Ah! My favorite subject when it comes to London. For info on all of the places below, click on their adjacent pictures. I don't think I need to explain further, so here you go! Enjoy... Shopping The one thing that most people look forward to is coming home with all sorts of goodies. Although you won’t be able to buy the Crown Jewels at the Tower but you can always buy some other good souvenirs at the gift shop and do some other shopping. Of course at every tourist destination you go to, certainly go into the gift shop and have a look around. One benefit if you were to opt for the London Pass that I spoke of earlier, it offers 10% off purchases at a lot of gift shops. If you have a look in the guidebook that comes with it, it lists all of the places where it gives you a discount at gift shops. Some of the major sites included are the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, and Westminster Abbey. Once you get aside from the tourist gift shops you can get into some serious shopping. Of course without a doubt one of the biggest names to shop in London is Harrods. It is the world’s largest department store. It is in the west end of the city in South Kensington. Spread over seven floors you can find almost anything you could imagine. But also as you can imagine it can be a bit on the expensive side. Another popular destination is the part of London known as Piccadilly. It is home to such names as Fortnum and Masons, Waterstones Bookstore, Lillywhites, and Cool Britannia. Around the Piccadilly neighborhood there are also big shopping districts such as Regent and Jermyn streets. That is where things can be way on the expensive sides. You can also opt for the less expensive and quite popular street markets and stores. Probably the best known in London are Covent Garden and Borough Market, Portobello Road, and Brick Lane. Covent Garden is just a few blocks away from Trafalgar Square. It is home to four markets in one location. They are called the Jubilee, Apple, East Colonnade, and Real Foods Markets. The Apple Market is found just within the main market building. The Jubilee market is on the right side of the building. Its goods change every day. Mondays are for antiques. From Tuesday to Friday the market has stalls selling household goods, clothing, food and gifts, and on Saturdays and Sundays it's devoted to arts and crafts, with more than 200 artisans selling everything from candles to jewelry, paintings to clocks and calligraphy. Borough Market is the most popular markets food wise. It is found in east London on the Southbank of the Thames River. It is just feet away from the London Bridge Tube Station. It is the premier place for local food artisans. It is a perfect place to grab a picnic lunch to enjoy in one of the many parks. If you prefer a street market for antiques or crafts, you should check out Portobello Road. It is arguably the most exciting street market in London. It offers anything you can imagine. It is spread over several blocks in the Notting Hill district just north of Kensington in between Hyde and Holland Parks. On the opposite end of London there is Brick Lane Market. Just north of the Tower of London, it is in the midst of the Bangladesh community. It offers handmade clothes and crafts amidst dozens of street food vendors. For more info go to the website below. At the end of the day, don’t blow all of your spending limit in one place. Also, don’t just go there to shop. (Even though London gives you plenty of reasons to do so). Take some time out of each of your days to get off the beaten path of sightseeing and explore all of the shopping destinations London has to offer in the particular part of the city you are visiting. Tie some places into your itinerary. If you are near Trafalgar square, stop off at Covent Garden or Piccadilly. If you are near the Tower of London, stop over to Borough Market or Brick Lane. Once you have all the souvenirs you can handle, you then have the matter of packing them up to take home. I will discuss that in the next section. I hope this helps you. In the next and final chapter of my book, I will explain how to pack up all those goodies you bought whilst in London. Cheers!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
March 2015
Categories
All
|