London has no single centre: it is a collection of villages that grew until they touched, each with its own history, character and often its own main street, the high street. Getting to know them is the best way to understand the city and choose where to stay. Here are the main neighbourhoods for visitors.
The historic centre and seat of power
- Westminster and St James's: Parliament, the Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street and the gentlemen's clubs of Pall Mall. Elegant and monumental, it empties in the evening.
- The City of London: the "Square Mile" where Roman Londinium was born, today the financial district with its oddly nicknamed skyscrapers (the Gherkin, the Walkie Talkie, the Cheesegrater), St Paul's Cathedral and Wren's churches. Buzzing on weekdays, deserted at weekends.
The West End
- Soho: the heart of nightlife, with restaurants, bars, LGBTQ+ venues and nearby Chinatown around Gerrard Street.
- Covent Garden: the old fruit and vegetable market turned into a pedestrian piazza with shops, street performers and the Royal Opera House.
- Mayfair and Marylebone: luxury, art galleries, historic hotels and the boutiques of Bond Street; Marylebone has a village feel with its high street and Baker Street, home of Sherlock Holmes.
- Bloomsbury: the intellectuals' quarter of Georgian squares, universities and the British Museum, where Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group met.
South of the Thames
- South Bank and Bankside: the great cultural riverside walk with the London Eye, the Southbank Centre, the National Theatre, Tate Modern and the Globe.
- Southwark and Borough: Borough Market, the Shard and the medieval lanes around Southwark Cathedral.
- Brixton: the heart of African-Caribbean culture, with its covered market, music and a lively food scene.
- Greenwich: maritime London, a UNESCO site, with the Royal Observatory and the meridian, the Cutty Sark and the hilltop park.
West
- Kensington and South Kensington: the great museums, the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Palace and elegant streets of white stucco houses.
- Chelsea: the chic district of the King's Road, cradle of 1960s fashion and of punk in the 1970s.
- Notting Hill: colourful houses, bookshops, Portobello Road market and the Carnival at the end of August.
North and east
- Camden Town: alternative markets, live music, canals and venues steeped in rock and punk history.
- King's Cross: the former railway lands reborn with Coal Drops Yard, the canals and the Eurostar station at St Pancras.
- Hampstead and Highgate: hilltop villages with Hampstead Heath and Highgate Cemetery, where Karl Marx is buried.
- Shoreditch and Hackney: street art, bars, vintage markets and start-ups; the city's most creative area.
- Spitalfields and Brick Lane: markets, Bangladeshi curry houses and the Huguenot weavers' houses.
- Canary Wharf and Docklands: the second financial district, built on the ruins of the old docks.
- Stratford: the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park of the 2012 Games, now a park, residential district and cultural hub.
To choose where to stay see where to stay in London; for markets and shopping see markets and shopping. Back to the London guide.