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# What’s new in the Olympic park?
- URL: https://www.newhamcitizen.co.uk/whats-new-in-the-olympic-park/
- Published: 2025-02-25T11:22:56.000Z
- Updated: 2025-02-25T11:22:56.000Z
- Description: Fresh attractions abound at East London's biggest sports and leisure complex
- Author: Sarah Birch

Spring is just around the corner and temperatures are rising, so it is a good time to get up to speed with recent developments in and around the ever-changing Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The East Bank complex on the Stratford side is nearing completion with glitzy new restaurants and cafes. Though still work-in-progress, the lanes and walkways already have lots to choose from. 

Gordon Ramsay’s massive three-floor Bread Street Kitchen, Bar & Rooftop, has now been joined by Greek eatery Hera, and there is a branch of Caravan coming soon.

With daffodils blooming under fragrant acacia trees and students from the London School of Fashion milling about, the area is beginning to have a mildly bohemian feel to it. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1a/0b/1a0bbdc5-3104-4b69-8f0a-e4bea2090efe/content/images/2025/02/Daffodils-acacias-and-boats-sarah-birch.webp)

Daffodils in bloom under acacia trees. Photograph: Sarah Birch

The new [Sadler’s Wells East](https://www.newhamcitizen.co.uk/sadlers-wells-east-opens-queen-elizabeth-olympic-park/) site has just opened, and the [V&A Storehouse](https://www.newhamcitizen.co.uk/v-and-a-east-storehouse-open-may-2025/) is soon to join it, so there will be plenty for culture buffs to enjoy.

Thrills also abound in the park. 

Zip Wire has this month taken over the [ArcelorMittal Orbit](https://arcelormittalorbit.com/whats-on/the-slides/?ref=newhamcitizen.co.uk), with a viewing deck where you can see London from 80 metres in the air, and the world’s longest tunnel slide down the tower. 

You can also take a [tour](https://www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/whats-on/guided-boat-tours?ref=newhamcitizen.co.uk) on one the of the new *bateau mouche*\-style boats, or hire a swan pedalo. 

For football fans, there is the obligatory visit to West Ham’s London [stadium](https://www.whufc.com/london-stadium?ref=newhamcitizen.co.uk), centrepiece of the 2012 Games. Free wifi throughout the park makes it easy to post selfies as you go.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1a/0b/1a0bbdc5-3104-4b69-8f0a-e4bea2090efe/content/images/2025/02/climbing-frame-sarah-birch.webp)

Children can enjoy the 'fort-like' wooden climbing frame. Photograph: Sarah Birch

On the downside, the area is a bit of a maze; there is little spatial logic to the set-up (probably a relic of the fact that it was designed for Olympic use), which makes it difficult to navigate.

The green areas are also not very pedestrian-friendly, and in many respects not very park-like. 

I went for a jog and it was a struggle to find a good running route, as most of the accessible space is tarmacked over (hard on the knees) and the park is criss-crossed by roads with polluting vehicles at timed lights rather than zebra crossings (bad for cardio health).

If you are a child, you are in better luck, as there is the lovely [Tumbling Bay playground](https://www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/explore-park/parklands-and-playgrounds/tumbling-bay-playground?ref=newhamcitizen.co.uk) and brilliant fort-like wooden climbing frame with rope ladders.

And then there is the close proximity of Westfield shopping centre. Pro or con? I leave that for you to decide.