Oxford Street
Stretching for two miles through the heart of the West End with Marble Arch at one end and Tottenham Court Road at the other, Oxford Street is so named because it follows the path of an old Roman road to the city of Oxford.

Today, Oxford Street is synonymous with shopping and it is here you will find lots of high street shops alongside big department stores, the most famous being Selfridges, which is well worth a visit. Most of the department stores tend to be at the western end of the street, near Marble Arch. With over 300 shops totalling 5 million square feet, Oxford Street has more shopping space than major UK city centres such as Bristol or Edinburgh. December is a particularly good time to visit Oxford Street, as the displays of Christmas lights and decorations are legendary.

Regent Street
Regarded as being more upmarket than Oxford Street (there are fewer high street shops), Regent Street is home to a number of big name stores including Liberty, the world-famous Hamleys toy emporium, Disney, Aquascutum, Hugo Boss, Austin Reed and Tower Records.

The street was built in the 1800s by Sir John Nash to connect Carlton House, George IV's (1820-30) residence, to Regent's Park. Much of the original design of the street has disappeared, but you can still get an idea of Nash's plans in the curve known as the Quadrant, just north of Piccadilly.

Nearby is the colourful Carnaby Street which was the epitome of cool in the 1960s and remains popular to this day.

Soho
The name of this famous London district comes from the shouts of 'So-ho!' made by the royal huntsmen of Whitehall Palace when they hunted in the area. Today, Soho is a small quadrangle stretching from Regent Street in the west to Charing Cross Road in the east, and bordered by Oxford Street in the north and Shaftesbury Avenue in the south.

In recent years, Soho has also become a well-established gay and lesbian venue with lots of gay bars, cafes and clubs opening in the area. Clubs pubs and restaurants abound and the area stays awake much longer than many other parts of the city. Soho is equally well known for its ethnic communities - most notably Chinatown. This means there is a myriad of ethnic restaurants in the area - so Soho is a good place to head for if you want a meal.

Leicester Square
Leicester Square is best known for the neon lights, nightclubs and restaurants that dominate the area. But the square is probably most well known for its cinemas. The famous Odeon and Empire cinemas, for example, are the venues for many Royal Film performances and UK film premieres, making it a prime location for celebrity-spotting!

Alongside Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square is one of London's most popular meeting places so you can expect it to always be busy. Friday and Saturday nights draw big crowds.

Covent Garden
A market transformation in 1980 turned the Piazza and the original Covent Garden Market
building into the innovative speciality shopping centre it is today. Far more charming and intimate than Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden’s restaurants, bars, pubs, shops, opera, theatre and street performers make it an equally popular entertainment centre.

Covent Garden derives its name from the gardens belonging to the convent of the Abbey of Westminster in the Middle Ages. Inigo Jones' famous Piazza and surrounding area was between the 1670s and 1974 home to London's principal wholefood market for fruit, vegetables and flowers – all of which are still sold there today.

Its tourist sites include the Royal Opera House, the Theatre Museum, the London Transport Museum and Neal’s Yard. Neal Street has the most shops on it – most of them selling shoes and clothes.

Green Park
London is patched with several open green spaces – havens of green grass, trees, flowers, lakes and wildlife. The nearest to the Regent Palace is Green Park, immediately behind Green Park tube on the Piccadilly (dark blue) line.