Explore a different destination Piccadilly Circus, London

Piccadilly Circus Tourist Info

Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space at London's West End, in the City of Westminster. It was built in 1819, to connect Regent Street with the shopping district of Piccadilly. The name "Circus" comes from the Latin, meaning circle, and refers to a circular open space at a street junction. Its status as a major traffic junction made Piccadilly Circus a busy meet up point and a tourist attraction.

Piccadilly Circus is characterised by its neon signs and video advertisement displays. Today, however, only one building carries these advertising hoardings - it is on the northwestern corder, between Shaftesbury Avenue and Glasshouse Street.

To the southwestern side of Piccadilly Circus is the Shaftesbury Monument Memorial Fountain. It was erected in 1892-93, originally at the centre of the Circus, but was moved after World War II to its present position. The fountain commemorates the philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury, a famous Victorian politician and philanthropist. The monument is topped with the winged statue of Anteros, the Greek god of selfless philanthropic love, and twin brother to Eros (who was known to the Romans as Cupid). It was the first statue in the world to be cost in aluminium.

The statue was unveiled to an unreceptive public. Some felt that it was inappropriate to site it in the theatre district, a vulgar part of town, while others felt it was too sensual for a memorial to the respectable Earl. Some attempted to rename it The Angel of Christian Charity, in an effort to invent something Christian for the role of Anteros. But that name never gained much popularity. Instead, the public erroneously called it Eros, the Greek god of sensual love, not appropriate to remember the Earl, but quite right for the carnal neighbourhood of Piccadilly Circus.

How to get there

Nearest Tube Station: Piccadilly Circus
Buses: No. 9, 12, 15, 19 Admission: Free Access
Information: Visitor Centre at 1 Lower Regent Street

What to see and do

Piccadilly Circus is at the heart of London. This is the place to watch Londoners. There will be throngs of other tourists around, so while London is a safe city, you should exercise care and look after your belongings when in a crowd. Take photos of the landmark Eros statue.




Piccadilly Circus
author: Daniel Meyer | Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners

Piccadilly Circus Location Map




Piccadilly Circus
author: gauravcreations.com | Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners



Piccadilly Circus
author: JesusVillalba | Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners

Local Tours of London

A practical and often cost effective way to see London is to join a local tour. Check out the Local Tours of London that you can book online.

Return to London Budget Travel Guide or to UK Budget Travel Guide


Find lowest price for your Hotel Room

Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?

The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!



Great Travel Deals Wego.com

Flight Checker

Our Flight Checker helps travelers compare flights and get the lowest fare for their trips. If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.

Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.





Return to EarthDocumentary World Budget Travel Guide

My message introducing God to all the world: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TIM


Bookmark and Share   Follow EarthDocumentary on Twitter

EarthDocumentary and globe logo are trademark and service mark of Timothy Tye.

EarthDocumentary logo © copyright Timothy Tye 2007-2010. Content and articles in EarthDocumentary are provided in goodwill and are believed to be correct at time of writing. While every reasonable care is taken to check and verify the information shared, EarthDocumentary disclaims responsibility for its use. Text in EarthDocumentary is available under Creative Commons Attribution/ShareAlike License meaning you are free to copy, distribute, transmit, adapt and make derivative works, as long as you attribute your resulting work and apply it under the same, similar or a compatible license. You may use the information on this website on your blog or website so long as you place a link back to the page in AsiaExplorers where it appears. Wikipedia and Wikitravel are cited as among the sources of references. Photographs appearing in EarthDocumentary are available according to the licensing terms specified in its caption. Photographs supplied by Panoramio are governed by the Panoramio API terms & condition, are for display only, and may not be downloaded for use. Photographs belonging to the author are the copyright of Timothy Tye and may not be reused without prior written permission from the author. Contact the author for permission and licensing of the photos.