Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Covent Garden

45 replies

TheWashingMachine · 07/03/2019 12:34

I went there today and I used to like it when a I worked nearby but it just felt so sterile and the shops were sooo expensive. It just felt like a tourist trap, when I left I felt so relieved to be out of there. Anyone else thought this, I often see it recommended on MN as a good place to go with DC but actually apart from the transport museum and the odd busker, there is not much for children.

OP posts:
jay55 · 07/03/2019 12:55

I don't think most tourists can afford the shops there now.
Best avoided other than when the terrific Xmas decorations are up.

Kelsoid · 07/03/2019 12:58

I used to work in wardrobe at the Royal Opera House and honestly hated walking through CG every day! worst tourist trap in London. My parents love it though - serves a purpose I guess?

QuirkyQuark · 07/03/2019 13:05

I used to go there a lot as a child and it was fabulous back in the day. I went last year and was thoroughly disappointed in what it's become.

5foot5 · 07/03/2019 13:17

I often see it recommended on MN as a good place to go with DC but actually apart from the transport museum and the odd busker, there is not much for children.

I don't know London that well but last time I went to Covent Garden, with DD as a young child, we both absolutely loved Pollocks Toy Shop. Is that not still in Covent Garden?

FaithFrank · 07/03/2019 13:23

Pollocks toy shop is and has always been in Fitzrovia. It's not too far from CG, but a different and less touristy area.

TheBossOfMe · 07/03/2019 13:29

Pollocks is most definitely in Covent Garden! It's in the Market Building.

msbevvy · 07/03/2019 13:30

The Toy Museum moved to Fitzrovia in the 60's when the collection outgrew the shop.

There is still a shop in Covent Garden.

downcasteyes · 07/03/2019 13:31

YANBU, it's been rubbish for years and Charing Cross Rd is also shit now the book shops have mostly shut.

@kelsoid what an amazing job to have! Those costumes are stunning, you must be really really talented

WhentheRabbitsWentWild · 07/03/2019 13:33

I love Pollock's Toy Museum . More so than some of my DCs I think .

Not been to Covent Garden in some years but from memory I liked it enough . I also enjoyed the London Tranpsort Museum and have been there a few times now.

WhentheRabbitsWentWild · 07/03/2019 13:34

As downcasteyes says, what an amazing job that must have been kelsoid

thedisorganisedmum · 07/03/2019 13:35

my kids love it, for some unknown reasons they find the street entertainers hilarious. By the time they watch one (or 2 Angry ), have a bite to eat and look at a couple of shops we always spend a fair amount of time.
I wouldn't plan to go for the entire day, but I quite like it.

I like many of the food places in there, so I tend to go despite the tourists when I am on my own. Laduree's deserts are divine.

Comefromaway · 07/03/2019 13:37

We love Charing Cross Road. We visit Foyles & the music shops. With regards to Covent Garden itself now the Royal OPera House shop has moved (and is tiny) we generally only go if dd wants to visit one of the make up shops or dh wants to go to Apple. We all all lament the passing of Dress Circle.

megletthesecond · 07/03/2019 13:38

It's really sterile now. No bead shop or general store.

I hope Mysteries and Slam City Skates are still there though. We've not walked that way lately.

dellacucina · 07/03/2019 13:39

Agreed. It feels very commercial and fake.

ZaraW · 07/03/2019 13:40

Unfortunately gentrification has had this effect on many areas of London. Twenty years ago I lived in Westbourne Grove. There was a great community but slowly even back then it was changing the local greasy spoon caff was replaced by some high end restaurant and the high street took over. I find it depressing.

runoutofnamechanges · 07/03/2019 13:40

Pollocks still have a toy shop in Covent Garden but it's not as good as the one in Fitzrovia.

I agree, it does feel rather sterile now and the shops are more high end. I feel the same about Spitalfields. The shops around the market all used to be independents or unusual brands but now it's all Chanel, Jo Malone, Diptyque, Doc Martens, Superga... The same as Covent Garden, Oxford Street or any other shopping mall in London.

BejamNostalgia · 07/03/2019 13:42

It’s always been like that, at least back to the mid 80s.

Foslady · 07/03/2019 13:44

Really pleased that people have said this. My friend raves about it but when I went last year I thought it was nothing special at all

Sarcelle · 07/03/2019 14:18

I was born and grew up in the area, and just about remember the old fruit and veg market. When that market moved and it was derelict it was a big deserted area in the middle of London which was our playground.

When it was redeveloped it was done so on the assurance that it would be little individual shops rather than chains. That happened for a while and it was a great and stylish place to live but then gradually the chains moved in and have now taken over.

I moved out about 15 years ago. I occasionally pass through it and it makes me feel sad to see it. It is a mecca to commercialism these days, no originality, endless chains, noise and traffic. If I was visiting London I would not bother visiting the area, nor Piccadilly or Leicester Square.

Original poster
TheWashingMachine · 07/03/2019 14:21

Yes Spitalfields is the same, I worked there 20 years ago and it was fab, great community and interesting people and shops, now just corporate.

OP posts:
WhentheRabbitsWentWild · 07/03/2019 16:09

Bit of useless trivia , as I am old .

Back in the 80s a daytime ITV show called Gems was set in Covent Garden . I watched it sometimes as I temped then and one of the main characters was my age and done admin work so it got my interest. Didn't last very long the series though.

Kelsoid · 07/03/2019 16:24

@WhentheRabbitsWentWild @downcasteyes haha it really was! Though I hate to admit I never made anything....I dressed the dancers during performances and occasionally did some costume maintenance. Some of the costumes are over 50 years old and need a fair bit of TLC before they make it to stage!

My first job there was dressing Alessandra Ferri....talk about being thrown in the deep end 🙈 since worked with Sarah Lamb, Laura Morera and Marianela Nunez....it was honestly was one of the most wonderful jobs and I miss it every day! Pregnancy forced me to give it up, but maybe one day I'll return ☺️

Knitclubchatter · 07/03/2019 16:33

As per MN I took the grandkids, age 2 and 4 to the transport museum...what a massive disappointment. Certainly not as interactive as I imagined. Not ideal if they can’t read. At a certain point the busses and trolleys all looked the same. No food. Poor bathroom facilities.

CallMeOnMyCell · 07/03/2019 17:21

Completely agree OP! I live in zone 5 and when friends come to visit they always want to go to Covent Garden! I just don’t get why it’s so popular!

UrsulaPandress · 07/03/2019 17:28

One evening in the 80s a friend and I had eaten at little Italian restaurant down one of the side streets near the Royal Ooera House. As we were walking back to the tube we turned the corner to Covent Garden to be met by the must exquisite traditional Carousel. Similar to the one used in the titles of the recent Vanity Fair serial. We went for a ride. It was fabulous and one of those memories burnt into my psyche. I used to love the place.