London/Covent Garden

—— Covent Garden is one of the main shopping and entertainment districts of London, and is hugely popular with visitors, who swarm to its shops, bars and restaurants, especially at weekends. Covent Garden incorporates some of London's Theatreland and also forms a smaller extension to London's gay village that is centred on the neighbouring district of Soho.

Understand
Covent Garden takes its name from history; it used to be Convent Garden many years ago and over the years, the name has changed to Covent Garden.

This is an extensive area of high-density building and narrow streets, officially bounded by High Holborn and New Oxford Street to the north, by Kingsway to the east, by the Strand to the south and by Charing Cross Road to the west. For all practical purposes, however, the district can also be seen to extend down to The Embankment along the Thames between Northumberland Avenue and Hungerford Bridge and to The Temple.

The main focus of the Covent Garden district for visitors is the Covent Garden Market Piazza. Further north, a secondary focus is Seven Dials, an intersection of seven streets, marked by a tall pillar with (you guessed it) seven (sun) dials. It is very easy for visitors to move on from here by foot to the attractions around Trafalgar and Leicester Squares, to Soho and to Bloomsbury.

Get in


Owing to the London Congestion Charge and the general shortage of parking spaces (plus stringent parking restrictions and fines), it is highly recommended that visitors to the area consider public transport to access the district.

By Tube
This district is well served by the following Tube stations, all in Zone 1:


 * Covent Garden (Piccadilly line). Exiting Covent Garden Tube Station, turn right (southwards, downhill) to walk to the Piazza, or turn left (northwards) to find the main shopping areas of Long Acre, Neal Street and Seven Dials. Covent Garden is one of the few Tube stations to lack escalators, instead having four lifts. Because of this, it gets extremely busy and TfL recommends using another station if possible.
 * Leicester Square (Piccadilly and Northern lines). The distance between Leicester Square and Covent Garden stations on the Piccadilly line is the shortest on the whole London Tube network (just 260 metres (280 yards)). It is faster to walk between the two stations.
 * Holborn (Piccadilly and Central lines).
 * Tottenham Court Road (Northern, Central and Elizabeth lines).
 * Embankment (Bakerloo, District, Circle and Northern lines).
 * Charing Cross (Bakerloo and Northern lines).

By train
Southeastern trains to:
 * Kent – Ashford International, Dartford, Dover, Gravesend, Hythe, Ramsgate, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks
 * East Sussex – Hastings

By bus
Over 30 bus routes serve Covent Garden. They are: 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 38, 55, 59, 69, 73, 87, 91, 98, 134, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 242, 243, 341, RV1 and X68.

Theatres
Along with neighbouring Leicester Square, this is the capital of London's theatreland. For current programmes please check the relevant theatre website or the Official London Theatre listings. Budget travellers should look for last minute bookings and off-peak performances.

Most of the booking office numbers given will only work from within the United Kingdom. If you want to make a booking from overseas, use the relevant website.



Buy
Shoes are a speciality of Covent Garden, particularly in Neal Street where virtually every shop sells shoes, from Birkenstocks to trainers, campers to Doc Martens.

Like its neighbour Soho, Covent Garden has a wide range of clothing shops. Head to Floral Street and Long Acre for a start, but explore the backstreets too as they often house more interesting stores. If you are on a budget, head to Earlham Street for occasional clothing stalls and Oxfam Originals.



Budget




Seven Dials Pubs
and around New Oxford Street



St Martins Lane




Strand Pubs
and to the south:



Connect
Wi-Fi is available along the Thames for free with ads, and in various commercial establishments in Covent Garden.

Go next

 * Go south – crossing the River Thames via the (tube: Embankment) to the western part of South Bank, home to the Tate Modern gallery and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
 * Head west – into Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square or south to Westminster, home of the British government and royal family.
 * To the east – lies the law courts and inns of court of Holborn and the City of London.