REGENTS STREET
- Architecture, Shopping & Triumph


Distance 2.83km/1.75miles - 2 hours

Regent Street is the great showpiece thoroughfare of London. Cutting a swathe through the West End it transformed the face of the city and is one of its most important urban developments. Carved out by architect-planner John Nash in the 1800s, it was touted triumphantly by George IV as the premier street of Europe; a place to see, be seen and above all to shop! Lined with an array of neoclassical parades, colonnades and boutiques, it was completely rebuilt in the first part of the 20th century to match the scale and ambition of a new modern era. From pleasure palaces and Regency rendezvous, to facades and arcades, this walk charts the making and REmaking of the street from its 19th century origins to its 21st century role in the life of the contemporary city.