Shopping in London's West End and Knightsbridge

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Shopping in London

Shopping in London:

You must Check out these popular London streets for for the best shopping on the planet; Oxford Street - Carnaby Street - Soho - Covent Garden - Regent Street- Bond Street - Piccadilly, to name a few.

These areas of London have the highest concentrations of shops in the world, not only can you shop until you drop, but you can shop some of the top boutiques and designer retailers in the West End of London.

Some of these shops I recommend include: Top Shop, H&M, Mango and Zara in Soho, all are great for bargain fashion in London.

Check out Marks & Spencer Department Store on Oxford Street and of course Debenhams, John Lewis, Selfridges.

All these fantastic stores are close to the Underground Stations like Marble Arch, Oxford Street and Bond Street Stations where you will find designer bouteques on Carnaby Street too. Marks and Spencer you wll find is almost an Institution as you continue to explore London and beyond! As you stroll around the capital you'll see Iconic Department stores like Harrods, Fenwick and Fortnum and Mason and not forgetting of course Havey Nichols.

Other shops around Regent Street worth visiting are: Liberty and Hamley's near Oxford Street Underground Station, and the The House of Fraser which is close by. These department stores are are all up market as far as quality and selection are concerned and should not be missed. As I said, all of these stores are very close to Underground Stations and London Bus routes.

Kensington High Street Shopping in London includes the Charing Cross Road area which has a reputation for it’s bookshops, which specialise in everything with varing titles focusing on Art to science fiction and crime dramas. This very interesting area runs from Trafalgar Square to St Giles’ Circus, and it eventially turns into Tottenham Court Road.

Murder One books and Comic Show-case alongside a ton of second-hand bookshops in this area are worth spending a bit of time just looking around. As you walk along Charing Cross Road in London really does come alive
as you come to Denmark Street, known locally as Tin Pan Alley, and is home to a number of music shops as well as the London Astoria, by now I think the London Astoria is an institution on the concert scene around here.

In this area you'll also find the famous school of Fine Art, and Central St Martin’s, which is responsible for producing some of London's modern art’s most influential figures like Richard Long with Gilbert & George.

You may remember in 1986, the film called 84 Charing Cross Road, this was a novel by Helena Hanff's starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft, and of course cinema goers will for ever remember Charing Cross Road because of this historic movie. This performance is tipical of London theatre, and doesn't get much better than this.

London shopping includes the street markets which are also part of the English culture and way of life and can be experienced in many other parts of the city, and especially the West End.

To continue you're shopping in London experience, simply scroll down here and choose from one of the areas below to add to your shopping in london experience. Underneath, you'll also find a very brief explanation as to the type of shops found in each area such as Covent Garden, Oxford Street, Sloane Square and Hatton Garden etc. For each shop listed, a link to the company's official website is given where possible.

Along with Paris and New York, shopping in London offers probably the best shopping experience of any city in the world. Indeed, visitors to the capital are often overwhelmed by the sheer range of goods available. However, while shoppers are really spoilt for choice, there's also a feeling whic is justified to a point that London stores charge way over the top in comparison to their counterparts overseas.

What's more, in recent years a debate has been going on between retailers, consumer groups and of course the Government over claims about the country being a total "rip off".

In truth, while there's some validity to the argument that prices for certain goods are higher than elsewhere and especially CDs, electrical goods and clothing, if you spend time looking around, there are still bargains to be had. In addition, many stores hold sales at various times of the year, offering cut price goods to eager shoppers.

Major international and British Brands: London's main shopping areas tend to centre around Oxford Street and Regent Street, while Knightsbridge is home to stores stocking even more upmarket goods.

Oxford Street Shopping Anyone shopping in London looking for specialist items should head to Covent Garden, while those with serious money to spend are drawn towards New Bond Street which is home to some of Britain's most exclusive shops. If you're after bargain electrical goods, Tottenham Court Road is a must, while Hatton Garden is the place to go for watches and jewellery.

Here I've listed a summary of what's on offer in London's principal shopping areas in the West End:

Department stores - concentrated mainly on Oxford Street, although Knightsbridge has two of the most popular i.e. Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

Brand stores and outlets - a large number of these stores are situated in the area around Regent Street.

Designer shops - heavily populated on Old Bond Street, New Bond Street and Sloane Street. This is where I enjoy most of my shopping in London.

Independent and smaller fashion shops and boutiques - located on the streets around Covent Garden, with an ever growing number connected to London's famous Carnaby Street which has enjoyed a real renaissance as a trendy fashion destination over the last couple of years.

Custom-made tailoring - centred around Piccadilly, particularly on Jermyn Street and of course Savile Row.

Music shops - all of the capital's megastores have a presence in central London, although if you're looking for rare cuts, 12" and vinyl then Soho is probably the best place to head, here you'll find a number of independent shops covering all music genres.

Bookshops - while large bookstores such as Waterstone's and Borders are well represented all over London, other good bookshops of all sizes are located on both the Charing Cross Road and around Covent Garden area.

Jewellery - for expensive items head to New Bond Street. However, for the widest possible choice its worth travelling further afield to Hatton Garden which is near Farringdon and has a high concentration of long established jewellers offering a staggering array of pieces and prices.

As some of the businesses mentioned above, I've listed what are to be the main flagship stores. In addition, its worth noting that large department stores, such as Harrods and Selfridges, stock clothing ranges from most leading designers. Where possible, I've also included website addresses for those shops listed to help with your shopping in London.

Leave shopping in London to explore the rest of London

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David Stone
Contributing writer
London-Day-Trips.com