Location: Leicester Square / Shaftesbury Avenue
Top Things to do in Leicester Square / Shaftesbury Avenue
Countries
Things to do in London, England: The Best Shopping
The crown jewels, Buckingham Palace, Camden Market…in London, history collides with art, fashion, food, and good British ale. A perfect day is different for everyone: culture aficionados shouldn't miss the Tate Modern and the Royal Opera House. If you love fashion, Oxford Street has shopping galore. For foodies, cream tea at Harrod’s or crispy fish from a proper chippy offers classic London flavor. Music and book buffs will love seeing Abbey Road and the Sherlock Holmes Museum (at 221B Baker Street, of course).
Restaurants in London
1. Cecil Court
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 75 reviews
Reviewed By Judycrook - Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Old fashioned street with book stores and small art stores. Collectors books available from Alice in Wonderland. My favourite shop with two floors was the holistic and religious book shop. Sadly on a Saturday it appears that about 8 of the shops were closed. But worth a visit and imagine you are in Harry Potter or living a century ago
2. Foyles Bookshop
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 432 reviews
Relocated in 2014, from its former location to 107 Charing Cross Road, world-famous bookseller Foyles' flagship boasts six floors of books across all subjects and specialisms. Foyles Charing Cross Road also has an extended range of designer gifts and stationery, a free Gallery space, an Auditorium with a lively programme of public events and private hires, and a Cafe offering hot and cold drinks and locally-sourced food.
Reviewed By smilgaki - London, United Kingdom
I hadn't visited Foyles on Charing Cross for many years. The shop is vast and used to be in the Guinness Book of Records for being the longest book shop in the world. It also used to be bewildering, chaotic, badly laid out, expensive and the aisles used to be uncomfortably narrow. I used to feel like I needed to take a compass along in order to make it out again or starve to death in a remote section for sheet music. However, the shop was renovated some years ago, and Foyles was taken over by Waterstones. So as I was passing and had some book vouchers to spend, I thought I'd give it another shot. The shop is now much improved: it's brighter, more modern and much better organised. The browsing experience is pleasant with staff recommendations and dotted with benches to sit on. When I went to the till, the assistant was very friendly, which is book shop gold dust. Frequently, staff working in book shops are introverted to the point of rudeness. It's still not a place to hunt for bargains (but that's what the internet and second hand shops are for), and it remains a bit narrow in places but overall it's great and there are very few books you won't find here including specialist subjects.
3. Loon Fung
4. Marchpane
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 8 reviews
Marchpane is known for having the finest collection of antique children's books for sale.
Reviewed By 968nicholash - London, United Kingdom
If you love traditional children’s books, you’ll adore this shop. A huge collection of rare and unusual books covering every imaginable topic for kids, way beyond the obvious like Harry Potter or Alice in Wonderland. I was browsing this time, rather than buying so I wasn’t concerned with prices, but like all collectors’ items you can’t expect them to be cheap. You pay for what you get here, which is quality.
5. Bureau
Organization is the key word when you shop here for your stationery and office supply needs.
6. Silver Moon
Located on the third floor of Foyles bookshop, Silver Moon offers a wide selection of top women's literature.
7. Tidley & Chapman
Tindley and Chapman sells a vast selection of used books from the last 100 years and has a special focus on novels and poetry.
8. Zwemmer
Designers are the audience for Zwemmer's collection of books covering a variety of medias from film to web pages.
