There are few cities in this world (if any) that do vintage shopping quite like London. Our shops have the best collections at the best prices and this is because we don’t take vintage too seriously or not seriously enough (faults I have found in rival vintage cities). The laid back, thrown together style coupled with high quality fabrics and quirky patterns is a popular look with London’s trendier locals and so for this it is to the vintage shops they head. There are so many places to choose from, that we decided to ask our friends @secret_london what their favourites were. We were inundated with responses, so here’s a selection of London’s best vintage stores as chosen by the locals themselves. 

EAST LONDON

East End Thrift Store

A personal favourite of mine, The East End Thrift Store has a carefully curated collection alongside bargain prices. I bagged myself a beautiful real leather and sheepskin coat for only £15 which got me through winter in a fashionable state. They are in fact so dedicated to keeping it real on pricing that they’re going back to their roots this weekend by reducing all prices so everything is just £1-5. They also often have good parties on some Thursdays with free drinkies. What’s not to love?   

Loved by: @tiffphilippou

Best for: Every day items

@assemblythrift Unit 1A Assembly Passage, E1 4UT www.theeastendthriftstore.com

Beyond Retro 

Image: That's so yesterday

You’ll struggle to go for a coffee in Dalston without someone walking in with one of Beyond Retro’s familiar bright yellow bags. A favourite amongst London locals, this chain has four stores including in Soho, Brick Lane and Dalston.  The most recently opened store in Dalston has the best curated collection, however if it’s volume you’re looking for or a piece for a particular occasion, head to Brick Lane. 

Loved by: @Bakerjen

Best for: Party dresses

@beyondretrouk www.beyondretro.com

The Vintage Emporium 

This shop sells proper vintage - only stocking pieces from The Victorian Era to the 1950s. Upstairs houses Victorian style tea rooms, with a range of Victorian delicacies and a huge selection of teas and herbal drinks so you can really immerse yourself into the vintage lifestyle as you shop. 

Loved by: @Bakerjen

Best for: If vintage to you means the twenties, not the eighties

14 Bacon street, Brick lane, E1 6LF www.vintageemporiumcafe.com

Absolute Vintage

Absolute Vintage say they have the largest vintage shoe and bag selection in the UK. It is true. It does have a lot of shoes. And in the words of it’s fan @almacdN1 "lots of stock, reasonable prices, loud music." Sounds good to me. 

Loved by: @almacdN1

Best for: Bags and shoes

15 Hanbury Street, E1 6QR www.absolutevintage.co.uk

NORTH LONDON

Rock Candy Vintage

This shop is all about Rock ‘n’ Roll – stocking clothes from the 1950s to the early 1990s and voted as ‘Best New Vintage Shop 2011’ in the Vintage Guide to London Awards. Sounds like great fun! 

Loved by: @bigjock

Best for: Rocking around the Christmas tree

@RockCandyLondon 716 Holloway Road, N19 3NH www.rockcandyshop.co.uk

Little Paris

Little Paris offers a range of vintage furniture (so they say) from contemporary French designers – think whimsical jewellery and Parisian scarves and hats – to quirky vintage interior items, both shop rooms are filled to the brink with an eclectic mix of crockery, French 60' film posters, 1940's Strafor cabinet, authentic Tolix chairs and Jielde lamps.

Loved by: @marissaUK

Best for: Bringing some French flair into your home

@littleparisshop 39 Park Road, N8 8TE & 262 Upper Street, N1 2UQ www.littleparis.co.uk

SOUTH LONDON

ChiChiRaRa

ChiChiRaRa describes itself as  a small but perfectly formed Vintage clothes shop in East Dulwich. Run by Heather (who has a fashionable background at Conde Nast as designer) for 15 years, this shop has a brilliant selection of hand picked finds. Heather also says she has had a lifelong passion for foraging the past. 

Loved by: @RachelHedley

Best for: The curious

@chichirara1 Corner of Upland and Hindmans Road, Upland Rd East Dulwich, SE22

Saloon 97

Saloon 97 in Brixton Village is run by three vintage ladies - Janine from Anami and Janine, Kamilla from Dynasty Jewellery and Eva from WooWoo boutique. 

Loved by: @BooksBagsShoes

Best for: A bit of everything

@saloon97 97 Brixton Village, SW9, Saloon 97 in facebook

WEST LONDON 

Music and Goods Exchange

This is one of the longest running chains of exchange stores. There are many outlets, but head for Notting Hill for the best. It was here that I swapped a few CDs for the best dress in my wardrobe. 

Notting Hill Gate, www.mgeshops.com

Loved by: @tiffphilippou

Best for: Trading

Insight

A couple of votes for this one, although it remains a bit of a mystery on the internet. All I know is that @EvieMLondon bought a fab animal skin clutch there and @TiffRedmanLDN calls it a little treasure trove. 

Loved by:  @EvieMLondon and @TiffRedmanLDN

201 Munster Road, Fulham, SW6 6BX

Vintage Green

This newly opened vintage shop in Willesden Green (another sign of the area's gentrification) received some rave reviews from the twittersphere. Apparently it stocks a whole load of brands and has a huge variety. 

Loved by: @AsYouWishCrafts

www.vintagegreene.blogspot.co.uk 

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There are very few homes in London quite as spectacular as St Pancras Clock Tower. It is the jewel in the crown of a magnificent building, a Gothic Grade I listed masterpiece built in 1873 by George Gilbert Scott as the Midland Grand Hotel. After falling into disrepair, the hotel was eventually converted into sought-after apartments, with this one occupying pride of place in the famous clock tower.  

This extraordinary home is hidden behind a single wooden door at the end of one of the Midland Grand Hotel’s old corridors. The main tower room is nothing short of awe-inspiring, with ten metres of exposed brickwork soaring above four retro recliners. It also boasts unparalleled views across the city from its evocative arched windows. Ascend the steel spiral staircase to find an expansive library, and when the heights become a little too dizzying, retreat to the master bedroom in the lower tower. Here, the bed lies alongside a bespoke floor-to-ceiling bookcase, and the en suite bathroom comandeers its own mezzanine.

There are also two other gloriously Gothic apartments in St Pancras Chambers available to book with onefinestay - a one-bedroom apartment in the rafters, and a deliciously atmospheric two-bedroom apartment.

London has the highest density of medical schools in the UK. The history of medicine is a bloody, wince-inducing one but one that is richly told across the city. The price of progress has been horrific trial and (more often than not) error, but a trip to any of these sites will give patients a moment of reflection before they bitterly complain about NHS waiting times...

Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret

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The Herb Garret and the old operating theatre. Image: Basil Exposition 

A moment’s walk from Guy’s Hospital, the Old Operating Theatre Museum  is a little less antiseptic than its modern brother. Open to the public since 1962, after a hundred years of disuse, the museum is a unique testament to the grisly means by which the poor would have been healed in the 1800s. The operating table itself is the centrepiece of a true theatre: some of the most skilled surgeons would operate gratis, if the patient was willing to be a demonstration to a massed crowd of medical students. The tours of this living artefact are excellent, but take your time to explore on your own (though be warned that all of the anaesthetic opium that used to hang in the rafters has been removed).

The Hunterian Museum

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The Hunterian Museum. Image: Londonist

John Hunter was a pioneer in the medical profession, and the collection that was donated to the nation in 1799 is a record to how loose the study of the sciences was before the twentieth century. The museum provides an erudite and excellent panorama of the history of medicine and is the best freak show in town. It’s unbelievable that Ripley’s is packing them in when, nearby and for free, you can see the nation’s best collection of mutant portraiture. There’s every kind of grotesque ‘things in jars’, the human nervous and circulatory system laid bare on a wooden board (eat it, Gunther von Hagens!) and the seven and a half foot skeleton of the Irish Giant (which Hunter is supposed to have obtained through illicit means, replacing his coffined body with rocks). While there’s plenty to hold the attention of  macabre young ones (try your hand at key hole surgery!), I would steer them away from the drawers of antique medical instruments (unless you want to get into very uncomfortable conversations about urethras) or exhibits like ‘The Face of a Child, prepared by John Hunter’. 

Wellcome Collection

The Last Drop, Etching by Thomas Rowlandson, published in London 5 April 1811. Image: wellcomecollection.org

Like the Hunterian and many others of this country’s best small museums, the permanent exhibition at the Wellcome Institute’s colossus on Euston Road is formed from pharmaceutical entrepreneur Henry Wellcome’s private collection. Intended to form a ‘Museum of Man’, the pieces on display collapse distinctions between medical history, anthropology, art history and antiques. While tracing the eccentric connections between cultures and ideas across the history of man is fascinating itself, the Wellcome’s programme of exhibitions is one of London’s best. While the other medical museums are dedicated to the past, the Wellcome is a brilliant insight into medicine’s future. £14 billion trust funds will do certain things for a museum and so it is that their exhibitions are always compelling, excellently researched and (expensively) innovative in design. 

To find out more about London’s surprising number of medical museums, go here. 

Guest post by Duncan Carson. Take a look at his blog Pangolin Blues. 

This weekend is a great excuse to get to grips with some of this country's quirkier traditions, from Sweeny Todd to Punch and Judy. Browse British literature at the British Library before you head to Covent Garden for the puppet festival, sample some of our best street food and then spend your Sunday listening to London's hidden voices. 

Wastelands to Wonderland

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As part of the London 2012 festival, Writing Britain: Wastelands To Wonderland will display iconic British literature and explore how it has been influenced by Britain’s unique spaces and places. Including work by current writers, such as Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith, Posy Simmonds and Kazuo Ishiguro, the exhibition will also feature prolific literary figures from over the last 2000 years.

11 May-25 September; £3.50-£10; The British Library,  NW1

The May Fayre

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Punch and Judy

What is the Covent Garden May Fayre you ask? It’s a puppets festival held in a churchyard bang in the middle of Covent Garden. This is the spot where Samuel Pepys first saw Mr Punch in May 1662, and now Judy Professors and Puppeteers from all over the country will be coming to perform in celebration of Punch’s 350th birthday. Can't be beaten. Unlike Judy. Sadly.

Sunday 13th May; 11am-5pm, free, St Paul’s Church Garden, WC2E

Thanks to @karlodoherty for sharing this with us (via @secret_london)

Street Feast

On the site of a former Victorian bird market off Brick Lane is Street Feast. Every Friday night for 12 weeks, there’ll be London’s best street food, live art displays and an outdoor cocktail bar. And what makes it better than your average night market is the covered seating area for 100+ where waiters bring you drinks so you can sit down, relax and enjoy. 

Until 20th July; 5-pm-midnight; Sclater Street Car Park, E1

Hidden Voices

Embrace your secret singing soul with London chamber choir, Londinium as they perform 'Hidden Voices: The World of Johannes Brahms', exploring the hidden world of Brahms's lesser-known choral music alongside early music from Brahms's personal library. 

Sun May 13; 6.30pm, tickets available on the door, £10, £8, St Augustine's, SE23

A healthy eating fad this is not. The latest gluttonous trend sweeping Londoners' plates is the return of the time old classic burger. Diners are calling out for juicy beef burgers, mountains of melted cheese, deep fried pickles and handfuls of french fries (preferably with cocktails). Here is a our guide to some of the best burgers to be had in Central London today.

MEATliquor

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The much loved MEATliquor, established by the Meatwagon founder Yianni Papoutsis and Scott Collins of #meateasy fame is a clear front runner for London’s favourite burger. Located conveniently on Welbeck Street underneath an NCP car park, expect oozing burgers, chilli cheese fries and cocktails in jam jars from the Soul Shakers team. Oh, and expect to queue, due to their no reservations policy. You have the Twittersphere to thank for that. 

@MEATLiquor, 74 Welbeck St,  Marylebone, www.meatliquor.com

Goodman’s Steakhouse

As its name suggests, Goodman’s Steakhouse key cuts of meat are usually of the steak variety, but care and attention is given to their home made burgers too. At a reasonable £14, including fries, the Goodman Burger is a medium rare treat not to be missed.

@Goodman_london, 24-26 Maddox St, Mayfair, www.goodmanrestaurants.com

Kua Aina

For something a little more laid back, you are doing yourself a favour by visiting Kua Aina burger. The self-styled Hawaiian burger joint, is a cheap and cheerful way to enjoy a burger in the West End.  Sit on a communal dining table or on the stool seating areas and watch revellers on Carnaby Street pass on by. The ‘classic’ cheese burger is a must taste, with a basket of french fries and a side of slaw’.

@KuaAinaUK, 26 Fouberts Place, Soho, www.kua-aina.co.uk

The Admiral Codrington

For those a little further in the West of London, The Admiral Codrington is a meat lovers paradise. Famed for its towering stacks of beef, mac n’ cheese side and home-made scotch eggs, this pub restaurant in Chelsea is a solid choice for burger buffs in the area. (The “special” burger that consists of two mustard fried patties, cheese and pickles)

The Admiral Codrington, 17 Mossop Street, Chelsea, www.theadmiralcodrington.co.uk

Lucky Chip

The masses have spoken. Due to overwhelming demand, mobile burger van turned burger pop-up favourite Lucky Chip will make the list. Currently residing at the Sebright Arms in Hackney, the much hyped Lucky Chip team serves up a variety of meaty delights made from Wiltshire bread Walter Rose & Son beef, having ended their partnership with London favourite, the Ginger Pig butchers.

@Lucky_Chip, www.luckychipuk.com

Honest Burgers

A late entry from Brixton based Honest Burgers is being added to this inaugural list. Proudly run by young chef Tom Barton, this South London establishment quickly established itself as one of the best burger joints in the area.

Quirky touches to the menu include rosemary salted triple cooked chips, mature English cheddar and onion jam in their selection of burgers. Not one to be missed! 

@honestburgers, Unit 12, Brixton Village, www.honestburgers.co.uk

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Damien Hirst, Sympathy in White Major - Absolution II  2006. The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mid of Someone Living 1991. Mother and Child Divided exhibition copy 2007 (original 1993).

 Pharmacy, 1992. Lullaby, 1992. © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS 2012.

The Olympics have made London the top destination this summer, but even if you haven’t been able to get hold of tickets to the Games, the city is going to be at its very finest and most fascinating this year. Here at onefinestay we’ve been particularly excited about the line-up for the 12-week long London 2012 Festival, which was unveiled last week. 

The Festival features over 10 million opportunities to see 12,000 performances and events between 21st June and 9th September. Many of these are taking place around London neighbourhoods, some are completely free, and they span absolutely everything from dance and theatre to music and art. With such a sensational summer line up revealed, you’ll want to immerse yourself in the excitement of London life. 

One of London 2012 Festival’s top offerings is the controversial Damien Hirst exhibition at the Tate Modern, which has divided critics and public opinion alike. We’ve heard mixed feedback (it seems to have had a Marmite-like effect), but whether you love it or hate it, sharks suspended in formaldehyde are certainly a must-see. Make your own mind up by visiting the exhibition before it closes on 9th September, and stay at nearby Cornwall Road, a charming two-bedroom townhouse.

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Beth Tweddle b.1985 Beth Tweddle (third from left), Hannah Whelan (left), Jenni Pinches (second left) Rebecca Tunney (right). Photographed by Anderson & Low, 17th November 2011, Liverpool ©Anderson & Low - National Portrait Gallery/BT Road to 2012 project.

Jodie Williams b.1993 Photographed by Nadav Kander, 15th December 2011 © London Nadav Kander - National Portrait Gallery/BT Road to 2012 project.

Meanwhile, the National Portrait Gallery will host ‘Road to 2012’, a photographic exhibition focussing on the people behind the Olympics, which is a great way to see another side of the Games. Portraits by photographer Katherine Green explore local stories of East London communities, like the Repton Boxing Club in Bethnal Green and the East London Wheelchair Athletics group in Mile End. Alongside these, others focus on Britain’s sporting talent including rising gymnastics star Hannah Whelan and talented young sprinter Jodie Williams. Nearby homes at King Street and Harlequin Court in Covent Garden would give visitors easy access to the exhibition as well as hundreds of other events in central London. 

There are plenty of activities for families and children throughout the summer. Among the more unusual events is ‘One Extraordinary Day’, a day of dance taken to extremes as choreographer Elizabeth Streb’s fearless dancers perform heart-stopping routines at various London landmarks. These performances are free and would make an unforgettable family outing. With onefinestay, you can book a distinctive family home complete with toys to keep the kids entertained. Cholmeley Crescent 2, an idyllic home in Highgate, is the perfect choice. 

London is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to book buying. While the last few years haven’t been kind to independent bookshops, the best of the bunch deserve your folding money because they provide what their online discount equivalents don’t: the joy of discovery, an eye for the underappreciated and a chance to breathe in the past. Let’s take a look at where this most literary of cities is making its purchases...

Lutyens and Rubinstein

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Tucked off to the side of Portobello Road, Lutyens and Rubinstein grew from one of London’s best literary agencies (you can hear their agents battling it out over serial rights through the paper-thin basement walls). The size of the shop, which has clutter and order in good measure, means that being comprehensive was never a possibility. Instead, you’ll stand a chance of finding something worthwhile within their well-chosen selection: beautiful repackages, top-quality children’s books and everything else you might have pored over on the literary pages of your broadsheet of choice. Also worth investigating for those with the highest of brows is the London Review Bookshop. 

The South London Gallery Bookshop

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One of the few dedicated art book shops south of the river, the SLG Bookshop has more than being a rarity in its favour. Managing to be eclectic whilst also carefully curated, the modest space packs everything from histories of krautrock to Captain Slaughterboard. 

For art books, also consider: X Marks the Bökship, Donlon Books (both cutting-edge and rare/out of print), Marcus Campbell (a comprehensive selection within walking distance of Tate Modern if you’ve got hungry for culture) and Koenig Books (cut price photography, monographs and more). Also, almost every major gallery has figured out the synergy between art on walls and art in books (and money over the till) so check out the great shops at Tate Modern and Camden Arts Centre.

Any Amount of Books

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Although their spirits are often damped by being asked if they were the site of 84 Charing Cross Road, Any Amount of Books is one of the remaining shops in the dwindling Charing Cross second hand books hub. The staff are the collection of overly-educated kind souls that populate the best booksellers and their selection is well-pruned (and well-thumbed) enough to make browsing a treat. Visit the basement and outdoor stacks to get the cheapest finds, as well as Charing Cross and Cecil Court’s many other excellent second-hand bookshops. 

Also worth flipping through...

For the arcane and occult, visit Treadwells or Watkins; gay and lesbian bibliophiles and all people of good taste frequent Gay’s the Word; Gosh! Comics (indie and graphic novels slant) and the basement of Forbidden Planet (superheroes et al) serve your need for words and pictures; Books for Cooks (you’ll never guess); Daunt and Persephone for a place to flounce your floppy hair; and Foyle’s when you need everything in one place and want staff who are a delight. My deepest recommendation goes to the London Bookshop Map, which is a comprehensive guide to the Smoke’s best independent booksellers. Get one in any of the featured outlets or go interactive here.

For all of London’s urban excitement, there are times when we crave a getaway from the endless buzz of activity. Somewhere quiet and leafy, grand yet welcoming perhaps?  

Well Walk is just the place, located enviably mere steps from Hampstead Heath and moments from the pretty village with its tearooms and cobbled lanes. This Victorian family home is as idyllic on the inside as its excellent location suggests. There’s an expansive feel to it, though the large rooms combine their unmistakeable grandeur with a charm that is warm and homely. Light filters gently through the leaves outside to dapple the honey-coloured wooden floors, and the many nooks and cosy corners invite you to explore further.

And when you do, there’s a fresh surprise at every turn. An enchanting landscape painting lends to the sitting room’s country appeal, numerous antlers catch your eye, and you’ll also stumble upon the most beautiful cuckoo clock you’ve ever seen. Take a peek for yourself...

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Londoners will be talking about some of the seriously trendy openings going on this weekend. We're a city apparently addicted to pop-ups and meat. But if that all gets too much for you then go into town to swap a book, return to the canal and enjoy it with an ale.

Make a meat of it

London’s meaty man of the moment, Yannis Papoutsis – is expanding his empire with the launch of MEATmarket in Covent Garden.  New items to the all American menu include; the Black Palace burger, hotdogs and Jägermeister floats. More of a fast food joint than its Marylebone’s sibling, MEATliquor, no doubt one thing will remain the same - expect to queue. 12pm-11pm; burgers from £7.50, Jubilee Market Hall, WC2E 

 Head to the waterways

The team behind The Cineroleum and Folly For a Flyover are now taking over a soon-to-be demolished workshop near the Olympic Park. They’ll be hosting a programme of cinema, music, food and drink in celebration of the area’s complex histories and in investigation of its mirad of possible futures (in their words). Events this weekend include a midnight showing of American Graffiti and a Mario Kart tournament. See what else they have in store here. 4 May - 28 June; from £5, 107 High Street, E15

Right in the heart of London’s busiest shopping district, there’s a special place built by students from the London College of Fashion where you can go, leave a book that you have read, and in return take one away for free. The Carnaby Book Exchange also encourages the sharing of memories of the book you're leaving behind. Sounds lovely. Monday – Saturday 8am – 6pm and Sunday 12pm – 6pm; Kingly Court, Carnaby, W1

LLUSTRE

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LLUSTRE: A home you love to live in

We are lusting after LLUSTRE.COM. Founded on the belief that a few original objects can make a home extraordinary, co-founders Tracy and Vivienne shared their love of great web products and unique homeware and furniture to create an e-commerce space which is both inspirational and easy to use. 

LLUSTRE.com has daily sales events from designers from all around the world and products range from armchairs and lightbulbs, to whisky glasses and bookshelves. The site aims to inspire, and inspire it does. I’ve lost hours to the window shopping section. We couldn’t be more complimentary – and did we mention? Vivienne Bearman - CPO and Co-Founder says her obsession about gorgeous web products was honed at onefinestay, so we’re going to take a smidgen of credit for what is a fabulous web product, selling fabulous products. 

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A selection of products from past events at LLUSTRE.com

onefinestay loves

• The Style LList brings together design experts from different fields, to share their favourite design products and work with them to curate sales events. Genius. Just another way LLUSTRE is making it easy for you to find the products you love for your home. 
• Design Partners offers a chance from the big to the small to sell their products on the site. One design partner I noticed was Out of the Dark, a company which revives vintage furniture as part of a project to give disadvantaged kids a second chance by teaching them valuable skills. 
• Window Shop is the never ending scrolling section of inspiration. A joy to waste hours on. 
• The Journal takes you behind the scenes of the company, has conversations with the designers and offers even more inspiration. 

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