Leeds

City centre shops number well over 1,000, made up of modern shopping centres, the lovely arcades and busy streets - principally Briggate, a wide and attractive pedestrian street with all the high street favourites and much more from time to time there are markets and other events, and there are usually street performances of some kind. Much of the central shopping area is pleasantly pedestrianised, making retail therapy even easier. Leeds has myriad options for shopping including the beautiful Victorian-era shopping arcades, offering anything from the reasonably priced to the expensive items. In November and December, Millennium Square is turned into a Christmas wonderland of stalls, eateries and fairground-rides for Christkindelmarkt - the city's German Christmas market. There are also several outdoor markets held across the city more regularly, including occasional French markets on Briggate. Plans are also afoot for a massive extension of the main shopping district. City Centre Shopping Centres include all:

Thornton's Arcade and Queen's Arcade

Opposite the Victoria Quarter offer a range of interesting if mainly fairly pricey shops including some great boutiques and one-off places.

Granary Wharf

By the canal, has a selection of interesting boutiques, restaurants, exhibition space, a small concert venue, street performers and more in a unique subterranean setting. There is also a regular market. The waterfront area is undergoing redevelopment but the range of shops on offer is set to only get bigger.

The districts of Chapel Allerton, Headingley and Roundhay also offer a smaller but worthwhile range of boutiques and other shops. Crossgates in East Leeds has a medium sized shopping centre and many highstreet shops and cafés, and Horsforth in the North West offers a range of shops and eateries.

books, cds, dvds

Leeds has all the major chains such as HMV, Waterstones, WHSmith, etc and also a variety of smaller independent shops including Crash Records on The Headrow and Jumbo Records in the St. John's Centre, which hosts fairly regular instore performances there's also lots of second hand places - including a massive, well-stocked Oxfam Books & Music in Headingley

Of course, as with almost all of the UK today, supermarkets, M&S Simply Food and other chains dominate the food-shop market, but there are an increasing number of quality independent delicatessens, bakeries and other little food shops across the city. Many out-of-centre areas retain their local shops though this cannot be said for everywhere and the city centre has an impressive range on offer, including:

Pickles & Potter

Sandwich shop par excellence, this award winning little place just off Lands Lane gets mouths watering. The chocolate brownies are genuinely the best you will ever have. The roast beef sandwich is also highly recommended. Some of the most expensive Pork Pies ever encountered!

Salvo's Salumeria

Range of fine authentic Italian produce.

Dock Street Market

Exclusive but excellent deli-cum-mini market.

The lively area of Harehills bus no 12, 13, 49 or 50 in East Leeds has a bad reputation locally for crime and poverty, and whilst the visitor should be aware that it is maybe best not to flash expensive items or visit the area after dark, it is worth visiting for its fantastic range of food shops, cafés and restaurants from across the world. A true cultural melting pot, the area has everything from Jamaican grill-houses to Indian restaurants, Persian tea-shops to Eastern European supermarkets, and if you want to experience authentic international food or simply see another side of the city, it is an interesting place to go - and prices are far lower than in many other areas.