London Shopping Guide

Because we know girls love shopping, we thought about some great places where you could shop when visiting London:

• Oxford Circus – Oxford Street & Regent Street (crazy busy, I recommend going first thing in the morning at 10am to avoid the huge tourist crowds)

• Covent Garden – Long Acre, James Street and Seven Dials (Also recommended you go earlier, but not quite as busy as Oxford Circus)

• Carnaby Street (A quieter shopping haven hidden from the main craziness of Regent Street)

• Westfield White City – Shepherds Bush (Everything you’ll probably need can be found here, though the vibe isn’t quite the same as the shopping on the high street, it’s great if you really need to find something specific or have a lot of shopping to do)

Supermarkets:

• Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons (all similar to Woolies and Coles)

• ASDA, Aldi, Iceland (budget, similar to Aldi)

• M&S, Waitrose, Wholefoods (premium, similar to Thomas Dux, the latter being purely organic)

For the Home:

• Argos, M&S, IKEA and Tesco (online) are great for tight budgets.

• High street retailers with affordable home collections include Zara, H&M, Muji, Oliver Bonas, Anthropologie

• Homebase (includes hardware and paint), Habitat, Tiger

Department Stores:

• Harrods, John Lewis (similar to David Jones)

• Selfridges (similar to Myer)

• House of Fraser, Selbys, Marks & Spencer (also a supermarket)

Shoes:

• Aldo, Office, Debenhams, Dune, Clarks, Schuh, Kurt Geiger, Superga, Size

• Shoeaholics.com is amazing for quality shoes on a budget

Sportswear:

• Footlocker and JD Sports are great for shoes

• Nike Town, Sports Direct and Lillywhites are some of the biggest retailers

• Sweaty Betty and Lulu Lemon Athletica are both similar to Lorna Jane

• Kathmandu and North Face are for more adventure sports & general outdoor things

Pharmacy & Health:

• Boots (similar to Priceline), Superdrug, GNC (Supplements), Holland & Barrett

• For a list of the best health food stores in London read my Health Food Stores post

• Opticians: Boots Opticians, Vision Express, Specsavers

Lingerie:

• Calzedonia, Intimissimi, Tezenis, Victoria’s Secret

Clothing – High Street Stores

• Biggest high street stores: H&M, Zara, TopShop, River Island, TopMan, Uniqlo, Urban Outfitters (similar to General Pants), GAP

• Low-Cost: Primark (aka Primarni, similar to Big W), New Look, Next (similar to Kmart),Forever 21 (teens, Supre and Valleygirl-esque), Warehouse, Joy, Evans (plus size), Marks & Spencer, Oasis

• Mid-range: COS, & Other Stories, French Connection, Pull & Bear, Cheap Monday, TK Maxx, All Saints, Banana Republic, Benetton, Esprit, Mango

• High-end: Whistles, Barbour, Burberry, Hobbs, Jack Wills, Jigsaw, J.Crew, Karen Millen,Mulberry, Reiss

• Beauty:

• Space NK Apocatherapy, The Perfume Shop, The Body Shop, Toni & Guy, Aesop, Boots, L’Occitane, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Kiehl’s, Neal’s Yard Remedies

• Kids & Baby:

• Mothercare, H&M Kids, Zara Kids, BHS, New Look, Next, Barbour, COS, GAP, Trotters

• Electronics:

• Argos, Currys (similar to The Good Guys)

• Jessops (photography, similar to Teds)

• HMV, Virgin Media (both similar to JB HiFi)

If you still hesitate, take a look at how London looks:

The pictures and the video were used with the approval of the authors.