SHOPPING IN LONDON - London 2015 - page 691

STREET MARKETS
Antiques buffs, people-watchers, and folks who brake for garage sales love London's street
markets. There's good early-morning market activity somewhere any day of the week.
The best markets—which combine lively stalls and a colorful neighborhood with cute and
characteristic shops of their own—are Portobello Road and Camden Lock Market. Any
London TI has a complete, up-to-date list. Hagglers will enjoy the no-holds-barred bar-
gaining encouraged in London's street markets.
Warning: Markets attract two kinds of people—tourists and pickpockets.
In Notting Hill
Portobello Road Market: Arguably London's best street market, Portobello Road
stretches for several blocks through the delightful, colorful, funky-yet-quaint Notting
Hill neighborhood. Already charming streets lined with pastel-painted houses and offbeat
antique shops are enlivened on Fridays and Saturdays with 2,000 additional stalls
(9:00-19:00), plus food, live music, and more. (The best strategy is to come on Friday;
most stalls are open, with half the crowds of Saturday.) If you start at Notting Hill Gate
and work your way north, you'll find these general sections: antiques, new goods, pro-
duce, more new goods, and a flea market. While Portobello Road is best on Fridays and
Saturdays, it's enjoyable to stroll this street on most other days as well, since the quirky
shops are fun to explore (Tube: Notting Hill Gate, near recommended accommodations,
tel. [phone], www.portobelloroad.co.uk ).