'Panties' is a porno word.

It's only ever used in pervy stories about 16-year olds getting seduced by middle aged maths teachers.

Westaway and Westaway are no longer in Great Russell St. They have an online shop and their only retail outlet according to the website is in Spain!

Thanks, Helen. Somehow Spain wouldn't seem the same. I guess I didn't drop in often enough to keep them in business.

I love National Trust shops

Well what do you call a bint's shreddies then?

I just came back with about 10 different types of cadbury's chocolates. My family love them, they are completely different
from what we have here in the US. But, it does make your luggage heavy. I also bought my friends, reusable shopping bags from the grocery stores and some from the palace gift shop.

Knickers.

I remember somebody saying that Prince Charles is the sort of bloke who calls knickers panties.
It's also an American word.
Can CW be a closet seppo?
Say it isn't so!

I like to bring back:
Pencils from museums
Scarves from Fortnum&Mason (London)
Tea
Boots own spa (The Sanctuary) salt scrub available at Boots
Books
Something from Top Shop
Stationary from Paperchase

All these items remind me on my trip and are something I really use- I do not like to buy things that I have no real use of.

More likely CW is secretly Prince Chas. I think the septic theory has been ruled out.

Boots' salt scrub has shown up on my local US supermarket shelf.

Knickers.>>>

Are you 12?

I bet you none of the British fodorite females say 'panties'.

Hi teach905,

Buy TEA! The tea you buy in England tastes different than the tea the English export to the USA. Really! It's richer and more satisfying. My favorite are the Twinings blends. You can't get them here, and they are delicious. Another idea is to buy socks at Marks & Spencers. Actually practically anything you get there is beautifully made and reasonably priced. Their socks last forever (well, almost) are are excellent. They have great lotions, too. For a really inexpensive but practical gift to yourself or someone else, go to one of the shops in a tube (subway) station and get a t-shirt with the map of the tube routes on it. They also have "mind the gap" t-shirts and mugs. I agree with the suggestions for Lush products, too. Their solid shampoo is fabulous and easy to fit into a suitcase. Have a great trip!

You people are giving me way too many wonderful ideas! My son and I are traveling from London to York to Edinburgh by train, dragging our luggage all the way. Where are we going to put all of this stuff?!!:-D

Nelson's Grasmere Gingerbread is my favorite British purchase, available in Grasmere and online but don't know if available elsewhere. Completely different from our U.S. kind of gingerbread and completely delicious.

Beware of buying the little recipe book that purports to have the Grasmere Gingerbread recipe, though. What it produces is <b>nothing</b> like the real thing, which, I agree, is wonderful.

I saw this on Samantha Brown this AM:

http://www.urbanpath.com/london/deli...ens/a-gold.htm

CAPH, while in Edinburgh, I bought NINE wool blankets, of various tartans. They make great gifts...

I've been wondering what to bring with me on my first trip from England to Canada next month for family I'm visiting, lots of great ideas, thanks!

Someone asked about marmalade : I recommend Cooper's Oxford marmalade (try Waitrose) rather than the ubiquitous Robertsons Golden Shred (the one with the non-pc golliwogs) unless you have a terribly sweet tooth. Or anything (food/socks/undies)from Marks & Spencer, as mentioned already, is virtually guaranteed to be tasty (food!) and good quality, if a little on the pricey side.

Did any news about "No 7" wrinkle cream ever get to the US. Last year someone like Cosmo did a search on wrinkle creams and discovered the only one that worked (yes only) was No 7. Next day the queues had to be seen to be believed.

Can you buy No 7 in US?

Culpepper the Herbalist for their Elizabethan potpourri blend(just a personal preference)- but youcan order on in-line(but then you miss the trip to London)
McVities chocolate whole meal biscuits- I think the ones sold here in the US sit on the shelves as they are so pricey(I will also buy them at M&S)
I think No. 7 is now sold at Target but not the Boots lip salve(yes, it is just a form of "chapstick" but one I grew to love over the years)
Oatcakes- again not so available here and quite pricey and possibly old because of the price.
I used to buy books that were not readily available here- I suppose the internet has changed that.
I also go to Liberty to look for sale Liberty print items. I've gotten some really nice PVC carry bags and small cotton fabric items cheaply. Plus I really just like the Liberty store(although I have never gotten over my disappointment at the redecorating of the Pre-Raphaelite tea room)

''Did any news about "No 7" wrinkle cream ever get to the US. Last year someone like Cosmo did a search on wrinkle creams and discovered the only one that worked (yes only) was No 7. Next day the queues had to be seen to be believed.''

This isn't quite true.

A TV documentary was made about cosmetics and skincare, during which the scientists involved made an intelligent guess about which ingredients were most likely to be effective anti-agers. Can't remember what the active ingredient of choice was (some sort of peptide or fruit acid are the most likely choices). They then picked ONE product containing this ingredient (The Boots serum) and tested it. It did work. But the point is probably any other cream with the same ingredient and a similar formulation would too - they just didn't happen to do a side-by-side comparison. There might also be other, different, effective anti-ageing ingredients, but they only chose to profile one ingredient in one product. So yes, the Boots cream works, but to say it is the only one which does is wrong, and was not the actual conclusion of the study.

Target does indeed carry the No. 7 line, along with the Botanics line (including my personal favorite face wash).

flygirl, your post is tempting. Not so much luggage dragging once we've made it to Edinburgh! ;)

Seriously, I'm hoping that knowing we'll have to carry everything we buy on this trip will keep our spending way down!

Whatever country I am visiting, I like to get pins with the flag or symbol of that town or country (I wear a lanyard at work for all of my keys, etc. and attach the pins to it), fridge magnets (seeing them every time I go to the fridge is a lovely reminder of my journeys), keychains, and postcards (especially of night scenes that my camera doesn't do well at capturing.

I have one of those fabric-covered bulletin boards at home and I tuck my latest postcards and the occasional keychain into it.

I also collect little replica boxes (made of enamelled metal with hinged lids) in the shape of crowns, faberge eggs, etc. I've found those hard to find here in the states.

The V&A Museum shop in London has great gifts that I've never found stateside.

I also like to buy a pair of earrings or a bracelet from the places I visit. I have a beautiful pair of amethyst Celtic knot earrings that I've never seen anywhere else, even online. One other wearable souvenir I found and bought in England is the cardigan sweaters (made of lambswool, machine washable, and very soft)at the Edinburgh Woolen Mill (they do have shops in some of the Cotswold towns).

I collect dragon figurines also, and my best pieces came from England.

One last thing, although it's not about something to buy in England. Once I'm home and getting ready to scrapbook my trip, I also select one or two of my photos that came out particularly well, print them in color on regular copy paper, and put them in glass frames. I have a display of 4 such pictures over my sofa. The best part is, if you get tired of looking at the photo, you can print out a different one for nothing, and swap photos out.

CAPH52

You don't drag it with you - you buy a box and post it home giving you more room for more pressies

Shhh! sashh, I don't need ideas for a better way to spend more money! :-D