Fergusbrandon

It’s not without any reason that London is known as a shopper’s paradise. People from all over the world who come to the city for sightseeing or for business purposes have this agenda also in their minds. Most people have a weakness for indulging in shopping and when a place offers so many opportunities, it is difficult to resist the temptation. One of the best areas in London for shopping is the West End that is bubbling with shopping streets including Oxford Street, Regent Street, Covent Garden, Bond Street, Carnaby and Piccadilly. There are endless shopping options in the West End as Bond Street in Mayfair offers price-is-no-consideration type shopping for the affluent; St James’s offers traditional shops with ultra-British items; Regent Street flaunts mid-range glamour; Carnaby Street offers funky stuff and the iconic Oxford Street which is flooded with tourists and other under-25s most of the time but it gets especially crazy during the legendary January sales.

Bond Street: McCartney’s Mayfair shop attracts a lot of window shoppers as it offers classy separates, swimwear, knitwear and affordable lingerie. Dover Street Market offers designer collections that will simply bewilder you and sweep you off your feet but one look at the prices will bring you back to the ground. The Rose Bakery offers rooftop views and great food. Victoria Beckham offers excellently tailored, sharp-edged classics but the products are quite expensive. Fenwick is a 120-year old department store that has five compact floors and offers only selected goods and brands. It also has a great beauty department and offers delicious food.

If you are visiting London and would like to be close to most attractions as well as shopping places, it would be best to stay at The Piccadilly Hotel London as it is located in the core of central London in one of the hubs of shopping and other activities, besides offering luxurious accommodation and great facilities.

Regent Street, Piccadilly and Soho: Liberty, the luxury store, on the east side of Regent Street, has been in existence at the same place since its inception in 1875 and it sells fabrics and objects of art from the Far East. It is gloriously opulent and exotic and it still stocks exquisite Liberty prints but it is definitely quite expensive. Goat on Conduit Street has a collection of beautifully pared separates and dresses. It still has its cashmere bias but now it also features lovely lace and embroidery. It is another expensive store. Carnaby Street revived around the Millennium and now features gleaming boutiques and shops belonging to chains. It has plenty of shops from Camper to Muji along with many bars and restaurants. Waterstones offers five floors of books, helpful assistants and a Cafe W meant for relaxation and reading of your purchases. At Burlington & Piccadilly Arcades you can find classic English goods in Burlington Arcade having small shops offering a wide range of products from hand-made slippers to jewellery. For masculine gifts, from model soldiers to coloured blazers and socks in New Lingwood, you have to visit the Piccadilly Arcade.

Visitors to London, who are on a budget or those who wish to save on accommodation cost, should try to avail of London West End Hotel Deal And Offers that will provide them attractive discounts on room rates and some freebies.

Oxford Street: Selfridges & Co is the high fashion iconic store which is famous for its Shoe Galleries that opened in 2010 with 55,000 pairs of shoes in stock and 4,000 on display, arranged in six different galleries and 11 boutiques which is a massive collection indeed. Primark is just the opposite as it is the most affordable store with amazingly low prices but the goods appear to be designer stuff but in cheap and cheerful fabrics. Topshop offers affordable fashion clothes for women although not as cheap as Primark. 14 collections in the store have been designed by Kate Moss. Browns is a legendary fashion store that now works like an art gallery and it reflects the current fashion mood. Folk was basically for menswear but now it also offers women’s clothes and perky accessories.

Covent Garden: Stanford’s offers maps of all sorts including Ordnance Survey maps and it also offers travel books and quirky gifts. Cath Kidston is all about florals but not as elaborate as in the main store at Piccadilly. It is a new addition to Covent Garden upmarket and is full of the English designer’s fresh, pretty, retro designs, usually flower-based, which decorate everything from aprons and tents to little girls’ handbags and wellington boots. It is an ideal place for last-minute shopping after a hectic stay in London. Stephen Jones, Milliner is a small shop matching Covent Garden’s artisan history. If you look through the windows opposite the Grand Lodge, you will find hats in utterly chic style pinned to their blocks like butterflies. Blackout II Vintage is a small vintage shop that has been able to survive in the new Covent Garden. You can find dresses from the 1920s-80s fluttering in the wind having been displayed outside and also attracting attention from the shop window in this packed two-floor shop that also offers menswear, lingerie (mostly silk) and 1000 pairs of shoes in the basement, as per rumours.

Marylebone: Margaret Howell offers classy but simple clothes that will probably last forever as the best British fabrics and textiles have been used. This store is one of several MHL stores in London but it is more popular as it is in a peaceful neighbourhood and in the vicinity of several coffee shops. Cabbages & Frocks Saturday Market operates every Saturday in the churchyard of St Marylebone Parish Church where a number of stalls sell clothes, jewellery and homemade food. Daunt Books is an eponymous bookshop in Marylebone that is distinguished by its not-too-fashionable wooden bookshelves and a large backspace where books are launched and a number of lectures take place. This is one of six Daunt Bookshops in London.