Best baby store in London?

[smilla653]

DH will be away on a business trip to London in two weeks and will be gone for four days. Sigh.

The upside is that he will have time to do a little shopping. Not much time, but I'd love to be able to steer him to:

1) A classic, fantastic toy or childrens' clothing store with stuff you can't get in the states. I love clothes wit ha quirky sensibility (rather than stuffy) and wooden toys.

2) A place where he could find a groovy travel stroller (the Quinny Zapp, perhaps).... I'm thinking maybe someplace like a department store with a big stroller selection that would carry the stroller in all the colors and carry the footmuffs, too.

3)Totally randomly, DH says he wants to buy me something special, because of course it will be hard being on my own for 4 days and with the birth of DS in May, I never got a birthday or anniversary gift. Any ideas, ladies?

[mamalou]

Harrods is the quintessential upscale department store in London. It had a fabulous children's/toy department, um 15 years ago, the last time I was there :) Great stuffed animals (and I am not even into stuffed animals) and wooden toys.

http://www.harrods.com

[psophia17]

Harrods was one of my favorite places to go when I lived in London in 1998...I got the best sandals of my life there, and they were even reasonably priced. How I wish they had lasted more than 3 years *sigh*.

[american_mama]

a bump and some ideas.

John Lewis is another department store that I was told had a large stroller selection. Mothercare is a chain store with maternity clothes and lots of baby stuff, including strollers, and might be one that your husband would be directed to. But, the one store I visisted didn't have the greatest strollers: a few cool ones like Icoo, but a lot that were sold under their own Mothercare label.

In terms of stuff for yourself, I know nothing about it, but I believe Spode china is made in England and some people go crazy for it. If you like tea, you might be able to get some cool teas, teapots, and accessories for tea time. A bit more consumable is chocolate. Cadbury Dairy Milk's are supposed to be much better in England and appear to be a national craze: they are sold in all kinds of sizes and packages for Christmas. Green and Black's chocolate is also (I think) made in England and comes in some unusual combinations, like a Darker Milk, which is milk chocolate with a slightly less sweet taste. It didn't rock my world, but I did see it sold in the US at a gourmet store for about 3 times as much.

Another thought would be to get a classic English Christmas pudding. Whatever that is. I think they come precooked in tins and you just... do something with them at home. I have no idea what they are, they just sound interesting to me!

[steph2003]

Hamley's is a big toy store there - kinda like FAO Schwartz here. It is HUGE & so fun to browse all the different levels of toys. We got some great stuffed animals there to go in DS's nursery.