Updated: March 2026
What to Do in Fitzrovia: A Local’s Guide to London’s Most Creative Neighbourhood
Fitzrovia is a neighbourhood in central London, sitting between Oxford Street to the south, Marylebone to the west, Bloomsbury to the east and Euston Road to the north. It is not a borough with clean official boundaries, which is part of what gives it a distinct character. Fitzrovia is known for Charlotte Street and its exceptional restaurant scene, a rich literary and bohemian history, the BT Tower, the Fitzrovia Chapel, independent art galleries and a lively media industry centred around the BBC at Broadcasting House nearby. The name itself comes from the Fitzroy Tavern on Charlotte Street, where writers and artists including George Orwell, Dylan Thomas, Virginia Woolf and Augustus John used to drink in the 1930s and 1940s.
It is the kind of area that rewards walking slowly. The main streets are busy, but the side streets between Charlotte Street and Great Titchfield Street are quieter, full of independent shops and restaurants, and genuinely pleasant to wander through. If you are thinking of basing yourself here, we have a selection of Fitzrovia apartments for rent that put you right in the middle of it. This guide covers the best things to do in Fitzrovia, where to eat, what to see and how to make the most of a day here.
If you are still weighing up where to base yourself, our piece on why Fitzrovia suits holiday rentals explains what makes the area a smart choice.
Charlotte Street: The Heart of Fitzrovia
Charlotte Street runs north to south through the middle of Fitzrovia and is the best single street to start with. It is lined with restaurants representing almost every cuisine, has a relaxed energy that is quite different from the West End just to the south, and is genuinely local in the sense that residents eat here regularly rather than it being purely for visitors.
The street has two Michelin-recognised restaurants within a short walk of each other. The Ninth on Charlotte Street is run by chef Jun Tanaka and serves French-Mediterranean small plates with real care and precision. Tanaka trained at Le Gavroche and has been cooking in Fitzrovia for years. The terrace is good in warmer months. Chishuru on Charlotte Street is the restaurant of Nigerian-born chef Adejoké Bakare, who became the first Black woman in the UK to be awarded a Michelin star. The set menu draws on West African ingredients and techniques and changes with the season. Both restaurants require advance booking. Looking for somewhere to eat after exploring? Our guide to restaurants and bars in Fitzrovia covers the area’s best stylish spots.
For something more relaxed, ROKA Charlotte Street is a Japanese robatayaki restaurant built around an open coal-fired grill. It is lively, the food is consistently good and it works equally well for a casual dinner or a longer meal. Norma on Charlotte Street serves Sicilian food across three floors of a Georgian townhouse and is one of the better Italian restaurants in central London. Kaffeine on Great Titchfield Street is the place to go for good coffee. It has been one of Fitzrovia’s most popular independent cafes for over a decade, well known for flat whites and a short, well-made food menu.
The Fitzrovia Chapel
The Fitzrovia Chapel on Pearson Square, off Mortimer Street, is one of the most striking buildings in the area and one that most visitors to London never find. It was designed by John Loughborough Pearson and completed in 1892 as the chapel of the Middlesex Hospital. When the hospital was demolished in the early 2000s, the chapel was preserved and carefully restored. The interior has exceptional Victorian tilework, painted ceilings, mosaic floors and stained glass. It is genuinely beautiful in a way that is hard to convey in photographs. The chapel is now used as a venue for exhibitions, private events and occasional public openings. Check the website for opening times before visiting.
Fitzroy Square and the Literary History of Fitzrovia
Fitzroy Square is a Georgian square at the northern end of Charlotte Street and one of the most attractive public spaces in the area. Virginia Woolf lived at number 29 between 1907 and 1911, and George Bernard Shaw lived at the same address before her. There is a blue plaque on the building. The square has a garden at its centre and is a good place to sit and take in the Georgian architecture, which is unusually well-preserved for central London.
The literary history of Fitzrovia is concentrated around a handful of pubs that were the meeting points for writers and artists in the mid-twentieth century. The Fitzroy Tavern on Charlotte Street, from which the whole neighbourhood takes its name, was the regular haunt of Orwell, Dylan Thomas and Augustus John from the 1930s onwards. The Newman Arms on Rathbone Street, a small Victorian pub that still operates today, was used by George Orwell as the model for the proles pub in his novel 1984. Percy Street, running parallel to Charlotte Street, also appears in the novel. The King and Queen pub on Foley Street is where Bob Dylan played one of his earliest London shows in 1962.
These are not tourist attractions with signs and queues. They are just streets and pubs that carry a lot of history quietly. Walking between them takes about twenty minutes and is one of the most pleasantly low-key things you can do in Fitzrovia.
The BT Tower
The BT Towe on Howland Street is the most visible landmark in Fitzrovia and one of the most recognisable buildings on the London skyline. It stands at 177 metres, was completed in 1964 and is a Grade II listed building. It was the tallest building in London until 1980. The tower is not open to the public for general visits, but it is worth seeing up close. Fitzroy Square to the south is the best vantage point. The tower is lit at night and displays rotating text messages on its drum section, which is visible from much of central London.
Independent Art Galleries in Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia has a dense concentration of independent commercial galleries that rarely make it onto visitor itineraries but are among the best reasons to spend time in the area. Entry to most is free and they welcome browsers.
Lisson Gallery on Bell Street and Helmut Newton Lane is one of the most important commercial galleries in London, representing major international artists since 1967. The programme consistently includes work by artists of significant standing and the two London spaces are both worth visiting. Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery on Conway Street shows contemporary art with a focus on work from outside the Western mainstream, including Aboriginal Australian, African and South Asian artists. It is an interesting counterpoint to the more conventional gallery programme in the area. Fitzrovia Gallery on Great Titchfield Street was set up to support emerging artists and runs open submission exhibitions throughout the year.
The Grant Museum of Zoology
The Grant Museum of Zoology on Rockefeller Building, University Street, is one of the most unusual museums in London and it is free to visit. It is a working natural history collection used for teaching by University College London, containing around 68,000 specimens including skeletons, mounted animals, preserved specimens in jars and fossils. The displays are dense and slightly overwhelming in the best possible way, with specimens from floor to ceiling in Victorian wooden cases. Notable objects include a jar of moles, a Dodo bone and a display of glass models made by the Blaschka studio in the 19th century. It is open Tuesday to Saturday and no booking is required.
Kaffeine and Where to Get Coffee in Fitzrovia
Good coffee in Fitzrovia is easier to find than in most parts of central London. Kaffeine on Great Titchfield Street is the most well-known and has been setting a high standard for independent coffee in London since it opened in 2009. It is Australian and New Zealand-influenced, meaning the flat white is done properly. There is usually a short food menu that changes daily. Riding House Cafe on Great Titchfield Street is larger, serves food all day and is a reliable choice for brunch. Caravan Fitzrovia on Great Portland Street, housed in a former BBC building, is good for an all-day brunch or a casual dinner. The roasting programme is taken seriously and the food menu is interesting.
How to Get to Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia has several tube stations close to its edges. Goodge Street on the Northern line is the most central for Charlotte Street, about a three-minute walk. Tottenham Court Road on the Central and Northern lines, and the Elizabeth line, is at the southern end of the neighbourhood and is the best option if arriving from further out. Warren Street on the Victoria and Northern lines is useful for the northern part of Fitzrovia around Fitzroy Square. Great Portland Street on the Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith and City lines is on the western edge.
From Heathrow Airport the Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Road takes about 45 minutes. From St Pancras International, Tottenham Court Road is three stops south on the Northern line. Before you travel, it is worth checking our guide to getting around Fitzrovia, which covers the best transport links for the area.
Staying in Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia is a genuinely good base for exploring London. From the southern end of the neighbourhood you can walk to Soho, Covent Garden, the British Museum and Oxford Street. Marylebone is a 15-minute walk to the west. Regent’s Park is about 20 minutes north on foot. Because the area is primarily residential and used heavily by the media and creative industries, the streets are active throughout the day without being overcrowded in the way that the West End proper tends to be.
Luxury London Listings has serviced apartments and properties available in Fitzrovia for short stays, extended visits and corporate lets. If you would like to find out what is currently available, browse the properties to rent on the Luxury London Listings website or contact the team to discuss your requirements.
Fitzrovia: Quick Reference
- Location: Central London, spanning Camden and the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Marylebone, Bloomsbury and Euston Road
- Nearest tube stations: Goodge Street (Northern line), Tottenham Court Road (Central, Northern, Elizabeth line), Warren Street (Victoria, Northern), Great Portland Street (Metropolitan, Circle, H and C)
- Named after: The Fitzroy Tavern on Charlotte Street, where artists and writers gathered in the 1930s and 1940s
- Best known for: Charlotte Street restaurants, the BT Tower, Fitzrovia Chapel, literary and bohemian history, independent galleries
- Two Michelin-recognised restaurants: The Ninth (Jun Tanaka) and Chishuru (Adejoké Bakare, first Black woman in UK to earn a Michelin star)
- Free things to do: Grant Museum of Zoology, Lisson Gallery, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, Fitzrovia Gallery, Fitzroy Square garden, walking the literary pub trail
- Note: Pollock’s Toy Museum closed its Fitzrovia location in January 2023. It now operates from Croydon and Leadenhall Market. The building on Scala Street is no longer a museum.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fitzrovia
What is Fitzrovia known for?
Fitzrovia is known for Charlotte Street and its concentration of restaurants, its bohemian literary history, the BT Tower, the Fitzrovia Chapel and a strong independent gallery scene. The neighbourhood gave the area its name from the Fitzroy Tavern, where writers including George Orwell, Dylan Thomas and Virginia Woolf were regulars in the 1930s and 1940s. Today Fitzrovia is also a centre for media, advertising and technology companies, with the BBC at nearby Broadcasting House and major agencies across the area.
Is Fitzrovia worth visiting?
Yes, Fitzrovia is well worth visiting. The restaurant scene on and around Charlotte Street is one of the strongest in central London, with options ranging from Michelin-recognised fine dining at The Ninth and Chishuru to casual Japanese at ROKA and excellent Italian at Norma. The Fitzrovia Chapel is one of the most beautiful Victorian interiors in London and the Grant Museum of Zoology is one of the city’s most unusual free museums. The neighbourhood is also compact enough that most of the main points of interest are within a 15-minute walk of each other.
Where exactly is Fitzrovia in London?
Fitzrovia sits in central London, roughly bounded by Oxford Street to the south, Great Portland Street to the west, Euston Road to the north and Tottenham Court Road to the east. It spans parts of both the London Borough of Camden and the City of Westminster. The neighbourhood is directly north of Soho, west of Bloomsbury and south of Marylebone. The nearest Underground stations are Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road, Warren Street and Great Portland Street.
What are the best restaurants in Fitzrovia?
The strongest restaurants in Fitzrovia in 2026 include The Ninth on Charlotte Street for Michelin-recognised French-Mediterranean small plates, Chishuru for West African fine dining with a Michelin star, ROKA Charlotte Street for contemporary Japanese robatayaki cooking, Norma on Charlotte Street for Sicilian food across three floors of a Georgian townhouse, and Kaffeine on Great Titchfield Street for some of the best independent coffee in central London. Berners Tavern in The London EDITION hotel on Berners Street is also worth knowing about for a grand dining room experience.
What is the literary history of Fitzrovia?
Fitzrovia became a centre for writers, artists and bohemian figures in the 1930s and 1940s, when the Fitzroy Tavern on Charlotte Street attracted regulars including George Orwell, Dylan Thomas, Virginia Woolf, Augustus John and Quentin Crisp. George Orwell used the Newman Arms on Rathbone Street as the model for the proles pub in his 1949 novel 1984, and Percy Street nearby also appears in the book. Bob Dylan played one of his first London shows at the King and Queen pub on Foley Street in 1962. Virginia Woolf lived at 29 Fitzroy Square between 1907 and 1911, where a blue plaque now marks the address.
Is Fitzrovia the same as NoHo?
Fitzrovia and NoHo refer to roughly the same area, though NoHo is an informal nickname that emerged from the media industry in the 1990s, standing for North of Soho. It tends to be used by people working in advertising, media and technology in the area. Fitzrovia is the older and more widely used name and is the one most locals and visitors will recognise. The BT Tower, Charlotte Street and the Fitzroy Tavern are all in the area referred to by both names.
