inlet fills and reflects the brick; at low tide the old riverbed is laid bare. A footbridge crosses the mouth, linking the wharves to the river path.
It is the quietest sort of drama: a working piece of the Thames that most of London never sees, a few steps from the front door.
Minutes on foot
Turn west along the river and the path leads past Butler's Wharf, the grandest of the converted warehouses, its riverside lined with restaurants, on to Tower Bridge itself and the open views across the Pool of London to the Tower and the City beyond.
It is one of the great riverside walks in London, and it begins at the end of the lane.
Eat & drink
A short walk inland, Bermondsey Street is the neighbourhood's high street for eating, drinking and looking at art, a run of restaurants, wine bars, cafés and independents threaded between galleries and Georgian houses. White Cube Bermondsey and the Fashion and Textile Museum anchor the cultural end.
It is the place to spend an unhurried afternoon close to home.
Weekends
Tucked beneath the railway arches along the Ropewalk, Maltby Street is the local's weekend market, a tight run of traders, small-batch producers and bars spilling out of the arches. Smaller and less polished than Borough, and all the better for it.
Saturday mornings here are a neighbourhood institution.
A walk away
Follow the river west past London Bridge and you reach Borough, London's most famous food market, with a thousand years of trading behind it. Under its Victorian roof are some of the finest producers in the country, alongside restaurants, bakeries and cafés that have grown up around it.
Roughly fifteen minutes on foot, and worth the walk any day of the week.
Riverside walks
The national trail runs right past the building, hugging the south bank in both directions. West takes you past Butler's Wharf to Tower Bridge, Borough and the South Bank's galleries and theatres; east leads to Rotherhithe, the Mayflower pub and the wide reaches of the river toward Greenwich.
It is the city explored at walking pace: green space, riverside pubs and culture in every direction.