Covent Garden, London

Covent Garden is one of the most interesting places in London that visitors as well diehard Londoners consider to be most fascinating. You won’t find anywhere else such alluring and customer friendly shops. Nor will you come across such charming pubs where you are treated more like a houseguest than a faceless customer. The street performers like jugglers, mime artistes, musicians and drama performers are absolutely adorable. They are the only people possessing license to perform, sounding almost as exclusive as the fictional licensed killer James Bond!

With a plethora of such sources of entertainment along with fabulous rendition of brilliant artistes at the local opera and theater halls, Covent Garden has been occupying a coveted niche in the world of performing arts.

Covent Garden is unique and it is unforgettable. If you saw George Cukor film My Fair Lady based on Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion you would probably remember that Audrey Hepburn had played the role of Eliza Doolittle, an unsophisticated and innocent cockney flower girl who had a flower shop in Covent Garden? There were indeed many flower shops here and several of them still exist. The film was either shot on actual location or the art director did an excellent job by creating a realistic replica. No matter what happens in the world and also what disaster takes place anywhere, Covent Garden vibrates with activities 364 days a year, Christmas Day being the only sabbatical.

You will be amazed at the vibrancy of the Covent Garden area. The famous market at the centre of the piazza was designed by Inigo Jones and the construction was completed in 1632. More people visit Covent Garden every year than the Buckingham Palace. There are several shopping arcades in this area. You won’t be able to resist the temptation to get into gorgeous boutiques and get your bank balance lighter.

‘England is a nation of shopkeepers’ Napoleon Bonaparte had once famously proclaimed, echoing the redoubtable economist Adam Smith. After settling down in the Covent Garden, the shrewd business minded traders wanted to expand their business. With the population growth, the demand for vegetable, meat and fruit also increased. These were the commodities that were once sold from this area. Traders ensured that consumers were adequately fed and, in the process, they made their profits. The demand and supply situation worked in tandem. Covent Garden traders continued to prosper.

One of London’s most fashionable districts is Covent Garden. You will find here top boutiques and famous stores with fabulous collection of readymade clothes.

Covent Garden resembles a great sprawling open air shopping mall. Shoppers throng to this place in great numbers. There is a regular demand for food, snacks and beverages. Restaurants and cafés mushroomed, offering a choice of cuisine from various parts of the world. There are terrace restaurants and bars that give excellent view of the market and street performers. Such places are very popular for dining and spending the evening over a few rounds of drinks. Whether you are a shopper, a theatre-goer, or simply a sightseer, you will enjoy these fashionable yet unpretentious restaurants.

Covent Garden has been a major market place for centuries – some say for 2000 years. Irrespective of its antiquity, it is indeed a fascinating location that must be thoroughly explored. You will feel like Marco Polo when you do that!