30 Things to See First

Thirty places to see first, in order, for somebody who has never been to London. Each says what it is, whether it is free, whether you must book, and whether the queue is worth it.

Soho

A few streets of restaurants, small theatres and jazz clubs that have been London's least respectable quarter for three hundred years. Free to wander.

The upper floors of Comptons on Old Compton Street: red brick and cream stone with carved swags and a relief over the middle window, two Union flags flying from the bay windows, gilt lettering on a black fascia and a rainbow flag over the door. — Comptons, on Old Compton Street.

Soho Square in early spring, bare plane trees over the garden and red brick behind — Soho Square in April, before the trees come into leaf.

A Soho street filled with England supporters in flags and shirts during a European Championship match — England supporters filling a Soho street during the Euros.

A narrow unlit alley behind Chinatown at night, lanterns strung overhead and bins along the wall — The back of Chinatown at night, lanterns and bins.

Red paper lanterns strung across a Chinatown street at dusk — Chinatown's lanterns, on the south edge of Soho. Photo by Boris Stefanik bstefanik, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

A pale blue Georgian terrace with red awnings over its ground-floor restaurant, a neon 'Quo Vadis' sign on the corner, a Union flag and a rainbow flag, and people at pavement tables in summer sun. — Quo Vadis on Dean Street. Karl Marx lodged upstairs at number 28. Photo by No Swan So Fine, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Carnaby Street at night under its Christmas lights: glowing planets, neon stars and blue foil discs strung across the street, with 'Carnaby celebrates' in lit letters over the shops. — Carnaby Street's Christmas lights, 2022. Photo by The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Frith Street at night: motorbikes and a red bubble car parked down the middle of the road, a crowd of riders and drinkers on both pavements, the neon clock of Bar Italia on the left and the Delhi Brasserie's lit front on the right. — A bikers' meetup on Frith Street, outside longstanding Bar Italia.

Soho is a handful of streets between Oxford Street and Leicester Square, and the reason to walk them is that so little in them is a chain.

The name is a hunting cry, used for this ground when it was still fields. It never became a smart estate like Mayfair because immigrants got here first - Huguenot refugees from the 1680s, and every wave since has left restaurants behind, which is why you can eat almost anything within a few hundred yards. Chinatown runs along the southern edge.

It has been the disreputable quarter for as long as it has been built, and most of that has gone: there were more than fifty sex shops in the 1970s and there are almost none now. What stayed is the eating, the small theatres, and the music - Ronnie Scott's has been on Frith Street since 1965. Free to walk, busiest after dark, and the pubs put their drinkers on the pavement in any weather.

Where: Old Compton Street, Soho, W1D 4UN
Nearest station: Piccadilly Circus · 3 min walk

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Photo by Ricardalovesmonuments, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Photo by Boris Stefanik bstefanik, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons · Photo by No Swan So Fine, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Photo by The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

30 Things to See First

Soho

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