The West End

London’s West End is an undefined area that takes up much, if not all of the London Borough of Westminster. While it would be incorrect to call the West End a London Attraction, it is true to say that it contains many leading UK attractions and London attractions in the form of palaces, abbeys, theatres, shops, nightclubs, cinemas, bridges and museums.

Located to the west of the City of London, the area was the choice of many of London’s moneyed classes, due to its close proximity to Westminster, and also because it upwind of the smoke that emitted from the overcrowded City of London. The traditionally poor areas of Holborn, Seven Dials and Covent Garden were cleared and in their place were built palaces, expensive houses, fashionable shops and places of entertainment.

Today the term West End can apply to the shopping areas around Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street. West End can also be referred to as the areas of entertainment around Leicester Square and Covent Garden, with their rich reputations for theatre, cinema and nightclubbing.

The areas of the West End include:

Bloomsbury – home to the British Museum, University College London
Covent Garden – famous for shopping eating and street theatre
Holborn – the legal centre of the UK
Marylebone – with Baker Street, the home of Sherlock Holmes
Mayfair – playground of the rich with many top hotels and restaurants
Seven Dials – shop to you drop in the ultra-trendy area
Soho – home to London’s Theatreland, bars, and gay community
St James’s – abbeys, palaces and government buildings
Westminster – centre of UK government and politics
Fitzrovia – the diplomatic heart of London

Getting there

With over 20 tube stations, numerous bus services and two mainland railway stations getting to the West End couldn’t be easier. For travel details from your area go to www.tfl.gov.uk