Hackney City Farm

Hackney City Farm, London

We have been to London quite a few times this year and have always been mega busy with either pre-booked activities or other plans I have made! The last time we went we were there for 4 days and 3 nights meaning we had quite a lot of time to fill. London can be very expensive though with meals out for all of that time as well as the accommodation and travel costs both to get there and on the tube. Recently, I have been trying to find more and more free or super cheap things to do in London as a family to help us save a few pennies.

We walked to Hackney City Farm from the Columbia Road Flower Market and it only took us about 10 minutes. Bethnal Green is the nearest tube station and there are quite a few buses that stop nearby.

Erin was pretty excited as soon as we got there and wanted to be out of the pushchair. She’d been stuck in it while we were at the flower market so it was time for her to stretch her legs and have a run around. A lot of the farm is on cobbled pavements so if your little one is a bit unsteady on their feet, they may need a bit of help. Erin doesn’t let anything stop her though and she soon ran off to see what there was to find! Luckily, I had the help of John, my sister and her fiance!

The farm isn’t huge but honestly, what can you expect with it being in the middle of London and it’s free to get in to?! In the main yard we got to meet some chickens as well as some bunnies and guinea pigs. Erin wanted to chase the chickens around and kept trying to call them to come to her!

Just through the main yard is a larger green area where there were loads more chickens but also some sheep and goats. You can’t get right up close to the bigger animals but that didn’t stop Erin from trying. She would have climbed over the fence if she’d been able to I think.

We were only in the actual farm for about 30 minutes I think so there isn’t a lot to do there. However, if you need somewhere to take younger children for a little while and to get them out of their pushchairs, this was a very welcome stop during our day!

You can exit the farm either through the main entrance/ exit or there is a large gate to the side, which is where we exited. Here, you can walk around the sheep enclosure and through a small woodland area which exits to pavements and a massive park area. We headed left to go back to the road and got met with so many conkers on the floor. Erin has never seen a conker before so she was a bit amazed.

We spent quite a long time sat on the path collecting conkers and playing games with them. Erin loved to share them out between us and spent ages trying to figure out what they were. I think she actually had more fun just outside of the farm than she did in it. Sometimes, being in London can just get a bit too much and you need somewhere to escape for a little while. We’ll definitely be visiting more of the City Farms with Erin as it’s so nice to be outside with her!

Have you been to one of the London City Farms before? Spitalfields City Farm is a great one with loads to do!

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