which streets make up the red light district exactly? mind you i have no intention of going, I am just asking to make sure I dont end up there by accident.thanks

Why not live dangerously? You'll know it when you see it.

And don't make eye contact or pull out some bills and ask for change.

wasn't aware there was one, actually? did I miss something? darn!

Oh yeh ?? In that case avoid the streets either side of Wardour Street and Old Compton Street.

You just want to know where to stay away from.YEAH RIGHT.

I suppose you mean in Soho, it's very tame and camp, nothing to worry about, stop being such a prude.

There isn't one.

Our charm, good looks and natural magnetism mean we never have to pay for it.

For visitors - by definition less well favoured - we provide those cards in phone kiosks.

Nancy Astor, the first woman MP, once said during WW2 that she spoke to an American serviceman gazing up at the Houses of Parliament and asked him if he'd like to see inside - and got the reply 'You're kind of woman my mother warned me about'.

There are undoubtedly areas where people in various states of distressing exploitation hang around in the streets and unsavoury bars, but those tend to be well away from anywhere tourists are likely to go. There are some clip-joint bars in Soho, but you would have to be very unworldly to be taken in by them. Anywhere else overtly selling 'adult' books or videos in the area should have had to go through a fairly searching licensing process, so there wouldn't be any danger beyond embarrassment in passing the door.

You won't see any Amsterdam-style ladies in windows - a combination of high rents, planning laws, and the prospect of people pointing, laughing and shouting 'You'll catch your death..'.

There are a few tired looking ladies in uncomfortable clothes, smoking furiously in doorways in soho - at the Rupert St End. This has always struck me as funny as almost all the men in the area are as gay as gay can be (ie as gay as a window).

There's also Shepherds Market, which is much the same in Mayfair.

Let us know how you get on, especially if you catch any interesting varieties of pox.

My dear, Shepherd's market has long been cleared up, very savoury now, no women hanging out of windows.

m_Kingdom2, do you still miss the good old days? You really must be quite an inspiration to the younger "working" girls.

degas, you are terrible!!

My dear M Kingdom - Shepherds Market is a London institution and no amount of braying fops from the hedge funds getting pissed in the Grapes will change this - It's still full of brasses.