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Your journey to success in the Great Britain

Shopping in the UK

In the article, I would like to advise you how to buy groceries, cloths, house equipment for the best prices. Also, you should get to know how to shop online and which applications to download to save as much money as possible, among other things.

Groceries

Supermarkets and shops are generally the same as in the Czech Republic and other EU member states. Among the cheapest, I want to point out:

In the United Kingdom, you might come across other supermarkets as well. These shops have also good quality products, but for higher prices.

And how does it work with the gluten-free products?

You can find these products almost in every shop around the UK. From my own experience, I can say that the products are of high quality and in the bigger supermarkets you can find plenty of them. You might be surprised by the freshness of the toast bread, even if it is not vacuum-packed. There is the brand Schär, but Asda, Tesco, or Sainsbury´s sell their own gluten-free goods. The gluten-free products are always marked as in other EU member states or with a sign GLUTEN FREE, alternatively FREE FROM GLUTEN.

Prices of common gluten-free products:

Toast bread from £1,5 to £3 (The cheapest and tasty bread can be found in Asda)
Pasta starting at £1
Spaghetti from £1,2
Lasagne Sheets from £1,5
Flour starting at £1,5
Porridge from £2
Couscous from £2

You can find the price of individual supermarkets here:

Groceries from abroad

There are many foreigners living in London and that is why you can find goods from all over the world here. Very often, you come across small shops with products from Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia, Romania, Hungary, etc.). It is funny that their names might be sometimes confusing like the ‘ORIENT SHOP’. However, you may find Czech biscuits, pâté, Slovak cheese or many other products from Central and Eastern Europe.

How does it work with Czech and Slovak foodstuff?

It is possible to buy Czech and Slovak goods in London.

What about beer and wine from the Czech Republic?

It is possible to buy Czech beer either in supermarkets, or in one of the local pubs. The most common beer is Pilsner Urquell (the price is around £1,80 for bottled beer in shops and £5 for beer on tap in London pubs and bars). However, you might buy Budweiser Budvar (not the US Budweiser!) or Staropramen. A shop called Vinovitaj specialises in import of wines from South Moravian region.

Markets

The markets offer bargain prices for fruit, vegetables, meat or fish. In most of the places, a basket of fruit costs £1. You might find special prices of £1 for two kilograms of bananas or tomatoes. Majority of the discounts are just before closing hours. These markets are usually around main streets or roads.

Now, I would like to mention the most famous markets in London. There, you might get home-grown products, flowers, paintings, jewellery, cloths and many other things.

Pubs and restaurants

There is number of restaurants, pubs and bars in London, the same as cuisines that you might taste. I would like to mention as least those, where you can eat for reasonable prices.

In the following London quarters, there are many outspoken restaurants and pubs.

’All You Can Eat’ offers might be found from £8 to £20. The Asian restaurants in China Town are the most common to have such offers.

Cafés and fast foods

There are the same cafés and fast foods as all around the EU.

Cloths

Many people come to London to do shopping. London attracts people by its large shopping malls, a variety of shops with branded goods and low prices, high bargains and sell-offs. And when to go for shopping?
The discount seasons are more, or less the same as in the Czech Republic. There is the winter and summer sell-offs, stocks clearances and last pieces sales.

The most interesting is the ‘Black Friday’ following the Thanks Giving Day in the USA (fourth Thursday in November). Very often, the discounts are not only on Thursday, but they go on until the end of the week.

Chain stores

Shopping malls

Where to go for shopping?

The most famous street in London to do your shopping is the Oxford Street. It is several kilometres long and lined with shops of different brands and various shopping malls. You can find Primark, Top Shop, H&M, Debenhams, Forever 21, Bershka, Zara, New Look, Next, Marks & Spencer, John Levis, Pandora, Swarovski, Tesla and many, many others. At the same time, you can find fast foods, restaurants, bars and etc. there.
Regent Street is typical for is luxurious brands and also the biggest toy-shop Hamleys.
Camden Town, Covent Garden, Liverpool Street, Angel count among other quarters of the city, where you can enjoy the spending spree.

Chemists and others

Here are a few examples, where to look for cheap detergents and other stuff for hygiene.

Online shopping

Nowadays, it is common to do shopping online. It is possible to buy groceries, cloths, electronics, furniture or many other things. These are the shops, where you can shop for good prices, including the house equipment.

Mobile applications for shopping