On a sunny mid-week morning in the city there's not many better
places than Oxford Street for a walk in London. Most other times it's an
absolute nighmare; crammed with tourist and shoppers, leaving no room
but the middle of the busy road to walk. It's mayhem normally, but mid
week, mid morning walking Oxford Street is about as good as it's ever
going to get. Admittedly, this is only true during the summer when
you're in no danger of getting gnarled up in the Christmas shopping
madness that oftenmakes it unbearable.
There are more than a
few highlights along the way, with the occassional detour off Oxford
Street proper. I started off at Bond Street and walked all the way down
to Tottenham Court Road tube. The first stop was UNIQLO, which is big,
airy and filled with some great clothes. It's t-shirts are class and
it's got some great casual dresses
for women too. After that there's a McDonalds just before Regent's
Street for a guilty cheeseburger, before heading up to the Mac store, a
short walk up Regent's Street.
Back at Oxford Street, there's the
big Top Man on the corner with a decent vintage section and lots of
people-watching opportunities. If you're still hungry there are plenty of different types of fast food places along the way, including Chinese, sandwiches at coffee shops (Cafe Uno on Great Marlborough Road is one of the best, close to the Mac store) and Cornish Pasties. However, if you want to try something a bit more substantions there's Istu, The Social and The 100 Club Cafe (The Rolling Stones played here in the 60s).
The best thing to do at the end of the Oxford Street walk is to head into the back streets behind Tottenham Court Road for all of the music shops that are there. Some of them have been there for years and have become a part of the local music scene.
