Covent Garden shopping guide: a stallholder's map of the good bits

I spend every weekend in Covent Garden, which means I've had a lot of time to work out where everything is, which coffee is worth the queue and which streets to avoid at 3pm on a Saturday. Here's my shopping guide, from the inside of a market hall.

Start in the Piazza

The Piazza is the heart of Covent Garden: the big open square, the street performers, the columns of St Paul's Church (the actors' church) on the west side. Everything else spreads out from here.

The Apple Market

Inside the main Market Building, under the glass roof. It's home to makers and crafts stalls, with antiques and collectables on some days. Great for small gifts and handmade pieces.

Jubilee Market Hall

The covered hall on the south side of the Piazza, at 1 Tavistock Street. Arts and crafts at the weekend, a general market during the week and antiques on Mondays. This is where you'll find me on Saturdays and Sundays, with a wall of hand-painted pop art and a terrible line in jokes. More in my Covent Garden art market guide.

Neal's Yard and Seven Dials

Walk north from the Piazza and you hit Seven Dials, where seven streets meet at a sundial pillar. The streets around it are full of independent boutiques, bigger brands and good places to eat. Tucked off Shorts Gardens is Neal's Yard, a tiny, brightly painted courtyard that's on every Instagram feed for good reason.

Best for: independent fashion, beauty, coffee, colourful photos.

Long Acre and the big names

Long Acre and the surrounding streets have the bigger high street and designer stores. If you need a specific brand, you'll find it here. If you want something nobody else has, head back to the markets.

Where to find art and gifts

• Jubilee Market Hall at the weekend: artists selling their own work. Prints, originals, small gifts.
• The Apple Market: handmade jewellery, crafts, small pieces.
• The London Transport Museum shop: brilliant posters and prints of classic Tube designs.
• Independent shops around Seven Dials: cards, stationery, homeware.

If you want art that's funny, a gift that gets a laugh, or something hand-painted to take home, come and find my stall. Prints are £20, notebooks £12, totes £25, and they all fit in a suitcase.

A shopping route that works

If you've got a few hours, here's the loop I'd do. Start at the Piazza and browse the Apple Market. Cross to Jubilee Market Hall for the artists (and say hello at my stall). Head up James Street to Long Acre for any big-name shopping, then wander north to Seven Dials and duck into Neal's Yard. Finish with a coffee or an early dinner in the side streets before the theatres open. You'll cover the best of Covent Garden without doubling back once, and your feet will thank you.

Tips from a local

1. Go early. Before 11am on a Saturday is calm. After 2pm, the Piazza is a festival.
2. Use the side streets. Floral Street, Maiden Lane and Henrietta Street are quieter ways around.
3. Leicester Square and Holborn stations are often easier than Covent Garden itself, which can have queues for the lifts.
4. Covent Garden station uses lifts rather than escalators, and there are a lot of steps if you take the stairs instead.
5. Rainy day? Both market halls are covered. Perfect.
6. Shipping: if you buy something big, ask the stallholder. Many of us deliver, including abroad.

Make it a full day

Covent Garden is packed with things to do between shops: theatres in every direction, the Royal Opera House, the London Transport Museum, street performers in the Piazza and the river a few minutes' walk south. In the evening, Theatreland is right there.

Want more markets? Here are the best art markets in London. Visiting in December? Read Christmas shopping in Covent Garden.

Shopping online after your visit

Saw something at the stall and didn't buy it? Happens all the time. My whole collection is online with UK delivery at £1.75 a print, free over £80, and international delivery to a list of countries. You can also order online and collect from the stall at the weekend.

Covent Garden shopping questions