Exeter Has More Street Art Than You Think
If you associate Exeter with the cathedral, Roman walls, and cream teas, you're not wrong — but you're missing a layer. Over the past few years, the city has been quietly building a street art scene that rewards anyone willing to look beyond the High Street. Commissioned murals by nationally recognised artists sit alongside decades-old Tudor portraits, climate-inspired public art, and vibrant gallery spaces tucked into the West Quarter's side streets.
The driving force behind much of this transformation is InExeter, the city's Business Improvement District. Since 2022, InExeter has commissioned ten street art pieces across the city centre, collaborating with both local and national artists to turn overlooked walls and neglected alleyways into colourful landmarks. The ten commissions cost £24,000, funded by Exeter businesses through the BID, and they have produced a collection worth walking for.
This guide maps out a route you can follow on foot in a couple of hours, taking in the pick of Exeter's murals and street art. It's the kind of walk that works brilliantly as a social outing — plenty to photograph, plenty to talk about, and you can break up the route with stops at some of the city's best coffee shops along the way. If you are spending a weekend in Exeter, this makes a perfect Saturday afternoon activity.
Starting Point: Gandy Street and the Tudor Portraits
Begin where Exeter's street art story arguably started — Gandy Street. This narrow, cobbled lane running off the High Street is known for its independent shops, quirky cafes, and a set of murals that have been quietly watching over the street for more than three decades.
The Gandy Street Murals were painted by artist David Simpson in 1993, commissioned by the City Council and the Exeter Civic Society. They depict five Tudor figures — Sir Thomas Bodley, Nicholas Hilliard, his father Richard Hilliard, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir Walter Raleigh — based on miniature paintings by Nicholas Hilliard, the renowned Tudor portraitist who was born on this very street. The murals are painted on boarded-up windows at the High Street end of Gandy Street, and they're easy to miss if you're walking quickly. Slow down.
In November 2025, InExeter unveiled the first piece in a new wave of street art planned for Gandy Street. Devon-based artist Jamie Whyte's mural, "Dreamer of Dreams," takes its symbols from Toisa's crosses — late Saxon stone crosses that once stood on this street and are now held at RAMM — and lets them dissolve into a circuit-board pattern. Its title comes from Arthur O'Shaughnessy's poem Ode. It's a striking piece that connects Exeter's deep history with its identity as a growing digital and tech hub.
InExeter publishes a free Street Art Map covering all ten of its commissions, in print through Visit Exeter information points around the city and online. The old inexeter.co.uk/streetartmap address now redirects to the InExeter homepage, so start there, and ask at an information desk if you want a paper copy.
Queen Street: Aylwyn Bowen's City Panels and RAMM
From the top of Gandy Street, turn onto Queen Street and walk towards the St David's end. Here, illustrator Aylwyn Bowen has created a series of decorative panels that bring colour to what was previously a fairly drab stretch of wall.
Bowen is a well-known name in Exeter's creative community, recognised for his detailed illustrations of the city's architecture and landmarks. Together the panels transform the streetscape in a way that feels both celebratory and deeply rooted in Exeter's identity. The project was delivered in partnership with InExeter and the St David's Neighbourhood Partnership.
Queen Street is also where you'll find RAMM, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum — winner of the £100,000 Art Fund Prize in 2012, awarded for its £24 million redevelopment. Entry is free, and it holds a substantial fine art collection alongside its natural history and archaeology galleries. It is also the natural mid-route stop if the weather turns.
Even if you only have twenty minutes, RAMM's fine art collection, featuring works by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Barbara Hepworth, and Walter Sickert, is worth your time. It provides context for Exeter's relationship with art that stretches back centuries — street art is simply the latest chapter.
New Buildings: The Climate Mural
A short detour from Queen Street takes you to New Buildings, close to Exeter Central Library. Here you'll find the "We Still Have a Chance" mural — a large-scale piece created by Exmouth-based artist Gary 'GARf' Cook, commissioned jointly by Art Work Exeter and the University of Exeter.
The mural shows a young girl holding a butterfly, gazing towards a sunlit horizon filled with images of clean, green technologies. It's a hopeful, forward-looking piece — and its creation involved a genuinely collaborative process. Twenty-eight artists submitted designs, which were reviewed by a panel, and a shortlist of five was put to a public vote during the British Science Festival before GARf's design was selected. It was celebrated at a special event during the FUTURES Festival of Discovery in September 2024.
The mural connects to a wider University of Exeter Green Futures project called "We Still Have a Chance," which brought together more than 150 climate scientists, health professionals, storytellers, artists and youth leaders from Exeter and Egypt to co-create a bilingual collection of twelve short stories, released daily during COP27. It's public art with genuine depth behind it.
Sidwell Street: Sophie Mess and the Lily Mural
From New Buildings, cut back through the city centre and walk up to Sidwell Street. Approach from the High Street end, near the junction, and you'll spot it immediately — a bold, botanical explosion of colour wrapping around a shopfront corner.
This is the Lily mural, painted in 2023 by Sophie Mess, a street artist who grew up in Devon and whose large-scale botanical works have appeared on walls across the UK and Europe. Mess is known for bringing nature's vibrancy to urban settings, and her Lily piece has become a landmark for anyone approaching Sidwell Street — what was once a fairly unremarkable corner now draws people in.
Sidwell Street itself is one of Exeter's most diverse and characterful shopping streets. After admiring the mural, wander down and explore — the range of independent food shops, cafes, and international grocery stores makes it one of the city's hidden gems.
South Street: The Avocet by Lucas Antics
Walk back along the High Street and head down towards South Street next. On a side wall partway down, you'll find a colourful mural by Lucas Antics (the collaborative name of illustrators Alex Lucas and Paul Fearnside). The piece depicts an Avocet — the elegant wading bird commonly seen on the Exe Estuary — in the duo's signature style: vibrant, slightly quirky, and unmistakably alive.
This was the last piece in InExeter's initial run of street art commissions, bringing the programme full circle. The response from both the business and the public has been overwhelmingly positive, and it's a lovely nod to Exeter's connection to its natural surroundings. If you've walked the Exe Estuary trail, you may well have seen avocets in person — this mural brings that experience into the city centre.
South Street is also home to Exeter's Oxfam shop at number 96 and Oxfam Music next door at 97 — worth a browse if you're in a wandering mood. Charity shopping as a social activity has a charm all of its own.
Fore Street and John Street: Where the Initiative Began
Carry on from South Street into Fore Street and turn into John Street, heading towards The Fat Pig pub. This alleyway is where InExeter's street art programme first took root — and, conveniently, it is where the walk ends.
The path leading from Fore Street to The Fat Pig — an independent Victorian freehouse at 2 John Street — was once frequently covered in graffiti. In 2022, artists Fark FK and My Dog Sighs were commissioned to transform it. The result turned what felt like a dodgy cut-through into something people actively seek out. The pub's landlord, Paul Timewell, has said the wall has stayed untouched since the artwork went up — the art itself acting as a deterrent to tagging.
My Dog Sighs is an artist with a national profile, known for painting expressive eyes on found objects and walls across the UK. Seeing his work in a quiet Exeter side street is a genuine surprise.
The Fat Pig itself is worth stopping at — it's a proper independent pub with excellent local ales and ciders, and it sits right at the heart of Exeter's characterful West Quarter. If you're exploring the area's best pubs, it deserves a place on your list. Fore Street and the surrounding West Quarter are also where the city's creative community gathers, in a shifting cluster of small galleries and studios — worth a wander at the end of the walk, though which doors are open changes from year to year.
Why an Art Walk Makes a Brilliant Social Outing
Here's the thing about walking a city looking for art: it changes the way you interact with the people you're with. You notice things together. You stop, point, discuss, disagree. Someone spots something everyone else missed. The conversation flows naturally, and it never feels forced.
Art walks are particularly good for groups where not everyone knows each other well. Unlike a pub, where you sit across a table and have to generate conversation from scratch, walking side by side creates a more relaxed dynamic. There's always something to react to, always a reason to stop and talk.
If you're new to Exeter, suggesting a street art walk to a group is a low-pressure, no-cost way to spend a Saturday morning. Bring your phone for photos, but resist the urge to experience the whole thing through a screen. Some of these murals reward the details you only catch in person.
Combine your art walk with lunch at one of the nearby restaurants. Coolings on Gandy Street, Eat on the Green by the Cathedral, or one of the Quay restaurants all make excellent stopping points. Check our full restaurant guide for more ideas.
Planning Your Walk
The route stays inside the city centre and takes a couple of hours at a gentle pace, depending on how long you linger. Here's the order, arranged so you're not crossing the same ground twice:
- Gandy Street — Tudor portraits and "Dreamer of Dreams"
- Queen Street — Aylwyn Bowen's city panels, then RAMM if you want a break indoors
- New Buildings — "We Still Have a Chance" climate mural
- Sidwell Street — Sophie Mess's Lily mural
- South Street — Lucas Antics' Avocet
- Fore Street and John Street — Fark FK and My Dog Sighs at The Fat Pig
The walk is flat, fully accessible on paved streets, and free. InExeter's programme is ongoing, with further commissions planned — so there will always be something new to discover on your next visit.
What's Coming Next: The Future of Exeter's Street Art
InExeter's initial run of ten commissions was deliberately just the beginning. Following a successful renewal ballot, the organisation has plans to commission a further ten artworks over the rest of the decade, which means the walking tour described here will continue to grow over the coming years. InExeter welcomes suggestions for both artists and locations — if you know a blank wall that deserves better, get in touch via their website.
Exeter City Council has also published a new Public Art Strategy designed to help the city become a thriving city of culture, with street art and public murals playing a central role. Combined with the creative energy radiating from venues like Exeter Phoenix, the Fore Street Flea market, and the growing cluster of galleries in the West Quarter, the coming years look promising for anyone who believes cities should be colourful, expressive, and surprising.
Combining Your Art Walk
The street art route passes through several of Exeter's most interesting areas, making it easy to combine with other activities. The Gandy Street and Cathedral Quarter is packed with independent shops and is the natural starting point. From there, the West Quarter around Fore Street leads to some of the city's best pubs — The Fat Pig, where you will pause to admire the My Dog Sighs mural, is one of the finest.
If you want to extend the cultural afternoon, RAMM on Queen Street is free and has one of the best regional art collections in England. Exeter Cathedral is moments away from the starting point on Gandy Street, and the Underground Passages offer an entirely different kind of hidden Exeter experience just around the corner.
For those visiting on a market day, the Fore Street Flea or the Independent Market on Cathedral Green pair perfectly with the art walk. And if you are looking for more photography spots around the city, several of these murals are among the most Instagrammed locations in Exeter.
Exeter's street art scene is still young, and that's part of what makes it exciting. You're not following in the footsteps of thousands of tourists — you're seeing a city in the process of expressing itself. Grab a friend, grab a coffee, and go looking.