London Shopping Vacations
London, as a vacation destination, is very hard to beat. It is the most popular city in England for city breaks and longer vacations. Most people travel there to take in the wonderful sights of the capital city of England and some endeavor to see the British Royal Family (with the Queen being the top of everyone’s list). Many people head to London to take advantage of the finest shopping in the land.
London is one of the main three cities of the world associated with serious shopping, the others being Paris and New York. Check any bottle of perfume and the city is bound to appear somewhere on the packaging and usually on the bottle itself. Virtually every company involved in the retail trade has it’s UK flagship store in one of the primary shopping districts of London.
Department stores, designer shops, fashion shops and boutiques, music shops, bookshops, jewellery shops and virtually any other type of retail outlet is found within easy walking distance of a London tube station. Usually the different types of store tend to appear in groups in certain areas such as Oxford Street, Knightsbridge, New Bond Street and the likes.
Oxford Street And Knightsbridge
Harrods is, most probably, the most famous department store in England and you will find it, along with the superb Harvey Nichols and other stores, in Knightsbridge. Another incredibly famous department store is Selfridges department store found on Oxford Street. Oxford Street has lots of department stores and it has the reputation of being the busiest shopping street in Europe.
Bond Street
Bond Street, in Mayfair, has some of the most expensive shops in London. If you want elegance this is the place to visit it has more shops supplying the Royal Family (Royal Warrant holders) than any other London shopping area. Think Gucci and Armani and you have a rough idea of what to expect.
Covent Garden
If you find Bond Street a bit too expensive for your budget then you will find Covent Garden a pleasant alternative. This is where you will find most of London’s smaller independent fashion shops and shoe shops.
Other Places In London Associated With Shopping
Carnaby Street has a long association with fashion and in recent years the street is once again becoming trendy. If you want an old fashioned British tailor then Savile Row is the most famous place but you will also find tailors in and around Piccadilly. Hatton Garden (near Farringdon) is another place to go for jewelry shops. Shopping for books is best done around the Charing Cross Road although you may find some bookshops in Covent Garden too.
London has lots more places in which to go shopping and the above list is not comprehensive, there are simply too many. Other places to go shopping, especially for unusual items, are the many London markets, too many to list here.
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