My Favorite Places in London: Soho, Covent Garden, and Seven Dials Edition
The first time I came to London I was 15 years old and it was Christmastime; Meghan Markle wasn't royalty, Big Ben wasn't under construction and I knew absolutely nothing about the city.
Fast forward six years and I've lived in the city for a year, and have come back twice to see my friends here and the city. I have a list of places I go every time I come, and that list only grows with each visit.
One of the areas I've ended up spending a lot of time, and find lots of places within it to love is Soho. The area dubbed Soho encompasses the area within the Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, and Piccadilly Circus Underground Stations. It's a pretty popular area, and right next to it it Seven Dials and Covent Garden, also pretty popular, also lots of fun.
Soho
1. Carnaby Street
Right off of the busy Regent Street, is the equally bustling even though smaller street of Carnaby Street. There's loads of shops and restaurants to spend time in. One of the reasons I love it so much is that since I've started going there they've been really focused on sustainability specifically reducing plastic. At one point they had a pop-up shop devoted to raising awareness about micro plastics in the ocean, and the streets decorations were made from recycled plastic and created the ocean floating above your head.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6fZaYLl0WZ/
They've had other pop-up shops with charitable missions like Choose Love, where you could purchase services and goods for asylum seekers.
My favorite places in Carnaby Street are
- Grind Soho
- Made in London
- Dishoom
- Patty & Bun
- H&M Home
- Monki
- Jack Willis
- Pixie
- and anywhere in Kingly Court
2. Tottenham Court
While there are lots of big streets in Soho I love Tottenham Court because its tons of little streets are clumped together filled with food, and music, and people once its starts to get dark. I don't really have a specific place in Tottenham that I like because it's one of my favorite areas to just wander and find places at random.
Seven Dials
There's not much to Seven Dials when it comes to area, but despite that this small part of town in packed with tons to do.
1. Jacob the Angel
This coffee shop is my favorite in London; the chances of me being in that area and not going are slim to none. It's a small little coffee shop, and seating can be tight if not non-existent, but I absolutely love it in there. The coffee is amazing, and whether you just want a snack or brunch they have great options.
2. Homeslice
This place has the best pizza in London and I will die on that hill. The flavors at Homeslice are not what you see at every pizza place from pumpkin seeds and ricotta, to lamb and yogurt, no matter what you pick its going to be great.
3. Teatulia
Despite being on one of the main streets in Seven Dials, I always feel like Teatulia is overlooked which is both a travesty, and a blessing for me because it's such a cute little place. As the name suggests they focus on tea wether that's plain drinking tea, or fun tea cocktails. The shop has a great library feel to it with books covering the walls, and the staff is really friendly.
4. Udderlicious
What's a list of favorite places without ice cream? Like almost everywhere in Seven Dials Udderlicious is pretty small, but what's great about that is how it always smells like fresh waffle cones which go well with any of the ice cream flavors.
Covent Garden
1. The Royal Opera House
While you can't see it easily from the busy streets of Covent Garden the Royal Opera House is gorgeous if you go inside. They offer tours of the facility, or you can try and snag a ticket any one of their performances and be dazzled.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5uTYCGg1-L/
2. Creme de la Crepe
It's not a groundbreaking discovery that crepes are great, but Creme de la Crepe has so many great options I feel like I'm discovery something new about crepes every time I go.
There is so much to London no matter where you go, but I hope this list of mine helps you find some places to add to your own list.