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London is one of the world�s shopping capitals but there is
no one �best place to shop�. There are several places, depending on what you are
looking for. London has been described as a collection of villages � and each
village has its own individual feel and its own specialities for shopping,
reflecting the people who live and work in the area. There are still streets
where a row of specialist shops congregate all offering one particular product
eg jewellery in Hatton Garden , musical instruments in Denmark St, antiques in
Islington�s Camden Passage. And of course there are huge department stores -
retail palaces offering you a vast variety of goods alongside all the famous
names of UK and international retailing.
The West End � Oxford St, Regent St, Piccadilly, Bond St, Covent Garden
Oxford St, London W1
The longest shopping street in Europe has 300 shops and
stretches from Tottenham Court Road in the east to Marble Arch in the west.
It has four tube stations (all on the red Central line) and many bus routes.
Cars aren�t allowed, just buses and taxis. My preferred way of �doing� Oxford St is to take the tube to Marble Arch
and work my way along the street until I either reach the end or my feet ache.
This does not work if you are the sort of person who likes to re-visit shops to
buy the first dress you tried on.
Oxford St is the place to go for high street fashion, with
many of the large retail chains having their flagship stores there. Some of the
highlights
Marks & Spencer � two large shops, one at Marble Arch where the company trials
many new lines particularly in homewares. The other
(the Pantheon) store is east of Oxford Circus tube station, close to a big branch of Next (reasonably priced men�s,
women�s and children�s clothes � offer a petite range for shorter women and kids
clothes are good value) and Japanese clothing, storage and homewares specialist,
Muji (always good for original gifts particularly at Christmas and also for
small London-themed souvenirs).
TopShop � teenage fashion heaven at Oxford Circus, a must do for every
girl age 13-35. There is a TopMan too, but it�s TopShop that gets all the
plaudits with ranges designed by supermodelKate Moss and other famous fashion names.
Selfridges � largest department store, famous for its lavish window
displays, designer goods, luxury items, food hall and ambitious pricing.
Definitely worth a visit.
John Lewis - a department store built on traditional lines but has kept
pace with changing fashion. Ladies can still buy a sensible pair of gloves on
the ground floor but you can also buy a designer dress on floor 1, a baseball
bat in sports or the latest MP3 players on floor 5. John Lewis offers quality
goods at the best prices, excellent for kitchen gadgets (cooks head straight for
the basement), homewares, perfume and skincare, stationery and cards, children�s
clothes, nursery and toys (4th floor), men�s and women�s fashion
(particularly for the 30+ age group). All of middle-class London shops here.
All of the large department stores are on the north side of
the street; next to John Lewis is
House of Fraser, which compares
reasonably well with John Lewis and
seems to offer more big brands but a smaller product range. One block further on
is Debenhams which has some franchises
of other stores within it and has large perfume/skincare, fashion and homewares
sections.
Primark � for a cheap and cheerful outfit, head to the Marble Arch end
of Oxford St. When Primark opens a new
store, there is often a riot as people are so keen to get their hands on its
extraordinarily cheap fashion. This huge shop is extremely popular with massive
queues every weekend for the tills. Get there early!
HMV� heaven for music fans of all genres and gamers,
HMV has 2 branches on Oxford St, the
largest is at 150 Oxford St. The
other is opposite Bond St tube station, close to
The Disney Store. It often hosts
signings by stars with new releases and is the UK�s largest store for music and
home entertainment ie CDs, DVDs, computer games.
HMV's very first store was officially
opened in July 1921 by the British composer, Sir Edward Elgar on Oxford Street.
European fashion chains in London; in recent years there has been an influx of European clothing retailers opening branches in the UK.
Spanish fashion chain Zara has two stores on Oxford St, Mango (Spanish again) has one store and Swedish
H&M has two outlets.
Even the Japanese are here with their clothing store Uniqlo and homewares from
Muji.
All of these offer fashion at value for money prices.
Eating & Drinking � there are a number of coffee shops on Oxford St, the ubiquitous
Starbucks as well as British brands
Eat and
Pr�t A Manger.The department stores
have cafes and restaurants too, but if you don�t want a big corporation to make
your lunch, head off into Soho (east of Oxford Circus to the south) for smaller
sandwich bars, cafes, pubs and restaurants. And if the weather is nice, get a
sandwich and a coffee and join the office workers in Soho Square � a small patch
of green in a charming Victorian park.
Top Tip: Oxford St is rammed at the weekends, particularly in
the run up to Christmas and it is pretty busy at weekday lunchtimes and on
Thursday when shops stay open til 8pm. The best time to visit Oxford St is early
in the morning (Monday is very quiet). All shops are open by 10am (some at 9.30)
and in many cases you will be the only customer.
Top Tip 2: need a bathroom � John Lewis on the second floor.
For maps of Oxford St showing location of stores visit
http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/oxford/os_intro.htm
Expect to see: exhausted shoppers, pickpockets (watch your
bag, keep your wallet close to you)
Regent St, London W1 � crosses Oxford St at Oxford Circus
Stretching southwards from Oxford Circus down to Piccadilly
Circus, Regent St attracts a more upmarket selection of stores than Oxford St,
with grand old brands such as Jaeger, Austin Reed, Burberry, Lacoste and
Aquascutum standing firm alongside arrivistes
The Gap, Armani Exchange, The Apple Store and Ted Baker. Highlights include:
Liberty
� the mock Tudor building is as charmingly genteel and
reassuringly expensive as ever. Go for high quality accessories, Liberty print
scarves, bags, gloves, umbrellas, social stationery as well as fashion, perfume
and skincare. Has everything the lady or gentleman of leisure could wish for.
Hamleys � hell on legs for parents; the highlight of the shopping day for the under-12s. Hamleys offers four
crammed floors of toys and games. Expect to pay above the going rate but also to
see toys you can�t find anywhere else and enthusiastic staff demonstrations of
toys.
American retailers favour Regent St, as well as
Gap you will also find
Brooks Brothers at no. 150 and
Timberland at 144 Regent St.
Lillywhites
� five floors of sports goods and sports clothing on Lower
Regent St, on corner of Piccadilly Circus.
Pole Position � 78 Regent St - one for the boys, London�s only
motorsport dedicated store, often with racing cars on show.
Offers clothing, memorabilia, artwork, books and DVDs.
Menswear � off Regent St is Savile Row � home of London�s
finest tailors for 250 years and also of the only European branch of US shop
Abercrombie & Fitch.
St Christopher�s Place
If you�re finding the relentless line of chain stores on
Oxford St wearisome, this charming walkway leads to smart shops (Coast, Whistles, TM Lewin) in a
pedestrianised area. Cafes and restaurants with tables outside, some around a
fountain, and often a band playing too. It makes a pleasant place for lunch or a
snack.
You�ll find it up an alleyway which is between
H&M and
O2 phone shop, opposite Bond St tube
station. If you miss the alleyway, head North up James St (between
Gap and
The Body Shop) to St Christopher�s Place.
Marylebone High Street
Another detour from Oxford St�s long line of vast emporia,
behind Selfridges (walk up James St)
you will find Marylebone High St. A street of good quality shops and fashion
boutiques, many of them independents. Lots of restaurants and chi chi cafes too.
At the top end, there is a churchyard where they
have a Saturday market of food, craft and designer fashion (Cabbages &
Frocks).Opposite the churchyard you will find homewares store
The Conran Shop full of quirky designs
and top of the range bits for the fashionable home.
Carnaby St
Made famous in the 60s, Carnaby St is not the place to be
seen it once was, but it still holds its own as a good place for browsing. Just
east of Regent St (pretty much behind Liberty�s), it is not as frenetic as
Oxford St and has smaller shops and some nice cafes and places to sit outside
and watch the world trundle by.
Examples of the shops on Carnaby St and in surrounding
streets; Soccer Scene which sells
all the football shirts from all the UK teams and plenty of other football
merchandise; Levis, Ben Sherman, Henri
Lloyd for the sailing fan (does fashion too);
Puma, Wrangler, American Apparel, Diesel, Jones the Bootmaker, Neals Yard Remedies,
All Saints.
Piccadilly
Piccadilly starts at Piccadilly Circus and runs all the way
to Hyde Park. Most of the street is
given over to hotels (The Ritz, Le Meridien), the vast Royal Academy art
gallery, the Pigalle cabaret club, Green Park and airline offices, but the
section nearest Eros� statue is home to the UK�s most upmarket grocers,
established by Charles Fortnum, (footman to King George III), and his partner
Hugh Mason.
Fortnum & Mason, grocer to the Queen,
is 300 years old and is famous for its theatrical window displays, its
selection of 130 teas, its hampers
(it invented the hamper) and for serving afternoon tea in its St James
restaurant (prices start at �30 per person). It has five restaurants, each
serving fine foods (the ice cream parlour is popular with children). It is
without doubt heaven for the committed foodie, who will find foods as yet
untried or even heard of here. Boar terrine with chestnuts and King Neptune�s
Relish anyone?
http://www.fortnumandmason.com
Also on Piccadilly you will find the weekend craft market in
the courtyard outside St James� church, London�s oldest bookshop
Hatchards (est. 1797),
De Beers diamond jewellery store and
London�s largest bookshop, a branch of
Waterstones. In my opinion, bigger doesn�t
necessarily mean better. Go to
Hatchards for a calm and wholly English browsing experience.
On Piccadilly�s north side lies the architecturally
outstanding Burlington Arcade, the longest covered shopping street in England
and Britain�s first shopping arcade which opened in 1819. It houses retailers of
luxury items only; antiques, vintage watches, perfumes and leather goods.
On Piccadilly�s south side, the elegant Piccadilly arcade
(more luxury items of a quintessentially British nature) leads you to Jermyn St.
Originally established in 1664, it has a reputation for gentlemen�s fashion and
while it retains a good selection of high-end tailors and shirtmakers, it now
includes shops offering ladies fashion and as well as perfumery, jewellery, antiques
and art, footwear, fine wine and food and cigars.
Bond Street
Comprised of two streets Old Bond St (built 1680s) and New
Bond St (built 50 years later), the road links Piccadilly with Oxford St. It
runs through one of London�s most expensive districts, the ever fashionable
Mayfair and is full of stores where only the most monied may shop.
Tiffany�s, Gucci, Yves St Laurent, Chanel,
Joseph, Max Mara, Prada, Daks, Mont Blanc, Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen
all have shops on Old Bond St. Cartier,
Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo and Armani are on New Bond St. One of Bond St�s favourite stores is the department
store Fenwick�s which offers a big
selection of designer clothes over five floors of largely ladies� fashion (men�s
in the basement). If you want to buy something small in Bond St, try their
ground floor hosiery, skincare and haircare section (going to a wedding? visit
their splendid hat section too). Their Ladies Powder Room on the 3rd
floor offers a luxurious (and free) bathroom.
Towards Oxford St, the Bond St stores become a more
affordable, with a large branch of Spanish fashion retailer
Zara, Reiss (men and women�s smart
casual clothes) and finishes with a big branch of
Next on the corner of Oxford St.
Until quite recently, Old Bond St was home to art galleries
and this accounts for the presence of auctioneers
Sotheby�s, Bonham�s and Phillips on Bond St.
Look out for statue of FDR and Winston Churchill in
conversation on a bench and the Handel House museum at 25 Brook St where the
composer lived for 36 years and died in 1759.
Quick detour up South Molton St � a pleasant pedestrianised
street with some cafes and smart shops of a slightly more affordable nature.
Links Brook St with Oxford St
Expect to see: ladies who lunch, ladies who shop, celebrities
in disguise (dark glasses, big hats)
Charing Cross Road � famous for its bookshops, it runs
down the east side of Soho, connecting Tottenham Court Rd with Leicester Square
and later Trafalgar Square. Not a shopping highlight unless you are looking for
a particular book. Try the big stores
Foyles and Blackwells for hard to find titles. Blackwells have a service where they can print you a copy of an
out-of-print book while you wait. Some of the independent, specialist bookshops
remain in Charing Cross Road but they are slowly fading away as rents rise.
Tottenham Court Rd � for electronics and gadgets
enthusiasts, the southerly part of Tottenham Court Rd retains its reputation for
TVs, cameras and all things digital. Further north the traditional furniture business retains its hold on the area
with flagship branches of Heal�s and
Habitat dominating an entire block.
Try them for small gifts for the homemaker or cook. Further up, more furniture
stores and the wedding shop Confetti
with everything but the dress for the bride-to-be.
Denmark St - Off Charing Cross Rd, Denmark St is the place
for musicians. A collection of music shops sell all types of musical instruments
(guitars a speciality) and sheet music. If you are in a band, pop into Denmark
St for a browse.
If you are looking for jewellery, you can spend hours in Hatton Garden, which runs between
Clerkenwell Rd and Holborn Circus. About 50 jewellery shops are based here,
selling every possible type of ring, necklace, bracelet, pendant, watch, tiara,
diamond, precious gemstone or metal, whether brand new, antique or vintage � you
name it, someone in The Garden will have it.
Top Tip; don�t be afraid to haggle and don�t be put off by
the lack of customer service on offer in some of the shops. Jewellery remains a
very traditional, male dominated world.
Covent Garden
London�s oldest planned square, laid out by architect Inigo
Jones in the 1630s and used as a fruit, vegetable and flower market until the
1970s (if you�ve ever seen the film
My Fair Lady, this is where Liza is found selling flowers by Prof Higgins). The
Piazza now houses fashion and cosmetics shops, restaurants, cafes and a market
of arts and crafts stalls, full of original items. If you like the market, leave
the main building and go to the south of the square where there is a covered
market of even more original jewellery, prints, collectibles, art and crafts.
In the roads surrounding the piazza there are lots of
restaurants and, north of the Piazza head for Floral St for branches of
designers Paul Smith, Agnes B and Nicole Farhi, head to Neal St for
lots of small independent fashion shops.
Place to leave the non-shopping male in Covent Garden; London
Transport Museum
www.ltmuseum.co.uk � full of old buses,
trams and trains and some interactive displays for those who fancy driving a
tube train simulator. Good museum shop here for London souvenirs, particularly
for boys.
Place to leave the sports enthusiast while you shop� The
Oasis Sports Centre on corner of High Holborn and Endell St �heated indoor and
outdoor pools and squash courts.
Knightsbridge
The big attraction here is the retail temple of
Harrods, the luxury department store
which has become a tourist attraction and is a must for many visitors to London.
Famous for its food hall, its extravagant window displays, its vast product
range spread across 330 departments, its 28 restaurants and food outlets, its
Egyptian staircase and its fountain (a tribute to Princess Diana and her friend
Dodi Al Fayed, the son of Harrods� owner, who was killed alongside her in
Paris), Harrods certainly offers up
lots of spectacle and wow factor. Twice the size of Selfridges in Oxford St, it
is one of the largest department stores in the world, rivalling Macys in New
York.
But if Harrods
showy presentation doesn�t do it for you, try
Harvey Nichols, which describes itself as an �international luxury lifestyle
store�. Known to its wealthy customers as
Harvey Nicks, it has 7 floors of fashion, beauty and home collections plus a
restaurant, cafe, bar and food store on the fifth floor. It offers a calmer,
more tranquil shopping space than the frenzied excitement of
Harrods and this is where you will
most likely find Knightsbridge�s smart locals.
Alongside Harvey Nichols (corner of Sloane St & Knightsbridge) and
Harrods, pretty much every luxury
fashion label has a store in Knightsbridge�s Sloane St. But you can find smaller
outlets on the pretty Beauchamp Place and Walton St.
Top Tip: Huge reductions in Harrods at sale time, in January
and July. Be aware of the Harrods� dress code, enforced by doormen; no shorts,
no vest tops and backpacks must be carried in your hand.
West London
Kensington High St
If you are going to Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens,
you might like to pay tribute to the late Princess Diana with a stroll up her
local high street. Kensington High St is a busy street with a mix of big chain
stores and smaller shops, all catering for the West London smart crowd who live
in this desirable (and expensive) area of London.
Notting Hill &
Portobello Rd
Famous for its August Carnival, Notting Hill (and nearby
Holland Park) is a very smart place to live and the shops reflect its wealthy
inhabitants. Lots of small shops selling desirable things you didn�t know you
needed are dotted amongst delis , patisserie and chic cafes. Portobello Road
market is on every Saturday and while it is famous for selling antique
furniture, glassware, silverware, old books and prints, it also has stalls
selling, fruit, vegetables, flowers, clothes and general household items.
Towards the end of the market the stalls veer towards second hand goods and
vintage clothing.
Expect to see; Londoners looking for a bargain, collectors
looking for fine antiques, tourists looking for places where film Notting Hill
was shot.
Kings Road, Chelsea
It might have lost the razzle of the swinging 60s but Kings
Rd can still cut it as a smart hangout for a cool West London crowd. Starting at
Sloane Square, Kings Rd snakes westwards towards Chelsea, running parallel with
the River Thames. It has one big department store,
Peter Jones, which is a slightly more
upmarket sister store to John Lewis in
Oxford St, but mostly the shops are high-end fashion chains, independent
boutiques and interior design and homewares stores (big branches of
Habitat and
Heal�s).
Expect to see; celebrities (my friend almost ran Dirk Bogarde
over on the Kings Rd); Chelsea Pensioners dressed in smart red uniforms, they
are forces veterans who live in the nearby Royal Hospital accommodation.
Westfield Shopping Centre
The nearest large shopping mall to Central London is in
Shepherd�s Bush. In an effort to attract London�s shoppers out of the malls in
Essex (Lakeside) and Kent (Bluewater), Westfield London opened in October 2008.
All the well known chain stores are here (Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser, Next), many of them with huge shops
to show off their entire product range. Unusually for a mall, there is a section
reserved for boutiques and upmarket designer labels (The Village) including
Gucci, Burberry, Prada, Miu Miu, Hackett,
Jo Malone,Joseph, Kurt Geiger, Tiffany and Versace
North London
Camden Market
Cool youngsters and those of a trendy, youthful disposition,
head to North London on Friday, Saturday or Sunday for Camden Market. From Emos
to Clubbers, every youth tribe will find its street fashion here. Handmade
clothes, funky shoes, unique
jewellery (much of it made by the stallholders or sourced from independent
designers) as well as throws, rugs, retro furniture, scented candles and
everything for the student house is on offer.
Take the tube to Camden Town and head up Chalk Farm Road to
Stables Market (built on the site of horse hospital) to find clothes from
independent designers and vintage clothes � look out for two huge sculptures of
robots outside Cyberdog, the shop for
clubbers fashion. Also make sure you look above your head, as many of the shops
have homemade fun sculptures above them e.g. a giant red trainer atop a shoe shop, a lobster on another. There is also
a small antiques/bric-a-brac market by Camden Lock and a good few music shops
and stalls selling hard to find vinyl editions and rare tracks. And if you need
food and drink, either stop at one of the stalls offering street food from all
parts of the world or have a drink in one of the bars by the canal and spend an
hour watching canal boats negotiate the three locks.
Expect to see: lots and lots of young people, wild haircuts,
piercings, clothes that granny won�t like.
Top Tip; if you are going on Sunday, get there before 10am �
it will be mobbed by 3pm.
South London
If you are visiting the National Maritime Museum, Queen�s
House and Royal Observatory in Greenwich, shoppers will enjoy Greenwich Market (open Thursday to
Sunday). This market of art and
crafts, furniture, antiques, homewares, speciality foods has a more villagey
feel than the markets in Central London.
To get there, either take a boat from one of the Central
London piers, or take a train to Greenwich from London Bridge or get the
Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to the Cutty Sark station. And if you have young
kids with you, make sure you sit at the front of the train and let them �drive�
(there are no drivers on DLR trains).
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