London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [11]
TIP Men should not pass up a chance to browse the shirts and suits on show at nearby Savile Row (famed for its high-quality tailoring), and accessories on Jermyn Street.
Oxford Street encompasses four Tube stations and is unbeatable for mass-market shopping.
Run the gauntlet of high-street designers, cheap odds and ends, department stores, and ferocious pedestrians: it’s seriously busy, but you’re pretty much guaranteed a buy.
A more sedate but utterly fashionable experience can be found in Knightsbridge, wandering between Harvey Nichols and Harrods department stores.
Head south down Sloane Street to Sloane Square and head out along the King’s Road, home to boutiques galore and once capital of London’s swinging ’60s.
TIP To catch a glimpse of how to design your home to match your new couture clothes, visit the Conran Shop at 81 Fulham Road, parallel to the King’s Road.
To dip into the ever-expanding world of urban chic, an afternoon in the Portobello street market should deposit remnants of bygone eras into your arms: glassware, furniture, art, and clothes, from boiler suits to Vietnamese silk dresses.
Portobello has wised up in recent years to tourist prices in recent years, so a trip out to Spitalfields (covered) market on a Sunday is worth considering instead, especially for a sample of the East End.
For the younger crowd, Camden market still has clubbing wear in spades.
VILLAGE PEOPLE
The easiest village to reach is Hampstead, 20 minutes from the city center by Tube, but a world away in character.
It is home to a thriving arts scene, a history of left-wing poets and writers (including John Keats), some of the most gorgeous Georgian houses in London (hence the routine jibe of “Champagne Socialism”), and a great range of smart shops, bistros, and French delicatessens.
TIP If you’re in Hampstead, don’t miss the chance to get out onto the Heath, moodier and wilder than many of London’s other open spaces.
To the west, leave Richmond behind to get down to the riverside, or head for the vast expanse of the park next door, which breaks all remaining links with city life.
The fantastic views bestowed on Greenwich, southeast of the city center, ensure that you never forget how close the city is—and yet this village’s nautical past creates an almost seaside feel.
The National Maritime Museum and its collection of fine buildings, as well as two very good markets, make it a worthwhile day trip.
Also in the southeast, leafy Dulwich Village possesses a delightful and genteel charm, with soaring horse chestnuts, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and the green expanses of Dulwich Park.
Up the road in Forest Hill, the outstanding Horniman Museum is ensconced in exquisitely tended grounds.
TIP To appreciate fully how tribal London’s villagers can be, try asking which part of the city they come from or live in. The responses you’ll get—”Haggerston,” “Tufnell Park,” “Turnham Green,” “Camberwell,” “Battersea”—indicate a dizzying array of identities, often consisting only of a few neighboring streets.
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An excellent and beery way to see London and its back streets is on a “pub crawl”—this walk takes you through some of the city’s most historically textured neighborhoods, crosses the Thames, and pops you in and out of a string of cheerful and ancient pubs. Remember to settle back several times with a pint and drink in all the history.
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THE SOUTH BANK
Like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales pilgrims, we start in Southwark. Head down Borough High Street to the George Inn, a long black-and-white affair with wonky galleries, warped beams, and smoothed stairs. Etched with age and first chronicled in 1542, the pub is mentioned in Dickens’s Little Dorrit. Cross Borough High Street and take the Stoney Street entrance to Borough Market; at the arched entrance to Green Market, turn left and walk along Cathedral Street, with Southwark Cathedral on your right. At the fork head