Running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east, Piccadilly is a major London street whose name first appeared in 1626 as Pickadilly Hall, named after a house belonging to one Robert Baker, a tailor famous for selling piccadills or piccadillies, a term used for various kinds of collars. Piccadilly is the location of Fortnum & Mason, the Royal Academy, The Ritz Hotel and Hatchards book shop. It leads to Piccadilly Circus, a major traffic-intersection, a busy meetingplace and a tourist attraction in its own right. The phrase “it’s like Piccadilly Circus” is commonly used in the UK to refer to a place or situation which is extremely busy with people. It has been said that a person who stays long enough at Piccadilly Circus will eventually bump into everyone they know. Probably because of this connection, during World War II, “Piccadilly Circus” was the code name given to the Allies’ D-Day invasion fleet’s assembly location in the English Channel.

A tea and an apple pie at the Fortnum & Mason Tea Room ? My favorite before merging in Jermyn Street, parallel to Piccadily, to buy one of those Turnbull & Asser’s fantastic but quite expensive shirts !

Budget hotels near Piccadilly Circus ? Best price guaranteed