London Markets

Camden Market is actually several markets wrapped into one fun, funky canalside shopping experience. There's a wide array of goods to view ranging from antiques to clothes (vintage and new) crafts, accessories and furnishings. Indeed just about everything and anything you could conceivably want, but probably not need.  The main markets to head for are Camden Lock Market, Camden (Buck Street) Market and Camden Antiques Market where you can find a wide variety of goods including clothes, crafts, antiques and jewellery. The best days to go are Saturday and Sunday from 8am-6pm - as long as you don't mind crowds; some shops and stalls are also open on weekdays. This is a huge weekend tourist attraction and a great shopping experience, as interesting for the diversity of people as for its mixed bag of stalls and multicultural food on offer. Sundays, in particular, tend to be mega-crowded.

Nestled in the heart of the The City, in the shadow of Christ Church, Spitalfields Market offers the perfect antidote to out-of-town shopping malls. The stalls in the old covered market are the place to look for something original, of excellent quality and value for money. With the market being closed on Saturdays and Monday, Sundays are busiest, with over 200 stalls operating, including a specialist organic market.  On weekdays between 11am and 4pm the markets' varied stalls are quieter, except at lunchtime, when the choice of eating places attracts the young City crowd. On Fridays, over 50 young designers show their work at the Fashion Market.

Leadenhall Market is a restored Victorian covered market that sells traditional game, poultry, fish and meat. It's open Monday to Friday from 11am-4pm and the best time to visit is early lunchtime. It is found in Whittington Avenue, off Gracechurch Street, close to the Lloyds of London building and the Bank of England. A good place for a stroll around, especially at lunchtime when the market is at its most lively, this is the place to come for some of the finest food in London.

Nestled in-between Borough High Street, Bedale Street, Stoney Street and Winchester Walk lives "London's Larder", more formally known as Borough Market. This gourmand's delight is London's oldest food market and boasts a mouth-watering range of fresh food stalls under its Dickensian wrought-iron roof. Italian cheeses, Morecambe Bay shrimps, Spanish foods and much more. Atmospheric, lively and mouth-watering this foodie's paradise is a definite must on a Saturday morning. Savvy shoppers take care to browse around for the best deals - just because it's a market doesn't mean it's cheap and some of the delicious goods can leave you feeling out of pocket. Do a little window shopping before you buy and you'll find there are plenty of goods to be had at reasonable prices.

Lined with chic boutiques, every Sunday this historic street fills with a bright patchwork of hundreds of flower stalls. Columbia Road is the capital's most colourful and sweet-smelling market. Flowers, shrubs, bedding plants and other horticultural delights are all for sale.  As well as cut flowers, there are topiary trees, pot plants, bulbs and bouquets on sale, and everything to cater for that English obsession - gardening. The market is open from 8am-2pm and there are plenty of attractive cafes and authentic sea-food stalls where you can make a pit-stop.

Berwick Street Market sells fruit, vegetables, fabrics and some clothes and household items. Dating back to 1778, there's a long history of market trading here and it's still going strong. With Berwick Street being positioned in the heart of Soho, the market is popular with London's media crowd and serves as a prime eating and shopping area for advertising execs come lunchtime. Record shops, material wholesalers and cafes line the streets surrounding Berwick Street Market so there's plenty to do and see over and above what the stalls have to offer.

Greenwich boasts a number of glorious markets offering a variety of traditional, hand-crafted goods, antiques, clothing and food stalls. The craft market is held at College Approach and the antiques market is off Greenwich High Road. Finish your market tour off with a walk along the river, taking in the Cutty Sark. Running from Tuesday through to Sunday, there are arts, craft and food stalls on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, and antiques, vintage and collectables on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Brick Lane Market is pure East End London, which means Jewish bagel shops, Bangladeshi curry houses, Indian sari silks - and Cockneys crying out their wares.  This chaotic, bustling market is half way between jewel and junk heap. It attracts lots of young Londoners, in search of second-hand furniture, unusual clothes and bits of this-and-that. They'll finish with an inexpensive Sunday lunch (probably curry) in a local restaurant.  The market is open Sunday early morning to around 2pm. London's Curry Mile also plays host to a number of outdoor festivals as the weather warms up, and this is the street to visit any time of the year for a first-rate Indian or Bangladeshi meal followed by a night of dancing in some of London's best dance venues.

The famous Portobello Road antiques and flea market in Notting Hill takes place every Saturday although there are also stalls from Monday to Friday. Running from from Chepstow Villas to just under the Westway, it is a colourful, dynamic stretch of London that oozes trendiness and fun.  On Saturday, it's huge, with over 2,000 stalls, selling everything from books to bric-a-brac and lace to Limoges - even fashion and exotic cooking ingredients are on sale. Thousands of people mill around browsing second-hand clothing stalls or choosing outlandish material. For those who have the patience to search, there are some fantastic bargains.  This really is the place to shop-and-eat and then shop some more. It is best to go in the morning, by the afternoon you will find yourself getting a little flustered winding your way through the crowds.

Hidden down a cobble-stoned Angel backstreet a whimsical collection of odds and ends have been gathered together on a selection of market stalls. Intermingled among elegant antique shops and restaurants, it is very easy to spend a day perusing through the muddle of goodies. The antique shops themselves are the real hidden gems of Camden Passage. There is a much admired doll and toy dealer, a specialist long case and mantel clocks vendor and the 'Georgian Village' is full of ornate glass and precious china. Most of the traders are specialists. They know their stuff and can be a lot of fun to chat to. Strive to find the bargains; prices can be high so haggling is essential.  Many of the smaller shops and stalls are only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but the larger antique furniture shops may open on other days if visitors ring the bell. Every Sunday Camden Passage hosts a popular farmers' market selling a range of locally grown organic foods.  

Petticoat Lane is London's world famous Sunday market and sells mainly clothes for men, women and children, from street-cred clubwear to over-orders of designer goods and last year's must-haves. One of its specialities is leather wear at the Aldgate East end and there's bric-a-brac, household goods, in fact everything you could possibly think of plus some other bits and bobs too. The market is held in and around Middlesex Street on Sundays from 9am to 3pm, with a smaller market open on Wentworth Street from Monday to Friday. Confusingly, Petticoat Lane doesn't actually exist any more - we have the Victorians' prudishness to thank for that, wishing to avoid any reference to undergarments they changed the name to Middlesex Street in 1846. With more than 1,000 stalls lining the streets on a Sunday bargain hunters come in their droves, it's a great scene worth the trip even if you're not shopping. Nearby areas of interest include Brushfield Street where Spitalfields Market is held and which offers more in the way of quality. Petticoat Lane may be London's biggest street jumble sale but for bargain hunting, with a bit of haggling thrown in, it's the original and the best.