We love outlet shopping and have our favourites to drive to for a day out – McArthur Glen in Swindon, Bicester Village near Oxford and Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. We were meant to be going to the beach a few days ago but the weather wasn’t looking great so we thought we’d go somewhere new and ventured to the London Designer Outlet centre in London Wembley Park.
What is the London Designer Outlet?
The London Designer Outlets is situated a stone’s throw from Wembley Arena and Wembley Stadium, literally in it’s shadow and easily accessible by public transport as well as by car.
London Designer Outlet parking can be reimbursed if you spend over £30 at the outlets but be aware that if it’s a stadium event day the parking charges will still be valid and there is also a £15 surcharge – Definitely worth giving stadium event days a miss or going by public transport!
What were our first impressions of the London Designer Outlet?
When we walked out of the car park we were met by a really welcoming array of cafes, Costa Coffee and London Designer Outlet restaurants, a bank of artificial grass and a children’s play area. It looked so lovely and inviting and not at all what I was expecting.
There was an obvious entrance into the shopping precinct and it had a very ‘indoors/outdoors’ feel as one minute you’re in a covered walkway and the next you’re outside. The whole of the London Designer Outlet had a really nice feel to it and it was a lovely place to spend a day.
The variety of London Designer Outlet shops was great – It had our favourites of the Gap outlet, M & S, Body Shop, Clarks outlet and the added bonus of H&M that I haven’t seen at an outlet village before. There were all the usual high end designer stores but overall there were shops to suit every budget.
The outlet stores were fantastic with other big names like the Nike factory store Phase Eight outlet Moss Bros, Fragrance Shop and so many more along with centre maps dotted around for convenience.
Are there entertainment facilities at the London Designer Outlet?
To make the London Designer Outlet even more appealing, there’s a Cineworld cinema and nearly every chain restaurant that you can think of as well as some smaller restaurants that I hadn’t heard of before. We had Nandos and I was impressed to see that they gave an Emergency Services discount of 25%! Thanks Nandos!
We took our car parking ticket and receipts to the Guest Services desk at the end of the day to have the parking ticket validated to get our free parking and then we took LP and Little Man to have a play in the playground.
The Wembley Park Play Park was fantastic, the artificial grass making it soft underfoot but lovely to look at and all the equipment was wooden and really well maintained. It wasn’t the largest of parks but it was a really nice way to end a day of shopping.
Overall the London Designer Outlet was a great day out and somewhere we will be visiting in the future! You can find out more about the factory stores available as well as opening times and any Wembley Park events over on the London Designer Outlet website. For reference, the address is: Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley HA9 0FD
Mummy Says says
Thanks for this post lovely. We don’t live too far away from here – North Circular traffic permitting! But I never knew about it. It looks like a handy place to get some shopping done in ,and that children’s playground looks far better than taking them to our local mall! Thank you! x
Emma T says
Looks great. Bicester’s our nearest outlet place, but it’s all really high end stores – or a minimum of higher end high street stores. So nice to see a real mix.
Donna Wishart says
We haven’t been to Bicester yet – It’s only about 40mins from us but there aren’t any ‘cheaper’ stores! x
Donna Wishart says
Our never fail outlet shops are M&S – Loads of kid clothes at that one 40%+ cheaper plus homeware and adult stuff. Gap we always spend a fortune in, everything is 30% off or more but there’s usually clearance sections and extra offers. H&M was about 40%+ off but some childrens bits were £1-£2! Clarks have 30% off all stock even current ranges so we always go to the outlets for new kids shoes. Most shops are 30% or more off so if you want something specific from a designer it’s worth going x
Mary @ Over 40 and a Mum to One says
What a great place, not one I’d heard of either.
Charlotte says
How does it compare to gunwharf quay?
Paula Barker says
Love Phase Eight, especially if I find some bargains!