In June, I travelled from Toronto, Canada to London to see Taylor Swift Eras Tour Night 1 at Wembley Stadium. I wanted to recap my experience about travelling to see the Eras Tour in London, whether it was worth it, and favourite moments from this iconic concert, because I’d dance in a storm in my best dress, fearless.
What it’s like to travel to see the Eras Tour in London
I was a bit nervous seeing a concert at Wembley Stadium, but it was the most magical experience with over 88,000 fans including Prince William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte… and yes, Travis was there too! To be that close to the Royal Family was also exciting, and the selfies on Instagram were so iconic.
The acoustics in Wembley Stadium were incredible, a lot better than my home stadium, Rogers Centre– and to my delight, there were no screaming children or preteens around us. Everyone was courteous, friendly, and I had a chance to trade bracelets with some of the people around us in our section in the 500s.
Our view was amazing, with a full view of the stage and LED screens. We were very high up, but I was still grateful to experience the energy.
I had many friends ask me to live stream the Eras Tour, however, be prepared to experience connection and cell service issues. With 88,000 people in the stadium, I could barely even send a plain text message.
Some of my favourite moments included her rendition of Enchanted in a stunning ivory ballgown, and the Folklore/Evermore section, where I got completely emotional over songs like Champagne Problems and Marjorie. I also loved the props and set design during the Tortured Poets Department. TTPD wasn’t my favourite album release, however, her performances of Down Bad and I Can Do It With a Broken Heart made me fall in love with those songs! It was incredible to see Taylor transform through each era, go over each emotion, love affair and aesthetic.
I’ve heard many people say how they feel “safe” at the Eras Tour, and I completely get it now. There’s an energy – a collective feeling to celebrate life, love and music, and I wish every young woman had the chance to experience this concert.
Unfortunately, it seems that the strong community of Swifties was taken advantage of with the foiled terrorist attempt at the Vienna Eras Tour stop. My own sister was supposed to attend Night 2 in Vienna, but unfortunately, all the shows were cancelled. I’m grateful the authorities caught the people involved and no one was hurt. She was sad, and disappointed, especially after a year of planning, making her own outfit, travelling and paying for hotels. But everyone is grateful this was stopped and now, security can be amended for other tour stops. It was also incredible seeing pictures and videos my sister took from Vienna, with all the Swifties, businesses and Vienna coming together to sing along, hand out free gifts, and trade friendship bracelets. That community bond cannot be broken, no matter what horrible organizations try to attack.
What to wear to Eras Tour – My Outfit for Eras Tour N1 in London
If you’re looking for inspiration on what to wear to the eras tour, I would recommend picking an album and just going for it! And my era of choice? I am Enchanted in my Speak Now Era.
Before I even secured tickets, I knew that I wanted to wear the Hill House Home Ellie Tulle Nap Dress in Purple (which I reviewed here).
While I got so lucky with the warm weather in London, I wanted to be prepared in case the weather was cool, so I took my purple denim jacket from H&M (similar here) and purchased iron-on patches from AliExpress and Amazon that were Taylor Swift-themed to cover my jacket with! I would highly recommend creating a custom denim jacket to wear to the Eras Tour. This is an opportunity to showcase your patch or pin collection and have a layer after you leave the concert late at night!
If you’re thinking what shoes to wear to Eras Tour, go for comfort with a pair of sneakers or boots. I wanted to be comfortable during the concert, so I opted to wear white leather Carnaby Lacoste sneakers, which let me dance the entire night. When you commit to the Eras tour, it’s easily a 4pm – midnight affair, since I had to leave my hotel at Paddington station and get out to Wembley Stadium, which took approximately 40 minutes.
Now, what to pack to the Eras Tour? You have to bring a small bag (smaller than an A4 piece of paper) and cannot bring in any drinking containers. In my small Chloe Drew bag, I packed my phone, my portable Anker charger, my wallet and hotel room key, a power protein bar for energy and some Gravol Ginger in case I got nauseous being up high in the stands.
If you’re looking for advice on what to wear to Eras Tour in London, I would say to go for a fun dress from one of the Eras like I did, or find a fun tee to incorporate a clever interpretation of one of her lyrics on. I love this look tucked into a sequin miniskirt.
Taylor Swift Folklore Eras Tour
One of my favourite sections were all the Folklore songs she performed at the Eras Tour N1 in London. In case you’re wondering she plays the following songs from the Grammy Award-winning album: Cardigan, Betty, August, Illicit Affairs, My Tears Ricochet.
Taylor Swift Evermore Eras Tour
Evermore is my favourite album from Taylor Swift… even Daniel loves it too. While she doesn’t perform the titular song on the album, or my other favourite, Cowboy Like Me, she does perform Champagne Problems, Marjorie and Willow.
Getting to Wembley Stadium for the Eras Tour
I was worried about getting to Wembley Stadium on my own, however taking the tube was super simple. From Padding Station I took the Bakerloo line, then transferred to the Metropolitan line all the way to Wembley Park Stadium. This tube station will take you right in front of the station practically and the entire journey only took about 40 minutes till I met up with my friends.
Exiting Wembley Stadium during the Eras Tour
I had heard HORROR stories about exiting Wembley Stadium. If you are seeing the Eras tour in the 500’s sections or “Red Zone” on your ticket, be aware that your seats will be a fair walk from the tube entrance. Following the concert, right after the fireworks we left immediately and had a long walk along the sidewalk before we were near the main entrance of the tube station. We opted to stop at McDonald’s for some fries, which I highly recommend!
From there, we walked another few minutes – remember to stay on the main road, they close down the entrance to the parking lot where the McDonald’s and LIDL grocery store are, so you cannot cut through! At the tube station, we waited about 10-15 minutes in a crowd to get to the platform. I honestly expected a lot worse. I think with the McDonald’s trip and LONG walk from the red zone of the stadium, it took us about 40 minutes to get to a subway platform. The trains came often on Friday night as well, so we only waited for one full train to go by before getting on the Metropolitan and then Bakerloo line back into London centre.
I was in bed by 12:30 pm, so I really cannot complain! My experience might be different than others since it was less crowded leaving the red zone of the stadium, but we had fun singing, seeing the cardboard cutout of Taylor Swift at the McDonald’s and I truly expected a lot worse!
Is travelling to Europe for the Eras Tour Worth It?
Wholeheartedly, yes. I knew I wanted to go to Europe again in 2024, and this was the perfect excuse and beginning of our trip. I knew I had vacation days and wanted to visit my friend Sabina, so everything aligned. My ticket was purchased at face value for only 80 pounds, which was approximately $145 Canadian dollars. The same ticket (even in the nosebleeds) is currently selling for more than $5,000 each for the Toronto Eras Tour dates. Here is my cost breakdown for London alone (keep in mind, we stayed a total of 11 nights in Europe and also went to Paris after!) Here is my breakdown to convince you to go to Europe for the Eras Tour.
Cost Breakdown to see Taylor Swift Eras Tour in London
Flight: $899 (noting it was a multi-destination and economy class ticket)
Hotel: $350/ night x 3 nights (the minimum someone would do to go all the way for a concert)
Food: $100/day x 3 days
Airport transfers to Gatwick: 40.80 pounds = $73.44
Tube price to and from Wembley Park Station: 4.40 pounds or $7.92
Ticket to Eras Tour: $145
Total: $2175.00
Ticket to Taylor Swift in Toronto in Upper Bowl: $5,623.00 each (note this is a similar ticket level and view to what I saw in London).
As you can see, you could see Taylor Swift in London twice for the same amount of money.
Yes, the hotel prices in London were slightly elevated (maybe by about $50-75 extra per night), but visiting a big European City will always be worth it to me. In fact, I think seeing the Eras Tour in Europe is more worth it for Canadians because flights to London are cheaper, run often and don’t require connections. My 4 star hotel in London near Paddington Station was about $350 Canadian dollars per night, while my sister saw prices in the $700 range for Nashville, TN during the Eras tour weekend in 2023.
Another aspect to consider from a cost-saving perspective is that you can easily take public transit to the stadium, and it’s remarkably safe to do so. I don’t know if this is the case for many places in the USA.
While I would love to see Taylor Swift in Toronto in November, I also loved seeing her in London, with sunny 25C weather and had an open-stadium experience! I think that is a benefit I wouldn’t have gotten in my hometown, ticket prices aside!
If you are planning to see the Taylor Swift Eras Tour in London or Europe in 2024, I couldn’t recommend it enough. I am grateful I had the opportunity, and would love to see her perform again with even closer seats. If you have the vacation time available to you, do it, you’ll be screaming long live all the magic you made!
So long, London until next time!
