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                                     Bristol Christmas Shopping 2010

 Napoleon was deemed to have said – rather disparagingly – that Britain was a nation of shopkeepers.  However, when it comes to Bristol he was not wrong since Bristol is very proud of its wonderful array of shopping centres, department and speciality stores, small boutiques and markets. Wow! What a shopping extravaganza this Christmas with a VAT rise looming in January NOW is the time to shop like never before and Activ Bristol is here to provide you with as much information as possible in order to ease your “shopamania” and make it more enjoyable.

So let’s start out of town with the Mall at Cribbs Causeway; here we have in excess of 135 top name stores with 7000 FREE parking spaces plus consistent late night shopping with easy access. This great shopping arena incorporating Marks and Spencer and John Lewis also provides in excess of 15 well known cafes and restaurants including Cafe Rouge, Carluccio’s and YOI Sushi to name but a few. This Christmas you can also find Santa’s Grotto for the little people together with a large ice skating rink where you can “take a break” (not break a leg) with the family from shopping. Surrounding the Mall there are more restaurants, cinemas superstores and car showrooms in fact all you could need for a Christmas Shopping Fiesta. 

Moving back to the centre of Bristol we have the spectacular undercover glass domed Cabot Centre with its imposing walkways and impressive stores including Harvey Nichols and House of Fraser. While perusing the 120 top name stores gracing the boulevards offering all one might need for those special Christmas Gifts, take time out and enjoy one of  the 25 superb cafes and restaurants from Giraffe and Coal grill to Raymond Blanc’s “Brassiere Blanc”. Dwell awhile and people watch before descending once again into the Christmas melee. Why not take a little more time out and try ice skating, new to the Cabot Circus this year, or after your day’s shopping enjoy a relaxing meal and a visit to the Showcase Cinema De Lux offering 13 different screens – some with 3D. Then when all is done you can wend your weary way home knowing you have enjoyed one of the best shopping experiences in the country.

With the introduction of Cabot Circus one of Bristol’s oldest traditional shopping areas tends to be forgotten.  This of course is Broadmead situated next to Cabot Circus and incorporates The Galleries, another undercover shopping area with over a hundred different stores including Boots, W H Smith’s, Waterstones and many more furnishing and clothing outlets.  Broadmead itself has an enormous range of more than four hundred stores and is the largest in the area with department stores such as BHS, Marks & Spencers, Primark and a vast Debenhams with many floors and different departments all serviced by a healthy number of restaurants and coffee shops.  Broadmead is also the venue for the exciting  Bristol Christmas Market and the Bristol German Market. You can contact Broadmead Management by email or by telephone: 0117 925 7053.

For a slightly slower pace, more refined shopping experience take a trip to Clifton Village where you will be gently massaged by the soft ambiance of boutique style shopping with different quirky unusual shops and undercover antique markets. This is the place to buy that unique Christmas gift, that slightly strange interesting bauble the recipient will have to ease gently from your hand on Christmas Day; yes this is the place to purchase a present with love and passion. Shopping with passion then deserves a lunch with peace and tranquillity overlooking the magnificent gorge and Brunel’s Suspension bridge – yes a quiet table at the Avon Gorge Hotel Restaurant will give you renewed vitality to carry on your search for that perfect present. A day in Clifton is an experience not to be missed.

For the more athletic type a trip to Park Street will be a shorter affair after a few hill climb sorties culminating in a circumnavigation of Queen’s Square. The physical requirement of this shopping area is well worth the effort as the array of  individual boutiques together with high-end retailers make this very worthwhile – in fact a perfect reflection of Bristol residents’ eclectic stylish look.  Watering holes are a “must” for this adventure.  At the bottom of the hill we have the famous old pub, the Mauritania and at the top of the hill, by the University, we have Browns.  Between these two points are some excellent restaurants, including Italian and French in which to ease your weary festive bones.

One shopping area often forgotten is the Eastgate Shopping centre located in Eastville, home to Bristol’s massive Ikea store incorporating everything for the home from candles to kitchens all at great prices. However, that’s not all there is at Eastgate,  other stores abound including a large Tesco, Next, Laura Ashley, Mothercare, Halfords, Mamas and Papas, Asda Living, Pets at Home, Boots, and should you get a little peckish there’s Burger King and Pizza Hut not to mention the restaurant within Ikea. So you can have a great day Christmas shopping here and the parking is FREE!

Other shopping areas abound in and around Bristol such as Bedminster, Thornbury, Westbury-on-Trym and Christmas Steps, to name but a few, so you can see why Napoleon was right and we are the real winners when it comes to Christmas shopping in Bristol. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Activ Bristol.

Click onto Activ Bristol for more information on Christmas in Bristol 2010 

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There are many ways to save money when shopping online for Christmas, although few people may be aware of special offers while shopping online. Below are some ideas for you to save money while doing Christmas shopping online.

Use online coupons to save money while Christmas shopping. Some people may not know that there are special coupons offered over the net. It is one of the best ways to save money.

Buy discounted glasses from GlassesShop online and save money. If you have any eyeglasses on your Christmas shopping list this year, it would be advantageous of you to check for online coupons. There are many listings for popular items, you are sure to find a bargain with online coupons.

When you shop online for Christmas, it would be nice to surf on the internet for gifts, right? Well there’s a pretty cool website that lets you enjoy the lowest price and quality products. That will save a lot of running from store to store. The website is called uggsbootuk.org.

Use your credit cards with the highest rewards when Christmas shopping online. Be sure that the website you are surfing is a secure one with a little padlock on the lower status bar on the screen. Many credit card companies offer rewards as an incentive to spend more and you can receive money after Christmas with cash back program. This is surely a good thing, especially when you have to overspend on Christmas shopping.

After all, get ready ahead of time and shop for the best of best.

It’s not that far away. I’m talking about the holidays. Just a few months and you will be expected to have all those presents wrapped and under the tree. But with the tough economic times you have been dealing with this year, where are you going to get the money to do all the shopping you need to get done for the holidays?

Think credit cards.

While you may instantly have had an image of a pile of debt come to your mind, that is not what I am talking about here. There are ways to use your credit cards responsibly and save a lot of money towards your Christmas shopping – take advantage of the rewards.

The Best Rewards Cards

Cash Back Credit Cards

By far the easiest way to do your Christmas shopping is with cash in hand. If you have a cash rewards credit card you can use that card for as many of the family and household purchases as you can during the year and then have the credit card company ship you a cash rewards check just before you get ready to do your holiday shopping. Some of the best cash back credit cards may well feel like you are part of a special Christmas club. You do the purchasing you need to all year long and have a check waiting when you need it.

Catalog Credit Cards

If you are a catalog shopper, catalog credit cards may be your best bet. You can order anything from catalogs these days. Additionally, many of the catalog families work together, so when you get a credit card for one catalog company, you may be able to use it for a number of their sister catalogs. The best catalog credit cards offer points for every dollar you spend that can lead to free merchandise or major discounts as you add them up.

Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Do you have someone in your family that loves to travel? Or maybe you are the big traveler. Either way, the best travel rewards credit cards on the market can let you do your Christmas shopping and get some great trips out of it as well. Imagine giving a family member a round trip ticket to see someone they haven’t seen in years. They’ll think you spent a fortune. You’ll know it was just cashing in the points you had earned on your card. Additionally, if you are the traveler, you can charge all your holiday purchases on your best travel rewards credit cards, let the points pile up and then be ready to take a trip to recover from the busy holiday period.

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Price: $ 88.00

Here’s a extreme couponing trip to Walmart, where I paid only .36 for everything. It actually should have been .36 as I realized after making the video that my cashier forgot to scan one of my coupons. See all the coupons I used on my blog: bit.ly ______ Don’t forget to Thumbs Up & Subscribe! ______ Get money-saving tips and learn how to do some extreme couponing yourself on my blog- dealiciousfinds.com ______ Find me on Facebook facebook.com Find me on Twitter: twitter.com
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Christmas shopping conjures up pictures of crowded shops and malls, packed car parks and public transport. In short utter chaos, with what, sometimes, appears to be the total population on the rampage for that perfect gift. In some respects though this is what Christmas is about for a lot of people. The atmosphere of the season with all the decorations and lights, the children queueing up to see the store Santa and have their photograph taken with that magical figure of Christmas. It is definitely a way to get imbued with the Christmas spirit.

It does have it’s drawbacks though, it can be very stressful and frustrating and whilst I would never avoid venturing into the stores at Christmas if only to soak up some of the atmosphere there is, nowadays, an easier and more efficient way to get your Christmas gift ideas and actually buy them.

As if you didn’t know I’m talking about online shopping, the good old internet. I guess the title gave it away. The internet gets a pretty bad rap when you hear all the stories about scams and people being ripped off and these do occur and probably will continue to do so the same way pickpockets and other scam artists are always going to be active in the shopping areas and cities at Christmas time.

This makes it all the more important that you only use reputable organisations like Amazon, Overstock, Target and many other big names when you are looking for Christmas shopping ideas. All kinds of large retailers are now seeing an advantage to offering their goods for sale online and you can be sure that organisations such as these are not going to risk their reputations by allowing their customers to be the victims of any kind of fraud.

When checking out on these sites and entering your credit or debit card details look for the ‘lock’ symbol in the status bar of your browser. If you don’t see the status bar at the bottom of your browser screen go into the ‘View’ menu and click on ‘Status Bar’. You should always have the Status Bar visible when you are surfing the net, it provides all kinds of useful information. Also check the address bar. Instead of the usual ‘http;//’ look for ‘https://’ this tells you that it is a secure connection.

Obviously, you need to give yourself enough time for delivery when buying Christmas gifts online. Delivery services, these days are pretty good and you can even order gifts up to the last week before Christmas. Most of the on line retailers will advise you of the estimated delivery time and whether or not it will be delivered in time for the big day.

On the subject of delivery you may be forgiven for thinking that this will make your Christmas shopping more expensive. On the contrary most of the reputable online retailers offer free shipping once you’re over a minimum purchase. Often the minimum purchase is as low as . Even if you have to pay for shipping the rates are usually very reasonable. It’s only logical, if retailers are going to charge a lot for shipping they aren’t going to sell much! Oh! and on the subject of costs you will find most of the online retailers very competitive on price.

Another big advantage of shopping online which can be a real lifesaver is when you’ve forgotten someone or just don’t have any idea what to get them. The evergreen giftcard comes to your rescue! You can even buy this on Christmas day itself and have it emailed to the recipient. It won’t appear that you forgot them at all but planned for it to be delivered at the right time. If you are planning ahead with gift cards you can download and print them out or arrange for them to be mailed. All eventualities are catered for!

So, now you can sit back in the comfort of your own home with your Christmas shopping list and at the very least get all your Christmas gift ideas sorted out by surfing the online shopping sites. Better yet you can get all your Christmas gift shopping sown up online and just wait for them to be delivered to your door. Then you can go to the malls and just enjoy the atmosphere without charging around trying to find that special gift or struggle through the crowds loaded up with parcels. Your trip will be a pleasant excursion just for the fun of it.

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This is the Christmas shopping season in London and it is an activity that many dread, mainly the husband/boyfriend, but others relish and tackle head on. London is one of the most popular Christmas shopping destinations in the world so with that come the crowds, big crowds! So when you have been on your feet all day, since 8am, stomping from Covent Garden to Oxford Street and back, there is always the need for a cheeky little drinks stop to recharge the batteries, reflect on hopefully a successful shopping session and perhaps build up the courage for your next session.

There are some fantastic hidden bars and pubs just waiting to be explored and that will not be on the tourist trail, full to the brim with shopping bags and the loud and obnoxious tourists. I will take you through some of my favourite spots for a Christmas shopping drink that will warm the heart and give you the energy and motivation to continue!

First up one of my favourite places for a classy glass of wine and relaxed environment is Chopper Lump, in the Bond Street area. This place has a fantastic selection of wines from across the world, has some delicious steaks if you already peckish, and an ambience that will sooth those sore feet and stressed mind.  So you are out again on the streets, dodged push chairs, prams, taxis and Chinese tourists and have managed to drag yourself out of Selfridges albeit with a hefty credit card bill. You are feeling thirsty again as you approach Oxford Circus and are in desperate need of a  G&T or a Winter Pimms to wash those shopping nightmares away. So where are the bars and pubs? Not  even 5 minutes away lies one of my favourite cocktail bars in London, Aqua Spirit. This is a taste of Tokoyo, Asian décor and style, so never fails to transport you away to a far off place. Be prepared to splash the cash as drinks aren’t cheap but I think it’s worth it for the rest and the tranquil environment.

You have done the Apple Store, battled through Hamley’s and have ventured through the crowds at Piccadilly Circus. The sun is starting to set on a crispy winter’s day and the mouth is feeling dry. You are in luck because the 5th View Bar is waiting for you. Set above Waterstones book shop, this bar overlooks Piccadilly Circus and offers some fantastic views of the city that you have just marched through. There is a strong drinks list and at happily affordable prices.

My final recommendation on your epic London Christmas shopping trip is a visit to one of my favourite pubs in Soho. You cannot visit London without a trip to a Soho Pub and this gem offers up some fantastic ales and beers that will make that trip to London a little more bearable. Now for a little surprise, they serve beer for £2.27 a pint, making it one of the cheapest places to drink a pint in London! It is called The Glasshouse and is a Samuel Adams pub. This is no Wetherspoon dive pub either, it is cosy, atmospheric and the perfect spot for your Christmas drink in London.

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