Earlier this week Dave and I travelled to London and set out on a little “Activity Break”. More often than not holidays are billed as a time to eat and drink all around you, laze in the sun and do very little else. And whilst this is PERFECTLY acceptable – I just thought I’d piece together something a little more active that you might like to replicate and who knows – you may even enjoy!
Location: London, UK.
Travel Details: Dublin Airport to London Stansted with Ryanair
Transfers: Stansted Express and London Underground
Where We Stayed: Bayswater Inn Hotel Notting Hill
I booked this hotel on Booking.com. I was looking for a good price for someplace that was easily accessible and that’s exactly what we got. The hotel itself was modern and clean, the rooms were small but perfect for what we needed. The hotel was situated 5 minutes walk from the Bayswater Underground Station (Circle Line) and 7 minutes from Queensway Station (Central Line). This gave us easy access to the whole city to be honest. Anywhere we wanted to go was no more than a 30 minute journey away. We got Oyster cards on day one – paid the £5 deposit and topped up the card by £20 each and had more than enough for travelling Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The only additional travel fee we paid was for the Stansted Express which cost £32 each for a return fare. There are bus routes that are far cheaper if you wanted to do it that way.
Where We Trained:
I had been researching classes in London and had a few I wanted to squeeze into our trip. I contacted all the venues prior to the trip via email and booked both Dave and myself into set classes. With that all done – all we then had to do is show up to take part! Simple!
On day one we headed straight for Barry’s Bootcamp. I’d heard so much about Barry’s and had been dying to try it out. In a nutshell the class involved treadmills and weighted floor work. We attended on “Leg Day” so all the weights involved things like squats, split squats, lunges and squat jumps. We alternated between a set on the floor and a stint on the treadmills – 4 rounds in total – for the hour-long class.
Class Length: 60 Minutes
My Thoughts: I’m not a massive fan of the treadmill so I didn’t know how I would feel about spending so much time running. But by breaking the treadmill work into blocks – we were never on it longer than 10 minutes at a time. I really enjoyed the class – it was a brilliant cardio workout burning for me over 400 calories.
Price: The cost was £20 (€23.30) per person for a drop in class so it wasn’t cheap. But I think if you were in London to see the sights you’d pay similar on any of the attractions so it was well worth it to try out the infamous Barry’s workout!
Class Length: 45 Minutes
My Thoughts: I loved this class. A very hi-tech circuit class with screens guiding you through each exercise and also displaying the countdown for each 45 second round. We took part in the 22: Paired High Intensity Cardio class which saw pairs divided into three “pods” each containing three supersets – which were to be performed twice with 45 seconds for each exercise. The class included things like battle ropes, rowers, bikes, thrusters, TRX abs, sand bag swings and lots more. Each day at F45 offers a different class following the same method. Some are more strength and resistance based. I would have loved to have tried a few more.
Price: We were able to avail of a special offer currently running at F45 of £7 (€8.16) for 7 days of training even though we were only training there on one day. The usual drop in rate per class is £20 (€23.30) but obviously there are class packages if you are staying in the area a little longer.
Class Length: 60 Minutes
My Thoughts: The set up at Kobox was amazing. It has a very cool vibe and is situated on Kings Road surrounded by shops that are every gym goers dream! Nike, Reebok, Freddy, Puma, Active Instyle – and all in their own stores! The class venue was dark and moody with excellent coloured lighting, teardrop boxing bags and very cool playlists. The instructor brought the class through the different moves and all the combinations were projected on to the walls for us to follow in each round. Rounds on the boxing bags were broken up with rounds on the floor with functional cardio and skipping, weighted exercises and abs. Another great cardio workout burning just under 400 calories for me in the hour.
Price: Kobox run a beginners package of two classes plus one set of wraps (which are compulsory for classes) for £25 (€29.13) per person. We obviously only took part in one of those classes but the second one is to be kept on file for the next 6 months in case we are back in London and would like to avail of it.
Where We Ate:
I loved this little cafe in Notting Hill. We ordered from the Breakfast Menu and I opted for the “Rawnola” with fresh fruit and a Macha Tonic. Dave had Eggs Florentine and an Alkaline Booster juice. I have to say this little spot was impressive from the food to the decor and everything in between. I really enjoyed our meal and all the healthy options.
Another gorgeous little spot near London Bridge. We popped in here after one of the classes we attended for a post workout meal. I chose miso chicken, freekah, sweet potato and a cauliflower and chickpea salad with a kale smoothie. This was clean and fresh foods and a perfect meal full of goodness.
For our evening meal on the first night we headed straight for the Soho area of London and after much ambling around we settled on Kingsly Court for a little grub. It’s basically a centre with dozens of restaurants to choose from. We opted for Whyte and Brown – which could be described as an upmarket version of Nandos. I had a chicken skewer with greek salad and flatbread and it was delicious.
We couldn’t go on holiday and not opt for a cheat meal! I was longing for a burger and milkshake and we chose wisely! Byron do burgers and they do them well. I had a cheese burger, oreo cookie milkshake, sweet potato fries and a side of coleslaw – followed by a massive food baby and a deep sleep!!
All in all my little self-planned “activity break” was a massive success with both Dave and I agreeing that it was definitely one of the best short breaks we’ve had. It’s a little different to your usual few days away but if you are into eating healthily and getting a little exercise as you try out new things – it might just be the perfect break for you to replicate!
I hope you picked up some ideas! Don’t forget to follow me on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat: Leanneacmoore
See you there,
Leanne x
**This IS NOT an ad. All travel, accommodation and classes were paid for in full.