For my husband’s birthday, he and I spent two days in London to attend an NFL game in October of 2019. This itinerary is based on that experience. We stayed in the Hackney area, but if you are looking for activities in the city center, check out my first and second trips to London.
Transportation and Accommodation: London has great public transport, and can be utilized easily to get around the city, as well as to and from any of the London airports. My advice is to get an Oyster Card. It's £5, then you load the card with money so there is no worrying about buying tickets. I have gone to London multiple times and continue to use my card from 2017. We rented a room through AirBNB. The host was lovely, gave us lots of tips for what we should do in the area.
Saturday: Explore East London
Once we check checked into the AirBNB around early afternoon, we were ready for a pint to kick off the birthday weekend. We decided to stroll through London Fields park and down to The Virgin Queen for drinks and some fish & chips. To continue our lazy day, we headed over to 21 Sid to have some coffee (and a cookie). They had books and games which allowed us to hang out on their very comfortable couch. We spent our evening in the Shoreditch area, so we took the bus and wandered around; this is cool area of town, and would recommend exploring it if you have time. We had drinks at The Barley Mow and The Bricklayers Arms while we waiting for our dinner reservation. We ate some of the best burgers ever at Burger & Beyond.
Sunday: Parks & Game Day
The morning started with walking to Victoria Park and through the Victoria Park Market; a Sunday market with produce and food stalls. We then looped back and walked along the river, and made our way to the Broadway Market; a Sunday market dating back to the 1890s, with food and clothing stalls. We then headed to The Angel/Pentonville area of town (by bus) and stopped for lunch at the Chipotle (they don’t exist in The Netherlands). We then met our friends at the Old Red Lion Theatre Pub for a few drinks. Soon it was time to head back to our hotel and grab our gear for the game.
From Hackney Station to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is about 20 minutes on the Overground. We planned to catch the train and be at the stadium two hours early. Unfortunately, the train was completely packed and we could not get on, as was the next train. We ended up taking an Uber, which then got stuck in traffic. We then had to pick up our tickets at the ticket center (the only option available), which had an insanely long line. We ended up getting into the stadium a few minutes after the game started. It is a beautiful stadium, and it ended up being a really good game (Oakland Raiders vs Chicago Bears). After the game, public transit packed, so we stopped at The Bricklayers pub for a beer and some dinner. After about an hour, we walked about 15 minutes until we got to a bus station that was not so busy (as the Underground was still packed). Eventually, we made it back safe and sound after a great day.
Monday: Homebound
We walked to Well Street Kitchen London for a lovely breakfast, before heading to St. Pancras to take the Eurostar back to Amsterdam. This is my favorite way to travel; minimal security/no need to get there two hours early, no concern with how many liquids you have and we always pick up food and drinks at the M&S simply food for the trip.
Foods to Try:
National dish of England: chicken tikka masala
Others: scones, fish and chips, meat pies, English breakfast, bangers and mash, Tunnocks Tea Cakes, Yorkshire pudding, shepherd's or cottage pie.
Drinks: Cask ales, gin and of course tea.
The thing I would change: plan more time to get to the stadium, we severely underestimated how packed the train would be.
General Travel Tips:
Figure out an idea of sites you want to see; this will determine a centralized area for where you should stay.
Utilize Google reviews when looking for something to eat. General rule, stay away from streets with lots of neon signs.
Mark everything on your google maps. Google is also (in my opinion) the best pedestrian and bike navigation app.
Other: Planning for a trip, especially overseas, can be stressful and overwhelming. Hopefully this gave you some ideas of what to do while you are in town for an NFL game. I try to do as many quick links as possible, to send you directly to the website so you can get the most accurate and up-to-date information possible (fees and timetables).
Comment with any questions, and if you found this helpful, subscribe!
Safe and Happy Wandering.
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