Must-see shopping in Great Britain

  • Dick's

    Edinburgh

    Men's and women's fashion, accessories and homewares from small, independent manufacturers.

  • Wild Pony

    South Cornwall

    A treasure trove for vintage togs, from leather jackets to retro dresses and cowboy boots.

  • Rose's Books

    Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog

    This lovely little store specialises in rare children's and illustrated books.

  • Stanley Gibbons

    The West End

    This mecca for stamp- and coin-collectors has more than three million stamps.

  • Chaucer Bookshop

    Canterbury

    Antiquarian and used books plus interesting prints and drawings.

  • Carmarthen Ham

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Traditional salt-cured, air-dried ham – a local speciality.

  • The arcade, High St & Duke St Arcades

    High St & Duke St Arcades

    Cardiff

    Together with Castle Arcade (1882), High St (1885) and Duke St (1902) arcades make up the trio of arty indoor shopping spaces known as the Castle Quarter…

  • Brick Lane Street Sign

    Brick Lane Market

    Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields

    Every Sunday, the stretch of Brick Lane between Buxton St and Bethnal Green Rd is closed to traffic so stallholders can set up shop. Stands of fried…

  • One of Cardiff's many Victorian and Edwardian arcades

    Castle Arcade

    Cardiff

    The most decorative of the city's arcades, Castle Arcade houses Troutmark Books (with mainly secondhand tomes) and eateries Madame Fromage (self declared …

  • Outside the SHO Gallery

    SHO Gallery

    Cardiff

    Located upstairs in the Castle Emporium, this small independent shop and art gallery is the place to go for eclectic prints by artists of small to medium…

  • Outside the shop

    Blackwell's Art & Poster

    Oxford

    Blackwell's split-level sibling store, all but opposite the main bookshop, specialises in reference books, coffee-table tomes, posters, cards and…

  • Flag flying over the Covered Market

    Covered Market

    Oxford

    A treasure trove of traditional butchers, fishmongers, cobblers, florists, barbers, coffee bars, restaurants and independent shops, Oxford’s 250-year-old…

  • Outside the first ever Oxfam shop

    Oxfam Shop

    Oxford

    The Oxford Committee for Famine Relief opened its first-ever shop on Broad St in 1948 – and it’s still going strong, selling secondhand clothes, homewares…

  • Outside John Lewis.

    John Lewis

    Cardiff

    The Cardiff branch of the Britain-wide John Lewis chain is the city's premier department store, occupying a swish glass-fronted building at the bottom of…

  • Outside the shop, which sits in one of the arcades, Hobo's

    Hobo's

    Cardiff

    If you're in the market for a vintage Hawaiian shirt or a 1970s printed sun frock, this is the place to come. Along with vintage men's and women's clothes…

  • Outside the shop from the arcade, Pretty Green

    Pretty Green

    Cardiff

    So you want to be a rock and roll star? This menswear boutique by Oasis' Liam Gallagher will at least have you looking the part. Stock up on paisley…

  • Outside the shop from the arcade, Troutmark Books

    Troutmark Books

    Cardiff

    It may look small from the outside but this excellent secondhand bookshop sprawls upstairs and down. There's a Welsh-language section and a big selection…

  • Outside Wally's Delicatessen

    Wally's Delicatessen

    Cardiff

    Along with all the usual deli treats (olives, cold meats, Welsh cheeses), Wally's sells Penderyn whisky from the Brecon Beacons and a large range of local…

  • Outside Castle Welsh Craft

    Castle Welsh Crafts

    Cardiff

    If you're after stuffed dragons, love spoons or Cardiff T-shirts, this is the city's biggest souvenir shop, conveniently located across the street from…

  • Outside Kelly's Records

    Kelly's Records

    Cardiff

    Taking up a whole corner of the Cardiff Market balcony, this record shop stocks a huge selection of secondhand vinyl and CDs, including rarities and…

  • Outside Castle Emporium

    Castle Emporium

    Cardiff

    This kooky collection of independent stalls is a great place to rummage for vintage clothes and jewellery.

  • London Silver Vaults

    London

    For one of London's oddest shopping experiences, pass through security and descend 12m into the windowless subterranean depths of the London Silver Vaults…

  • Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9¾

    North London

    Pottermania refuses to die down and Diagon Alley remains impossible to find, but if you have junior witches and wizards seeking a wand of their own, take…

  • Monocle Shop

    The West End

    Run by the people behind the design and international current affairs magazine Monocle, this tiny (and attitudy) shop stocks very costly clothing, bags,…

  • Cadenhead's Whisky Shop & Tasting Room

    The West End

    Scotland's oldest independent bottler of pure, non-blended whisky from local distilleries, this shop is a joy for anyone with a passion for uisge-beatha …

  • Minamoto Kitchoan

    The West End

    Walking into this Japanese sweet shop is a mind-blowing experience. Wagashi (Japanese sweets) are made out of all sorts of rice and sweet red-bean paste …

  • Abergavenny Market

    Southeast Wales

    The 19th-century Market Hall is a lively place, hosting a general market (food, drink, clothes, household goods) on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, a flea…

  • Labour & Wait

    Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields

    Dedicated to simple and functional, yet scrumptiously stylish, traditional British and European homewares, Labour & Wait specialises in items by…

  • British Red Cross

    Kensington & Hyde Park

    The motto 'One man's rubbish is another man's treasure' couldn't be truer in this part of London, where the 'rubbish' is made up of designer gowns,…

  • Atika

    Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields

    One of the capital's biggest vintage clothing stores, Atika has more than 20,000 hand-selected items for men and women covering the last four decades. The…

  • Browns

    The West End

    Edgy and exciting, this series of knocked-together shops on upmarket South Molton St is full of luxury threads and shoes from internationally renowned…

  • One New Change

    London

    This modern, multilevel shopping centre is filled with places to eat for all budgets and all the usual chain-store suspects – and is thankfully open on…

  • Carmarthen Market

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    There's been a market here since Roman times and in 1180 it was given a royal charter. Now housed in an edgy modern building, the market sells a bit of…

  • James J Fox

    The West End

    James J Fox has been in business for over 230 years and any cigar merchant that kept Winston Churchill well supplied with maduros has to be a reliable…

  • Skoob Books

    The West End

    Subterranean Skoob has to be London's largest second-hand bookshop, with some 55,000 titles spread over 186 sq metres of basement space, with about 5000…

  • Berwick Street Market

    The West End

    South of Oxford St and running parallel to Wardour St, this fruit-and-vegetable market has managed to hang on to its prime location since the late 18th…

  • Sting

    The West End

    This Dutch chain is a ‘network of brands’: most of the clothes it stocks are European labels that are little known in the UK. Spread over three floors,…

  • Bullring

    Birmingham

    Split into two vast retail spaces – the East Mall and West Mall – the Bullring has all the international brands and chain cafes you could ask for, plus…

  • Topshop

    The West End

    Hailing from London, Topshop is one of many 'high street' clothing retailers selling racks of inexpensive fast fashion. Every week more than 400,000…

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