London's theatre district is now synomynous with the 'West End' - from Leicester Square (buy your tickets here - see our Music and Theatre guide) to Shaftsbury Avenue there are 40 theatres all hoping you'll pick them tonight...
Charing Cross Road is London's book capital (secondhand and new) and the area shades imperceptibly into Soho/Chinatown in the northwest and Covent Garden in the east. It's also home to many cheap eateries, but the whole area gets busy and quite rowdy at the weekends full of drunks - but never explicitly violent. 'Tin Pan Alley' (Denmark St) with its musical instrument shops and rock heritage is off Charing Cross Road, Piccadilly Circus at the Western tip with the famous statue of Eros is where latin students hang out (very uncool) - Londoners have never done so, preferring to be inside a club in Soho.
Chinatown, north of Leicester Square is the area to eat here though going up into Soho might be a better, but more expensive bet. Tubes: Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road, Charing Cross.