To not get the fuss with covent garden

[Fairyloo]

Every time I go to london people tell me go to covent garden "it's amazing". I always go and feel a bit let down. It's high st shops and millions of miserable street performers.

I like the inside market bin but so overpriced.

I do love south bank.

Am I missing something with covent garden??

Not south wark ...

stupid correction thingy

some parts of the city you feel you have stepped back into dickens time in the little alleys. I took ds up the tower bridge and round there has changed so much it does look better. I love the view coming over tower bridge seeing the tower of London then the gherkin behind it old and new

best bridge view of London is waterloo bridge no matter how many times I cross it i still get goose bumps

I agree that it's more for tourists than Londoners. I don't know anyone who lives in this city that goes often. I've lots of nice memories of seeing plays at the Donmar and on the rare case I'm passing through the area I get food at M&S but other than that the area just doesn't do it for me and never has done.

And then there's the crowds - oh my GOD the crowds. Is the Tesco there the busiest one in central London? It feels like it. And I'm sure the tube station is where everyone who's going out in town in the evening with friends meets up.

Agree with the suggestions above about being more stimulating, especially Spitalfields, Brixton and Southwark ( I love the area behind the Tate Modern, cafes and shops there are so quiet).

I like Covent Garden. Particularly at Christmas. Also the Food for Thought Vegetarian Cafe there. My favourite place is the area around the London Eye, along the River Thames. If I were taking someone there as a tourist I'd take them to the Tower of London and on a river cruise with commentary. Also the Science Museum, Natural History Museum for the building not the contents, the area from the Science Museum to Royal Albert Hall, the parks, Greenwich, Hampstead.

I'm a Londoner but prefer to live somewhere quieter and very near the sea. London's too far from the sea, that is, anything more than half an hour! I hate the crowds on the tube and around the shopping streets like Oxford Street. Last time I went to Oxford Street it had just been announced that the world's population had probably just passed the 7 billion mark, and I swear, they were all there.

These are good if you want to find the real London

www.londonwalks.com/

I love where I live but would consider moving to notting hill if I had the money. Maybe just keep a pied-a-terre for the weekend :)

London does my head in, says reanimated Dr Johnson

Lots of good ideas here. I work in That London every few weeks and often have a couple of hours to kill waiting for the first off peak train home.

I've done quite a bit of wandering around aimlessly, which has been enjoyable. There are some lovely little squares and things to be stumbled upon - don't ask me to ever find them again though.

As a northener I would sometimes go through Covent Garden for a meander, a drink and some people watching (not necessarily the performers). I went back last summer after a few years gap and was gutted. At least a fifth of the central small shops were vacant and a huge soulless Apple store where there had been outdoor dining. YANBU

i love to walk around the whole of the west end, not just covent garden, but it has got alot more corporate now with less individual shops and more brands.

dp hates it now as all the independent book and record shops are gone of going. he says it's just like anywhere else now and there are no shops for him. i on the other hand like the choice but have to go with lots of money to spend!

Oh my thanks for all replys!! 110. I only ever average 3!

I know what you mean isee and SEA. I felt the same when I walked through for the first time in years. I got home that evening and walked up through Bath and thought how lovely it was in comparison - basically Bath in shopping terms is still (for now) what CG used to be.

There must be bits I'm missing though. Of CG that is, not London. I know that London is fab still.