SHOPPING IN LONDON

Shopping is one of the main reasons people flock to London all year round. With over 30, 000 shops from huge department stores to fabulous fashion boutiques, it is one of the world centres for fashion, style and music.  A wide variety of shops are all over London, from high priced exclusive clothing and goods, to some amazing deals. For lovers of clothes shopping, London has all the designs and the wackiest looks.  If you are not looking for clothing but for antiques, books, food or sporting memorabilia you will have no problems finding the shop you need. Here's a partial list of some of the best places to visit for shopping in London.
 

With up to 370 trader stalls this is a treasure trove of goodies.  In the basement you will find painting, pictures frames, Art Deco lighting and furniture from the Arts and Crafts movement.  Upstairs is focused on textiles, posters, garden ornaments, ceramics and glass.                                                                                        
Edqware Road/Marylebone tube

Located next to the Camden Locks, this is the most popular market in London. It gets extremely busy on weekends with thousands of merchants.  You are sure to find the ideal shoe or outfit, or rare CD here, as well as watch an amazing parade of people.               Opened 10-6 Thurs-Sun 
Camden High Street Tube

KENSINGTON MARKET 

Located on Kensington High Street, this market inside a building caters to underground fashions. You can also find an exciting array of hair dye, punk and gothic clothing and supplies, record stores, the latest in techno, platform shoes, leather goods, jewellery and more. Open 10-6, Closed on Sundays.
Kensington High Street Tube.

PORTOBELLO ROAD

This old market features antique goods, as well as clothing and music, hundreds of stalls on weekends, and cafes and bars.  It is also a starstudded area, with many famous people living and shopping in the area and of course this is in Notting Hill, now famous due to the recent film.
Ladbroke Grove Tube

OXFORD AND REGENT STREETS

This is the main area in which to find High Street stores. All the main ones are here from Marks and Spencer, Debenhams, John Lewis, Hamley's Toy Shop, Boots, W.H. Smith, Bhs, C&A, and many more specialty shops. You may not find any low priced goods here, but it's worth a look. Piccadilly or Oxford Circus Tubes.

SELFRIDGES & C

HARRODS

Most people make a visit to this shop just to look at the costly price tags, as well as the food section. Be sure to dress respectively, as there is a dress code to shop here!  Please note that backpacks are not allowed.                                                                               Sloane Street or Knightsbridge tubes
 

CARNABY STREET

This street was enormously popular in the sixties for fashion, but still has some shops worth investigating. Mostly rock shops with T-shirts and accessories, but Shelley's shoes is one of the best shops in London for shoes.                                                                        
Oxford Circus Tube
 

SEVEN DIALS

A junction of seven up and coming streets which offer a mix of stylish shops providing everything from fashion and flashy gifts to homewares, gadgets and flowers.  Be on the lookout for designer shops, shoe shops, Lush which sells handmade toiletries, Cyberdogs with hardcore clubbing gear and accessories and Kitschen Sync for kooky paraphernalia.                                                                         
Convent Garden Tub

BERWICK STREET MARKET

This small market in Soho has vegetable stalls as well as tourist goods, clothing, and a lot of ambient/techno record shops lining the street.                                                                                      
Piccadilly Circus Tube
 

SOHO

Soho is the place to go for a variety of boutiques; Janet Fitch for designer jewellery, Metalmorphis for body piercings, and Ann Summers for kinky lingerie. Ambient Soho and Black Market Records stock the best of techno, jungle and dance music. Vintage Magazine Shop for excellent movie & TV memorabilia and posters. Also erotic videos, sex toys, good cafes and restaurants, strip clubs... Soho is an interesting place to wander around.                            
Piccadilly Circus tube.
 

TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD

Stereo and electrical shops and home design stores....good bargains to be found here.                                                                    
Tottenham Court Road or Goodge Street tubes

CHARING CROSS ROAD

Lots of book stores, rare and specialty, antique editions and more.
Tottenham Court Road tube.
 
CAR BOOT SALES

One can find the best deals at Car Boot Sales, where people empty their homes and sell their stuff cheaply in vacant lots and parking areas around London. Some of the best deals can be found at:

Hackney Wick - one of the biggest car boot sales. Located at Hackney Greyhound Stadium every Sunday, things start happening early with both buyers and sellers showing up at 6am!

Acton - Located at the Bromyard Leisure Centre, Bromyard Avenue. Sundays at 9am, you can phone 0896-253-087 for more details. East Acton Tube.

Chelsea - Every Saturday at 1pm. Small but worth a visit. Located at the Ashburnham Community Centre, Burnaby Street and Lots Road. Fulham Broadway Tube.

Docklands - One of the biggest car boot sales in London, every Sunday around 8am. Royal Albert Dock. Silvetown or City Airport rail.

There's a wide variety of charity shops in London, with some good used clothes to be found. Some of the bigger names like Oxfam tend to charge a bit more, but if you look closely you can find some good independent shops with low prices. There are also stores that specialize in jeans, and tend to mark prices up slightly. Camden Market has a lot of these type of stores, and sell used leather jackets as well.