Covent Garden is located in the heart of Central London and it’s a beating heart all day and all year round! Covent Garden is one of those iconic areas of London that you need to visit, especially if you’re visiting London for the first time and there are so many things to do in Covent Garden!
Covent Garden is a great place to go shopping in London and it’s filled with restaurants, pubs and bars. It’s home to one of London’s best museums and the prime location to see a world-class show. Due to its central location and the many Covent Garden Hotels, it’s also a great place to base yourself in London.
Covent Garden has it all so here’s my Covent Garden guide to help you spend the day there and work out what to do in Covent Garden!
What to do in Covent Garden!
How to get to Covent Garden.
Covent Garden has it’s own tube station on the Picadilly Line so this is the best way to reach the centre of Covent Garden. However another station you can reach Covent Garden from is Leicester Square Station, it’s minutes away and on the Northern Line which is slightly easier to reach from many other locations around London.
On the weekend Covent Garden station can get very busy, after all, it wasn’t built to accommodate hundreds of tourists back in 1907, so its recommend by all Londoners that you get off at Leicester Square and walk to Covent Garden instead to avoid the queues!
Covent Garden can also be reached by bus.
If you’re not in London already, be sure to look at The Train Line for the best train tickets to London. I use them all the time to search for the best times, routes and prices!
Things to do in Covent Garden.
Museums in Covent Garden
London is well known for its museums, one of which being the British Museum- one of the best museums in the world and it’s located just on the edge of Covent Garden in Bloomsbury not far from Oxford Street. The British Museum is dedicated to human history, culture and art so you’re sure to learn something in there. Aside from the Natural History Museum in London, I’d say it’s the most iconic London museum inside thanks to its glass ceiling, and the British Museum is free to enter!
The best time to get to the British Museum is early in the day, especially on weekends, as later on the queue to get in can grow quite big later in the day. The museum opens at 10:00 am.
If you want to visit a museum in Covent Garden and avoid the queues, I’d recommend the London Transport Museum because it costs to enter which means the queues are generally less than the free museums in London.
Covent Garden Market
Covent Garden Market is the most iconic part of Covent Garden, it’s located just down the road from Covent Garden station and can’t be missed. On the way to the market, you’ll see lots of Covent Garden Street Performers. They make Covent Garden what it is and that’s because they’ve been part of the history of Covent Garden since the 1660s! The first record of street performance in Covent Garden was in 1662 when a character named Punch came to the Piazza and the tradition continues today so be sure to take some time to watch the performances!
Covent Garden Market, also known as Apple Market (because it used to be a Fruit & Veg market) is home to lots of independent shops, mostly high-end shops, but also to market stalls selling unique jewellery, clothes, art and antiques. This is a nice place to visit all year round but it’s a good place to go if it happens to be raining in London because it’s covered, and it’s one of the best places in London to visit at Christmas because the Covent Garden decorations are always very impressive.
Neal’s Yard
To see even more of Covent Garden I’d suggest heading to Neal’s Yard. If you’ve ever seen photos of a really colourful little area of London, Neal’s Yard is probably it!
Neal’s Yard in Covent Garden is a hidden gem, it’s very small and can only be accessed by two small alleyways which are easy to miss! Inside are a few small cafes which are perfect if you need a coffee, a wine bar if you fancy a daytime wine, a really good pizza restaurant called Homeslice and Wild Food Cafe which is a good Vegetarian and Vegan restaurant in London.
Where to Shop in Covent Garden
On your way to Neal’s Yard or after you’ve been, be sure to check out the shops and streets nearby. Shopping in Covent Garden is really fun because this area is full of independent and quirky shops. One of my favourite shops is Buddha on a Bicycle which is a wellness shop selling the most beautiful crystals. There’s also The Tea House and Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop.
In addition to independent stores in Covent Garden, there are lots of high street shops in Covent Garden too like H&M, Zara, Lululemon, Hobbs, Cath Kidson, Allsaints, Gap and many more!
West End Shows in Covent Garden
Finally, one of the best things to do in Covent Garden is to watch a West End Show! Covent Garden and Leicester Square are the main areas of London where the best shows in the world happen so after seeing the best places to see in Covent Garden, relax and watch a show for a few hours.
You will need to book a West End Show in Covent Garden in advance which you can do on ticket sites like this.
Best places to Eat in Covent Garden.
Brunch in Covent Garden
Every good day in London starts with brunch and if you’re looking for brunch in Covent Garden you’ll be pleased to know that there are a few places you can go to.
Some of the best places for brunch in Covent Garden are: Avobar, Browns Restaurant Covent Garden, Bill’s Covent Garden, The Ivy Market Grill and Covent Garden Grind.
Lunch and Dinner in Covent Garden
Come lunch and dinner time you are spoiled for choice because there are so many restaurants in Covent Garden from affordable chain restaurants to fancy special occasion restaurants!
One of my favourite restaurants is Rossopomodoro which is an Italian restaurant and it’s Pizza rivals any restaurant in Italy!
Other popular restaurants in Covent Garden are: Hawksmoor, Pizza Pilgrim, Sushisamba, Din Tai Fung, Shake Shack, By Chloe, Wagamama’s, and lots more!
You can easily walk around Covent Garden and see all of the restaurants on offer but if you have a specific place in mind you want to visit I would recommend booking a table in advance as this area does get very busy!
Best places to Drink in Covent Garden.
Whether you want British pubs, fancy bars, cheap bars, cocktails bars, rooftop bars or clubs, Covent Garden has it all!
Covent Garden Rooftop Bar
For one of London’s best rooftop bars be sure to head to Radio Rooftop in Covent Garden which looks over the River Thames, Covent Garden and London’s impressive skyline.
Covent Garden Cocktail Bars
For Cocktail Bars in Covent Garden, I’d recommend going to Blame Gloria, The Escapologist, The Lost Alpaca Bar, The Alchemist, Dirty Martini or Sushisamba.
Blame Gloria do 2 for 1 happy hour cocktails in Covent Garden until 7:00 pm and remember to have ID on you no matter how old you are as a lot of bars in London need to see ID to let you in!
Covent Garden Pubs
If you want a pub in Covent Garden for a daytime or evening drink head to Punch & Judy, Mr Froggs, The Porterhouse, The White Lion or Nags Head.
Where to Stay in Covent Garden.
If you fancy using Covent Garden as your base to stay in London you really should because it’s a fantastic central location in London with lots going on as you can tell.
There are many Hotels in Covent Garden and you can search for a hotel to suit your needs here.
Have a great time in Covent Garden! It can get very busy with tourists from all around the world but it’s popular for a reason!
- For more of my London posts and guides see:
- The Best Places to Visit in Shoreditch!
- 30 Things To Do in Hampstead London!
- How to See London in 2 Days Including Tourist Sites & Local Areas!
- All London Posts
The spending money for my day out in Covent Garden was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views and ideas of things to do in Covent Garden are my own.
Lorenzo Boschi
Friday 17th of April 2020
Thanks for this guide, looking forward to visiting Covent garden again
Krystyna Henderson
Monday 5th of August 2019
I love Covent Garden, especially the Neals Yard area. Another great place to eat round there is the Rock & Sole Plaice - a really amazing chippy with tables to sit in and eat, plus very friendly staff. The food there is amazing!
TheWanderingQuinn
Monday 5th of August 2019
It’s so fun isn’t it! Ooh thanks for that recommendation, you can’t go wrong with a good chippy! ?
Dominika
Friday 2nd of August 2019
It's a great post! Covent Garden is one of my favourite areas in central London and even though it can get super busy with tourists especially at weekends it doesn't take away from its charm.
One thing to note: The British Museum is not in Covent Garden but in Bloomsbury! Although Covent Garden has plenty of landmarks of its own including fantastic Transport Museum and The Royal Opera House (tickets aren't the cheapest but it's so worth it!).
Also, Floral Court in Covent Garden is such a fantastic spot to have a drink or a coffee on a sunny day.
TheWanderingQuinn
Friday 2nd of August 2019
Thank you! I totally agree!
Good point about the museum, I’ll make a note of that, thank you! :)