Bicester Village

This is definitely every shoppers heaven! They have an amazing collection of designer store! There is also many bargains to be had!
The layout is great and the complex is extremely clean and neat. At peak times parking can be a problem, other transport options is available.
Definitely worth a visit!

Let’s go shopping! It is some how traditional for tourists to go shopping when traveling and this is no exception. It feels weird to be the tourist when in the US I am the part of the locals. Looking for discounts might be difficult to find. With a lot of high end designers creating lower end brand name products for outlet shoppers we can feel like we save money but in reality we didn’t save much.
There is nothing fancy to me about this outlet. American brands are more expensive even before converting your money to Pounds. I heard that local England and UK brands are better priced but I can’t confirm. Also having a slight 8 to 10 percent tax break does help but don’t base your purchase around the fact you can get tax back as a foreign. Think of it as a mail in rebate. You probably will forget to redeem this benefit. I only spent an hour here and I didn’t find much interest. I know I will sound like a chick but damn I tried on a Burberry jacket but it was real nice. Everything else felt like crap but I wasn’t willing to part with 300 Pounds. Besides we are on a 4 year drought. It sadly won’t rain in California.
If you have the itch to shop you should give this place a chance. If you are looking for deals because this is an outlet you may or may not find what you are looking for. If you are looking for designer brands you are in luck. You might as well do some damage here rather than in London.

Im vergleich zu den Amerikanischen Outlet Villages ist Bicester Village relativ klein, aber die Auswahl an Shops ist gut. Die Preise sind okay, für Outlet finde ich es aber immernoch etwas zu teuer. Leider ist kein Food Court vorhanden. Jamie Olivers ist der einzige Imbiss. Der Ausflug hat sich zwar gelohnt und Bicester war sehenswert, aber ein zweites mal würden wir nicht mehr hin gehen

Unless you are a fashion-​label-​ista just avoid this place. Prices may be discounted but they are still far too rich for my taste!
Good place to know about if you’re driving and need a comfort break!

A good selection of high end stores, but be papered to spend more on food, too. This place has no food court, so, beside Jamie Oliver, there’s no «quick meal».
If you are non-​European residence, make sure you have a copy of your passport and a credit card. Since they’ve already taken out admin fees at the stores here, you will loose more if you do your refunds at the airport. They pay you back the tax portion on the spot in cash with no additional fees. Yes, you will spend lots of time lining up if you go there in the late afternoon to closing, but it’s worth it.

As an American shopping overseas, I wondered how different it would be shopping at an outlet in the UK versus back in Texas — roundrock, allen, Tanger outlets, etc.
I’ll start with how to get there:
Staying in London, there were a few options to get out to Bicester. You can take a charter bus with 2 morning departure times and 2 return departure times. This bus takes a few stops to pick up other passengers at hotels so the total time takes about 1.5 hrs if i remember correctly.
Or, you can take the tube to Marlyebone station where you can take the rail directly to Bicester Village where you will take a short 5 minute shuttle bus to the village. This is the option we chose, and it was nice to have the flexibility of frequent trains.
Onto the shopping itself:
For the women, it’s a pretty sweet collection of big name designer stores all in one place. For the men, shopping is the same at any outlet in my opinion. However, it was an interesting opportunity for me to just take a look at what high end clothes looks like as well as accessories. However, the prices were not anything spectacular. What does help is visiting the tourist information center and getting a VIP card that will get you 10% off any full-​priced items at pretty much any store. Normally, you need a platinum level credit card to be able to get one of these VIP cards, but if you look desperate enough like I did, they may just give you one. I even spent time stalking Chinese tourists who may have had extras. We only used the card on one item, but every little bit helps, especially here.
Lastly, definitely be aware of the VAT tax refund. this is basically to avoid having to pay double tax in europe and US. more info here: