A floral day out in Covent Garden

I remember first visiting Covent Garden when I was 18 and on holiday from South Africa. It was then, and still is, one of my favourite areas of London. If you’re visiting the capital, it’s a wonderful area to explore as well as a great location to stay, with many hotels in Covent Garden to choose from – whatever your budget.

Covent Garden has had a market since 1656 and was the first piazza in London. Whilst it was originally a fruit and vegetable market, there were many flower sellers too – who could forget Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady? Throughout spring and summer you’ll find nods to flowers everywhere, which makes for some lovely photo opportunities!

So when I was invited to explore Covent Garden, I jumped at the chance! I asked my friend Fee, from Where’s the Rooftop? along to enjoy a day out with me.

We started with coffee and macaroons at the gorgeous B Bakery, situated on Chandos Place.

The macaroons were absolutely delicious! Soft on the inside with a lovely crust and so flavoursome (my favourite was the strawberry one). Fee ordered toast with jam and we were impressed how many gluten free options there were (Fee has a gluten intolerance). It was the perfect start to the day and just the right amount of sugar to get us going!

After our coffee, we headed towards Neal’s Yard which is like a secret urban courtyard! It’s tucked away and the only access is via two narrow side streets. I love Neal’s Yard because it’s so colourful and vibrant!

Within Neal’s Yard you’ll find coffee bars, restaurants and shops, including the famous Neal’s Yard cheese shop. And staying true to Covent Garden’s floral roots, the buildings have beautiful flower boxes in the windows. It’s an Instagrammer’s delight!

With some time to spare before lunch, we had a wander around and came across so many beautiful floral displays. There was this one framing the entrance of Monmouth Kitchen with the most gorgeous sunflowers!

Walking through St Martin’s Courtyard – a new shopping and dining area – we found two amazing floral photo opportunities. The first being this lovely bench (ridiculous pose optional).

I loved this floral wall with the iconic ‘Choose Love’ slogan in aid of the charity Help Refugees. There was a ‘tap to donate’ feature so that you could make a small donation in exchange for a photo (optional of course).

All that posing sure worked up an appetite! I’d booked lunch at Petersham Nurseries in Floral Court (how very apt) as I’ve been to their Richmond restaurant a couple of times so was looking forward to trying their Covent Garden branch.

Set in a lovely, secluded courtyard, you’d never guess you were in Zone 1 London! As we went on a Monday we were lucky to get a table outside. The menu was full of fabulous choices and they offer a set menu too. Fee opted for the courgette flower fritti to start, followed by the Haye Farm summer salad.

I chose the beetroot hummous with crudite (which was DELICIOUS) and then the courgette, pea, mint and Pecorino risotto (also delicious).

The food was basically summer on a plate! The portions were very generous (both the risotto and salad were starters), service was attentive but not intrusive and the surroundings are just stunning. I highly recommend lunch here.

After lunch we headed up to the Piazza Terrace on the fifth floor of the Royal Opera House for a glass of bubbles as Fee wanted to check it out for her blog. The view was pretty awesome!

Fee and I had such a wonderful day exploring Covent Garden and scouting out all the glorious floral tributes to its history.

This post was in collaboration with Hotels.com, who gifted the spending money. All suggestions and views are my own.