Driving and shopping in London area?

Question

I've been told it's too expensive to drive around, but how do people get their groceries and house hold items? I was looking online and the suburbs of London have Tesco(isn't that like a Walmart) and Costco. How can you shop in those kind of places and not have a car with a trunk? Costco in the U.S. sells 24 bottles of water and 3 lbs of bananas and I can't imagine carrying that into a cab or on the tube. Thanks

Answer 1

The Costco is outside of the city and those that live in don't go there. It's mostly for those people living in the outlaying areas. Fact is most people who live in London don't really have the room to be stocking things from Costco anyway. They buy most of these things in small quatities at local markets and stores. After all, most households in London are only buying for a couple of people, and many don't even own a car.

Answer 2

One thing you will have to forget is to buy large or bulk quantities like you do in the US. Here, the majority of the houses do not have a pantry and the refrigerators are much smaller than the american ones. Yes you can get a full size american refrigerator but the problem is where to put it. I used to go the grocery store there in the US about twice a month and once to the Sams club. But here we go twice a week.

We live outside the city of London and we can travel to centrla London by train in less than an hour. The reason is that you can get more house square feet for your money, We can have 2 cars and drive to grocery store. The majority of the people that I know who live in the City, do not own a car and order all their groceries online from Tesco, Asda or Waitrose

Answer 3

most people in london don't bother having a car as its too busy and you pay a daily fine to drive in the city. The tube and buses are much easier. there are small supermarkets all over the place like a tesco metro. most people buy there food here for just the next few nights and this fits into a plastic bag so easy to carry. some people take small backpacs to work so they can shop on the way home.
if you live in the outskirts there are huge megastores that you can shop in and then you might need a car but there are still buses and some people do this once a month then just get a black cab home.

Answer 4

I live in central London. For a big shop, I shop online with a good supermarket (Waitrose) and they deliver. For everyday groceries, I walk to the nearest small supermarket (3 mins walk). A good solution is a 'granny-trolley' which is becoming quite fashionable among young women. I've been told you can fit loads into it. I've yet to see a tendy yound man with one yet though....