London Shopping
London is a shoppers paradise, there are over 40,000 shops here and the problem isn’t where to find them, but how to get to them all! Our advice would be to split up, do your shopping separately and then meet your partner in a nice pub or café later on as you will find yourselves being stretched in different directions as you all want to go somewhere different, alternativel set aside a couple of days to stroll around the best areas below.
CENTRAL LONDON/WEST END SHOPPING
OXFORD STREET
Possibly London’s most famous shopping street – and it claims to be Europe’s busiest street - with 1.5 miles of shop after shop after shop. Most are open Monday – Saturday 10am - 6 or 7 pm and as with many other cities there is late night shopping on Thursdays. There is a fair bit of repetition along the length of the street and you may see three or four of some high street brands along the length of it. Many make a bee line for the famous Selfridges department store which is found near Bond Street station. Many visitors like to spend half a day or a day wandering from one end to the other, but if you just want to make a short visit to a few specific shops then make sure you know which tube stop to get off at, it may be a long walk otherwise.
Tube Stations (West to East): Marble Arch, Bond Street, Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road
CARNABY STREET
In the sixties Carnaby Street was THE fashionable place to shop and the home of the leading designers of the time. It’s popularity then dropped off over the folowing decades and it ran into disrepair. Then in the 1990’s there was major redevelopment and regeneration and the area is regaining its reputation for housing retailers of leading fashion. Many of the leading fashion retailers have stores here now and have edged out some of the independents, however these just moved into the side streets where there are loads of cool new shops. There is also a short cut to Kingly Court which houses one off shops selling goods that you will not find anywhere else in London.
Nearest Tube Station: Bond Street
BOND STREET
Bond Street is the place to shop when the amount of money you want to spend is not an issue. This is a good place to spot celebrities as they spend their hard earned cash in the likes of Gucci, Armani, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo et al. There are also many interesting shops selling anything from perfume to antiques. It is a fairly long street stretching from Oxford Street (nearest tube Bond Street) down towards Piccadilly Circus (nearest tube to the famous suit making Savile Row), but it is a great street to do some window shopping on and well worth a visit.
Nearest Tube: Bond Street; Picadilly Circus
REGENT STREET
Stretching from Oxford Circus to the north and Picadilly Circus in the South and forming a border between the posh Mayfair and trendy Soho Regent Street is an elegant shopping street with lovely architecture. It is home to many instantly recognisable High Street brands such as Coast, Principles, H&M, Gap, Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein to to the world famous children’s toy shop Hamleys, which is sure to bring the kid out in everybody. This is a good street to do some high street shopping on.
Nearest Tube: Oxford Circus (north); Picadilly Circus (south).
SOHO/CHINATOWN
If its shopping that you are after then Soho isn’t really the place to be, but it is choc a block full of bars and restaurants and is a great place to spend an evening or two and is very convenient to all of the shopping areas above and Covent Garden/Leicester Square. The trendy and formerly seedy Soho is a large area that stretches from the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street down towards Leicester Square. The are has become more upmarket and very trendy in recent years and is an the area for the advertising and media industry. Full of coffee houses and cafes for breaks and meetings in the day the place is also heaving with bars, restaurants and clubs – such as the famous Groucho Club - and is a great place to go out on the town on a Friday or Saturday night. Old Compton Street is the main Gay area in London. As you move further down towards Leicester Square you come into the buzzing and lively Chinatown, with all its colourful restaurants.
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus
COVENT GARDEN & SEVEN DIALS
Covent Garden is a fun place to be, particularly when the weather is nice, but it does get extremely busy. There is nothing nicer that enjoying a pint or a cup of tea listening to the classical musicians playing their tunes in the Market Hall, bliss! But Covent Garden is mainly cafes, coffee houses, restaurants and clubs together with street entertainers and buskers in the large Piazza, so it is the place to go after you have done your shopping. The best area to shop around here is called Seven Dials and is found if you take a left on exiting Covent Garden station and head for Neal Street (the cafes, pubs and fun of Covent Garden is to be found to the right of the station). Seven Dials is known for its cutting edge independent shops and shoe shops galore!
Nearest Tube: Covent Garden
LEICESTER SQUARE
One of the main tourist destinations in London, Leicester Sqaure is known for Cinemas, fast food joints and bars rather than shopping, see Seven Dials above for shopping.
Nearest Tube: Leicester Square
OUTSIDE CENTRE SHOPPING
ISLINGTON (North London)
Better known for its trendy bars and restaurants on Upper Street, Islington is also home to a fair few antique shops and the Camden Passage Market. Chapel Market is the place to go for fruit and veg, clothes & other homewares.
Nearest Tube: Angel
CAMDEN TOWN (North London)
Camden needs no introduction to most, home to some of the world’s most famous markets, Camden Markets. It is actually made up of four separate markets and they have a huge variety of goods on sale, this is a fun day out and you are sure to come away with something you love and something you don’t really need at all! It is absolutely jam packed at weekends.
Nearest Tube: Camden Town
NOTTING HILL / PORTOBELLO (West London)
Most people visit the Notting Hill area to do a bit of bargain hunting in the famous Portobello Road Market each weekend. Best advice is to hop off the tube at Notting Hill Gate and to wander all the way up the market browsing antiques to clothes and food to bric a brac at the northern end, there are bargains a plenty to be found here, you can then get back on the tube at Ladbroke Grove or Westbourne Park stations.
Nearest Tube: Notting Hill Gate; Ladbroke Grove; Westbourne Park.
KENSINGTON (West London)
Now for the more stylish part of town, Kensington High Street has all the typical chain high street stores and a bit more and is a pleasant place to while away some time.
Nearest Tube: High Street Kensington
KNIGHTSBRIDGE
Department store heaven – home to the world famous Harrod’s and Havey Nichols Department Stores, Knightsbridge and these stores in particular merit a morning or afternoon all to themselves. But Knightsbridge isn’t just about these two mega-stores as it is home to all the big name fashion designers on Sloane Street too – including Prada, Armani, Fendi, Gucci, Versace, Hermes etc - and has been known to break the odd credit card limit or two…
Nearest Tube: Knightsbridge
FULHAM ROAD
Fulham Road is a lengthy street that runs parallel to the Kings Road (see below). This is the place to come to for interiors - such as lighting and soft furnishings or Farrow & Ball - and antiques together with a few interesting book shops, but it is also home to some designers such as Ralph Lauren and high street names such as Jigsaw. There is also a decent range of restaurants and bars to rest your weary limbs and look through your shopping.
Nearest Tube: South Kensington; Fulham Broadway
KINGS ROAD
To many this is the shopping road par excellence and you will find quite a few shoppers here who return every Saturday. The independent department store Peter Jones is the favourite of many who know about these things while other shoe shops, interior stores and independent clothes shops also star here, but it is the atmosphere that many enjoy the most here. Stop off for a coffee and a snack and do some people watching.
Nearest Tube: Sloane Square.