With just two days in London, take a look at all of the urban adventure I found!
Here’s the books I used for this trip: https://bit.ly/4kKPsRV
Taking the train from Sheffield to London St Pancras, I had two days to find as much urban adventure in the capital as I could. From cycling at Lee Valley VeloPark, to a secluded outdoor swim at Hampstead Heath Ponds and a station-to-station walk through Epping Forest I enjoyed some great spots.
Let us know your favourite places for an urban adventure!
00:00 Coming up
00:20 Travelling to London
01:02 Arriving in London
01:57 The Outdoor Swimming Guide
02:13 Hampstead Heath Ponds
03:10 YHA London Central
03:36 The Dirt Directory
04:00 Walk Britain
04:27 Epping Forest
06:55 Lee Valley VeloPark
#urbanadventure #hampstead #mtb #bmx #eppingforest #walking #london #adventures #swim #outdoorswimming #outdoorswimminglondon #travel #summeradventure #mtblondon
Hey, you join us from a slightly unusual location for us on our way down to London to explore some of the adventure the city has to offer. We left Sheffield nice and early at 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning, and it all went smoothly. I had a good seat on the train, and the journey gave me a nice bit of reading time. We pulled into London St. Pancress just after 11:00 and I headed straight down to the underground to make my way over to Hamstead Heath for our first bit of outdoor adventure from the outdoor swimming guide. It was a pretty gray and rainy day, so I didn’t feel bad about the idea of getting into some cold water. The outdoor swimming guide features swimming locations which is suitable for all kinds of swimmers across Great Britain, showcasing over 300 great places to swim outside. Edited by Kathy Rogers, it’s the perfect guide to have in your bag to help you discover swimming spots no matter where you are. With practical information on what to expect, it’s the essential companion for the traveling swimmer. from Hamstead Heath station. The bathing ponds are just a short walk away. Took me about 10 or 15 minutes to reach the mix pond. There are three Hamstead Heath ponds that you can swim in. Once reservoirs, these ponds have been a popular swim spot since Victorian times. And there are cold water showers and open air changing rooms that you can use. Hamstead Heath ponds don’t allow phones, filming, or photography within the swimming area. So, this is as far as I can show you. After a dip, it was time for me to go and find my place to stay for the night at YHA London Central. The perfect place for backpackers to stay when exploring the capital. YHA London Central is super accessible by public transport. Just a short walk from Great Portland Street or Oxford Circus Underground Stations. There’s a 24-hour reception and access after check-in, a restaurant, and a self-catering kitchen, as well as a meeting room and free Wi-Fi. Having a cup of tea, I spent some time reading up on tomorrow’s adventures from the Dirt Directory and Walk Britain. The Dirt Directory by Hannah Collingidge is the comprehensive guide to the purpose-built mountain biking trail centers and bike parks in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Each riding spot features information on the number of trails and their length, style, and difficulty, facilities such as bike hire and shops, and refreshments and local information, meaning you can find someone new to ride, whether you’re a complete beginner like me or a confident rider. Walk Britain is the latest book by Elise Downing. It’s an inspirational collection of 90 walking routes accessible by public transport, which can enable you to see the best of Great Britain in an environmentally friendly way. Organized into easily accessible base locations, the book features relaxed, shorter walks to multi-day options if you’re looking for a bigger challenge. Each walk includes handy details to help with planning and downloadable GPX files. Waking up on day two, it was walk Britain time. Checking out early, I was at Oxford Circus Underground by 10 7 in the morning with my waterproof on for another London adventure. I hopped on the Victoria line to Waltham Stow Central and then swapped to the Weaver line to Chingford. Arriving at Chingford at 7:50 and walking amongst greenery by 5 8 so I could get from central London to the expansive green space of Effing Forest in under an hour. I set off on Route 16, a 12 km stationto station walk in open green spaces as well as paths through forests and plenty of wildlife spotting opportunities. I caught sight of two deer and a kestrel as well as a swan with lots of signets. Every route in Walk Britain has downloadable GPX files and I used the download on commute for this one with easy to follow map guidance. The Eping Forest Big Walk is a 24 km trail that runs the entire length of the forest, but this 12 km version takes in lots of the best bits. A detour to Conut water provides great bird watching and you might be able to see deer in the deer sanctuary towards the end of the walk. If you fancy tackling the whole of the Eping Forest Big Walk, the Eping Forest Heritage Trust organize a free group walk of the trail every September. Arriving at the finishing station with muddy feets after a beautiful 3-hour walk, it was time for a snack break and a coffee before catching another train for our next slightly more adrenalinefilled activity. Catching the central line to Stratford, changing to the DLR train to Stratford International, and then walking for about 10 minutes, I reached the unmistakable Veladrome of Lee Valley Ve Park. With a little trepidation, as I have never been mountain biking before, but the staff at the Vevel Park were super friendly and welcoming. So, I ended up having a great time and it’s made me want to explore some more trails from the dirt directory. Lee Valley Park is part of the 2012 Olympic Legacy and the Velrame here is the one used for the 2012 Olympic Games. The BMX track is also the Olympic one and there are both BMX sessions and dome experience sessions which mean you can ride on them whether you’re a beginner or an elite rider. There are several short mountain bike tracks of varying difficulty and skill sessions are available. Heat. Heat. That’s all for my London adventure for this time, but I hope you enjoyed this snapshot of a few different ways you can enjoy enjoy some seriously good exploration from the city. Let us know if there are any other urban adventures you’d want to see from us in the future.