Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SOHO AND COVENT GARDEN
Soho is very much the heart of the West End, home to more theatres and cinemas than
any other single area in London. As the city's premier red-light district for centuries, it
retains an unorthodox and slightly raffish air that's unique in central London. Conven-
tional sights are few and far between, yet it's a great area to wander through - whatever
the hour there's always something going on. Soho is also a very upfront gay quartier, fo-
cused around Old Compton Street. More sanitized and brazenly commercial, Covent
Garden is one of London's chief tourist attractions, thanks to its buskers, pedestrian-
ized piazza and old Victorian market hall. Some three centuries ago the piazza was the
great playground of eighteenth-century London. Nowadays, while the market is pretty,
but touristy, the streets to the north boast some very fashionable boutiques.
