Shopping in Covent Garden

Post

Subscribe

Posted 2016-07-12 by Phoebe Clark ⇒ follow

Covent Garden is one of my favourite places to wander around and shop in London. I've broken down some of my favourite places to shop in this marvelous warren of cobbled streets. These should cover enough spots to get any shopper started on the right path.

Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet sits right on the outer edge of the cobblestone shopping area of Covent Garden. It's also a little more commercial than most on this list. However, it remains one of my favourite shops to explore every time. Upstairs is full of geeky merchandise for a huge variety of pop culture, while downstairs is an incredible mecca of books and comics. If you're even remotely interested in things nerdy, you're likely to love this shop.

Tatty Devine
Tatty Devine is one of the more expensive shops on this list, but it's worth a look, even if it's just a window shop. Some incredibly cool, laser-cut jewellery lines the shelves of this fashionable store, and I must say I covet almost every single piece. Necklaces with old records, notepaper, radios and gigantic moustaches, cartoon eye ring sets, paint palette earrings - it's all incredibly cool. I would love to funk up my jewellery collection by adding a few of these gems, and I love seeing what they have to offer each time I visit.

Magma
Magma's had a relocation from its two store location in Earlham street. The shop, which was once a standalone bookshop and a standalone gift shop has combined into one two-levelled building in Shorts Gardens. The stock range has been fairly diminished, especially the books, but it's still a delight to shop in. All manner of interesting gifts and toys and crafty items are hidden away on these shelves. It's a fascinating thing to just look at all the items on sale, even if you don't buy any of it.

Fopp
Fopp is an exceptional DVD, CD and bookstore right on the edge of Covent Garden. It was bought up by HMV a few years ago when it looked to go bankrupt, but don't let that make you think it's just another HMV. Fopp is well curated, housing a lot of hard-to-find movies and TV shows for genuinely reasonable prices. And the books are total bargains too. I've picked up quite a few items on my shopping list at Fopp for much cheaper than I expected.

Neal's Yard
Not strictly a shopping area, but I had to include Neal's Yard in any list about Covent Garden. Neal's Yard is a gorgeous courtyard of eateries and cafe's, with beautifully colourful buildings surrounding the small square. There are a few boutique gift shops here, but mostly I wander into Neal's Yard for a breather after braving bustling Piccadilly, just to appreciate the lovely old buildings that surround it. Neal's Yard is quintessential Covent Garden for me, and no visit would be the same without a trip to Neal's Yard.