Selfridges is open until 10pm Monday to Friday, which makes it the latest-closing department store in London by a distance and turns it into an evening option rather than a daytime errand.
And then Sunday is 11.30am to 6pm, six and a half hours, which is the shortest trading day of the week and the one people assume is the longest.
The hours in full
Monday to Friday: 10am to 10pm.
Saturday: 10am to 9pm.
Sunday: 11.30am to 6pm.
So the useful plan is the opposite of the obvious one. A Tuesday at eight in the evening is quiet and open for two more hours. A Sunday afternoon is the busiest hours of the shortest day.
Quiet Hour, every Wednesday
This is worth knowing and almost nobody repeats it.
Quiet Hour runs every Wednesday from 10 to 11am in all Selfridges stores. The music is lowered or switched off, and screens are turned off where possible, to create a calmer environment.
The store introduced it for people with autism spectrum conditions, sensory sensitivities and mental health conditions such as anxiety. In practice it is also the single calmest hour of the week to shop in that building, whoever you are.
The things inside it that are not shopping
The store’s own A to Z of services is the most surprising document it publishes, and it is worth reading before you decide what the building is for.
There is a cinema. The Cinema at Selfridges shows new releases and arthouse films in screening rooms with their own bar, and the whole space can be hired privately.
There is a skate bowl.
There are safe deposit boxes, an opticians, a prescription service and key cutting.
Also on the list: a bureau de change, cash machines, ear piercing, engraving and embossing, men’s and women’s hair salons, jewellery welding, a nail bar, lingerie fitting, repairs, alterations, interpreters, delivery to your hotel, and a resident psychic.
That combination makes more sense once you know the building’s founding idea. Selfridges opened in March 1909 on the premise that a shop should be somewhere you spend a day rather than somewhere you buy a thing, and the service list is that premise still running.
Eating and drinking
The restaurants are a reason to come in their own right, and the rooftop is the one people search for by name: Alto by San Carlo, on top of the store.
Given the 10pm weekday close, dinner upstairs followed by a quiet half hour in a nearly empty shop floor is a genuinely good evening and costs nothing beyond the meal. Our rooftop restaurants page covers how it compares.
Personal Shopping has moved to its own address, 40 Duke Street, described as a club for socialising, fashion and culture as much as a fitting room, with appointments covering bespoke orders and made to measure.
Christmas
The Christmas Shop is on the lower ground floor and opens absurdly early in the year, which is a Selfridges tradition rather than an accident. If you want the decorations without the December crowds, the weekday evenings above are the answer.
Our Christmas page covers the rest of the season, and the Christmas markets cover the outdoor version.
Where it is and how to plan it
On Oxford Street at the Marble Arch end, nearest to Bond Street and Marble Arch stations. Our Oxford Street page covers the rest of the road, including which end to start at.
Quietest: Wednesday 10 to 11am, during Quiet Hour.
Latest: any weekday until 10pm.
Worst: Saturday afternoon, and Sunday at any hour, because Sunday closes at six.
With children: the skate bowl and the cinema are the two things in the building they will remember.
Selfridges London
- Address
- 400 Oxford Street, London W1A 1AB
- Nearest
- Bond Street or Marble Arch
- Hours
- Monday to Friday 10am to 10pm. Saturday 10am to 9pm. Sunday 11.30am to 6pm
- Booking
- None to visit. Personal Shopping at 40 Duke Street is by appointment
- Price
- Free to enter
- Standing
- Open since March 1909, and the latest-closing department store in London
How to get in
Quiet Hour runs every Wednesday 10 to 11am, with music lowered or off and screens off where possible. The building also holds a cinema, a skate bowl, safe deposit boxes, an opticians, a prescription service, key cutting and a resident psychic.
Where to go next
Oxford Street covers the rest of the road and Harrods is the other end of the same idea, in Knightsbridge.
The rooftop restaurants cover Alto, and shopping in London covers the wider picture.
Questions we get asked
What time does Selfridges close?
10pm Monday to Friday, 9pm on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday, when it opens at 11.30am. The weekday 10pm close makes it the latest-closing department store in London.
Is Selfridges open on Sunday?
Yes, from 11.30am to 6pm. That is the shortest trading day of the week, six and a half hours, so a Sunday visit has far less time in it than a weekday one.
What is Quiet Hour at Selfridges?
An hour every Wednesday from 10 to 11am when the music is lowered or switched off and screens are turned off where possible, creating a calmer environment. Selfridges introduced it for people with autism spectrum conditions, sensory sensitivities and conditions such as anxiety, and it runs in all its stores.
Is there a cinema in Selfridges?
Yes. The Cinema at Selfridges shows new releases and arthouse films in screening rooms with their own bar, and the space can be hired privately.
What services does Selfridges have?
Far more than shopping. Its published A to Z includes a cinema, a skate bowl, safe deposit boxes, an opticians, a prescription service, key cutting, a bureau de change, hair salons, a nail bar, ear piercing, engraving, jewellery welding, alterations, repairs, interpreters, delivery to your hotel and a resident psychic.
When did Selfridges open?
March 1909, on the principle that a shop should be somewhere you spend a day rather than somewhere you buy a single thing. The length of its service list is that idea still running.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 232 in the guide.
Last checked 5 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
