Day Tour: London Market Explorer

From its origins as a Roman settlement, our starting point, Covent Garden has evolved from a role as a fruit and vegetable market into a world famous market-hall and piazza of boutiques, opera houses and street entertainment. We will wander round the hidden backstreets and squares of the area before heading to the famous piazza – and on Mondays we’ll also be able to peruse the Jubilee antiques market.

From here, we’ll take a tube to the famous East End, home to some of the best of London’s markets, including Spitalfields, a huge, covered market transformed recently by Sir Norman Foster to provide a light, attractive space for boutiques and numerous fashion stalls, many of which have been starting points for ‘the next big thing’s in fashion. We’ll also head to nearby Brick Lane’s huge, eclectic markets, Petticoat Lane or the famous Sunday flower market on Columbia Road, which is truly London at its most colourful. There will also be time to take a delicious lunch at one of the many stalls, pubs and off-beat eateries around these markets.

Next, we’ll have a wander through the financial centre of London, including one of its finest squares, an ellipse that comes with a lawn bowls club in the centre! Then it’s back on the tube to head towards the Camden Markets. Approaching from Chalk Farm station, where you’ll find the celebrated Marine Ices and the Roundhouse music venue, we come to the markets from their quieter side. We pass the famous Bar Fly venue, and rows of pretty, colourful painted houses, before entering the Stables Market. Long the home of London’s alternative sub-cultures, Camden nowadays has something for everyone and with chain stores still banned from the Markets, its unique independent flavour survives. The tour comes to an end at a canalside pub, where we’ll rewind and refresh ourselves before taking the chance to delve further into the huge maze of markets, or take in some of the live music or comedy available in the area.

[Please note that on Saturdays we have an alternative itinerary: instead of Spitalfields and the East End, we head West to Portobello Road. Home to bohemian antiques sellers, vintage fashion, and gourmet food stalls we can also help you find that infamous “blue door” and the bookshop where Julia Roberts found her man. We’ll then continue on to finish at Camden Market as normal.]