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England > London > West End & Covent Garden

London's West End is a vibrant, tourist hub with great history in its monuments and museums, with world famous nightlife and theatres. You'll find high teas and low bars, superb theatres and great shopping. If you only have a few days, spend one of them here. If you have longer, you'll come back for more. There are a number of underground station options - Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road and Covent Garden. For our tour we'll hop out at Charing Cross station and go for a wander. Heading up St Martin's Place (or down Duncannon Street towards Charing Cross Road and Soho) you'll find...

Click on the headings to find out more: Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column. Tourists and pigeons flock to this square in the heart of the city. Major traffic jams are presently occurring as this area is redesigned to gain the majesty of its past. The imposing Nelson's column commemorates the defeat of Napoleon in 1805. If there's a break in the traffic you can see down The Mall to Buckingham Palace where you will see the changing of the guard, the changing of the guard (everybody sing!).


To the northeast of the square is the church of St Martin's in the Fields, a stunning piece of 18th century architecture with a wedding-cake spire (worth a second visit at night to see it under floodlights). It's not just for sightseeing, there are regular day and evening concerts and the church has a long tradition of caring for the poor and the homeless. Nell Gwynn was buried in the crypt and during WWII Londoners used it as an air-raid shelter. Today the crypt houses a pleasant café and shop.


Off the square to the north is the National Gallery (linked to St Martin's by white stone). It's one of the world's finest art galleries with over 2000 paintings on display in a time line from 1290 to 1920 - da Vinci, Holbein, Raphael, Titian, Vermeer, Seurat, Cézanne - they're all there and it's free admission which means you can keep dropping in whenever you pass rather trying to take it all in at once.


Opposite St Martin's is the National Portrait Gallery, which is a collection of famous heads from 500 years of British history. It's one of the few galleries where the subjects are more important than the artists. Admission is free here, too. The portrait of the Duke of Monmouth has a strange, rather morbid, tale behind it. The Duke (James Scott) was the illegitimate son of Charles II and one of his mistresses, Lucy Walter. When Charles died, the Duke decided to have a tilt at the throne but was defeated by James II and beheaded on July 15 1685 (it took five chops to sever the head from the body - you can't get good help!) When they were about to bury the two parts of the Duke someone remembered that, as a royal personage, he was deserving of a portrait. Quickly they sewed the head back on, dressed him in princely attire and did the official portrait, which now hangs quietly in the National Portrait Gallery. Worth the price of admission alone (yes, it is free!)


Left, along Irving Street, takes you to Leicester Square. It's not worth visiting for the sight alone (it's a bit tacky, surrounded by cinemas and nightclubs) but it's placed between Piccadilly and Covent Garden so it's hard to avoid. It's also where the half price ticket booth is located and no visit to London would be complete without a night at the theatre.


Head down Coventry Street to Piccadilly Circus. Apart from the statue of Eros (the Greek god of Love), these days it's more Circus than Piccadilly, which was once a meeting place where flower girls sold their wares. For the young and young at heart there's Pepsi Trocadero (Segaworld and other hi-tech entertainment attractions) and Rock Circus, which is one of London's most popular attractions. The sculptor of Eros, Sir Alfred Gilbert, intended it to be an angel of Christian charity in honour of Lord Shaftsbury who fought to prevent women and children working in the coalmines in the 18th century.


St James Church is a small, Wren designed church, which was badly damaged by WWII bombings. The interior is attractive, and it's a nice spot to sit and take a breather... or a sandwich... or a photo.


A little further down Piccadilly, just past Sackville Street is the Royal Academy of Arts and Burlington Arcade. The Royal Academy gallery is housed in a magnificent 18th century mansion, one of London's remaining few and it's worth the visit for that alone. The Burlington and Royal Arcades are fascinating places to wander and window shop or, if you have that Gold Amex card at the ready, go inside, especially for stylish and typically English clothes.


Or, from Piccadilly, head up busy Shaftsbury Avenue. If you go left from Shaftsbury Avenue when you get to Frith Street and you will end up at Soho Square. Soho was once the seedy part of London with strip shows and sex shops. Today it's better known for its restaurants although it's still the spot if strip shows and sex shops are what you're looking for. Soho is also the known as the 'gay village' (especially Old Compton Street). While there are gay and lesbian bars and clubs across the city, here's a good place to get the word-of-mouth on the best spots. (This was once a rural area and 'so-ho!' was a hunting cry, similar to 'tally-ho')


Baird's House, the humble abode where Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated the television for the first time, is at 22 Frith Street. There's a plaque pointing out the building's significance but it's not open to the public so you might as well wait for it to come on TV. There are however some great restaurants here, especially Chinese and Italian.

(Baird was 37 when he transmitted the first television pictures in his attic in Frith Street. It looked nothing like what we know a television to be. It was a rudimentary device made from cardboard, hatboxes, darning needles, old electric motors, lenses all held together with piano wire, glue, string and wax. The first thing telecast was the silhouette of a dummy's head. Baird was so thrilled at the result he raced downstairs and grabbed a live performer, 15-year-old William Taynton. The bright lights and the weird looking contraption frightened young Will and he told Baird he would only do it if the inventor parted with a few shillings. Baird later commented that, "It is curious that the first person in the world to by seen by television should have required a bribe to accept that distinction." - A mere pittance compared to what newsreaders get today!)


Go right a bit further along Shaftsbury at Cambridge Circus and you can wend your way to Covent Garden. Originally the vegetable garden for Westminster Abbey, it was converted in the 1600's into an elegant piazza. The stallholders that once sold fruit, vegetables and flowers (like Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady) have been replaced by purveyors of antiques, clothes and jewellery. The façade of St Paul's Church was actually the backdrop for scenes from My Fair Lady. In the square out front, buskers perform on the site of the first Punch and Judy show in 1662. Nearby is the famous Covent Garden Opera House with the Bow Street Magistrate's Court opposite.


In a corner of Covent Garden (the Flower Market Building) is the London Transport Museum, which is nowhere as boring as it sounds (200 years of all types of vehicles).


The Lamb and Flag (33 Rose Garden) is one of London's oldest pubs, tucked away in a narrow alley, and is a great spot for a counter lunch or an ale to reward a day's sightseeing.
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