Explore a new city
We are excited to welcome our clients, associates and friends from around the world to attend the INTA conference in London, UK from 2 – 6 May 2026. As long-term residents of the city, we have put together this guide to help you get your bearings in London.
The INTA conference provides a great opportunity to explore a new city, so it’s important to make time to explore the sights. London is a great city in which to be a tourist.
With all this in mind, we’ve collated a guide to the neighbourhoods we think will be good staging posts for INTA in London, with tips on transport, accommodation, restaurants and bars. In making our suggestions we’ve tried to look beyond the conventional, giving you a true flavour of the diversity on offer in London.
The venue
Excel convention centre was a host venue for the 2012 London Olympics and the 2009 G20 Summit and is the venue for the 149th INTA Annual Meeting. Excellent transport links make Excel easily accessible from anywhere in London.
Journey times
Approximate travel times to Excel by Tube (Elizabeth Line).
From Canary Wharf (Canary Wharf station)
3 Minutes
From The City of London (Liverpool Street station)
10 Minutes
From the West End (Bond Street station)
17 Minutes
London Heathrow Airport
43 Minutes
To view our guide, keep scrolling or jump straight to each section:
Get the most
out of London
6 ways to get the most out of INTA in London
Our attorneys have attended INTA for decades, so we know what attendees need to get the best from the conference. Here are our top tips for a successful time in London.
Location is key.
For the perfect mix of cultural sights and great restaurants and bars, with convenient access to the INTA venue, stay in a hotel in the City of London.
Tap in, tap out.
There's no need to buy a ticket when travelling on Transport for London services. Use your bank card. Contactless payments are capped at £10.50 daily for unlimited travel within zones 1-3, which includes the INTA conference venue, Excel.
Choose the Elizabeth line.
The newest Underground line, which opened in 2022, is the fastest way to travel across the city, from Heathrow Airport in the west, to the INTA conference centre at Excel in the east. Stay close to an Elizabeth line station to get around swiftly.
Prepare for crowds.
Monday 4 May 2026 is a national ("bank") holiday, so the city will be busier than usual on the Sunday.
Advanced booking is essential.
From hotels to the best restaurants and a perfect venue to host your meetings, book in advance to get the widest choice and best availability.
Plan your meeting schedule carefully.
Don't underestimate the time it may take to travel between different areas of London. Aim to schedule meetings grouped by location to reduce travel time, and stress!
Where to go
Our top three areas of London for you to explore – select below to view our recommended must-sees.
What's it like?
Vibrant, bustling West End, with its theatres, bars and shopping, is London’s entertainment district. Tourists flock to soak up the atmosphere of Leicester Square and Soho, or watch street performers in Covent Garden, yet Excel is just 16 minutes by Tube from Tottenham Court Road station. As a tourist hot-spot, it’s also advisable to take the usual precautions around personal safety and belongings.
Best for
Night owls, attending late-night drinks receptions and tempting your contacts away from the quieter Docklands area.
Places to stay
Quite simply, you are spoilt for choice in the West End, with all budgets and tastes catered for, from the world famous Savoy to boutique alternatives such as the Montcalm Piccadilly. Mid-range options include Z Hotels which has compact rooms in a great location in Covent Garden, or St. Giles, conveniently located a short walk from Tottenham Court Road Tube station.
Coffee breaks
The antithesis of global coffee chains, Attendant coffee roasters have café branches in the City of London and, incredibly, in a restored former 19th-century public toilet moments from Oxford Street!
From humble beginnings as a single cafe in a former mobile phone shop in east London, certified B Corp Grind now has its own roastery and 14 sites across London, including Soho.
Visitors from the United States may know homegrown chain Blank Street Coffee, now found throughout the West End.
Drinks and food
A visit to London isn’t complete without a visit to a classic British pub. The Devonshire (advanced booking recommended) in Soho will serve you a traditional Sunday lunch (of course!) or more informal homemade bar food in the main pub. The White Hart has a colourful history and claims to be the oldest pub in London!
Reinvented British and French classics feature heavily at Bob Bob Ricard, a favourite for entertaining.
For midweek eats GAIL’s modern craft bakery has outlets dotted across the West End. For international favourites try Copita (Spanish) or Rasa Sayang (Malay).
What's it like?
The City is the beating heart of the UK’s financial district and is where London was established (then as ‘Londinium’) by the Romans 2000 years ago. There are still many Roman artefacts and historical architecture dotted around the City, meshed with modern glass architecture.
Forresters’ London office is in the iconic Gherkin building, near Liverpool Street station. Come and see us if you’re in the area.
Best for
The widest choice of places to stay, eat and drink all while being 10 minutes by Tube from the INTA conference venue at Excel.
Places to stay
Bringing the glamour of 1920’s London to The Ned, this former bank headquarters offers hotel guests use of private Ned’s Club and its rooftop pool. Also near to Liverpool Street Station, Pan Pacific is a luxury option in the City, as is boutique Vintry & Mercer near Southark Bridge. Mid-range Canopy by Hilton London City shows how a multinational brand can align with its community, featuring the work of local artists.
The area around Tower Bridge has some good options, including official INTA hotel DoubleTree by Hilton Tower of London (use Forresters’ corporate account code 000021190 for special rates), and CitizenM which has sensational views of the tower itself.
Coffee breaks
Contemporary coffee experience at WatchHouse which takes up the lower three floors of the “Can of Ham” building. Grab a coffee or Italian pastries at Eataly food hall, just outside Liverpool Street Station. Popular chains Black Sheep Coffee and Joe & The Juice have branches nearby.
Drinks and food
Darwin Brasserie on level 36 of the “Walkie Talkie” building is London’s highest rooftop brasserie. Great views of the Thames! Sticking with the dining-at-height theme, Asian-South American venue SUSHISAMBA features the highest outdoor dining terraces in Europe.
In the heart of the City of London’s “square mile” is 14-century Leadenhall Market, now home to retailers, restaurants and pubs where you can enjoy a drink outside on the cobbled streets at The Golden Goose.
For a quick bowl of pasta for lunch, our go-to is Scarpetta, or you can always grab a sandwich at Pret. If you fancy something rather nicer, we can’t recommend Enoteca da Luca enough – a lovely little Italian, just a stone’s throw from the Gherkin. And to wash it down, head to Humble Grape, just around the corner.
What's it like?
Formerly an industrial area, part of the Port of London – at one time the world’s largest port – the area underwent significant regeneration in the 1990s.
Development focussed on the Isle of Dogs, to create Canary Wharf, which has become a key business district for financial services and increasingly, a leisure destination.
Best for
Convenient access to the conference venue – INTA will be based at the Excel centre at Royal Victoria Dock in the Docklands area.
Places to stay
Large international hotel chains abound and if you want ultimate convenience, the official INTA hotel list has 11 hotels within a 20-minute walk of Excel. Closest are the Novotel London Excel and the ibis London Excel Docklands. For an interesting alternative, Sunborn London is a yacht hotel moored alongside Excel.
Coffee breaks
East London mini-chain Perky Blenders has a takeaway kiosk at Royal Victoria Dock, and (if the weather is kind) outdoor seating. Or bookend your day at 640East in Canary Wharf, a neighbourhood café serving coffee and craft beer. We can vouch for Notes Coffee Roasters in Crossrail Place as it has another branch on the ground floor of the Gherkin, where Forresters’ office is located.
Drinks and food
Head to Canary Wharf and The Gun, a riverside pub and restaurant in a grade II-listed building. Creative cocktail bar The Alchemist has an all-day menu and waterside views. Don’t want to miss the game? Craft beer pub chain BrewDog shows American Football every Sunday. Opposite Canary Wharf Tube station on the Elizabeth line, Market Halls food court combines street food traders, bars and regular live music events. For seafood and steaks, Hawksmoor sits on a floating pavilion that rises and falls with the changing tides.
On the menu
Being a multicultural city, every culinary and dietary taste is catered for in London. If you want to sample some traditional English food, you might want to try:
Fish and Chips
Pie and Mash
Roast Dinner (Mainly Sundays)
Full English Breakfast
Afternoon Tea (our tip is The Savoy)
Feeling adventurous?
You could even try ‘Jellied Eels’, a traditional delicacy of the East End of London.
Typical Costs
Service charges and tipping
It’s customary to tip around 10% in restaurants. Sometimes a service charge (10% – 15%) is added automatically to a bill, but it’s generally discretionary. It’s not necessary to tip bar staff.
Advice for
INTA first timers
“I wish someone had told me that!”
Advice for an INTA first-timer from our Partner Janette Hamer, who has attended the INTA Annual Meeting since the 2000s.
Plan early.
Meeting schedules fill up quickly, so get your invites in a couple of months in advance and don’t leave it to the last minute.
Buddy up.
Lean on more experienced colleagues to introduce you to their contacts. Also, meetings often work better in pairs.
Time out.
It can be an intense few days at INTA, so have in mind a few places away from the conference venue where you can go to recharge.
Enjoy it.
Although INTA can be exhausting, it can be immensely rewarding. Try to remember that while on your fifteenth meeting of the day…
Comfort is king.
You will be doing thousands of steps each day and standing for hours on end, so choose a pair of comfy footwear.
Tips of the Trade
Mark team
How to talk like a Londoner
We say ‘tomato’; you say ‘tomato’! It doesn’t quite work when written, but there are some oddly spelled place names in London.
Here’s our pronunciation guide to the key ones you might come across during the conference!
Listen to Trade Mark Records Administrator and Londoner Darren McCarthy’s pronunciations below:
- Leicester Square – “Less-ter” square
- Marylebone – “Mar-lee-bone"
- Euston – “You-stun"
- Aldwych – “Old-witch”
- Borough – “Buh-ra”
- Southwark – “Suth-irk”
- Holborn – “Hoe-burn”
- Chiswick – “Chiz-ik”