Where would you take teen for special shopping trip?

[exLtEveDallas]

In UK, I don’t care how far I have to drive.

Trying to do something nice for DD for her 16th birthday. She suggested a shopping trip and I’d like to build on that.

Ideally an overnight in a hotel on a Sat/Sun. Somewhere I could drive (trains are so bloody expensive) so would need parking. Good shopping, central so wouldn’t need to drive again. Something to do in the evening.

Thinking London (but parking ££££ and driving in centre worries me a bit), Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham. We are Midlands, so can go anywhere really.

Is there somewhere you would recommend? Even if it’s a bit ‘out there‘. DH suggested Oxford, I’m wondering about somewhere on a coast?

Definitely Manchester/Trafford Centre twin centre!

I took DD1 to London for her 16th. We stayed in one of those 'secret' hotels that you can work out where they are from Googling the info. We got the train. It was fab and she got to go to all the random shops she wanted to.
Cardiff is lovely too, stay or eat in the bay and shop in the city.

Trafford Centre or Kings Road, Chelsea. Don't drive to Chelsea, though. We get a coach to London for about a fiver each and stay in an AirBnB!

Leeds.

Every shop you can think of plus the corn exchange. Have a look at shows that are on too, you could see a show at night

I took the dc to Liverpool last Feb half term, bloody brilliant place to visit and I promised the eldest dd that we would come back for a shopping weekend...enter...lockdown, still haven't been back but it's definitely in the plans.

There's an outlet centre in Portsmouth, might be nice for a day/night out?

Camden would be excellent this year as so few tourists it’s not crazy busy. They also have a new food market (left from the bridge) which is not massively well known yet so not heaving.

Another vote for Norwich. Small city, so easy to walk around without any hassle, all the big chain stores, not touristy like York, but absolutely packed with quirky independent shops, market stalls & places to eat. It was even voted best UK High Street for the Norwich Lanes area a few years ago

If she likes one off individual type things as well as stocking up at Primark, it's a really easy place to have both, as well as aimless wandering round the older parts of the city. Yes, I am biased, I live here...