Camden Market

If you’ve seen Peaky Blinders, you have some inkling of what Camden Market is like. On the outside, the dockyards and warehouses look fairly similar to those my favourite character, Alfie Solomon, uses as his … bakery … Is his name Solomon or Solomons? This needs to be settled! On the inside, though, the market is far more fabulous than any warehouse. Sorry, Alfie!

The market itself is actually an old equine hospital, the stalls having been converted into miles upon miles of twisting, turning stores. It’s so unique and so labyrinthian that it took me several visits to see the whole thing. There’s also a little trick to finding Camden Market, one that luckily I had known about (research!) before I went.

I always came up from the south, so when visiting Camden I took a train into London and then the Tube. The closest stop is Camden Town on the Northern Line, which pops out just a couple of blocks from the market.

Here’s the trick. There are a lot of of markets around there claiming to be Camden Market. You could even be forgiven for thinking that the market is just all of Camden High Street. It’s festive, and high spirited, and it should not be ignored, but my advice would be to get to the real Camden Market first. It’s the main show!

When you pop out of the Tube onto the High Street, go right. Cross to the other side of the street now if you want to, you’ll have to do it eventually.

You will pass the Inverness Street Market, and the ‘Camden Market’ which is proudly painted on a green sign. Keep walking. These are not the stalls you’re looking for. Keep walking until you cross a bridge, and the real Camden Market is on your immediate left. If you’ve passed under the rail-bridge that says Camden Lock on it, you’ve gone too far.

Have a good look around, most of the vendors are locals, and sell high quality products that they have handcrafted themselves. You can find everything from clothing, jewelry, woodworking, soaps, tea, furniture; I even purchased two gorgeous paintings there for my Mom, it’s really and truly a wonderful place. When it comes time to finding something to eat, let your nose guide you. There’s an Asian section, lots of little stalls right near the entrance of the market, and a couple of restaurants interspersed in between and across the lock. There’s something for every taste, and yes, there are chocolate and ice-cream places for those of us who consider dessert to be a meal on it’s own. No judgment!

There is just one thing about this place that saddens me.

You need to pay to use the washroom.

I hate it so much I wrote an entirely separate article about it called Let’s Get Rid of Pay-Toilets Please! It’ll be posted the Tuesday after this is published. Click the link to check it out!

Either head to the lower level where the stables are for the free bathrooms, or keep a few coins in your wallet for this, and other such occasions because Europe is full of paid bathrooms. The only semi-acceptable thing about that Camden Market bathroom is that you can use a card to pay for your entry.

Other than that, the Camden Market is one of my favourite places on the planet. It’s so lively, unique, and it’s the perfect place to get lost for an afternoon, even if you don’t purchase anything but food.

Let me know in the comments if there are any markets that you love and think everyone should visit!