![]() That’s why we’ve put together a list of brilliant Christmas shops from all around around the capital, where you can pick up gifts that people will remember for years to come for all the right reasons. But there's something supremely satisfying about traipsing around this city, and supporting London’s small (and big) businesses during a tough time. Yes, you could get your shopping done in one mad dash through a department store or by filling your online basket to the brim. So embrace the joys of Christmas shopping by scouring London's retailers for goodies as festive lights displays twinkle overhead. ![]() Tis the season when avoiding consumerism is pretty damn near impossible: stockings must be filled, loved ones must be spoiled, and it's all too tempted to pick up a few dainty knicknacks for the tree. ![]() ![]() These links have no influence on our editorial content. Covent Garden, with its street performers and undercover market, is in walking distance too. Oxford Street is one of London’s busiest shopping streets, with Fitzrovia to the north. What else is nearby?Ĭhinatown and its selection of great eats rubs up alongside southern Soho. Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road and Piccadilly Circus tube stations mark the corners of the area, and Leicester Square isn’t far either. It takes over the iconic site of Hungarian restaurant Gay Hussur, dishing up exemplary modern European plates matched with the finest wines known to humanity. Soho is renowned for the best restaurants in town, and among them are newbies Kolamba – which opened before lockdown and is loved for serving Sri Lankan comfort dishes – and a hotly anticipated outpost of Noble Rot. And the area’s LGBTQ+ night spots – like world-famous G-A-Y – bring lively vibes to Old Compton Street in spite of a nationwide curfew. Maison Bertaux has been serving custard slices and chocolate eclairs since 1871, making it London’s oldest patisserie – and it smashed its fundraising target during lockdown to secure its future selling French fancies. Photograph: CK Travels / Shutterstock Seek out plucky survivors Soho was once the centre of the British film industry, so you could even pay tribute at the Curzon on Shaftesbury Avenue. Or if you prefer your culture live, the legendary Ronnie Scott's jazz club has reopened for socially distanced shows. There’s an ever-changing programme of exhibitions as well as a study room, bookshop and café. Visit The Photographers’ Galleryon Ramillies Street. Why not get inked at Soho’s longest running tattoo parlour Diamond Jacks drink whisky in a bar hidden behind a bookcase at Milroy's or indulge at Soho's Secret Tearoom nestled above the grotty-but-popular Coach and Horses pub. Photograph: CK Travels / Shutterstock Go off the beaten track Charles de Gaulle used it as a base in exile during World War II, Dylan Thomas and Francis Bacon both drank here and beer, famously, is only ever served in half-pints. Londoners love it so much, they raised £80,000 to get the pub through lockdown. Pull up a chair outside Grade-II listed pub The French House. It's a great time to head down and do some people watching from a pavement spot – or even with a tinny in hand in Soho Square. Soho may no longer be the den of disrepute it was in the ’70s and ’80s, but its bohemian spirit is alive and well as Londoners spill out into the streets in support of the area’s long-standing and legendary restaurants and bars, making up (for once) for the absence of tourists. But to counteract the area’s misfortunes, the roads have been pedestrianised and tables and chairs have been added. Nowhere in London has suffered like Soho has during the pandemic, with its independent businesses some of the hardest hit. You'll find remnants of Soho's history as a red-light district in its handful of sex shops, strip clubs and sex-positive bars remaining from its days as London’s main red-light district. Dig deep enough and you'll find that a bunch of famous faces, including Mozart, Karl Marx and the Sex Pistols, have called it home over the years. Its messy grid of streets and narrow alleyways is buzzy, grubby, swanky and sexy in equal parts. London's Soho has been showing us a good time for centuries.
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