3 Best Sights in Soho, London

Want to see the hip street style of today's London? Find it a block east of famed Carnaby Street—where the look of the '60s "Swinging London" was born—an adorable warren of Georgian cobblestone streets now lined with specialty boutiques, eateries, wine caves, and fashion-forward shops. A check of the ingredients reveals one part '60s London, one part futuristic fetishism, one part steampunk, and one part London streetwear swagger. The new London look best flourishes in shops like Raeburn, an ethical boutique crowded with young shoppers who dig their 1950s decommissioned Yugoslav military camouflage puffer coats, joggers, and hoodies. Or scoot around the corner to peruse Percival, Aubin, or END. clothing stores with more than 400 of the edgiest U.K. and global streetwear designers on show. 

London's first gallery dedicated to photography offers cutting-edge, established, and provocative exhibitions. Open since 1980, the space has exhibited everyone from Robert Capa and Sebastião Salgado to Nick Knight and Corinne Day. The prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize is shown and awarded here annually. The gallery also has a print sales room, an archive, a well-stocked bookstore, and an enticing café-bar—a great spot to chat photography and escape the crowds on nearby Oxford Circus. Admission for children is always free, and entry is also free for everyone from 5 pm on Friday evening.

Showcasing the work of both established and emerging British and international artists such as Sarah Lucas and Martine Syms, this all-white and light-filled modern art space and gallery overlooking busy Regent Street is a major expansion for respected British gallerist Sadie Coles. A second Sadie Coles exhibition space operates nearby at Davies Street in Mayfair, while a third is also found close by across Piccadilly on Bury Street in St. James's.