With a chubby pound sterling symbol snuggling up to every price tag in town, no one ever accused London of being a cheap shopping date. On the other hand, the huge range of stores and quality products from all over the world makes the city an irresistible temptation for even the most frugal visitor. Of course, anything made in the UK is going to be far cheaper than it would cost outside the UK, if you can even find it anywhere else in the world.
As the old saying goes, "When in London shop as the Londoners shop". This involves shopping at sales, tracking down discount shops, and hitting the amazing selection of markets dotted throughout the city and suburbs. If you know where to look, there's no excuse why any shop-a-holic visitor shouldn't be maxing out their luggage allowance for the flight back home.
The official sales at London's department stores take place twice a year. These days, the traditional July sales start in June and run through to the end of July. The biggest sales time is the end of year January sale that usually starts December 26. If you ever find yourself outside Harrods's on opening day, surrounded by hundreds of bargain ravenous housewives as the doors are flung open, you'll understand why we call it Boxing Day.
Many shops also have a permanent sale racks, or promote sales outside these traditional periods to bring in some extra cash. The Evening Standard and Time Out magazine list many of these clearances and warehouse sales.
Depending on where you are from, you might find some London shop assistants less helpful than you are accustomed to. The general excuse is that they work on a wage, rather than an incentive, and believe you should be grateful they even turned up to take your money, wrap your purchase, and show you the door. On the other hand, staff in many of the department stores, smaller shops, and boutiques will go out of the way to help, although you might have to ask for assistance first - it's that personal space thing again.
You could spend your London Vacation days just shopping in London. Old Bond Street offers big name brands such as Gucci, Chanel and Versace, and stunning silver gifts at Asprey's and Tiffany. The main shopping area of King's Road is alive with boutiques of every description, whilst up at Sloane Street, the lady Sloane Rangers of Knightsbridge strut around the most exclusive shopping area in the city and home to both Harrods and Harvey Nichols.
Newer hot spot, Oxo Tower Wharf along Southbank, includes another Harvey Nichols, bars, and designer boutiques. Oxford Street is full of inexpensive fashion shops and chain stores. Charing Cross Road is a literary legacy and Tottenham Court Rd an electronics extravaganza. For the man of culture, Jermyn Street offers hand-made shirts and shoes, Havana cigars, antiques and fine art. Those rebellious teenagers will mope around Camden Town looking for denim, funky hats, boots, jewelry, music, and more, whilst littlies will drag you to Regent Street toy heaven at Hamley's.
After all that, head to Covent Garden, near Soho, and take a load off your feet in the open-air cafes and wine bars, before browsing through the wonderful boutique shops, and antique and craft market held on the weekends.
Shopping hours are generally 9am to 5pm or 6pm, except Thursday when they open until 7pm or 8pm. Some shops don't open until 10am, because, well they just don't want to get up early, especially in winter. On Sundays, shops can remain open for 6 hours, so it might be 10am until 4pm, 11am to 5pm, etc.
Remember the VAT we mentioned earlier? Skipped that bit did you? In a nutshell, almost everything you buy will have an additional 17.5% sales tax whacked on top. If you fill out a form at the time of purchase you can have this refunded at the airport. See here for full details.
It defies all laws of nature to shop in London without being lured into at least one of the department stores. Unless you have a fear of vinyl walkways or miles of clothes racks at close quarters, this is nothing to fear. Over the past few years, department stores have been spruced up to rival the best in New York and Paris, and offer some of the best shopping in the capital. All in all if you're a professional shopper, London is the place to be!
