[Ad - collaboration - the spending money for our day out was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own]
Oh Covent Garden, I have loved you for so long. I have been visiting since my teens, when myself and my friend used to buy a travel card and jump on the train and just go exploring for the day. We used to wander around the market and explore all of the little hidden streets.
In recent years I have been enjoying taking my own children and showing them around, it is a really good hub to base yourself in if you are coming to London for a weekend you could look for a Covent Garden Hotel to base yourself in, as you are so close to Leicester Square, China Town and of course all of the theatres in the heart of the West End.
Covent Garden is easily reached from Victoria train station with just a few stops on the underground - most people will jump into one of the huge lifts to exit the station - this time we decided to take the spiral staircase - be warned there are 193 steps up but we made it!
The whole area around Covent Garden is bustling and vibrant, the beautiful piazza is full of restaurants, there are street performers and museums, in the summer the whole area is adorned with beautiful flowers.
My kids love to look around the Jubilee Market, Finley has a favourite stall that we go back to every year, it sells fossils and crystals - look out for Tony Street Fossils, the guy who owns it is full of knowledge and extremely friendly, he used to work at the Natural History Museum.
Adjacent to the market is the London Transport Museum, kids go free but adult tickets are around £16.50 if you fancy having a look inside.
One of the many novelties that we have sampled before are Milk Train ice creams, this little cafe can be found opposite the museum on Tavistock Street. There is often a queue leading out of the door as it is so popular. Their ice creams can come with a cloud of candy floss around them, this one is called a Unicone!
There are so many must see areas, Neal's Yard is one of them for its eclectic, colourful shops plus there is this sweet little mural on the wall, Princess Diana as Mary Poppins.
We found a shop, also on Neal Street called The Noble Collection - it is like wandering into Diagon Alley, and full of movie memorabilia from films and TV shows such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and Suicide Squad.
If you love all things Japanese you can take a look in Art Box on Shelton Street, it is full of kawaii cuteness and it is one of Shannon's favourite shops.
If you also head down to Panton Street you can visit the Japan Centre, head downstairs and you'll find a food hall selling sushi and ramen as well as lots of Japanese goods, sweets and comics.
There are so many pretty shops and restaurants, it is a very picturesque place. Shannon had her picture taken outside Carluccio's, which is on Garrick Street, one for Instagram for sure!
We also recommend walking through Floral Court, it is full of prettiness and if you keep going you will find the Infinity Chamber which is a tunnel of lights next to TK Maxx on Conduit Court.
We ended our day in Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue, this one is a very big store and sells so many anime style books,I think these two were in heaven. We spent ages in there.
Our last stop was for a drink in the piazza, we sat outdoors at Buns and Buns, I was very tempted to try my first Aperol Spritz cocktail but at £10 I decided not to and settled for an apple juice.
Covent Garden is a beautiful place, a photographers dream and I can't wait to go back near Christmas time when it is looking its finest.
