Where to actually shop in London, by what you are buying

Sorted by what you are buying

1. 1

   Oxford Street

   W1 · Marble Arch, Bond Street, Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road

   A mile and a half of high street, and honestly most of it is the same chains you have at home. Three reasons to be here: Selfridges at the Marble Arch end, which is a genuinely great department store; the big flagships around Oxford Circus if you want the full size run; and the Christmas lights. Walk the Marble Arch half and skip the eastern end.

2. 2

   Bond Street and Mayfair

   W1 · Bond Street or Green Park

   Old and New Bond Street are the luxury spine, and Burlington Arcade off Piccadilly is a covered Regency arcade with beadles in top hats who will still stop you whistling, which was a rule about signalling to pickpockets. Fortnum and Mason is on Piccadilly and it is worth going into whether or not you buy anything.

3. 3

   Regent Street and Carnaby

   W1 · Oxford Circus or Piccadilly Circus

   Regent Street is the curve, with Liberty just off it in the mock-Tudor building made from two ships. Carnaby, behind it, is the compromise between high street and independent: mid-size brands, no cars, and the best street decoration in London every November.

4. 4

   Covent Garden and Seven Dials

   WC2 · Covent Garden or Leicester Square

   The Piazza itself is mostly big brands and street performers. The good part is the streets north of it. Neal Street, Monmouth Street, Shorts Gardens and the seven lanes radiating off the Seven Dials sundial pillar. Independent boutiques, perfumers, shoe shops and Neal's Yard Dairy. Seven Dials Market is a covered food hall in an old banana warehouse and it is where you stop.

5. 5

   Marylebone

   W1 · Baker Street or Bond Street

   Ten minutes north of Oxford Street and a completely different city. Marylebone High Street and Chiltern Street are where Londoners with money actually shop. Daunt Books, with its oak galleries and travel section shelved by country, is the best-looking bookshop in Britain. The farmers' market runs on Sunday mornings in the Cramer Street car park. St Christopher's Place, a narrow alley off Oxford Street, gets you here without the crowds.

6. 6

   Westfield London, White City

   Ariel Way W12 7GF · Shepherd's Bush or Wood Lane

   The bigger of the two by retail space, over 300 shops, and it has The Village, a luxury wing with the brands you would otherwise trek to Bond Street for. Indoors, warm, and it has a car park, which is the whole argument for it.

7. 7

   Westfield Stratford City

   Montfichet Road E20 1EJ · Stratford

   Around 350 shops, and the better day out of the two because of what is next to it: the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the ArcelorMittal Orbit, and V&A East Museum and Storehouse, both free and both new. Shopping in the morning, museum in the afternoon, and you are on the Jubilee, Central and Elizabeth lines.

8. 8

   Spitalfields and Brick Lane

   E1 · Liverpool Street or Shoreditch High Street

   Old Spitalfields Market for design-led stalls under a Victorian roof, then Brick Lane for vintage by the kilo. Sunday is the full version with the UpMarket and the Backyard Market running. Saturday is quieter and the stalls are thinner.

9. 9

   Coal Drops Yard

   Stable Street N1C 4AB · King's Cross St Pancras

   Fifty-odd shops in two restored Victorian coal stores. Smaller and more curated than either Westfield, with independent labels alongside the bigger names, and it is the only shopping centre in London that is also a piece of architecture worth the trip.

10. 10

    Bicester Village

    Oxfordshire · train from Marylebone, about 46 minutes

    The outlet everybody asks about. Around 160 boutiques with genuine discounts on last season, and genuine crowds. Go on a weekday, go early, and understand that the coaches arrive from about eleven. Direct trains from Marylebone to Bicester Village station.

A shopping day that actually works

Two routes we walk, both built so that you finish near transport rather than a mile from it.

• The west day: Carnaby, New Bond Street, Burlington Arcade, Fortnum and Mason, Berkeley Square, Oxford Street, Selfridges, then north through St Christopher's Place to Marylebone High Street, Chiltern Street and Daunt Books. About three miles, and you end at Baker Street.
• The east day: Covent Garden and Seven Dials in the morning, Seven Dials Market for lunch, then the Elizabeth line to Stratford for Westfield and V&A East. Two districts, twenty minutes apart, and nothing carried further than a station.

If you have a car, and the bag problem

Central London is deliberately hostile to cars and the shopping districts are the most hostile part of it. But if you are buying more than you can carry, a car changes the day completely, and the trick is to use it as a locker rather than as transport.

Congestion Charge

£18 a day

7am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 12pm to 6pm weekends and bank holidays. £21 if you pay late. Electric vehicles started paying on 2 January 2026

ULEZ

£12.50 a day

Every London borough, 24 hours, every day except Christmas Day. Only if your vehicle does not meet the standard

Battersea Power Station

Two car parks

Pump House Lane SW11 8BJ and Circus Road West SW11 8EZ, 2.2m height limit, EV charging. Outside the Congestion Charge zone

Westfield London

Multi-storey

Outside the zone, and the reason White City beats Oxford Street for a big shop

Westfield Stratford City

Multi-storey

Outside the zone. Park here, shop, then walk to V&A East

The move: park outside the Congestion Charge zone at a Westfield or at Battersea, take one tube stop in, shop, come back and drop the bags in the boot, go out again. You pay nothing to drive and you never carry more than one trip.

Where to leave things if you have no car

• Selfridges and Harrods both run hands-free services where the store holds your bags while you keep shopping and you collect at the end.
• Every major London terminus has left luggage. It is not cheap, and it is cheaper than dragging four bags round a museum.
• If you are buying something large or fragile, ask the shop to ship it. Since the VAT scheme ended, having the retailer send it abroad is the only route that still removes the 20 per cent.

Tax-free shopping

There is no VAT refund at the airport in Great Britain. If you are buying something expensive to take home, ask the shop to ship it abroad for you, which can remove the 20 per cent, or buy it airside in duty free.

What it costs

What to skip

• The eastern half of Oxford Street, between Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road. It has thinned out badly.
• Covent Garden Piazza itself, unless you want a street performer and a chain shop.
• Bicester Village on a Saturday, or any day after eleven in the morning.
• Camden Market if you are actually shopping rather than sightseeing. It is a great day out and a poor place to buy clothes you will still wear next year.
• Anyone who tells you about a VAT refund. It has not existed since 2021.