These are a few of my favorite places in Covent Garden, a frequent shopping destination in London. There are loads of places there for food, drink, clothing, toys and gifts, both in the buildings and outdoors at the artisan stalls.

Tea Palace is doing well, with lots of new products for the holidays. Luckily for me, they had just restocked one of their best-sellers, Spiced Pear. Yummy.

Whittard’s of Chelsea, a long-standing tea purveyor, is hanging on. Their range of teas, coffees and gifts also includes 17 different flavors of hot chocolate, from tiramisu to chili. Most are very mildly flavored (I add ginger to their ginger hot chocolate to give it more kick).

Yu-foria is a quiet place for a quick meal or snack on the lower level. They have great soups and yummy, rustic breads. Butternut squash soup with wholemeal (wholewheat) bread hits the spot on a chilly December day.

After my trip to Finland last year and tracking down a whole slew of Moomin products, a new Moomin shop has opened in Covent Garden. It looked a bit spartan, perhaps because it had only been open for a week. I wish them luck.

Even with new owners, Octopus, aka Pylones, is still drawing people in with their fun housewares and wearables. (btw, they also have a shop near Radio City in NYC).

Finally, although Borders took Paperchase down with them in the U.S., Paperchase is alive and well in London. Their Covent Garden shop, next to the Royal Opera House, is filled with dazzling holiday cards, wrapping paper, bags, ornaments and other knick-knacks, as well as their usual wide variety of pens, pads and other writing paraphernalia.