Arts venues, parks, theatres and community centres anchor this Lower Manhattan neighbourhood, an iconic backdrop to tales of New York City’s history.

Experience the creativity, diversity and history of New York City concentrated in the East Village, where avant-garde artists, eager students and lively immigrant communities have long made their homes. Performance and exhibition venues are points of pilgrimage for aspiring creatives, while intimate museums, markets and restaurants testify to the neighbourhood’s deep and diverse roots.

Spot elegant townhouses and manors among the tenement buildings lining the neighbourhood’s side streets, reflecting the origins of the East Village as an upscale neighbourhood for well-to-do merchants. Since the industrial revolution, the neighbourhood has been settled mainly by working-class immigrants and artists, who are responsible for its diverse and eclectic character.

Mingle with locals in Tompkins Square Park and wander down St. Marks Place to find a huge variety of shops and affordable restaurants brimming with students.

Learn about the communities who built the neighbourhood at small museums including the Museum of Chinese in America, the Italian American Museum and the Museum at Eldridge Street in a historic synagogue. The Tenement Museum surveys the history of immigration to the Lower East Side. In particular, Ukrainians and German Jews established communities in the area east of the Bowery. Try the Russian and Turkish Baths or head to Katz’s Delicatessen, Russ and Daughters or Essex Street for bagels, bialys and knish.

The East Village is famous for its arts and music scene, so attend a show at one of its many performance and exhibition venues. Explore the world of cutting-edge fine art at the New Museum or watch big-name musical acts at Webster Hall and Bowery Ballroom. The New York Theatre Workshop pushes the envelope with new theatre, while the Public Theatre mounts larger productions.

Subway service in the heart of the East Village is limited, so walk east toward the river from the Bowery to explore the more residential areas. Restaurants and shops are concentrated between Tompkins Square Park and Astor Place.