See a glorious open-air shopping arcade with a regal Edwardian architectural style when you visit Sicilian Avenue. Designed by architect Robert Worley at the beginning of the 20th century, the street was initially lined with Italian marble, most of which was replaced in the 1920s. Admire the gold-leaf markings spelling out the street’s name along the tops of the arches at the entrances of shops and restaurants.
Watch people stroll by as you enjoy hot drinks and snacks in one of the elegant cafés lining the street. Pick up a bouquet from a flower shop and browse the adjacent stores, whose frontages have a uniform black layout and protruding glass window cases. Above the doors hang elegant black signs carrying the names of the stores. Savor a hearty meal at an Italian restaurant.
Stay into the evening and relax with a drink from the traditional pub on the corner. Note how old-world black lanterns illuminate the middle of the avenue, between a line of umbrellas. Gracing both sides of the shopping parade are majestic stone columns and turrets. Look up at the redbrick apartments and office spaces that sit above the shops lining the avenue.
Watch the 2018 movie The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, which included scenes filmed in this open avenue. Other than the lasting remnants of its marble décor, the street has little to do with Sicily despite its name.
Find this shopping parade in the Bloomsbury district of central London. Ride the Tube to the Holborn Station and walk north for a couple of minutes to get here. You can also travel by bus or ride the metro to another nearby stop in this busy district. While you’re in this part of London, consider checking out other surrounding attractions such as Sir John Soane’s Museum, Russell Square and The British Museum.
