Covent Garden Area Guide

Covent Garden is a leading retail and dining district in central London, and a very desirable place to live and work. Lying on the eastern fringe of the West End it is home to London’s Theatreland and Royal Opera House as well as the iconic Covent Garden Piazza and popular shopping areas such as Longacre, Floral Street and Seven Dials. Most homes in this district are above commercial premises, although there are some warehouse conversions and new build developments.

Following the refurbishment and opening of the main Covent Garden building as a shopping centre in the 1980s, the area’s many shops, bars and restaurants became popular with young Londoners, especially those working in the press, finance and law nearby. In subsequent decades some of this appeal wore off as newly gentrifying areas such as Clerkenwell and Shoreditch emerged as more exciting retail and leisure destinations, leaving Covent Garden as a staple of the tourist trail.

In recent years the area has seen something of a revival, with significant investment from the property company Capco, which acquired the piazza and much of the surrounding area in 2006. It is aiming to make Covent Garden ‘the best retail and residential district in the capital’, and has to date added 150 new brands, enhancing the eclectic mix of independent, heritage, and luxury shops. Today it is popular with both Londoners and tourists, attracting over 40 million visitors a year.

Covent Garden tube station is on the Piccadilly line, whilst nearby Leicester Square station (a mere 300 metres away) is on the Piccadilly and Northern lines.