There is a reason that I have devoted half of one of my seven days in London to Harrods...it is huge! Not only is it the biggest department store in Europe, it is the most well known! Although some things at Harrods can be expensive, it is worth just going there to look around, even though you may not have the money to buy a lot of things. I am also looking forward to going to their famous food hall. I have been advised that the food hall is second to Borough Market as a chef's haven. No matter what you are looking for, Harrods probably has it. Although the original story of Harrods goes back to 1834, it wasn't until 1849 when it came to its current location on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, South Kensington. The owner Charles Henry Harrod, had operated a few stores around London before taking over a small shop on Brompton Road, where the store now stands. Beginning in a single room employing two assistants and a messenger boy, Harrod's son Charles Digby Harrod built the business into a thriving retail operation selling medicines, perfumes, stationery, fruit and vegetables. Harrods rapidly expanded, acquired the adjoining buildings, and employed one hundred people by 1880. However, the store's booming fortunes were reversed in early December 1883, when it burnt to the ground. Remarkably, in view of this calamity, Charles Harrod fulfilled all of his commitments to his customers to make Christmas deliveries that year—and made a record profit in the process. In short order, a new building was built on the same site, and soon Harrods extended credit for the first time to its best customers, among them Oscar Wilde, Lillie Langtry, Ellen Terry, Charlie Chaplin, Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Sigmund Freud, A. A. Milne, and many members of the British Royal Family. On Wednesday, 16 November 1898, Harrods debuted England's first "moving staircase" (escalator) in their Brompton Road stores; the device was actually a woven leather conveyor belt-like unit with a mahogany and "silver plate-glass" balustrade. Nervous customers were offered brandy at the top to revive them after their 'ordeal'. The department store was purchased by the Fayed brothers in 1985. In 2010, Harrod's owner Mohamed al Fayed, sold the store for £1.5 billion to Qatar Holdings, the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar. Two weeks prior to that Fayed had stated "People approach us from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar. Fair enough. But I put two fingers up to them. It is not for sale. This is not Marks and Spencer or Sainsbury's. It is a special place that gives people pleasure. There is only one Mecca." He later stated in an interview he wanted his "legacy and traditions that he has built up into Harrods would be continued." Harrods was a former Royal Warrant Holder. It has held Royal Warrants since 1910. The recent ones were as follows:
In 2000, the Royal Warrant for the Duke of Edinburgh was removed and Mohamed al Fayed had the others taken down and burned. He proclaimed that the warrants were a curse. He then on went to state that business had doubled since removing the warrants. Most may know, Mohamed al Fayed's son Dodi Fayed was killed along with Diana, Princess of Wales in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997. A memorial shrine now rests in the store between two of the Egyptian Escalators. The shop's 330 departments offer a wide range of products and services. Products on offer include clothing for women, men, children and infants, electronics, jewellery, sporting gear, bridal trousseau, pets and pet accessories, toys, food and drink, health and beauty items, packaged gifts, stationery, housewares, home appliances, furniture, and much more. A representative sample of shop services includes 32 restaurants, serving everything from high tea to tapas to pub food to haute cuisine; a personal shopping-assistance program known as "By Appointment"; a watch repair service; a tailor; a dispensing pharmacy; a beauty spa and salon; a barbers shop; Harrods Financial Services; Harrods Bank; Ella Jade Bathroom Planning and Design Service; private events planning and catering; food delivery; a wine steward; bespoke "picnic" hampers and gift boxes; bespoke cakes; bespoke fragrance formulations; and Bespoke Arcades machines. Up to 300,000 customers visit the shop on peak days, comprising the highest proportion of customers from non-English speaking countries of any department store in London. More than five thousand staff from over fifty different countries work at Harrods. Opening Times
Please refer to the "Visiting the Store" section of the official website. There are different opening and closing times throughout the year. For more info about the store including current times, store guides, departments, or even online shopping, click on the official site for Harrods below! Cheers!
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This part of my book deals with the hardest part about a trip to London...Money! You of course need a heck of a lot of it to go. To help you raise the money, this part of my travel tips will explain all about British Money! Enjoy... Money The currency of the United Kingdom is called the Pound Sterling (£). £1 is divided into 100 pence (p). The coin/paper money thing is interesting. Unlike a $1 paper note they have a £1 coin. The coins that Britain mints are £1, £2, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, and 1 penny. They also print large denomination paper notes. The notes they print are £5, £10, £20, and £50. £1 is roughly worth $1.65-$1.70. The exchange rate changes sometimes daily. For up to date rates look online. Personally I prefer "fx-rate.net". It provides the current exchange rate and it has a converter for you to use to determine how much you will spend on something. To check out this site, click the link at the bottom. Traveler’s checks are (to many) a thing of the past. ATMs are widely used in London and across Europe. You will however probably have to make sure you have a “Chip and Pin” card. It is a card that reads a chip rather than the magnetic strip, you then have to type in your personal identification number. Most European ATMs are for using those kind of cards. Our American magnetic strips may not be used in a lot of London ATMs, but they can be used for purchasing items in stores. Many trip advisers would dis agree with me, but I would suggest changing some money on the US side that way you have enough for transport into the city from the airport once in England. I would suggest maybe getting at least £50 for transport into London and maybe a quick bite to eat at the airport or something. Then, the next morning before setting out, go to an ATM and get a days’ worth of spending money. Just use cash. It is simpler than cards and most places will appreciate it more if you use cash. There is one thing you should know. The Bank of England and the Bank of Scotland both print their own banknotes. In England, Scottish notes are not accepted as stated on the Bank of England’s website. The same is probably said for English notes in Scotland. However, some merchants in England or Scotland have been said to accept the conflicting notes. Just check where you are. If you fly from London to Edinburgh or the other way around and you have stray notes from that country, check to see if local merchants accept them and or just change them for that country’s notes. I hope this information helps you to understand the British money system. To check on the Pound/Dollar exchange rates (which change daily),as well as Rick Steves' Money Tips, click on the respective links below. Cheers! Hi readers, here is the next section from my book. This section is titled "Tickets and Passes". This is the smallest section of my book. It all dials down to one thing...save money! Enjoy...
Tickets and Passes London is site crazy. Buying dozens of tickets can get stressful and expensive very quickly. Luckily most “government funded” museums are free (British Museum, National Gallery, etc.), but a lot of places are not. I make a chart of the sites I want to see and I divide them between which are free and which require tickets. That shows what tickets I have to buy. I also divide them into subsections based on location in the city. What it all comes down to it, save money when you can. That way what money you save can be used for dinner splurges or for all those souvenirs you will bring home. I have found one sightseeing pass in particular to be the best idea. It is called the “London Pass”. It gains you access to over sixty London attractions and gives special discounts and offers on sites that are already free. You also have the option to get a London Pass with Travelcard. With this it gives you free use of the London Underground Tube system and bus system. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, not all of the sites you might want to see are not included. For me I get into the sites I want to see and only have to end up buying maybe one or two tickets separately. For example, the London Eye is owned by British Airways and requires a ticket and St. Paul’s Cathedral requires a ticket. It is well worth the money. For £108 for a six day pass and Travelcard, you get over £500 worth of sites. I hope this inspires your trip planning. If I were you I would really consider opting to buy the London Pass. Instead of dozens of separate fees and paper tickets, you get one fee and one card. Less stress on your mind and your wallet. For more info on the London Pass, click on the photo below to be linked to the Official Website. |
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