Where in the UK do you think has the best shopping?

[TheTurnOfTheScrew]

12yo DC1 wants a shopping trip for her birthday. We do actually live 15mins drive from the centre of a big city with decent shops, but to make it more of an occasion I'm up for going somewhere different - even doing an overnight trip if I can get a decently priced Premier Inn. Where do you rate?

Bristol or Bath ( or both! ) Bristol has St Nicks Market full of independent market and food stalls but just down the round is Cabot Circus and broadmead.

museums etc are an irrelevance
she wants to shop, and eat. It's her birthday. We have every other day to force culture upon her.

For some different, you could try Durham City. Lots of character, lovely places to eat, and lots of high street shops. Or, for something a little bigger, Newcastle is absolutely fab. Loads of galleries, friendly people, great architecture and a fantastic mix of designer and high street stores.

London has Camden, portobello Road, Brick Lane, Shoreditch, kings Road, High Street Ken, Carnaby Street, Soho, 2 Westfields, Oxford Street/Regent Street (Flagships of all high street shops) Knightsbridge and that’s just a few of the places there are shops & restaurants- I can’t realky see how anywhere can have more?

Primarks biggest store is opening in Birmingham on 11th April. Bullring good shops for young people, Forever21 etc

justanotherlurker 🤔

London shopping doesn’t have to be Oxford street. Carnaby street is good, Notting Hill, Kings Rd, Camden etc etc.

If you are really anti LONDON then Leeds is your best bet.

Glasgow Edinburgh York Brighton all good

museums etc are an irrelevance

Exactly, its for a twelve year old so the independent restaurant/museums are somewhat irrelevant. Considering how much a teen wants to walk it requires a small city with most probably big chain shops.

Nottingham, manchester, leeds have a mix of big chains and "geeky" (which is just another word for hipster/modern fashion) in a small walking distance. The 12 year old would most likely be ecstatic with a 5 guys burger to spam on instagram.

If you are southwest although small I always love Truro. Some great independents. But i fear too small for your purposes.

Westfield Stratford is the best shopping centre I've been to in the UK.

Are you kidding?? That place is the 7th circle of hell.

Westfield in Shepherds Bush is quite nice though.

Liverpool. My closest city growing up was Chester and it's nice to shop in but there's only the normal high street shops nothing different or alternative really. Been to both Liverpool and Manchester regularly and lived in Sheffield for a while and would still choose Liverpool over all of them. All the high street shops and huge ones no small next with a slightly bigger one in the local shopping centre just down the road. There's also loads of independent shops in and around grand central.

I've shopped in Leeds once and enjoyed it but it was so long ago I guess a lot will have changed.

Lol at 5 guys making it to Instagram! insta for the tween is Elan cafe with fairground horses & peggy porchen pink flowers

Glasgow, every time (and I'm a Londoner)

Glasgow is my favourite shopping place ever! But manchester or liverpool are good too😁

hazelbite great minds

It depends what kind of shopping your dd wants to do. If she wants to just buy stuff and eat out you can go just about anywhere. If she wants to shop and look at amazing stuff London's the way to go (I know you don't want to but I'n biased ) Selfridges is amazing for having a lot under one roof, then dd can actually shop and do some buying at Primark, H&M, Next, Topshop, whatever she's into all along Oxford St. Harrods, Carnaby St, Bond st etc. There's also Camden, Spitalfields, Notting Hill, one of the Westfields. Even the most expensive places are near really lovely places to eat and you could do Leicester Square for cinema if you were staying overnight. I think as a bog standard shopping trip a lot of places would be perfectly acceptable but for a birthday trip and an overnight extravagance and interesting finds must be the order of the day!

I wish to formally withdraw Truro. I forgot she was 12

Love Westfields Shepherds Bush

I've lived in both Leeds and Manchester and can say I much prefer Leeds city centre for shopping or just having a general wander. It's much cleaner, the Trinity Centre is light years ahead of Arndale, and there are no oddball drug addicts on every street corner

Still no to London. I do honestly promisedly know it well. I just don't want to go there.
Truro withdrawal is formally accepted .
Brighton is a good shout but the drive is too far for one night, the same probably applies to Bath, which is a shame. Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow are very much in the running.

Birmingham is great for shopping, on a par with Manchester I'd say.

Durham on the other hand... lovely city, but rubbish for a 12yo shopping trip.

If I were taking a 12 year old shopping in London we'd spend the entire first day at Dover Street Market. Possibly not buying much! Then spend the second day curled up with room service, ordering online.

Leeds tremendous variety and compact so can do it all easily on foot

Don't know why there are so many suggestions for Manchester don't rate it for shopping at all. Liverpool or Birmingham get my vote both are a lot better than Leeds or Sheffield unless you want a mall and then Meadowhall wins.