Linq to Entities - Get list of all unique related entities - asp.net-mvc

Question

asp.net mvc 4, Entity Framework 5, SQL Server 2012 Express, Code First
I have a Place model:
public virtual int PlaceID { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<Tag> Tags { get; set; }
public virtual string Name { get; set; }
and a related Tag model:
public virtual int TagID { get; set; }
public virtual string Name { get; set; }
public virtual string NamePlural { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<Place> Places { get; set; }
they have a many to many relationship.
I have a List places - and I would like to create a List tags - populated with every (unique) tag associated with every place in 'places'.
For example, one place might have 'restaurant' and 'pub' tag, another 'pub' and 'bar', and another 'shop' and 'cafe'.
I would like the List to contain one of each of the tags with these names:
Bar, Cafe, Restaurant, Pub, Shop
How can I do this in Linq?
Thanks.

Answer 1

If you want all the unique tag names you can do:
places.SelectMany(x => x.Tags).Select(x => x.Name).Distinct()
if the two instances of the same tag are the same object then you can just do
places.SelectMany(x => x.Tags).Distinct();
if they are different objects then you can do
places.SelectMany(x => x.Tags).GroupBy(x => x.TagId).Select(g => g.First());
UPDATE after new comment.
Add ToList() to then end to convert the result into a list.
places.SelectMany(x => x.Tags).Select(x => x.Name).Distinct().ToList();
places.SelectMany(x => x.Tags).Distinct().ToList();
places.SelectMany(x => x.Tags).GroupBy(x => x.TagId).Select(g => g.First()).ToList();