8th January, 2014

We love a bit of shopping here at The Carter Company, especially if it's in unique boutiques that are local to the area and have a genuine identity and character all of their own. Our London bike tours and walking tours in and from the city are thoughtfully designed to allow you plenty of 'nosing around' time, so you can always make a detour or take an hour or so at the start or end of your planned walking time to visit some shops.

London isn't always known for its unique, individual shops. In fact, a trip down our main shopping street, Oxford Street, might lead you to think that you can only find chains here! Whilst that is the undeniable truth on some of our major high streets around the capital, there are in fact some wonderful boutiques well worth visiting... you just need to know where to look!

Below is a list of our favourite streets in London to look out for if you're visiting London on either a bike tour or a walking trip....

  • Lamb's Conduit Street, Bloomsbury. Great for cool menswear brands like Folk and Oliver Spencer as well as lifestyle stores like Darkroom. Also boasts a great very English pub

  • St James's Gateway, Piccadilly for premium contemporary fashion

  • Berwick Street, Soho for a fantastic range of fabric and haberdashery shops. We love The Cloth Shop in particular

  • Marylebone High Street, near Baker Street. Expensive but some lovely shops here like Aesop, The Conran Shop, Margaret Howell and a Carter Company team favourite, Daunt Books. The Natural Kitchen makes the perfect place for a pit stop, check out their delicious buffet and fresh smoothie menu

  • Church Street, Stoke Newington. A lovely corner of London which has become increasingly popular with creative young professionals in the capital. You can find Nook, a brilliant interiors store here with some to-die-for ceramics. If you have time, take a stroll round the cemetery as well, it's a really peaceful haven and a nice place to take a picnic lunch

  • Shoreditch/Old Spitalfields Market, East London for one-off niche brands and some great vintage shops like Beyond Retro (just off Brick Lane on Chesire Street)