Soho is a district of central London, part of the West End, famous for jazz, its gay village, sex shops and alternative lifestyles. This is generally considered to be the area enclosed by Piccadilly Circus, Shaftesbury Avenue and Cambridge Circus to the south, Charing Cross Road to the east, Oxford Street to the north, and Regent Street to the west. Oxford Street is the main shopping street in London but much of it is in the Mayfair-Marylebone district.
The area immediately surrounding 1 Old Compton Street in the southern part of Soho is widely recognised as London's foremost gay village and is a very stylish part of London indeed.
For a period in the mid to late twentieth century, parts of Soho had a negative reputation as a red light district, but subsequent urban redevelopment, rising rents, and not unsurprisingly targeted action by the Westminster City Council, and Metropolitan Police, have all acted to dim and extinguish many of the red-lights. The area is not quite as seedy as its former reputation portrays it, although it is still advised to be aware of it.
- Wikivoyage