A fashion editor from Condé Nast Traveller UK recently shared her go-to charity shops in London, and the opening anecdote sets the tone: a Globetrotter trunk that retails for £2,495, spotted in a Battersea shop window priced at £100. The only catch? Missing keys — solved with a quick email to the brand. With more than 800 charity shops across the city and no shortage of well-heeled donors, London might just be the best place in the world to shop secondhand.

The key to a good haul is knowing that every borough has its own character — Camden and Chiswick won't share a wardrobe. Rails are usually sorted only into tops and bottoms, so browsing means digging, but that's half the fun. Prices are low enough to experiment with styles you'd never buy new, and with fashion among the world's most polluting industries, there's a sustainability case too. Bonus: it's a great excuse to say 'oh, this old thing? Oxfam.'

Standout stops include Traid in Brixton, where visual artist Francesco Colucci dresses mannequins in 'ephemeral couture' and stylists source photoshoot pieces — the brand runs 13 London stores and even partners with Harrods on repair workshops. The Octavia Foundation on Kensington High Street is a quiet overachiever; one visit turned up a mint Ferragamo silk scarf and an N.Peal cashmere sweater. Royal Trinity Hospice in Balham keeps stock fresh across 23 stores, with colour-sorted rails and a dedicated designer section (past finds include Alexa Chung wedges).

For boutique vibes, Mary's Living & Giving Shop in Primrose Hill — one of 17 Mary Portas-branded Save the Children offshoots — feels like a high-end store, strong on event dresses and Nineties designer shirts. Fara's huge Islington branch is the budget pick, five minutes from Angel station. Crisis in Dalston leans young and contemporary, with vinyl, books, and upcycled edits sold online. The Oxfam Boutique on Westbourne Grove, the original curated charity shop since 2008, sits near Ganni and Sézane and regularly fields Jimmy Choo, Missoni and Prada. And for something livelier, Peckham's Sunday Service car boot — every other Sunday, with DJs and coffee vans — encourages unsold stock to be donated on the spot to Fight for Sight.

For travellers, this is a genuinely good way to spend a free afternoon in London: affordable, sustainable, and different from the usual high street. Build a route around a neighbourhood — Kensington High Street, Notting Hill's Portobello Road, or Brixton — and you'll pass several shops in one walk, with cafes and pubs along the way. Just bring an open mind, check store Instagrams for fresh drops, and don't overthink a bargain that seems too good to be true. Sometimes it's just missing keys.

Original source: Condé Nast Traveller UK