After what feels like an eternity, Taylor Swift will finally be headlining Wembley this June and August with eight sold-out shows. And as anyone in the know will tell you, it’s no secret London is one of the singer’s favourite cities. From name-dropping most of the capital’s hotspots in ‘London Boy’ to the more subtle references in ‘So Long, London’, it’s clearly a city with a place in her heart.
Will you catch Taylor at any of her old stomping grounds this summer? Who knows. But for the self-respecting Swifties who want to live like the global superstar, here are all the hit locations that made her fall in love with London.
Hampstead
A frequenter of Kenwood House and The Spaniards Inn, it’s little wonder Swift was seduced by North London’s leafiest borough. Peppered with Georgian mansions, cultural institutions and greens galore, she was rumoured to have rented a house just off the Heath (a rumour seemingly confirmed on So Long, London, singing ‘I left all I knew; you left me at the house by the Heath’).
If you’re following in her footsteps, head to Parliament Hill for skyline views of the city or, weather allowing, the bathing ponds on the east and south sides of the park.
How to get there
Head to Hampstead on the Northern Line or Gospel Oak on the overground. A 20-minute tube if you’re staying at Park Plaza Waterloo or Westminster Bridge.
Kentish Town
One of her more unexpected haunts, Kentish Town is a surprising hotspot for all-things Taylor Swift. Most notably, the cobblestone streets and Boulogne Bar at The Bull and Gate pub feature heavily in the End Game video. But did you know it’s also the locale for her favourite kebab shop? First visiting the aptly named Kentish Delight back in 2017, she was recently reported to have placed an order for 45 large Chicken Doner Kebabs for her team ahead of her June show on Friday 21st. What a way to start her London run, hey?
How to get there
Sadly Kentish Town Station is closed until September 2024. Getting off at Tufnell Park and walking 10 minutes south is your best bet here. 30 minutes from Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, County Hall and Waterloo.
The Black Dog, Vauxhall
There’s no getting around where in London the 17th track from ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is about. Dedicating a whole song to the pub just south of the river, Swift laments as a former lover who forgot to stop sharing their location walks into the pub just off Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. ‘And so, I watch as you walk, into some bar called The Black Dog’ as the lyric goes. Confirmed by the pub themselves to be a go-to for ‘a certain blond’, this award-winning free house is among the city’s best. A must-see for any Swiftie worth their salt.
How to get there
A 5-minute walk if you’re staying at Park Plaza Riverbank or 15 minutes door-to-door from Park Plaza Victoria London.
Highgate
If there was any doubt as to where Swift stands on the ‘North or South London’, this all but confirms it. Named one of her favourite spots on her whistlestop tour of the capital in ‘London Boy’, residents of Highgate’s leafy streets and Victorian houses knew her and ex-partner Joe Alwyn to be regulars at The Flask pub.
Should you be in the area, we’d recommend taking a leaf from the singer’s notebook. Head to the aforementioned pub for a Sunday Roast before strolling through Highgate Cemetery to walk/shake it off.
How to get there
Take the Northern Line to Highgate. 25 minutes from Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, County Hall and Waterloo, or a 15-minute from Hampstead Heath by foot if you’re doing the full walking tour.
West End
It’s been five years since Swift declared her love for “high tea, stories from Uni, and the West End”. Clearly little’s changed in that time. Recently seen supporting longtime friend Cara Delevingne at Cabaret, London’s most popular area for musicals, shopping, bars and restaurants offers everything and everything one could want from a capital city. Liberty London and Louis Vuitton are purported to be favourites of the singer, with the former also being where Swift came up with the lyrics for 2014’s Clean.
How to get there
A 5-minute tube from Park Plaza Victoria London or 10 minutes from Park Plaza Riverbank, head to Oxford Circus on the Victoria Line.
