I used to think hikes were for boring old people with green anoraks, bird-watching books and ugly boots. People like my parents. No fourteen year old wants to spend a Sunday traipsing around the Chilterns with their parents.
I could never have imagined a decade on I’d go hiking myself – for fun – without even the promise of two Scotch pancakes sandwiched together with Nutella (a family favourite) at the end of it.
When my friend Chloe came up with the idea of an Urban Hike, it was hard to say no. The idea was she would plan a route from Notting Hill in West London to Tower Hill in East London, stopping off at unusual, lesser known attractions along the way.
We started off at a cute Italian coffee shop – La Caffettiera on Kensington Church Street with pastries and coffee, toured through Kensington to Brompton Cemetery where Emmeline Pankhurst is buried. Here we also met a man who walks his blue parrots here every day. They even sit outside on lamp posts waiting for him when he goes to Sainsburys!
Then down through Chelsea onto the King’s Road where we were shouted at by taxi drivers, spotted food critic AA Gill and drank prosecco at a local food market near Sloane Square.
Next up past the swanky shops on Sloane Street to Hyde Park where we collided with the finals of an international triathlon competition.
This was followed by a jaunt past the Ritz, through the famous Burlington Arcade towards Soho where we ate a lunch of fried chicken washed down with American craft beer at Jackson & Rye.
Feeling a little drowsy after all the food and beer, we stopped off at the famous Algerian Coffee Store for a latte (it only costs £1.20 and is home to hundreds of types of coffee) – before hurrying down towards Hatchard’s, the oldest bookshop in the UK.
Then on to Fleet Street to climb up Monument before it closed. The view from the top is pretty spectacular. We finished by strolling along past to Tower Hill to our final stop, Wilton’s the oldest surviving grand music hall in the world, dating back to 1859. They still have gigs and music nights on here today.
For someone who calls herself a Londoner, the Urban Hike was a total eye opener. I saw places in the London that I never knew existed. Armed with water bottles and rucksacks, it felt like a real expedition – passing council estates and cemeteries, glamorous shop fronts, gay bars and office blocks on the way.
We met a few characters, argued with angry taxi drivers, ate doughnuts in Sloane Square, (nearly) went for a swim in the Serpentine and got a certificate for climbing the 311 stairs to the top of Monument. Three of us even bumped into acquaintances we hadn’t seen in ages. Who says you need countryside to have an adventure?
It took us around eight hours round trip to walk from Notting Hill to Tower Hill (with lots of long leisurely stops in between). Here’s the (rough) route in case you want to copy us… I’d highly recommend it!