Must-see shopping in England
Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields
Every Sunday, the stretch of Brick Lane between Buxton St and Bethnal Green Rd is closed to traffic so stallholders can set up shop. Stands of fried…
Oxford
Blackwell's split-level sibling store, all but opposite the main bookshop, specialises in reference books, coffee-table tomes, posters, cards and…
Oxford
A treasure trove of traditional butchers, fishmongers, cobblers, florists, barbers, coffee bars, restaurants and independent shops, Oxford’s 250-year-old…
Oxford
The Oxford Committee for Famine Relief opened its first-ever shop on Broad St in 1948 – and it’s still going strong, selling secondhand clothes, homewares…
London
For one of London's oddest shopping experiences, pass through security and descend 12m into the windowless subterranean depths of the London Silver Vaults…
Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9¾
North London
Pottermania refuses to die down and Diagon Alley remains impossible to find, but if you have junior witches and wizards seeking a wand of their own, take…
The West End
Run by the people behind the design and international current affairs magazine Monocle, this tiny (and attitudy) shop stocks very costly clothing, bags,…
Cadenhead's Whisky Shop & Tasting Room
The West End
Scotland's oldest independent bottler of pure, non-blended whisky from local distilleries, this shop is a joy for anyone with a passion for uisge-beatha …
The West End
Walking into this Japanese sweet shop is a mind-blowing experience. Wagashi (Japanese sweets) are made out of all sorts of rice and sweet red-bean paste …
West Cornwall
Every Sunday, one of Cornwall's biggest car boot sales takes over the main sports ground in the village of Rosudgeon. It's a vast affair, covering several…
Brixton, Peckham & South London
Old-fashioned antiques markets are a dying breed in London, but this resurrected weekly event makes a good stab at it. Old ad posters, vintage jewellery…
Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields
Dedicated to simple and functional, yet scrumptiously stylish, traditional British and European homewares, Labour & Wait specialises in items by…
Kensington & Hyde Park
The motto 'One man's rubbish is another man's treasure' couldn't be truer in this part of London, where the 'rubbish' is made up of designer gowns,…
Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields
One of the capital's biggest vintage clothing stores, Atika has more than 20,000 hand-selected items for men and women covering the last four decades. The…
Greenwich
The unique fisheye-view drawings of various areas of London (and other cities, including New York, Paris and Berlin) by architect Hartwig Braun are works…
The West End
Edgy and exciting, this series of knocked-together shops on upmarket South Molton St is full of luxury threads and shoes from internationally renowned…
London
This modern, multilevel shopping centre is filled with places to eat for all budgets and all the usual chain-store suspects – and is thankfully open on…
The West End
James J Fox has been in business for over 230 years and any cigar merchant that kept Winston Churchill well supplied with maduros has to be a reliable…
The West End
Subterranean Skoob has to be London's largest second-hand bookshop, with some 55,000 titles spread over 186 sq metres of basement space, with about 5000…
The West End
South of Oxford St and running parallel to Wardour St, this fruit-and-vegetable market has managed to hang on to its prime location since the late 18th…
The West End
This Dutch chain is a ‘network of brands’: most of the clothes it stocks are European labels that are little known in the UK. Spread over three floors,…
Birmingham
Split into two vast retail spaces – the East Mall and West Mall – the Bullring has all the international brands and chain cafes you could ask for, plus…
Greenwich
If it's 'salty', this 'first shop in the world' (it's just over the meridian at 00'00.4' W, so can thus make that claim) will stock it – from bells and…
The West End
Hailing from London, Topshop is one of many 'high street' clothing retailers selling racks of inexpensive fast fashion. Every week more than 400,000…
The West End
Paul Smith represents the best of British classics with innovative twists. Super-stylish menswear, suits and tailored shirts are all laid out on open…
The West End
A more central basement outlet of an enormous warehouse on Cheshire St just off Brick Lane in East London, Beyond Retro sells vintage and some vintage…
South Bank
You'll find an extensive selection of books covering literature, history, art and more, as well as National Theatre merchandise and unusual gifts…
Oxford
This tiny 500-year-old shop was operating as a grocery – and managed by a sheep – when Lewis Carroll’s Alice popped in. Opposite Carroll’s Christ Church…
The West End
This tiny shop in Covent Garden's central market building is a temple to all things Moomin – that weird hippo-like character created by Finnish artist…
Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields
Selling everything from furniture to china and clothing, all in the zaniest of prints, this store is well worth a look. If you ever wanted to have your…
The Cotswolds
Yes, the only thing they sell here is brushes. But they are very nice brushes, the kind of brushes you might buy even if you didn’t think you needed a…
Plymouth
While not as thriving as it once was, the city's market is the place to get locally landed fish and shellfish. Other stalls are strong on fruit, veg and…
The Midlands & the Marches
Stalls at Leicester's award-winning indoor food hall and outdoor markets, revamped in 2018, sell everything from organic vegetables, aromatic spices, fish…
Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields
This supremely elegant and cool menswear boutique is brought to you by fashion designer Philip Start. It offers casualwear as well as tailoring, all made…
The West End
This traditional toyshop is stuffed with the things that kids of all ages love: Victorian paper theatres, wooden marionettes, finger puppets and antique…
Bristol
A multimillion-pound shopping centre hosting all the big names, selling everything from new threads to boxes of chocolates.
Richmond, Kew & Hampton Court
This small jewellery shop down charming Brewers Lane sells an intriguing and eye-catching collection of necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings,…
South Cornwall
Fowey's fifth-generation butcher also runs an excellent deli in the town centre, selling lots of premium goodies, including Fowey Valley Cider, Cornish…
South Bank
This small enclave slightly set back from the river is home to independent boutiques selling ceramics, art, clothes and jewellery, as well as a couple of…
