Covent Garden's Top Five

Located in London’s vibrant West End, Covent Garden is a major destination for visitors and Londoners alike who enjoy its many attractions, including shopping, theatre, restaurants, bars, history and culture.

Stay: 

It's hard to beat One Aldwych for a great location to explore Covent Garden. It's in the heart of the theatre district, surrounded by train stations which can connect to you virtually anywhere in London, and within walking distance of Covent Garden, Soho, Chinatown, and sights including St. Paul's Cathedral and the West End shows. For a boutique experience try The Hospital Club, which 1has 5 luxurious, cosy, retro-chic guest rooms on the third floor of a Covent Garden members’ club, while St. Martins Lane is a trendy Soho hangout featuring whimsical design features in the lobby, unrivalled city views in the bedrooms, and a secret bar, hidden behind the tea counter.

Eat & Drink: 

You're spoiled for choice in this part of town with virtually every type of exotic cuisine on offer. If you want to chow down on traditional English cooking, however, try Battersea Pie. It's a good value pie and mash house where options include a real steak and mushroom with stout, a minced beef with onion, and the odd fancier choice of a butternut squash and goat's cheese. Bazoi Inn, in contrast, has more the feel of Communist-decor-meets-Chinese-street food. Here you can enjoy terrific fuel for sightseeing from authentic noodles and buns to delicious dumplings. As watering holes go, there is one virtually on every corner in Covent Garden, but don't miss the Porterhouse. Okay, so it's an Irish pub but it has a more global feel to it, and is set over 12 levels, serving international beers, and food if you fancy it. For a more glam pitstop, Jewel is the place for cocktails or pre-theatre drinks, and somewhat of a bilgy venue where you can book a table for two if desired. 

See : 

St. Paul's in Covent Garden is famous for being "The Actor's Church" thanks to a prime location in the heart of Theatreland. It's been there since 1633, was built by Inigo Jones, and is adorned with plaques commemorating legends of the screen and stage. If you do nothing else, pose for some selfies in Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. The former is right in the thick of the West End, also coming with the city's biggest cinemas, statues of Shakespeare and Charlie Chaplin, and there's a small garden in the centre with benches where you take the weight off your feet. In Trafalgar Square don't miss a photo op of Lord Nelson's Column complete with his mighty lions, and the glorious Victorian backdrop of the National Gallery. Speaking of culture, along with the National Gallery, don't forget to put the National Portrait Gallery on your sightseeing list too, along with the historic church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. And if all that sightseeing hasn't worn you out, Covent Garden Piazza is a cobbled al fresco area where the Covent Garden Market is held, and where miming and juggling acts gather to perform. 

Do: 

Besides all that sightseeing, eating and drinking, there are other things to do in Covent Garden such as shopping. These days you don't have to venture Oxford Street, although it's only a short walk away, as the area has become a destination for a wide variety of premium and must-have brands including Burberry and the Apple Store. Also on offer when it comes to designer duds is the über-cool casual 7 For all Mankind, Agnès B, Chanel, Hackett House, Barbour and Kate Spade New York, with accessories from Mulberry and Oakley, and beauty brands including Aesop, Aveda, Bobby Brown, Burberry Beauty Box, Jo Malone, and L'Occitane. It's also a great place to pick up unusual souvenirs or gifts for friends, family or kids back home from Benjamin Pollock's Toy Shop and Build-A-Bear Workshop, and for edible treats such as Ben's Cookies, Carluccio's, the East India Company, and Champagne + Fromage. 

Don't Miss: 

It's essential to see at least one West End show while in Covent Garden, and there's plenty to choose from. At the time of writing the lineup includes The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre, Aladdin at the Prince Edward Theatre, Strictly Ballroom The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre, and Kinky Boots at the Adelphi Theatre.