AvalonDive,

Thanks for the heads up about the market. Scarves are great since my DD lives in NYC.

I love bringing back trinkets. They so remind me of my trip, it makes the trip last longer because you bring it home with you.

I'm still using some hand lotion I bought in Paris last year, and we are going to France first for a few days and I promise you I will pick up more of it...since the Euro is better against the dollar right now...I'm hoping it will stay that way.

Keep those ideas coming. My friends are always amazed at the details I know about when I travel and it's all thanks to you guys.

Antiques.

I had a friend who made a living buying old Mercedes in England, shipping them back to the US and selling them here.

Except for shipping. I would probably suggest buying old furniture and art at the auction houses.

I have a small teapot I bought years ago. It was handpainted (no idea WHERE it was handpainted...) and is a cute scene of a meadow with sheep in it. I used to use it for steeping the tea each morning, now I just steep it right in the mug.

You can get PG Tips here in the US, so no need to bring them home. Other types of tea may be nice to find.

I collect Starbucks mugs (no laughing!) and you can find London city mugs there.

I always come home with tons of books. Waterstone's always seems to have a 3 for 2 sale going on, which may be a wash with the exchange rate, or maybe not. They also used to have the classics dirt cheap, no idea if they still do that (Penguin classics).

Depending where you live in the US, I'm skeptical you will find much in London that you can't get in the US. Some foodstuffs and Tylenol/Paracetamol with Codeine, for sure, but beyond that I struggle to think of too many items that aren't available in New York or LA. However, if you don't live in a major city in the US, then London has a lot of fashion that you simply won't find at your local Macys.

With the decline in the value of the pound, I've actually found prices in London to be pretty competitive. For luxury items, in particular, there are actually some bargains to be had.

Is Westaway and Westaway on Great Russell St. still a good place to buy cashmere sweaters?

Over the years I found interesting things at the made-in-Britain shops, such as lovely little Welsh soapstone boxes. We also like Cadbury's milk chocolate, which seems to be sweeter than what is exported to the U.S.

We usually shop the museum gift shops and often find delightful Christmas tree ornaments, note paper, calendars, et al along with interesting jewelry. We also stock up on tea at the supermarket and if Irish soda farls are available the day we're leaving, I stuff as many as will fit into the suitcase and freeze them as soon as we arrive home to enjoy over the next several months. For laughs, we seek out the most seriously unsophisticated souvenir T-shirts we can find. The one with the snarling bulldog is a particular favorite.

There has been a bit of a resurgance of union jack themed stuff recently.

Accessorize have a brilliant union jack sequinned clutch, Liberty have face and hand cream ('steam creme') in union jack tins, and loads of places are doing union jack doormats (the latter maybe not quite so luggage friendly, admittedly).

A flag as a doormat? That's interesting.

Regular tea - Typhoo Tea, Tetley's, brook bond, much cheaper than anywhere else and, IMHO, infinitely better.

http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/England_1.htm

We were in London about a month ago, and I struggled with where to buy some simple but memorable souvenirs. I did a little nosing around Oxford and Regent streets but didn't find much except the street vendors' scarves, which Avalon Dive mentioned. I bought one for my twenty-something daughter, and she's worn it nearly daily since.

I finally visited the National Trust shop on Caxton Street, and that was a real find. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main...choolgiftshop/ It's got a nice selection of reasonably priced items: I got biscuits and tea and coasters and a book and a few other things. I recommend it. I liked the William Morris print bags they had and then noticed they were tied to an exhibit at the V&A. As our hotel was near the V&A, I decided to stop at the shop there and look at the bags. They had them, but in only one print, whereas the National Trust shop had three or four prints.

I'll just go there next time we're in London, and not shop anywhere else.

How about marmelade? Any suggestions for a good brand and a good place to shop for it?

Every day at the office I use my "Mind the Gap" mug I bought from a shop in one of the Tube stations (it's particularly meaningful as I bought it the day after the July 7 tube bombings) and at home, dish towels with the Tube map on them (wish I had a couple more).

Also, it's probably passe to buy blue Wedgewood pieces but I do enjoy the collection I've accumulated over several trips. Yes you can get it anywhere and probably ebay but that's not where I got them, and they are light small pieces (I'd bring a bit of bubble wrap).

Old books and prints. The are a number of shops on Museum Street opposite the British Museum. Ulysses at 40 Museum St. will ship for you as I'm sure will others.

I've a number of posters from the London Underground Museum in Covent Garden and the National Rail Museum in York. They are reproductions but there is a wide choice of subject matter: gardens, sports, the zoo, seascapes, shopping. You change with the seasons. I also like the special exhibition posters from the museums. A Pissaro poster from the 1993 exhibit at the Royal Academy is a great reminder of that visit. You can buy a tube to keep them safe while traveling home.

Replicas of cathedral bosses can be found in most of their gift shops and there has usually been a selection at the Crypt gift shop at St. Martin in the Field. They are molded from stone dust generated from renovations of the cathedral, about 4 inches in diameter and 2 inches thick. Quite heavy but a unique reminder of your visit.

I agree w/ jsmith about the underground museum gift shop. el-cheapo version, buy the tins at the airport dutyfree shops when leaving, they're the candy filled double decker bus, telephone booth, so on. while in the uk, drop into any supermarket and buy cheap uk tea bags, once home, take the good candy out for your personal pleasure and replace it w/ the cheap tea bags. gift wrap and your all-set. only recommended for the non-traveler.

Ten years ago on a trip to London a friend and I went to the London Hard Rock Cafe to buy a pin for a friend back home who collects them. A vendor nearby was selling sweatshirts with just the word "London" and the flag. He wanted 14P each but I asked if we could buy 2 for 20P since that's all I had and we were leaving the next day. I still have my sweatshirt, it was well made, hasn't shrunk and is colorfast. I saw my friend a few years back wearing hers and it was also in good shape. While not fancy, the shirt is warm for wearing around the house in winter or working in the yard. And something that I actually use and reminds me of that trip.

Also for those you feel obliged to bring back a little something I've purchased Harrods pens and coffee mugs.

Not sure if you've ever been to a LUSH store in the states, but when I was there this past February, everything is half the cost than what it is here in the states.

They've got great bath bombs, soaps, shampoos, etc at all half of what you'd pay in the states. My luggage smelled like the shop and I wish I would have gotten more!

www.lush.com
Check it out!

The London Transport Musuem shop recommendation (above) is a good one.

The reproduction travel posters are very affordeable, and they do slightly more quirky things like espresso cups with bits of the tube map on.

If I were the recipient I would think that a way cooler present than a Harrods teddy, or shortbread.

You can buy "mind the gap" panties there. Just saying....