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Shopping for Christmas swag

if your plan in London is to go shopping for Christmas items, you're in luck. The season is in full swing. The Selfridges basement has a very large and very busy section for Christmas goodies. My wife asked the weary salesgirl if it was like this every day and she basically said yes on the weekends, especially when it's rainy. We also popped into Liberty which is a really cool building, I think I read they have a department as well and I'm sure by now Hannah Ricketts has done her annual vlog about Harrods. F&M was of course seasonal and of course batsh*t crazy.

Outside on Oxford Street is a good place to do comparison shopping for souvenirs, also a good place to pick up any plug adapters you might have missed. They also had lots of luggage for sale but it didn't seem especially cheap, my general rule in Europe is that outside major train stations you can get great deals on suitcases for all the lovely junk you're bought on your trip but that doesn't seem to work so well in London.

Posted by
158 posts

@phred, thank you for starting so many interesting threads! We did almost all our Christmas shopping in the UK this year. I was surprised to see Christmas stuff popping up in stores in September. My best haul this trip was from the Salisbury Cathedral gift shop, followed by Harrods.

You are getting me so excited about Christmas in London...I need to go back....

Posted by
2692 posts

I like my autumn visits to London so I can check out Liberty's Christmas hall--oodles of ornaments and other seasonal goodies. My favorite souvenir is the ceramic Liberty building ornament, and of course an advent calendar of the building. I was there in August this year and it was already set up.

Posted by
9256 posts

I like my November visits.

It’s when I buy my Christmas Cards.

I’ll be checking out Santa Runs, the Lord’s Mayor parade and Christmas Lights.

Posted by
158 posts

Christa, Yes, I love my Liberty building ceramic ornament!! I hung it behind my tea mugs and look at it every time I get a mug down for my afternoon tea.