Although you would have to be madly in love with someone to “enjoy walking Camden Market in the afternoon”, Swift evidently ventured further.
If you want to take in Taylor Swift’s London, here is a guide, based on “London Boy” and other lyrics by the American singer. But do not attempt to do this in one day because, as Swift would tell critics, “You’d never make it”.
“Took me back to Highgate, met all of his best mates”
Highgate is a discreet, leafy neighbourhood in northwest London, between Hampstead Heath (as in “you left me in the house by the Heath” in “So Long, London”) and Crouch End, where Alwyn lived.
Here, the couple were spotted at The Flask, a picturesque pub dating back to 1720 with real fireplaces and snug corners.
“You can find me in the pub, we’re watching rugby with his best friends”
If the pub in question was screening rugby matches, it is likely to have been The Bull and Gate, just south of Highgate, in Kentish Town.
The spruced up Victorian era pub (which boasts “live sport coverage over three TV screens” and “real ale, craft beer and cocktails”) featured in Swift’s “End Game” video.
“Like a Tennessee Stella McCartney on the Heath”
Here, Swift is undoubtedly referencing Hampstead Heath, the vast green public space that separates Highgate from Hampstead. The space includes woods, meadows and bathing ponds.
Swift was photographed walking on the heath with Alwyn and his mother. And Swifties believe she was referring to swimming in the mixed bathing pond in her song “Paper Rings”.
On the northern edge of the heath is the quaint Spaniard’s Inn, where Swift and Alwyn were also spotted. The 16th-century pub feels like it is in the countryside; it has a cosy, wood-panelled interior and is known for its Sunday roasts.
“I enjoy nights in Brixton, Shoreditch in the afternoon”
Swift gave Brixton Academy a shout-out after attending the NME Music Awards at the live music venue in 2020. Her writing partner Jack Antonoff’s band, The Bleachers, are playing at the Brixton Academy in August.
Shoreditch, back north of the river, is a creative, urban area of East London full of street art, boutiques and restaurants, the best of which can be found on Redchurch and Boundary streets.
“Please show me Hackney, doesn’t have to be Louis V up on Bond Street”
Hackney, in the East End, has gone from being one of the most deprived areas in London to the hippest.
It is centred around Mare Street and London Fields, an open green space to which residents flock.
Nearby Broadway Market is lined with cafes and other places to drink, plus market stalls at the weekend.
“I enjoy walking Soho, drinking in the afternoon”
No longer the louche epicentre of London, compact Soho’s small streets are now mostly occupied by great restaurants, bars and pubs as well as shops.
Swift and Alwyn dined at Bob Bob Ricard, known for its leather booths and “Press For Champagne” buttons. And Swift attended her friend Lena Dunham’s wedding (as a bridesmaid) at the private members’ Union Club.
She has also said she was inspired to write “Clean” (2014; thought to be about Harry Styles) while “leaving Liberty in London”, a reference to the whimsical department store of the same name.
“Now I love high tea, stories from uni and the West End”
It is thought that Taylor’s favourite hotel in London is The Savoy, which happens to be in the West End and serves a high tea in its charming Thames Foyer – the meal includes a savoury main course in addition to the sandwiches and cakes served in its afternoon tea.
The hotel’s Royal Suite featured in Swift’s “End Game” video, with the singer taking in the view of the River Thames, partying with friends in the lounge and sitting on top of the eye-catching bar, sipping a martini.
“So I watch you walk into some bar called The Black Dog”
A place Taylor did not actually visit is currently garnering the most attention. In “The Black Dog”, a track on a special edition of The Tortured Poets Department, she describes cyberstalking her ex.
Fans concluded the title is a reference to a pub in Vauxhall, south London, and the owners have fanned the excitement, even writing the lyrics on a chalkboard in the window.
But some Swifties think it is about Alwyn walking into a bar of the same name in Budapest, while others claim it is about another ex-boyfriend – Matty Healy – and him visiting a bar in Cork, Ireland or Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, while his band 1975 were on tour.
So far, the writer herself has not commented.
