Before I get started, know that some of these markets can get crowded and with any crowded area in London (or anywhere really), be cautious of pick pockets. Be smart - don't just have your wallet hanging out from your back pocket. Also, always carry around some cash because not all the stalls will accept card (though a fair amount of them do!). And given that it's London weather, a bottle of water and an umbrella never hurt anyone.
1. Borough Market
I'm just going to get the big name ones out of the way. Yes this is the market where there was the shooting (article here if you somehow didn't hear/read about it), but I wouldn't let that deter you from checking this place out - just don't hang around too late at night if you want to stay on the safe side. It's a classic must visit market in London and can get a bit crowded (though not as bad as others) so best to go mid morning. It opens at 10 AM everyday except Saturday (8 AM) and Sunday (closed) and goes until 5 PM (6 PM on Friday). There's tons of little stalls in this underpass market selling mostly food items like cheeses, oils, teas, breads, fruits, and other delicious goods. There's not really any clothing stalls like other markets but there are a few stalls selling little trinkets/goodies/supplies that you can pick up as souvenirs or just for yourself. I'd definitely recommend getting the scotch egg here because it's freshly fried so toasty hot (I'm not a fan of cold scotch eggs) or a doughnut/donut (4-5 different flavors of plump custard/filling filled donuts..delicious!) or SOME sort of baked good from Bread Ahead. Notably, the Roast is also located in the market - this is a slightly upscale restaurant that does (duh) Sunday roast style dishes including roast beef with yorkshire pudding, pork belly (one of their highly rated dishes), and my favorite - sticky toffee pudding (a definite must get if you go here). It's a little pricey so save it for a special occasion if you do plan to go here.
Probably the largest market of them all, this spans several streets, and it's open every day from 10 AM - 7 PM. It gets jam packed with people at all times of the day so I'm really not sure when the best time to go is to avoid the crowds. There's basically everything there - clothing, food, jewelry, trinkets, the goods. Like I said, it's huge with lots of small "alleys" of stalls so it's a bit easy to get lost and be on alert for pick pockets. Lots of the stalls seem to repeat what they sell (ie same clothing items) but it doesn't hurt to take a look around. Personally I didn't find anything appealing to buy. There's a lot of different food varieties to choose from also but I think the halloumi fries are quite popular (again, personally they were just so-so for me but they're worth a try I suppose). They have a nice seating area (spots are hard to come by) that overlooks a river (though the river isn't that nice and very algae infested) where there are some boats that you can pay to go on I believe. Camden Market is definitely one you could spend over an hour at and Camden Town (the area the market is located in) has lots of shops on the highstreet where you can buy brand name clothes and other things so you can really spend half your day in this area.
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| Two things you should notice: the amount of people and the amount of algae in the lake. |
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| Halloumi fries |
3. Portobello Market
Another very popular and large outdoor street market that gets packed early in the morning so again, not sure when the best time to go is besides early. Lots of antique shops line the streets and even more stalls on the streets themselves. You'll see lots of old gems/stones/jewelry, dining ware/teaware/silverware, and just random old things (age does not make them cheap). There are usually some performers on the street which add to the market feel. You'll walk for a couple of streets until you get to the end where there are most of the food stalls and let me tell you, this is probably one of the largest market food courts. They've got tons of stalls with a huge variety of foods and some will even offer your samples which is nice. They've got a pretty hipster seating area in a sand pit and outdoor loos (aka porta-pottys) that you (horray!) don't need to pay for.
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| People..and more people. Definitely one of the more crowded markets in London! |
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| Seating area where you can enjoy your food |
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| "Gozleme" for only 5 pounds. Super filling as it came with a heaping serving of hummus and salad. Absolutely delicious! |
4. Old Spitafields Market
Nice indoor/covered market with wide variety of clothing shops, random trinkets/goodies, jewelry and hair things, leather belts and bags, etc - as well as a good section of food stalls and actual sit down restaurants on the side. It's open 10 AM - 5 PM everyday except Saturday (opens 11 AM). There's a good variety of things you can buy here and I picked up some cute dresses for a reasonable price (2 for 20 pounds). This market wasn't too crowded when I came by early afternoon which was a definite plus and the food had me drooling. Plus it's near the Peticoat Lane Market - a small outdoor street clothing market selling mostly cheap clothes (cash only) but also some other random household tools for low prices - so you can pop over there when you're done at Old Spitafields.
This Sunday only market specializes in flowers (hurdur) and antiques. It gets PACKED (possibly because it's only open on Sunday; and I mean packed like on par with, if not worse than, Portobello market) so try to go earlier rather than later. It has a huge variety of flowers for a super reasonable price. You're definitely going to see girls taking photos for Instagram here (see the classic feet and flower pose). Flower stalls line the streets but behind them are a few cafes and dozens of antique shops/boutiques selling various trinkets and random homeware goodies - definitely cute things to check out (but not exactly cheap). There's also a few food stalls at the edge/end of the market area and I picked up two vegan goodies (date brownie and banana bread) which were both absolutely deliccious!
6. Greenwich Market
Probably one of my favorite markets out of them all. It's located right off the road near the Cutty Stark (historic boat), the Prime Meridian (7 pound student ticket, 10 for adults - basically to stand over a line..but hey it's worth it if you want to be east and west at the same time right?), and the Queen's House (free! and really quite nice). The market is partly covered under a building (but not exactly indoors because no doors) with some food stalls outdoors as well, and has a really nice variety of stalls selling clothing, hand made things (cards, hair bands, bow ties, etc), homeware (ie metal wire photo holders which you can customize), and of course food! I saw a lot more vegan food options here than most other markets which was cool (not a vegan myself but I can appreciate it) and I tried the vegan donut from Ruby's which was absolute amazingg!
7. Brick Lane Market
Only open Saturday (11 AM - 6 PM) and Sunday (10 AM - 5 PM), this outdoor street market is filled with stalls selling second-hand/second-ware items as well as some clothing stalls. There's an area of the street that has an opening into an old parking lot looking area with more stalls set up in a flea market fashion (random old trinkets lined on tables). You'll also see some stalls selling fresh produce in buckets for 1 pound per bucket like Whitechapel Market (see below). There's lots of surrounding building walls "decorated" in street art which is quite cool (also near Shoreditch which is known for its street art). The streets surrounding the market are filled with hipster cafes (including the notable Cereal Killer cafe and Sloane Bros froyo), the classic famous "beigel" (aka bagel) shop known as Brick Lane Beigel Bake (there's one right next to it also called Beigel Shop which is also rated well but not as many reviews for it on Google so I think it's not the MOST famous lol), and Indian restaurants known to make amazing curry (I have yet to try but the area itself has lots of local Southeast Asians so I wouldn't be surprised if their restaurants were amazing). The two beigel/bagel shops are known for their salt beef bagel but personally I thought the salt beef wasn't anything out of this world (never had it before so not saying it was bad or anything) and for 4 pounds compared to the other fillings (ie cream cheese, smoked salmon and cream cheese, cheese, nutella) which are only 1-2 pounds, it didn't feel quite worth it. But if you're into salt beef or love meat, it doesn't hurt to try it because let's be honest, 4 pounds isn't unreasonably expensive when you consider London prices - and the bagel dough itself is really nice, soft, and fluffy.
8. Whitechapel Market
This is a street market right next to the Whitechapel tube station. It's not crazy huge or long and doesn't get crowded like the other markets. It's great for cheap ripe produce (and when I say ripe, I mean like eat that day ripe or else it'll go bad). Stalls sell fruit piled in a plastic bucket for 1 pound each and while other markets may have stalls like this as well, Whitechapel's portions (aka fruit per bucket) are the most and best deal. For example, I got 5 large ripe avocados for 1 pound and 9 bananas for 1 pound! There's also lots of clothing stalls selling cheap scarves (1-2 pounds each), dresses, pants, shoes, etc. It's a bit like a market you'd see in Asia but run mostly by Middle Eastern shop owners instead. Definitely a nice place to stop by to get your daily fruit fix. Be mindful that all the stalls are cash only.
9. Brixton Market/Brixton Station Road Market
Nice market with largely Jamaican, African, and Latin American influences so you can try some more authentic foods here. It's not as clean/tidy as some other markets (lots of meat butcher shops) but don't let that stop you from walk on a bit further where you'll find an indoor market area that's cleaner with mostly sit down cafes and restaurants (so many to choose from!). There's not as many clothing stalls here as it's mostly food but you'll find some cool cultural items at some stalls on the street/road market. There's also the Pop Brixton area which is an outdoor two-story food eating area (more hipster and pricey foods ranging from steak and fries, crepes, tacos/burritos, pizza, beer, etc) with maybe 1-2 vintage selling clothing stalls. There's a nice seating area on the second floor that's covered so you can take shelter there if it's raining.
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| Inside Pop Brixton |
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| Pop Brixton second floor seating area |
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| Vintage Kilo Sale! This event goes on every so often so check Facebook to see when the next one is. They have multiple locations |
Thursday only food market (9 AM - 2 PM) located near the University College London (UCL) so you'll see lots of students here. It's well-rated online with lots of reviewers raving about the lunch options but I haven't actually found the time to make my way there so I'll leave this short for now. Prices are said to range from 5-6 pounds which isn't unreasonable and they're said to have a good range of options to choose from. The only downside is that during peak lunch hours, there can be quite long lines and since the market isn't even open for that long, you might find yourself waiting a bit.
11. Broadway Street Market
Really nice outdoor street market for lunch time foods.. which is a shame because I went there around 10-10:30 (and it says it opens at 9) and most of the shops were still getting set up (especially the ones making fresh hot foods). It apparently gets really busy during lunch time so maybe go right before the lunch rush hour or after. There are a really wide variety of foods including savory and sweet (some really nice looking meringues and eclairs and cakes!) as well as shops selling handmade clothing, jewelery, and general things you can give as gifts. Also a few shops lining the buildings surrounding the market that are good for early birds looking for a bite to eat. It's close to Netil Market which is a small market (only about 5-8 small shops in a fenced area) that sells old furniture, bike parts, art pieces, flowers, and some other random things. It opens at 9 AM on the weekdays and 11 AM on weekends but I'd suggest going around 12 or after on the weekend since when I went, they weren't really set-up or open at 11.
12. Roman Way Market
Small outdoor street market selling cheap clothing and random things to use around the house (ie cleaning supplies, plastic tupperwares, etc). There's not a huge selection of things here and only 1-2 stalls selling fresh produce and it's not some market I'd say you HAVE to go to but they do have some stalls selling designer brand name clothes so you might want to pop on by if you're into that. There's a fair amount of restaurant/food shops lining the buildings surrounding the market if you're looking to get a bite to eat (Percy Ingle smells of warm melted butter and fatty goodness - definitely recommend checking out their hot pastries) but none of the usual fresh food stalls you might see at other markets.
That's all the ones I've been to so far. I'll continue to update this with more markets that I go to in the London area but hopefully you've found this helpful and enjoy exploring the London culture as I have. Let me know what markets are your favorites or if I've missed any, which ones I need to add to my list to check out!
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