Shopping in London

London – a real paradise for a shopping lover, traditionally considered one of the best shopping areas of the world. There are shops for every taste and wallet, from huge malls and tiny boutiques to street counters, markets and antique shops. In total, there are more than thirty thousand licensed shops and boutiques in the city, and almost a third of them are concentrated in the central districts. And taking into account the temporary stalls and street markets, this figure can be safely multiplied by two.

Shops in London

Oxford Street is traditionally considered the most popular place for shopping (OXFORD STREET, WWW.OxfordStreet.co.UK) throughout its MARBLE Arch to CentrePoint Tower. This is the largest shopping street in Europe, forever filled with crowds of tourists and buyers. Here you can find almost everything, for every taste, needs and size of the wallet, from the legendary Suite of Selfridges in the western part and the popular John Lewis complex, to huge megamollov at Oxford Circus (here, for example, are located the largest clothing store in the world – Topshop, as well as sports Nike Town) and numerous design galleries on Bond Street (Bond Steet). In parallel, it stretches to a calmer Marylebone High Street, famous for beautiful restaurants, cozy shops and a famous Sunday Farmer Baza.

Knightsbridge (KNIGHTSBridge) and Kensington (Kensington) – Paradise for wealthy buyers. Here is the most famous department store in the world and one of the most popular London attractions – Harrods, leading its history since 1849, as well as no less famous eight-storey Harvey Nichols. Almost from the walls of the latter begins the street of luxury "Stores for Millionaires" Sloane Street, known for its exclusive boutiques and fashion galleries. On Kensington High Street you can detect an abundance of network stores and specialized boutiques, and on the nearby Kensington Church Street – many antique benches.

NOTTING HILL DISTRICT Attracts Shopaholikov’s shopogolikov – Portobello Road’s famous street (Portobello Road). Here, as well as in the WestBourne Grove area, many antique shops and galleries, food shops and boutiques are concentrated, and on Saturdays along the road, tent counters open. In general, this area is considered one of the largest street markets of the planet (WWW.portobellomarket.ORG).

Camden (Camden Town, WWW.CamdenMarkets.ORG) is known unusual (and inexpensive!) stores, nightclubs, interesting markets (first of all the complex from the connected transitions, tunnels and bridges Stables Market, Horse Tunnel Market, Stables, Camden Buck Street, Inverness, Camden Market and Camden Lock Market), as well as clothing stores, antique and Music shops. Camden regulars argue that it is the third attendance by the place in London after the Buckingham Palace and Tower, and on weekends it will hardly believe it. The Camden Lock Market market works 7 days a week from dawn to 14: 00-16: 00 (most tents by this time are already folding work, although some others are open to darkness), but visit it best on Saturday.

Inexpensive shopping points include TK Maxx stores (WWW.Tkmaxx.COM), Westfield Shopping Centers (WWW.uk.Westfield.COM / LONDON), stretched from Burlington Gardens to Piccadilly Shopping Passage Burlington Arcade, Jewelry Quarter in Northern City, Fortnum Department Stores & Manson (www.Fortnumandmason.COM) on Piccadilly Circus, Debenhams (WWW.Debenhams.COM), FenWick (www.Fenwick.co.UK), Liberty Multibrend Store (WWW.Liberty.co.UK), as well as dozens and hundreds of other popular outlets, the descriptions of which can be found in any booklet or specialized sites.

Bookstores are focused on Charing Cross Street, Musical – almost everywhere, but the most famous is Tower Records (Piccadilly Circus, 1).

Markets and Outlets in London

London street trading platforms – mandatory part of the Sunday program for both tourists and locals. Famous Indoor Borough Market (Borough Market, WWW.BoroughMarket.Org.UK) Located under the railway routes of London Bridge station literally in the quarter of the South South South Cathedral and the London Bridge. This is the oldest British capital market – the first bargaining here opened about 2,000 years ago, and in the modern form the complex works about 250 years. Every morning, fresh products are delivered here from all the ends of England, and their quality is paid primary attention, and a huge selection attracts not only Londoners, but also tourists. In addition, many restaurants, cafes and pubs are concentrated around, where you can eat quickly and delicious at any time of the day. From Thursday to Saturday, the market is open to everyone, and on the other days it works only for wholesalers.

Popular markets such as GreenWich Market (WWW.Greenwichmarket.NET), BRICK Lane Market (WWW.Visitbricklane.ORG), Camden Passage (www.CamdenPassageISLington.co.UK), Spitalfields Market (WWW.OldspitalFieldsmarket.com), Berwick Street Market, Billingsgate Fish Market, Brixton Market, Leadenhall Market, Smithfield Market, Columbia Road Flower Market, Alfie’s Antique Market, Grays Antiques Market, Sunday clothing market in Petticoat Lane Market, as well as the already mentioned Camden Lock (www.CamdenLockMarket.COM) I "The largest antiques market in the world" Portobello Road MARKET (WWW.Portobeloroad.co.UK). It should be borne in mind that when visiting London bazaars (especially on weekends), elevated security measures from pockets and other vorauses should be taken.

Special attention deserves Outlet BICESTER VILLAGE (WWW.Bicestervillage.Com, enters the Chic Outlet Shopping discount system), lying on the southern outskirts of the town of Bister (BICESTER), 70 km northwest London. This is a real shopping town in which buyers are waiting for a combination of boutiques of the most famous brands (about 130 outlets), and discounts on most of the goods in them reach up to 60% all year round. There are also several restaurants and cafes, large parking and other infrastructure elements. Despite the decent distance, you can get to Biceester Village from the capital in almost an hour thanks to a convenient transport scheme – Outlet lies right along the A41 highway, in the very same Bister there are 2 railway stations. A bus ticket coming from the center of London (Departure at 9:00, back – at 17:00), you can booked on the site of the complex – it will cost 25 pounds, but will give an additional 10% discount on purchases.

Sales

Traditionally, two major sales are held in the UK – winter (January) and summer (July, sometimes from late June until the end of August – each store itself sets deadlines, and they may differ significantly). Many printed and electronic publications publish a schedule of a discount period with addresses, work modes, prices and expected discounts in specific stores involved in the promotion. This is the best time for purchases, when literally all stores lower prices, as a rule, by 30-70%. However, such a picture is not characterized not for the entire sales period – often the maximum discounts are observed in the first days, if not the clock, this action, and then, when the most popular product is already fully implemented, discounts fluctuate mainly around 25-30%. But by the end of the sales they can take off to 70-80% again, though the range will already be significantly already. However, during the year, various outlets are arranged additional offseason sales. They normally last 2-3 weeks, cover only some particular category of goods, and discounts during their period are usually 20-50%.