Russell Square

The West End


At the heart of Bloomsbury and originally laid out in 1800 by Humphrey Repton, Russell Sq was dark and bushy until a striking facelift early in the new millennium pruned the trees, tidied up the plants and gave it a 10m-high fountain and lovely glassed-in cafe.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The West End attractions

1. Wiener Library

0.07 MILES

The Wiener Library was established by German Alfred Wiener in 1933 to document the rise of anti-Semitism in his home country, from which he had fled in…

2. Brunei Gallery

0.08 MILES

Part of the University of London's School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), this gallery features permanent displays and exhibitions of art from…

3. British Museum

0.19 MILES

With almost six million visitors trooping through its doors annually, the British Museum in Bloomsbury, one of the oldest and finest museums in the world,…

4. Tavistock Square

0.25 MILES

Tavistock Sq, the 'square of peace', contains a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, a memorial to wartime conscientious objectors and a cherry tree recalling the…

5. Bedford Square

0.25 MILES

Lovely Bedford Sq is the only completely Georgian square still surviving in Bloomsbury.

6. Gordon Square

0.27 MILES

The centre of literary Bloomsbury was Gordon Sq, where some of the buildings are marked with blue plaques.

7. New London Architecture

0.29 MILES

A large, constantly updated 1:2000-scale model of the capital highlights planned and new buildings, as well as various neighbourhood regeneration…

8. St George’s Bloomsbury

0.29 MILES

One of a half-dozen designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, this superbly restored church (1730) is distinguished by its classical portico of Corinthian capitals…