Where to go shopping in Central London?

[bluechameleon]

I have half a day free for a mooch around the shops on my own. I'd quite like to buy some shoes and maybe a dress but mainly just looking for fun. In days gone by I'd have gone to Oxford Street but it's not very appealing anymore. Where would you go?

Get the tube to Westfield Shepherd’s Bush. They have everything there.
otherwise Covent Garden and floral street areas. But I would say Westfield better for general high street stores.

I’d go to Westfield white city. It’s very clean, well laid out, lots of shops etc

Oxford street has certainly seen better days. Lots of flagship stores closed down, horrible touristy shops opened up instead etc.

Covent Garden has got some nice bits if you wanted a mooch and lunch but overall for actual shopping I’d go for Westfield

Agreed with Westfield White City/Shepherds Bush.

If you time it right on a Friday, you could go to Portobello Road which near the flyover (Ladbroke Grove end) has a Fashion Market then which has vintage stalls/jewellery etc.

I work approx 10 mins from Tottenham Court Road and agreed - it's really gone downhill over Covid/lockdowns.

Covent Garden is better if you want Central London as posters above said but I'd do Westfield.

High Street Kensington and then walk to Notting Hill/Westbourne Grove for a coffee.

I’d go Kings Road personally, lovely moochy area with a nice coffee or glass of wine thrown in.

Seconding High St Ken - some lovely cafes and parks nearby too.

Marylebone High Street or Lambs Conduit Street for me.

I go to Sloane Square/Kings Road if I go to actual shops.

I would go to King's Road. You'll find the usual shops plus a few rarer ones.

Another fan of King’s Road nowadays. Some good actual physical shops of mostly online retailers and Peter Jones. I finally managed to buy some clothes last time I went after months of fruitless searching in my local shops.

For sheer number of shops, it's got to be one of the Westfields. They both have a John Lewis and a wide range of shops at all price points.

The Angel and Upper Street is a nice place for a wander.

I like Covent Garden especially Long Acre.

I'd go for Spitalfields / Brick Lane or the vintage shops around Camden Passage (out of my league price-wise these days but I still like to look).
Or if I wanted to be more central, Marylebone High St or Kings Rd.

I always find shopping centres soulless. I would go down Marylebone high street, continue along st Christopher’s place and end up at selfridges. Wouldn’t bother with rest of Oxford street.

It is Oxford St but my favourite for a wander is Liberty, and then there’s &Other Stories, Anthropologie, etc close by for actual shopping (or Zara / H&M / Mango too).

Another vote for Westfield White City. It's really nice.

As other PP's say (and I forgot about to be honest), you could go to Marylebone High Street (St Christopher's Place etc) and King's Road too. I was in both recently (including Knightsbridge) and both are still fairly good for shopping. I wouldn't say amazing as in the same class as Westfield but if you like shopping streets rather than a mall, they're good. e.g. Whistles in the Thayer Street (leading away from St Christopher's Place) used to have a really good sale section at the bottom, even during non sales times.

I’m surprised to see Kings Road mentioned. It does depend what you want of course. But beyond Peter Jones, Zara and a couple of other more high st names like all saints and LK Bennett I’m not sure it’s what it’s made out to be (I say this as a local! ). Westfield a good shout to make the best use of time.

It's also got Anthropologie, Me&Em, Jigsaw, Brandy Melville, The Kooples, Toast... Quite a few.

I suppose it's round the corner from Knightsbridge if you want that!

I'm always quite saddened that Tiger, Tiger, the toy shop, disappeared a few years ago, I loved that shop for years and often took my younger half siblings to it.

I mentioned Kings Rd because it has branches of places like Me and Em and (I think) Toast, several charity shops that aren't cheap but are normally very well stocked, plus there are still one or two shops that hold some 'heritage' interest e.g. there's a hippy-ish shop (sorry I can't remember the name) - the clothes aren't my taste but it's been there for as long as I've been visiting London and how it's survived while the rest of the road has changed beyond recognition I have no idea. Also the original Vivienne Westwood / Malcolm Mclaren shop is there.

Admittedly I'm a big old softy sentimentalist.

I don't live in London so I stand corrected if any of those have gone.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I went with Kings Road today because it fitted in best with my other plans. Spent a while in Peter Jones and mooched around some other shops, some well out of my league pricewise.

Regent street is good for shopping got lots of names there and not too far from John Lewis or selfriges

I like King's Road - it has all the big names (and some you don't see in West End) and better customer service than West End, I think because around there they treat you like you might have ££££ 😉