While you're in town...

Why not check out some of our favourite places?

These are places we love and they play a huge part in our shared lives together. Take a moment to walk the city in our footsteps and experience it as we do.

Walk the Regent's Canal

A road-free walk through the heart of London

Stretching from Paddington to Limehouse Basin, the Regents Canal is one of our favourite walks and we'd recommend this to anyone visiting the city. End-to-end the walk is 8.6 miles / 13.8 kilometres (but you don't have to do the whole thing in one go!), passing Regents Park, Camden, Islington, Hackney and East London, and ending just out of reach of Canary Wharf.

Take a day to slowly meander along the canal through many interesting neighbourhoods, including the East London area where we met and spent lots of time exploring during lockdown.

If you start your walk in East London, we'd recommend grabbing a coffee and a pastry from Pavilion Bakery in Victoria Park, or enjoying some street food for lunch from Broadway Market or Coal Drops Yard (Kings Cross) before finishing up with a well-earned pint in Paddington. If you're starting in Paddington, your hard-earned pint should come from the Prospect of Whitby pub in Wapping - just make sure you get a riverside table!

Visit Victoria Park

Explore our local park and enjoy a wander along Roman Road

Victoria Park is our "old familiar" - a sizeable royal park that we spent many hours walking around over the course of lockdown. The shared apartment where we met is less than 10 minutes walk from the park, and the neighbourhood has plenty of places where you can grab great coffee, pastries and gifts!

People's Park Tavern
A great pub with games and a huge outdoor area - and where we hosted our engagement party!

Loafing (Victoria Park Village)
One morning (before we got together!), we walked here to get coffee after staying up all night talking. We were disastrously tired, in desperate need of caffeine, and definitely falling in love.

Cafe East
Good sized, decent brunches in a busy, buzzing cafe. We came here with our flatmates in the first few weeks of living together and it's still got a soft spot in our hearts.

Baird Books
A recent addition to the area, this is a great local bookshop/cafe with a lovely selection of books and games. If you head to the back of the shop, there's a table with some boardgames and a small courtyard where you can put your feet up.

Other loved spots include Zealand Cafe, Loafing (Roman Road), Breadery and SNAP.
There are many other independent shops along Roman Road which we love - we'd recommend taking the time to explore!

Get high!

Visit one of London's many free viewpoints and roof gardens

London has many free viewpoints and roof gardens you can visit for free. The spots listed below are all free to visit and around the corner from one another - just make sure to book in advance!

Horizon 22
Horizon22 is on the 58th floor, which means your ears pop in the lift and you've got a reasonable chance of being in the clouds. Once they clear, you can enjoy spectacular views of London in all directions.

Sky Garden
At just 35 floors up, the Sky Garden feels short in comparison to the others, but it's a green paradise with 360 degree views of London and will always hold a place in our hearts as the location of our first "official" date. This is the OG free lookout, and well worth a visit.

The Lookout
Head up to the 50th floor to explore The Lookout - we visited on opening weekend in 2023, and this is where James proposed! (with a bag of Jelly Tots, obvs, because we love each other lots)

Eat and drink well

London has food and drink for every taste and every budget

You can't go wrong eating out in London. Here's a few of our favourites.

(Fair warning - a £6 pint is cheap)

Cheap eats (under £10)

Beigel Bake - salt beef bagel, with spicy mustard and a pickle. Even tastier when eaten outside in the snow on Valentine's Day.
Victoria Park Food Market - street food of every cuisine, every Sunday
Bread and Truffle - focaccia sandwiches. Delish.

Nice meal out

Sunday Roast - we like the Lord Tredegar and the Morgan Arms in East London, but there's many a nice pub across town.
A curry on Brick Lane - do some googling beforehand rather than being taken in by the street hawkers!
Hawksmoor - very excellent steak, lots of locations.
Fallow (Haymarket) - a bit of a 'splash the cash' venue, but a creative and low-waste menu.

We've got a small hundred restaurants saved that are either tried and tested or high on the 'want to go' list. Feel free to ask if you want a recommendation, and we'll do our best to match you with something within your budget and dietary needs.

Alys & James

12th Sept 2026