HAMLEYS TOYS
London’s Famous Regent Street Toy Store Wonderland
For
anyone with children, or perhaps anyone who was a child once, a visit to Hamleys
Toy Shop in
Regent Street is an obvious stopping
point on
a trip to London. Hamleys is one of the world’s most best known
toy stores and one of the largest. Hamleys has been a toy seller since
1760, started by a fellow named William Hamley.
The English toy shop has had a number of locations over the years as
its grown into a toy empire. The current store in Regent Street
halfway
between
Oxford Circus and Piccadilly
was opened
in 1981,
with
seven
full floors
of
toy and
hobby
wonderland. The ground floor starts with stuffed animals and plush
toys. Hamleys makes its own stuffed animals and is also a pruveyor
of Steiff,
the original “Teddy Bear” maker (see Steiff
Museum), the 
floor
is filled with creatures from the tiny to life sized tigers and mini-giraffes.
The First Floor has science
and learning toys, board
games, and a “build a bear” workshop, where kids can have
their picture taken in the arms of a bear instead of the other way
round. The second floor has toys for younger children, the third dedicated
to
dolls and
arts & crafts,
the fourth is hobbies, model kits, model railways and remote controlled
cars, boats and planes, and the fifth is the boy’s land of action
figures and larger riding vehicles and a small café. Legos,
games and novelties can be found in the basement.
Hamleys
is one of London’s more popular destinations with a reported
5 to 6 million visitors per year, so you'll have a lot of company
on any visit to the store. If you don’t
want to wait for an elevator you can the “Narnia” stairs,
a stairway painted in the art and themes of the Narnia books, traveling
through different lands on each level. A family trip to Hamleys stuffed
animals might be more of a treat for kids than some
stuffy
museums, but while some museums in London are free, it’s unlikely
you’ll
escape this toy dream world without a lighter purse. Hamleys is especially
popular when Christmas draws nye and the window displays and lights
are a major
London Christmas Season attraction. The store can be reached by the
tube at
either Oxford Circus or Piccadilly Circus stations. The regular city
busses and both the Original and Big Bus tours stop virtually outside
the door (see London
Bus Sight-Seeing). © Bargain
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Hamleys
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