Lonely Planet India – August 2019

EXPLORE

FOYLES

BOOKSHOP

This Charing Cross

Road veteran used to have

a reputation for being vast

yet Kafkaesque. The selection

is still impressive and these

days it’s helpfully laid out.

You’ll find London-specific

non-fiction, and novels

set in the capital, such

as Zadie Smith’s NW

(www.foyles.co.uk).

CITY OF LONDON
DISTILLERY

London’s taste for the
juniper-infused spirit has
brimmed over a few times,
as per Hogarth’s Gin Lane,
and Victorian gin palaces.
Ci t y o f L o n d o n D is t il l e r y,
launched in 2012, was the
first of its kind in the Square
Mile for 200 years
(www.cityoflondondistillery.
com).

BARBICAN SHOP

Brutalism is the most controversial of London’s

architectural styles, but even critics tend

to make an exception for the Barbican arts

c o m p l ex. O rd e r A n A r t f u l L if e’s 5 c m h a n d - c a s t

c o n c re t e l e t t e rs f ro m t h e B a r b i c a n s h o p t o

make your own uncompromising statement

(www.shop.barbican.org.uk).

JAMES SMITH

& SONS

Climatologists may tell

you that London gets less

rain in a year than Paris,

Rome, New York or Sydney,

but that hasn’t dented the

business model of James

Smith & Sons, suppliers of

quality umbrellas since 1830.

The shop is two streets away

from the British Museum,

a rainy-day standard for

many London visitors

(www.james-smith.co.uk).

LONDON

TRANSPORT

MUSEUM SHOP

In its 156 years, London

Underground has quietly

built a reputation for

imaginative design.

These mugs replicate tiling

used in stations around 1906

• each unique pattern helped
  passengers identify their stop
  amid rush-hour crowds
  (www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk).

London

style: say

it with

concrete

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