The life of a tomb raider takes Lara Croft to far-flung parts of the world, but she is a London girl at heart. She lives there, she works there and it’s where her journey to find her missing father begins. These are the key London locations used in the new Tomb Raider movie, all of them representing a key part of Lara’s life. You can even visit them yourself. They’ll probably be a lot less dangerous for you than they are for her.
Shoreditch High Street
(E1 6PQ)
Lara’s not the sort of girl you can imagine living in the London suburbs. She’d be a bit restless in Surbiton or Chiswick. She needs somewhere that’s constantly on the move, so she lives and works in East London, specifically around Shoreditch.
Croft Manor
(SP2 0BJ)
This massive stately home is where Lara grew up. She spent several happy years there with her father (her mother died when she was very young), but life changed when dad set off on an archeological expedition and never came back. The pain of the memories meant that as soon as she hit adulthood Lara left Croft Manor and never came back. However, a clue to his disappearance may mean she has to…
The Gym
(E1W 3SG)
You don’t get adventure-ready by sitting around eating pizza and watching daytime TV. Lara keeps herself in shape in the toughest way possible: by going several rounds with highly-skilled opponents in the kickboxing ring. She sometimes takes a beating from a better opponent but, like a proper fighter she always gets back up and comes back harder. It’s exhausting to watch.
Snack Cycle
(E5 8BQ)
Because she refuses to accept that her father is dead, Lara cannot accept the fortune he’s left to her in his will. Which means she’s fending for herself. She’s making ends meet by working as a courier for Snack Cycle, a food-delivery company. That doesn’t pay a whole lot so she tries to make a bit of extra cash by taking on all comers in a high-speed bicycle race through the streets of London…
The Cab Crash
[EC4M 9BE)
…The race doesn’t go quite as she’d planned and, after whizzing and weaving through half of East London, Lara comes face to windscreen with a London icon: the black cab. Every adventurer’s going to get a few bruises along the way. You just have to get back up and right back on your bike (after someone’s come to bail you out of the police station).
Indian Restaurant
(E1 6RU)
Lara’s Snack Cycle job takes her to all areas of London, picking up and delivering food. At one Indian restaurant from which she regularly collects, a young man is nurturing a crush on Lara, but he’s far too scared to do anything about it.
Croft Holdings
(SW1E 6PA)
This is the headquarters of the company owned by Lara’s father, a multi-billion pound super-business that would make her a very, very wealthy woman if she’d only accept her place as the new head of the family. The one time she pays the building a visit and considers signing a contract that would declare her father legally dead, Lara is given a clue to his whereabouts, setting off a dangerous adventure that will put her at constant risk of death, unearth painful secrets and put her on a path to becoming the tomb raider.
Want to feel like you’re in Lara’s London? Why not listen to this excellent playlist as you explore her local haunts.
Tomb Raider is in cinemas now