The World’s Largest Antique Market
Portobello Road Antiques Market has long been near the top of the list of things to do on a Saturday for visitors to London. The proper antiques shops that line the Portobello Road are open 6 days a week, the market with all the stalls only on a Saturday.
If you have a remote interest in things old and/or collectible set aside most of the day, but its also a worthwhile place to to visit for the layperson.
Portobello Road itself is a very long street, just to the west of Central London in Notting Hill. It is very close to Bayswater, a major budget hotel district. The area was used as a film set a few years ago for the film Notting Hill, starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. If you saw that film you may recognise parts of the area. Today, the area is quite a trendy,smart area and is where the Prime Minister, David Cameron had his house before he became premier.
The Portobello Road is characterised by lots of arcades and galleries with entrances on the street as well as larger dedicated antique shops. Within these arcades are lots of small antiques traders, some with tiny areas to showcase what they have to offer. For Bob, the big joy of visiting Portobello Road are these dealers who invariably are larger than life characters.
Out on the street are the day traders. The stalls on the Portobello Road itself are controlled by the local council. To get a stall on the Portobello Road you have to prove that you will have something worthwhile to sell within the antiques/collectables envelope and that you have proper insurance. The result is that the market is refreshingly free of tourist tat.
Stallholders pay “from” £45 per pitch for the day.
For some reason, where other markets have burger stalls and such like Portobello Road has crepes smothered with Nutella. Whatever happened to Peanut Butter.
Personally Bob prefers to continue down the Portobello Road beyond the antiques to the food section of the market with much more yummy choices.
Getting To Portobello Road Market
The simplest way for most is to get the Underground to Notting Hill. Its 5 minutes walk to Portobello Road from the Underground and is signed, though most simply follow the crowds. You can walk to the market in about 10 minutes if you are staying in the Bayswater hotel district.
Especially during the summer months its best to try and get to the market by 9 a.m before the worst of the crowds arrive.
Portobello Road Antiques Market - Typical Stallholder
Portobello Road Antiques Market - Inside A Typical Arcade
