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Feature: Jenny Coggins
IT'S VERY rare that a compliment can be bestowed on the rail
services in the capital, but we should think ourselves lucky for
the National Rail stations we have in London.
If you have ever had the pleasure of sitting track side at a
remote train station, waiting in the cold, with not even a station
shop to look in, you will begin to appreciate the busy stations
of London.
So, all aboard for a tour of the London Train Stations and what
shop you will find when your train is delayed…
Named after a Queen, Victoria Station offers a royal selection
of shops.
From Platforms 1-18, you will find a small Boots, with
a pharmacy counter, if the thought of travelling is making you
feel a bit queasy.
However, this side of the station is really better for food shops
rather than therapy. You'll also find a WHSmith, but really
you are much better off walking towards the main square, where
you will find an impressive WHSmith, which puts some of
it's high street brothers and sisters to shame with the selection
on offer.
Spread over two floors, there is a big book and magazine section,
with DVDs and music to get you through a long journey.
If you stumble out of the upstairs exit you will happily find
a Weatherspoons pub, which also overlooks the main square.
From here, you can contemplate with a drink which route you will
take around the shops below without fighting through the crowds.
A great route is to check out the far corner with a small but
well-stocked Sock Shop, an Orange shop (if you need
a top up), a good-sized Accessories and a Paperchase.
If you then head towards platforms 15-19, your nose will be greeted
by the fusion of The International Cheese Centre and
Lush.
Waterloo
If a late train has left you stuck at Waterloo, unable to escape
even if you wanted to, then bide your time with a wonder around
the shops.
Tucked away by Platform 1 is Coopers pub, with a traditional
feel, and a kitchen offering pub lunches hidden away from the
rush of the station in the basement.
You'll find the first of three WHSmiths here, but, as
with Victoria Station, the main shop, situated in the middle,
offers much more.
Sanity DVD and Videos are all priced as you'd expect,
with CDs from £13.99, and DVDs from £17.99.
The selection is ample on both, so whether you are looking for
a last minute gift, or something more entertaining than the view
from the train window, you should find something here.
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CarPhone Warehouse is pretty useful if you are running
out of credit and next door is Dixons, if you want to further
your technological fix.
If you need to get some dinner to take with you, then there's
a Marks and Spencers food conveniently placed here.
For more formal occasions, Van Heusen is a great place
to look, with shirts in a spectrum of colours starting at £35,
and cufflinks at £15.
The faithful station shop, Accessorize, is good here,
but unfortunately, it cannot take many people at a time, as the
stock all lines one back wall.
Saying that, there is still a good selection of jewellery, as
well as gloves, slippers and knitted ponchos.
Euston
Much smaller than the previous two stations, Euston holds fewer
shops. Yet the stores it does house are given bigger plots, in
the form of hexagon boxes.
The Body Shop benefits from this, with the space to offer
grown ups and kids alike toiletry ranges.
Paperchase also sits in one of these sites and has a good
card range for last minute birthday and Christmas cards alike,
as well as the usual pretty notebooks and novelty desk top gifts.
Euston has the obligatory multiple WHSmiths and, as with
all London stations, one is a better bet than the other.
In this case it is the store situated by the main entrance to
the platforms, just underneath the departures and arrivals boards.
The difference? This one just offers more reading materials.
Towards the loos, where you spend twenty pennies to spend a penny,
you will find Rolling Luggage.
This is great if you have any luggage disasters. It also sells
useful travel accessories, such as travel pillows and sleep masks.
If you are visiting a little cousin who'd love something sparkling
and plastic, then Claire's Accessories is your best bet,
which is shop-sized and full of bright hair clips and jewellery.
One thing that Euston must be praised for is the independent
shop it has rented a site too, by the cash machines.
Chocology is a haven of Belgian chocolate, which you can
buy by the gram from a tempting, deli-style counter, or beautifully
boxed, with prices from £14.50.
The chocolate philosophy on the wall is also worth visiting the
store for such as: You should never be more than 12 steps away
from your next taste of chocolate. Exactly!
Other stations worth a wonder….
Liverpool Street has a separate shopping area all of it's
own with a massive Boots, Toni and Guy hairdressers and Gadget
Shop.
And one to miss…
Marylebone Station is boring, boring, boring!
You will not find much to amuse you if you are stuck here longer
than the ten minutes it takes you to walk around the pokey WHSmith.
You are far better off heading out of the station.
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