Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, itself known as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centred on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
Interior of the former vegetable market, 2006
The Earl of Bedford was given Covent Garden in 1552.
Plan of Covent Garden in 1690
Charles Fowler's 1830 neo-classical building restored as a retail market
The West End of London is a district of Central London, London, England, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues, including West End theatres, are concentrated.
Piccadilly Circus, the heart of the West End, in September 2012
Oxford Street, one of the main West End shopping areas
Dragon statue on the Temple Bar monument, which marks the boundary between the City of Westminster and City of London
Aldwych Theatre in London Theatreland