Our Favourite East London Places to Walk, Run, Cycle, brought to you in partnership with Apple Watch
This time of year we’d normally be jetting off abroad for a summer holiday but there’s not been much normal about 2020, so we’re staying put instead and spending our time exploring all the parts of London we just don’t see often enough. When you live in a city as big and diverse as this one there’s always something new to discover and we’re wearing Apple Watch to guide us – even LOTI needs a helping hand navigating London now and then!
WALK | HACKNEY WICK
We’re not exactly strangers to Hackney Wick but the area has changed so much over the last few years, making it harder to navigate by eye – the Lord Napier aka the building covered in graffiti by the old entrance to the Overground is still there though so that’s one landmark we can rely on. Thankfully Apple Maps on Apple Watch guides us from A to B, and lets us search for nearby places, which is very useful when we want to stop for a drink but there’s no space to sit outside Crate.
RUN | REGENT’S CANAL & VICTORIA PARK
LOTI HQ is in London Fields so if we’re squeezing in a run in the middle of the day, we like to head down Broadway Market to the canal, weave our way over to Victoria Park and do a lap around both the east and west sides if we have time. Obviously Apple Watch helps us keep track of the time but we customised our watch face complications to show our favourite apps including Nike Run Club, calendar, weather and Activity Rings in the same view, so we’ve got everything we need in one place and we won’t be late for our afternoon meeting.
CYCLE | RIVER LEA
The River Lea runs all the way from Bedfordshire down into the Thames but there’s a ten-mile loop in the Lower Lea Valley, running from the Olympic Park, past Hackney Marshes and round into Walthamstow Wetlands and back, that we love. As we only have to follow the river and not worry about the route, we like popping on our AirPods Pro and listening to a podcast on Apple Watch. AirPods are sweat and water-resistant so they’re going nowhere no matter how fast we cycle and with transparency mode, we can listen to David talk about the planet and still be aware of what’s going on around us.
Apple Watch Series 5 is available from apple.com, starting at £399.