Canary Wharf Shopping Centres

What is it?

It’s easy to think of Canary Wharf as all suits and skyscrapers, but underneath those glass towers sits one of London’s biggest shopping destinations. There are more than 320 shops and over 80 cafés, bars and restaurants, spread across five connected malls, Cabot Place, Canada Place, Churchill Place, Crossrail Place and Jubilee Place, so you can easily spend a day here without ever needing an umbrella.

Cabot Place has the likes of Paul Smith, Hackett, Penhaligon’s and Crockett & Jones alongside Zara and Reiss, while Jubilee Place leans Parisian chic with Maje and Sandro, plus COS, The White Company and Monica Vinader. Canada Place is home to the flagship Waitrose, the biggest jewel in the John Lewis Partnership’s supermarket crown, and Third Space, which bills itself as Europe’s largest health club.

Why go?

Because it’s a whole day out, not just a shopping trip. Between the shops, the waterside restaurants, the Everyman cinema and the roof garden, there’s plenty to keep you busy long after the office crowd has clocked off.

Don’t miss

Crossrail Place Roof Garden, a lush, free-to-visit garden sitting on top of the Elizabeth line station under a huge timber lattice roof designed by Foster + Partners. It’s filled with plants from around the world, laid out to nod to the area’s history as a global shipping hub, and there’s a little amphitheatre that hosts free events throughout the year.

When to visit

Weekday lunchtimes are when the office workers descend, so come at the weekend or in the early evening if you want a calmer browse.

Time Out tip

Make a night of it. Grab dinner at Crossrail Place, where there’s Big Easy, Ippudo and Sticks’n’Sushi, catch a film at the Everyman, or head to Boisdale in Cabot Place, which has live music and counts Jools Holland as its patron of music.