Portobello Road Market is always bustling and
and well worth visit even if you do not intend to buy.
Portobello Road is a narrow, winding thoroughfare, in the middle
of Notting Hill.
A market has been held here since 1837, and today is really three
or four markets rolled into one.
At the Notting Hill end there are over 2,000 stalls selling antiques,
jewellery, paintings, coins, medals, silverware and collectables.
It is the world's largest antiques market.
Visitors come from all over the world because they know that in
Portobello Road they will find the most extensive selection of
antiques in Britain.
All the stallholders here are experts so don't expect too many
bargains.
This area also has cafés, bars, restaurants and delicatessens.
Further down the hill are fruit and vegetable stalls.
The section around Westbourne Park Road and Talbot Road was made
famous in the film 'Notting Hill' , which starred Hugh Grant and
Julia Roberts.
Under the Westway is a large flea market offering second-hand
clothes, jewellery, records and books, and beyond this at Golborne
Road the market becomes rundown but it's still worth searching
for bargains, as well as the Portuguese cafés.
Saturday is the main day for the market when dealers trade all
manner of antiques and collectibles from about 5:30am till about
4:30pm.
Thousands of people come down the market each Saturday to purchase
antiques from glassware to pewter, to eat and drink in the numerous
restaurants, coffee shops and pubs or simply to browse and watch
the world go by.
The shops and stalls of Portobello Road offer an extraordinary
variety of goods ranging in price from a few pounds to several
thousands.
This market is a huge tourist attraction, being London's largest
and it stretches over a mile long.