“Holborn, in fact, suffers from being neither one thing nor the other.”
So wrote Holborn’s most famous resident, Charles Dickens – and we have to admit, he had a point. Bordered by Covent Garden and the City of London, Holborn has often been overlooked in the pantheon of the capital’s most famous districts. Today, the area’s business-forward focus has lumbered it with a corporate image. It’s not helped that Holborn has been underserved when it comes to wining and dining, despite the fact that more than 70,000 people visit here every day.
And yet, permeated with history and peppered with ancient pubs and world-class galleries, for those in the know, Holborn punches well above its weight. From the curiosities of Sir John Sloane’s Museum to the independent Garden Cinema, the area boasts a trove of treasures away from the mainstream tourism circuit. Thanks more recently to Camden Council’s Holborn Liveable Neighbourhood initiative, noise and air pollution levels have been dramatically reduced, delivering a healthier, safer place to be.
These improvements are a reflection of our changing values. In the 2020s, living to work is out, while being better to ourselves is in. Taking time for friends, personal growth and fulfillment are replacing the grindset. Fed up with being reduced to the status of “consumers”, we’re rediscovering what it means to be people. Today, Holborn is a place that’s ready to come to life.
That’s where Sicilian Avenue comes in. Protected yet accessible, this pedestrianised Avenue is little more than a minute’s walk from Holborn tube station, a 7 minute stroll from Tottenham Court Road and a 6 minute amble from the UK’s number one attraction, The British Museum. Vitally, hungry Holborn will find in Sicilian Avenue a veritable smorgasbord of enticing restaurants, with an array of healthy and delicious options, both al fresco and indoors. The Avenue’s lovingly restored facades, open spaces and natural ventilation make it the perfect antidote to hotdesking, drab cubicles and office lighting. Defiantly car-free, it’s an open yet intimate space for people, for connections, and for sharing ideas; a place you can think, eat and chat outside the box.
For those Holbornians in need of a mindful respite from their workday, Sicilian Avenue is just a leisurely passeggiata (Italian for a stroll) from eight of London’s most serene green spots, along with the iconic British Museum. From London-based foodies to international students, the Avenue stands as both a social hub and cultural conduit for everyone who lives in, works in or simply passes through Holborn.
In every way, the reinvigorated Sicilian Avenue points the way to a district reimagined.