There are a number of areas where one can browse among interesting shops: Broad Street (books, art supplies, specialist clothing), the High Street (boutiques, antiques, clothing), The Covered Market and adjoining Golden Cross Walk (traditional butchers, grocers, bakers, specialist foods, clothes, gifts); and Little Clarendon Street (household accessories, vintage clothing). More prosaic shops are found in The Clarendon Centre (clothing, jewellery, electrical goods chains) and, next to the Central Library, the the Westgate Centre (clothing chains, health foods, coffee shops, opticians, groceries).

Broad Street is also home to the cavernous wonder which is Oxford's oldest, family-run independent department store:

The shops found in this online guide are merely a selection of what is available in Oxford. We have divided them into the following, slightly abitrary categories:

Alcohol
Antiques
Art & Craft
Audio-Visual / Electrical

Bicycles
Books

Clothes (mainstream) / Clothes (Vintage & Charity shops)
Computers
Cosmetics / Toiletries
Dry Cleaners

Food

Shoes
Vintage, Charity & Fairtrade Shops

Click here for our guide to online shopping.

Abandoned Shopping Trolleys:
You can report abandoned Tesco trolleys by phone (0800 505555, Mon - Fri 9am - 6pm) or by email: customer.service@tesco.co.uk. If you're emailing, the subject line should read: "Abandoned trolleys near Cowley Road store" (or whichever store is nearest); and the text should include the trolley's location and your name and address. The details will then be forwarded to the manager of the relevant store and hopefully the trolley(s) will be retrieved within 72 hours. If they're still there by then, of course.