London locations
Permits, light and what to expect on the day.
Market architecture, cobbles, street performers and the opera house. That is what brings people to Covent Garden with a camera.
| Covent Garden | |
|---|---|
| Who controls it | The piazza and the market buildings are a private estate with their own permissions, and the surrounding streets are Westminster. |
| Good for | Market architecture, cobbles, street performers and the opera house. |
| Light | The covered market gives shaded even light. |
| Busiest | Performers work to a timetable and the piazza is busy from late morning. |
The piazza and the market buildings are a private estate with their own permissions, and the surrounding streets are Westminster. Both may apply to the same shoot.
Checked on 4 October 2026. Rules and fees change, so confirm with the authority before the shoot.
The covered market gives shaded even light. The piazza is hard light at midday.
Performers work to a timetable and the piazza is busy from late morning. Early gives you the architecture without the crowd.
Covent Garden, with Leicester Square as the quieter exit.
A fast lens for the covered market, which is darker than it looks.
Walking into a performer's circle mid-act.
| Who controls it | More than one authority |
| Permit needed | Yes, from each authority involved |
| Notice to allow | Take the longest notice period |
| Insurance | Ask each one |
| Worth knowing | Confirm which ground you stand on |
| Nearest stations | Covent Garden, with Leicester Square as the quieter exit. |
| What to carry | A fast lens for the covered market, which is darker than it looks. |
Rules and fees change. Confirm with the authority named above before the shoot, and treat this table as a starting point rather than a permission.
| Where | What it gives you | When it works |
|---|---|---|
| The covered market | Iron and glass, even shade | Any time |
| Floral Street | A narrow street with a bridge overhead | Morning |
| Neal's Yard | Painted walls, small and colourful | Midday, when light reaches in |
A location is a corner at an hour, not a postcode. Pick one of these and build the session around it.
An hour in Covent Garden is three stops, not one.
We start at The covered market, because it is the frame most people came for and it is quietest first.
Then Floral Street, which changes the background without changing the light.
We finish at Neal's Yard, which gives a different scale and a different mood.
Winter, for the lights in the piazza from November.
Weekday mornings all year, before the crowds.
Summer afternoons are the hardest time to work here.
Theatrical shapes suit the piazza.
Plain colours in Neal's Yard, which already has plenty.
Shoes for cobbles.
The market building is covered.
The Royal Opera House arcade gives shelter and architecture.
More than one authority covers this location, so establish which ground your camera stands on before you apply.
A park, a street and a private estate can meet within a hundred metres here.
Apply to each one that applies, and allow the longest of their notice periods.
If the shoot moves during the session, that is more than one permission.
Nearby, with different rules and a different look: Canary Wharf, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.
The full list of occasions is on event photography in London.
Next step
Send the date and intended use; the current permission route can then be checked before the location is promised.
Send the date, location and what you need photographed.