Shopping In London

I have been exploring London a lot over the last six weeks. One of the great things is that there are so many independent shops. And just really great shops. Some favourites I have discovered so far...

Where I live in Chiswick is great for bookshops and delis. We have five bookshops; a Waterstones, a second hand one, an antiquarian one, a remaindered one and one just small independent one.

Foodwise there are two amazing butchers, a mindboggling fish shop and many, many bakeries and delis. Heaven for foodies.

Shepherds Bush is a more varied area with Goldhawk Road home to about fifteen fabric shops, some of which feature Indian or African fabrics. Shepherds Bush Market Is good for cheap stuff and also sells lots of African food like yams and goat meat.

Oxford Street John Lewis is beautiful and massive and has a huge homewares department. I got very lost on  just one floor and never found haberdashery.

Wholefoods in Kensington is a very gorgeous, very expensive food shop with wonderful artisan loaves, a sealed room for pongy cheese and much much more.

For mainstream shopaholics the Westfield Shopping Centre near Shepherds Bush is enormous and has all the chains and department stores you expect in a glitzy building.

Forbidden Planet Covent Garden is a big comic, book and merchandise shop, fantastic if you like fantasy, scifi, superheroes and those things. Nearby is The Orcs Nest which stocks roleplaying, card and board games in a grungy futuristic interior.

I am sure there are many more shops to discover, my next target is Portobello Road.