Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden
4.5
Points of Interest & LandmarksFlea & Street Markets
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
Filled with restaurants, bars, markets and boutiques, London's premier tourist center offers fabulous shopping by day, and the destination of theatergoers and patrons of the Royal Opera House by night.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Covent Garden
Whether you're headed here to check out the multitude of shops, theaters, cafes, pubs, and restaurants, or simply to be among the multitude of people who pass through this pretty part of town, you'll love soaking up the festive and historic atmosphere in and around Covent Garden. Even if you don't have tickets to the opera or a show at one of the many famous theaters here, don't be surprised if find yourself captivated by some impromptu act of a street performer wowing the crowds in Covent Garden's Piazza. If you do have tickets, you'll be pleased to note that many of the local eateries accommodate theatergoers with prix fixe menus, early dinners, and later than usual opening hours. 


How to get there
  • Covent Garden • 3 min walk
  • Leicester Square • 5 min walk
Reach out directly
See what travellers are saying
  • Mariela and John
    Paris, France47 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Good and interesting
    This is a great place to find your winter clothes with quality and great prices. You can find a cashmere winter coat for $99.00. They also have a lot of vintage item of all kind. It is a very interesting place to visit. The transportation museum is near by and it is surrounded by high end restaurants. It’s a wonderful place to spent your day .
    Visited February 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written March 4, 2024
  • Braindamagedbaron
    Newark-on-Trent, United Kingdom1,807 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Garden heaven without the flowers
    Covent Garden is a gem in the centre of London. A lovely market full of interesting shops and stalls that manages to merge the traditional with contemporary and not be at all tacky. We stopped at Covent Garden by chance really, we had no plans to go there but were extremely pleased that we did. An excellent couple of hours, a nice bit of lunch made the visit very enjoyable. Recommended.
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written April 6, 2024
  • Silvino G
    Milan, Italy702 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Delightful area
    The whole 7 dials area is very interesting and worth getting to know by walking through the market and the adjacent streets. A very typical refreshment point with a variety of cuisine from all over the world. Despite the infinite number of people walking around, the cleanliness of the streets is quite noticeable.
    Visited March 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written April 17, 2024
  • Herbie-Green
    Guildford, United Kingdom2,577 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A real destination
    A real destination, so well used after the flower, fruit & veg market was moved to bigger more modern premises. Love how the whole are has a buzz, and has taken the surrounds of the old market into a great location. Full of buskers, craft stalls and food vendors.
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written April 18, 2024
  • Derek M
    Montreal, Canada5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Best peanut brittle in London
    If your looking for the best peanut brittle look no further then toffee nose. Moe, the owner is great fun. Welcoming and great he is a great shop keeper. Located in jubilee market, the visit is worth the time. They are great!!
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written April 28, 2024
  • Andrea
    Tuscany, Italy514 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Advise
    Very lively area in the city center, especially the Seven Dials, which is a part where 7 streets converge, and is full of shops, restaurants and famous pubs. It is also a place of entertainment since it is the theater area. I recommend a visit to see the huge Apple store and also the entrance to the Royal Opera House. There is the famous fruit-shaped clock to see, very iconic. A really noisy and fun area that transforms in the evening, becoming a suggestive and elegant place.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written May 1, 2024
  • Capdan13
    Essex, United Kingdom1,123 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful Area
    We were here on a lovely sunny warm day in April so perfect for wandering. The market wasn't too busy so we could walk about wherever we wanted. We watched an artist painting all in pink, I won't spoil the surprise at the end but worth a look. We wandered through the many cafes, restaurants and the shops. Selling all sorts of things from handmade chocolates, perfumes and much much more. There is seating on various sides which was great to sit for a few minutes and people watch. We will go back and next time we'll eat here as there's so much choice. It is such a pretty area, well looked after that we even saw the street cleaner washing down the bins. We felt safe and contented.
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written May 5, 2024
  • Joshane615
    Australia612 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Must visit in London!
    Amazing little neighbourhood in the heart of London. So many great restaurants, pubs and shopping available. You can’t come to London without visiting Covent Garden. We stayed nearby in Trafalgar Square and visited here every day.
    Visited June 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written June 4, 2024
  • EmilioCorcoles
    Valencia, Spain200 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    London must
    This market has a lot of life, a great atmosphere and several street performances. Ideal for a morning walk. With many bars and shops, you can easily stay here for about 2 hours. Next to it is the jubilee market, an area where you can buy souvenirs cheaper than anywhere else.
    Visited June 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written June 14, 2024
  • Frozen_72
    Sansepolcro, Italy296 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Covered market, full of life and colours
    Covent Garden is a covered structure made up of numerous shops, restaurants and stalls, full of people and life at all hours of the day. However, the shops close in the evening around 7/8pm, so visiting earlier is recommended. It does not present any particular wonders from a structural point of view, but certainly, given the characteristic surroundings of the building, it is worth a visit. If I had to recommend a time, I would say that stopping for lunch is definitely one of the best times to fully enjoy the place.
    Visited June 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written June 19, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles25,461 reviews
Excellent
14,633
Very good
8,262
Average
2,104
Poor
323
Terrible
140

Alan T
10 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Couples
Had a thoroughly enjoyable time which was probably helped by the brilliant weather. It was hot every day. My wife and I spent a full week in London. We stayed at The Tower Hotel next to the Tower Bridge and have to say it was a vast improvement on our previous stay there. The room was excellent with a fantastic view of Tower Bridge.

We are frequent visitors as our sons live and work in central London so we are pretty good at negotiating the tube which helps. We love the Covent Garden area and visited several times. At the weekend it was busy but a little quieter mid-week.

We attended the Freddie Mercury exhibition at Sotheby's which was amazing and better than I expected. We also visited the Brian May photographic exhibition at The Proud Gallery which was good but not as much as the Freddie Mercury exhibition.

The only thing that possibly spoilt the trip was you had tp pre-book attending any of the national galleries and museums which are free to enter. We like to visit places ad hoc.

We spent most nights eating outside at the many restaurants on St Katharine's Dock next to our hotel all of which were reasonably priced.

We love The Tower of London and prior to our visit I purchased a yearly membership to The Royal Palaces for £90 for my wife and I as it costs over £30 per person to visit the Tower.

We visited the Tower most mornings for a couple of hours to do one section of the Tower each day - excellent value.

This was by far our most enjoyable visit to London.
Written September 3, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JMCSTL
Saint Louis, MO7,623 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2023 • Couples
Based on the rapid pace of the morning portion of our day-long City of London bus tour, the tour guide instructed our driver to park near Covent Garden where a variety of eateries can be found in & around the historic market space. My wife & I had packed a lunch in case the tour schedule was compressed, so we enjoyed our sandwiches & crisps at one of several colorful picnic tables on the outdoor East Piazza. Luckily we ate before we shopped, because we finished our last bite just minutes prior to a crew picking up & moving the tables to another spot in the Piazza.

The crowd wasn’t overly large on a sunny early summer week day, but the atmosphere was lively. The shops on the Covent Garden property range from private vendor stalls to high-end name brand luxury goods stores. We restricted our browsing to the individual vendor wares, where my wife picked up a small gift for her sister back home. The variety of food & drink places should satisfy just about any visitor’s tastes, with the lower level piazza inside the building complex looking particularly attractive. There is also a pair of modern attended pay toilet facilities in that area, electronic payments only (£1 per entry at this writing).
Written August 19, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MBA
Bedford, UK30 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2024 • Couples
When we arrived, it was packed! We managed to get the last table outside. Great place to people watch. One waitress was grumpy and snappy with us, but Dana went out of her way to help and made sure out drinks and food was delivered. I had the fish and chips, which was delicious. My husband had a pork belly thing, which he wolfed down, as he was quite hungry. The pork was a bit too fatty for me, but he didn't complain.
All in all, the food is reasonably priced for central London and I would recommend the F&C. But the best part was Dana. Lovely lady, great laugh and excellent front of house staff member. I have worked in, and run a busy high street restaurant and she is perfect - I would employ her in a heart beat! She went the extra mile and even though she was clearly rushed off her feet, made us feel like we were her only concern.

Professional, hard-working and a great sense of humour! Thank you DANA!
Written July 5, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Koldingenser
Luton, UK13 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2024 • Family
Public toilets in Covent Garden. What an absolute disgrace ! Having to pay 50 pence to use the most filthy out of order dirty toilets is totally unacceptable. The toilet are old and need replacing but that’s no excuse for filth. There was a male attendant present so I assume he’s getting paid to keep the toilets clean and in working order? Well that’s not happening. Out of approximately 10 toilet cubicles half were closed with black & yellow hazard tape. Same for several of the sinks. No handwashing gel. Toilets not flushed. My - my what a mess! Where’s the pride? Unbelievable that the City of Westminster / London Mayor or whoever is in charge will allow visitors to London to be treated in such a poor way, The number of public toilets in London and the UK generally has gone down since COVID which in itself is bad, I think most people would be happy to spend £1 to use a CLEAN and functional toilet facility. So come on London. Sort it
Written December 28, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

yasmin n
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2024 • Family
I recently visited the Charlotte Tilbury store in Covent Garden, and the experience was extremely disappointing. The store was busy, and I simply wanted to find the price of an item. When I approached a staff member named Jenny or Jenna, she was exceedingly rude and snapped, "I am serving three people so I can't serve you, you'll have to wait," with an angry tone. I stepped back and waited, only to see her respond cheerfully to another customer who asked the same question, completely ignoring me.

I confronted her, explaining that I didn't realize she was serving multiple customers and that there was no need to be rude. I requested to speak to a manager, and she vanished. After 15 minutes, she returned with someone who appeared to be more of a friend than a manager. When I explained what had happened, this so-called manager dismissed my concerns and claimed that Jenny or Jenna's behaviour wasn't inappropriate, despite not being present at the time. She insisted she could see everything on CCTV, which I found hard to believe would capture the nuances of our interaction.

Shortly after, another manager named Steve appeared, attempting to deflect the issue with humour and make us forget the incident. We informed him that such staff behaviour would harm the store's reputation and emphasized the need for customer service training. Unfortunately, I doubt any action will be taken against these two staff members.

I urge everyone to consider boycotting the Charlotte Tilbury store in Covent Garden due to their appalling customer service.

Date of experience: 29 December 2024
Written December 31, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Amanda B
6 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Family
I love Covent Garden, always have, HOWEVER - after frequenting a lovely restaurant for we asked where the toilets were. We were directed to the Covent Garden toilets which were downstairs on the lower ground floor. Imagine our surprise ( after spending £55 for breakfast for 4 people) we had to pay £1.50 each to use the toilet.

My understanding is that in the UK a toilet must be provided if it serves more than 10 people - should it not be free?

We mentioned this to the restaurant and they were very apologetic, stating they have complained about this themselves, but it is out of their hands. They also mentioned that the toilets are sometimes closed at 9pm when some restaurants are open until 10pm, providing no toilet, free or otherwise.

Sort it out Covent Garden, it's poor practice at best, I wonder if it's even legal when you are leasing to companies selling food and drink?
Written August 19, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

David n
Manchester, UK4,878 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2024 • Couples
Over the years, we have felt that the shops here have been offering less and less to our tastes. This time around, there were several stalls on the ground floor of the market with a few catching our eye. The stalls inside the indoor market adjacent to the tourist part are now heavily dominated by stalls selling all types of cheap tourist memorabilia. Sadly.
Written November 18, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Louis Cecile
London, UK594 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2023 • Couples
This is another area of London that is losing its appeal. It has similar problems to other areas of Central London. There are some niche shops and market stalls alongside high-end boutiques. There is a pretentious overpriced feel to many of the shops that often do not provide value for money. The market has a mixture of poor items and artsy products. It is very crowded at busy times and I would suggest going during quieter weekdays. The key reason to visit is for the theatres and opera house. There are some good restaurants. However, it is becoming a real mixed bag of quality and value. The Christmas decorations were lacking with just some photo opportunities with Christmas trees. Unless you are going to a show, I would recommend spending less than an hour at Covent Garden.
Written November 15, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Madison
Kingston-upon-Hull, UK128 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2024 • Couples
Covent Garden is a must-see on many tourists’ bucket-lists, and whilst it’s worthwhile for a fleeting visit, there isn’t much to do here besides some expensive shopping and dining. Covent Garden is most worthwhile during a special celebration, like the festive period, to see the marvellous decorations. Otherwise, Covent Garden is nothing other than a short and sweet visit.

Pros:
- An iconic part of London that offers a wide range of shops and food places.
- We visited in December, so the Christmas decorations were stunning.
- There’s a fantastic indoor market, as well as the famous outdoor alleys and arcades.
- There is usually an array of performers to watch.

Cons:
- Overcrowded.
- Overpriced in all the shops and food places. Since it’s a tourist attraction, shops hike the prices up. If you venture away from here, you can find the same or similar souvenirs for much cheaper.
- There doesn’t feel like much to do, besides shopping.
Written February 3, 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

David T
Lightwater, UK714 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2024 • Couples
Sadly I feel this place isn't what it once was. OK the Christmas decorations look good and has a festive vibe - but that's where it ends.
Punch and Judy Pub had to be called at 11.10am informing them that they had a queue if guests awaiting entry !! Staff showed little concern.
Artisan Market isn't Artisan in the true sense with many of the items being sold are mass produced. Additionally the Market was still being set up when it should have been in full Festive swing at 10.45!!
Street Entertainers are reasonable, but the performances are very padded out unessasilary with too much emphasis on what the tip should be. For some this can be off putting.
Sadly it won't be in our revisit list, we've been here on numerous occasions and little by little it's going down hill.
Written December 8, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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COVENT GARDEN - All You MUST Know Before You Go (2025)

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