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London Vacations And Shopping

October 15th, 2009 No comments
by Karl Fraser

London, as a vacation destination, is very hard to beat. It is the most popular city in England for city breaks and longer vacations. Most people travel there to take in the wonderful sights of the capital city of England and some endeavor to see the British Royal Family (with the Queen being the top of everyone’s list). Many people head to London to take advantage of the finest shopping in the land.

London is one of the main three cities of the world associated with serious shopping, the others being Paris and New York. Check any bottle of perfume and the city is bound to appear somewhere on the packaging and usually on the bottle itself. Virtually every company involved in the retail trade has it’s UK flagship store in one of the primary shopping districts of London.

Department stores, designer shops, fashion shops and boutiques, music shops, bookshops, jewellery shops and virtually any other type of retail outlet is found within easy walking distance of a London tube station. Usually the different types of store tend to appear in groups in certain areas such as Oxford Street, Knightsbridge, New Bond Street and the likes.

Oxford Street And Knightsbridge

This is where you will find many of the nations flagship department stores. Oxford street has the likes of Selfridges and Knightsbridge has the famous Harrods and also Harvey Nichols. Oxford Street is said to be the busiest shopping street in Europe.

Old/New Bond Street

Armani, Gucci and virtually any luxury brand can be found on Bond Street. Associated with designer clothing, perfume; art, antiques and other items of luxury Bond Street has the biggest number of suppliers the Royal Family than anywhere else in London.

Covent Garden

If you find Bond Street a bit too expensive for your budget then you will find Covent Garden a pleasant alternative. This is where you will find most of London’s smaller independent fashion shops and shoe shops.

Other Places In London Associated With Shopping

Carnaby Street has a long association with fashion and in recent years the street is once again becoming trendy. If you want an old fashioned British tailor then Savile Row is the most famous place but you will also find tailors in and around Piccadilly. Hatton Garden (near Farringdon) is another place to go for jewelry shops. Shopping for books is best done around the Charing Cross Road although you may find some bookshops in Covent Garden too.

You could write a book on the places to go shopping in London, and I suppose there are many to choose from. If you want to go looking for more places to visit take a look at the many London markets.

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Milton Keynes – the Most Progressive Town in UK

April 14th, 2009 No comments

Milton Keynes is a rather new town situated towards the north-west of London, in the South East of England. It is a huge town, and also the major town in the Milton Keynes Borough. It came in the category of town in 1967 which makes it just over forty years old. “Milton Keynes” obtained this name from the neighbourhood village of Milton Keynes which is just east of the town centre.

In the 60s, the government decided that new towns needed to be made in the South East to reduce the problem of congestion in London where thousands of people were living in really old houses. There were a few boroughs in London that were massively overcrowded with people living in substandard housing and low quality of life.

To reduce this congestion and encourage people to move out of London without changing jobs, several towns were established near London so that people could move to these and commute to and from work.

The location for Milton Keynes is halfway from numerous cities: London, Birmingham, Leicester, Oxford, and Cambridge. The plan was that the town would grow to be self sufficient over time, and would ultimately turn into most important city in the very near future.

The town is very progressive in the way it is constructed and has many of its buildings being attributed in architectural magazines. There are many parks, lakes, and a large network of roads which connects it to all the adjacent cities. The town centre is not a conventional town centre, but is in fact a business and shopping zone. While Milton Keynes has made a claim for city status earlier, it has been denied for this status and thus remains a town.

Milton Keynes is the ideal place to live if you like to work in a big city but do not like the big city life. It is not only calm and silent, but it is one of the most excellent built cities in the country with its network plan. Internal traffic is handled very well with double carriageways and pedestrian paths. It is also expediently close to the motorways and has grand transport links with the rest of the country.

Living in the city is superb as well. It has ethos in the shape of arts and amusement. There are shopping spots and business regions, as well as good quality schools, colleges, and hospitals. All this makes it an idyllic town for a family to become accustomed. Nonetheless, it is near enough to London that people can make the commute everyday for work.

It is just right town for those people who are searching for the advantages of the big city and a diminutive town joint in one, which is exactly what the government was trying to do when they mapped to build the town some forty years ago. This town is an admiration of architectural genius. Nevertheless the town may not be a significant town to visit when on holiday to the UK, but for people working in the country, this is the best place for people sick of high-pitched noise levels and overcrowding in big cities.

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