Harrods is the most visited shop in Britain and the most misunderstood. Two things catch people out before they get through the door, and both of them are the opposite of what everybody assumes.
The Harrods dress code, which no longer exists
There is no dress code. Harrods states plainly that it does not have a specific dress code for entry into the store, including any of its restaurants, and that sportswear, trainers, shorts and tracksuits are all permitted everywhere, restaurants included. It reserves the right to refuse anyone not appropriately dressed, but the rule the store was famous for is gone, and people still turn up having changed for it.
And on Sunday it opens half an hour before it can sell you anything. That is the one worth knowing.
Opening times
| Day | Hours | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Saturday | 10am to 9pm | Eleven hours, trading throughout |
| Sunday | 11.30am to 6pm | Browsing only until noon |
The Sunday browsing half hour is not a quirk, it is the law. Large shops in England may trade for only six hours on a Sunday. Harrods opens its doors at 11.30am so you can walk the floors, and starts selling at midday, which gives it six trading hours to six o’clock.
That half hour is the single best time to be in the building all week. The store is open, it is quiet, and nobody is queuing for anything because nobody can buy anything yet.
Harrods
- Address
- 87 to 135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, SW1X 7XL
- Nearest
- Knightsbridge, on the Piccadilly line, which has its own signed exit into the store
- Hours
- Monday to Saturday 10am to 9pm. Sunday 11.30am to 6pm, browsing only until midday
- Price
- Free to enter
- Standing
- Around 1.1 million square feet of selling space, the largest department store in Europe
How to get in
No dress code, in the store's own words, and no ticket. Use the Knightsbridge station exit rather than surfacing on Brompton Road, which is one of the busier pavements in London. The one thing that will stop you at the door is luggage: suitcases, cabin bags and other oversized bags are banned outright and there is no left luggage, so this is not a stop on the way to the airport. The food halls are on the ground floor and are the part worth seeing even if you buy nothing.
Who owns Harrods
The Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, which bought the store in 2010 for a reported £1.5 billion from its previous owner Mohamed Al Fayed. It has been in Qatari state ownership ever since.
Before that the store had passed through House of Fraser and, further back, the Harrod family itself. It is not and has never been owned by the British royal family, which is a persistent piece of confusion fed by the royal warrants the store used to hold.
What it actually is
Charles Henry Harrod founded the shop on Brompton Road in 1849 as a grocer. The first building burned down in 1881. The terracotta palace people photograph today was designed by C. W. Stephens and opened in 1905, and it is the building rather than the merchandise that makes the trip worth it.
At roughly 1.1 million square feet of selling space it is the largest department store in Europe, which is the practical fact: you cannot see it all, and trying to is how an afternoon disappears.
How to use it
Go for the food halls and treat the rest as optional. They are on the ground floor, they are the original business the shop was built on, and they are the one part that is genuinely worth the trip whether or not you buy anything.
Sunday at 11.30 or a weekday morning. Saturday afternoon is the worst two hours in the building. The Sunday browsing half hour is the best.
Use the station exit. Knightsbridge Underground station has its own signed exit into the store, which saves you the Brompton Road pavement entirely.
Do not dress for it. There is no code, trainers and tracksuits are explicitly allowed, and the people who look most out of place are usually the ones who have tried hardest.
Do not arrive with a suitcase. Cabin bags and larger are refused at the door and the store offers no left luggage, which rules it out as something to fit in around a train.
It is free to walk into, which puts it on the short list of grand London buildings you can see for nothing. The free things page covers the rest of them.
Everything here was taken from Harrods’ own published information and rechecked on 28 September 2026. Opening hours change at bank holidays and over Christmas. Confirm before you travel.
Oxford Street is the volume version of the same errand, and its Sunday is half a day: six hours against twelve and a half the rest of the week.
Jermyn Street is the specialist version of a department store, spread across one street, and the best barbers cover the grooming floor equivalent. London dress codes covers what to wear once you have bought it.
The best bookshops in London is the quiet end of the same city, where the oldest shop has been trading since 1797.
Where to go next
Our Knightsbridge guide covers the neighbourhood around it, including Harvey Nichols at the Sloane Street end and where to eat once you are done.
Shopping in London sets out the law behind that Sunday: a shop this size may open for six consecutive hours only, which is why the doors here work differently on a Sunday from every other day of the week.
Free things to do in London covers the other buildings worth walking into for nothing, and afternoon tea covers the grand hotels a few minutes away.
For the opposite of this building, Savile Row is a short ride east on the Piccadilly line: no departments, no weekend opening, and a suit that arrives ten weeks after you order it.
Questions we get asked
Who owns Harrods?
The Qatar Investment Authority, which is the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar. It bought the store in 2010 for a reported £1.5 billion from Mohamed Al Fayed, and has owned it since. Harrods is not owned by the British royal family, despite a persistent belief that it is, which comes from the royal warrants the store formerly held.
What time does Harrods close?
9pm Monday to Saturday, and 6pm on Sunday. Sunday is the short day in both directions: it opens later at 11.30am and closes three hours earlier than the rest of the week. Hours change at bank holidays and over Christmas.
What time does Harrods open?
10am Monday to Saturday. On Sunday the doors open at 11.30am but the store cannot sell anything until midday, because English law limits large shops to six trading hours on a Sunday. That half hour of browsing only is the quietest and best time to be in the building all week.
Where is Harrods in London?
87 to 135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, SW1X 7XL. The nearest station is Knightsbridge on the Piccadilly line, in Zone 1, and it has its own signed exit directly into the store, which is worth using rather than coming up onto Brompton Road.
Is there a dress code at Harrods?
No. In the store's own words, Harrods does not have a specific dress code for entry into the store, including any of its restaurants. The store enforced a strict code for many years and the reputation has outlasted the rule, so a good deal of what you will read elsewhere about banned clothing is simply out of date.
What is Harrods?
A luxury department store in Knightsbridge, and at around 1.1 million square feet of selling space the largest in Europe. It began as a grocer's shop in 1849 and the food halls on the ground floor are still the best part of it. Entry is free, and the building itself, a terracotta palace completed in 1905, is the reason to go rather than the merchandise.
When did Harrods open?
Charles Henry Harrod started the business on Brompton Road in 1849, selling groceries. That first shop burned down in 1881. The building that stands there now was designed by C. W. Stephens, built between 1894 and 1905, and is the one everybody photographs.
Is Harrods free to enter?
Yes. There is no admission charge and no ticket, and you are under no obligation to buy anything. That makes it one of the grander London buildings you can walk into for nothing, alongside the free museums and the cathedrals at service time.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 71 in the guide.
Last checked 28 September 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
