Notting Hill / Portobello Road Market
Portobello Road Market
The filming location of the movie Notting Hill, with candy-colored terraced houses and the Portobello antiques market on Saturdays. It is one of London's most photogenic neighborhoods.
Notting Hill is in west London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Its 19th-century Victorian terraced houses are painted in candy colors such as pink, blue, and yellow. The 1999 film Notting Hill made the neighborhood world famous. Scenes from the film include the blue door (280 Westbourne Park Road) and the travel bookshop (13 Blenheim Crescent), and both remain popular photo spots. Portobello Road Market is the heart of the neighborhood. Saturday is the busiest antiques day of the week, with over a thousand stalls from Chepstow Villas to Elgin Crescent selling silverware, vintage cameras, maps, retro jewelry, and old books. Further north are stalls for fruit and vegetables, street food (paella, German sausages, Jamaican dishes), and secondhand clothing. Under the Westway flyover, you will find vintage clothing and record stalls. A smaller market runs on Fridays, and Monday through Thursday has only produce and everyday goods. The streets with the most colorful houses are Lancaster Road, Elgin Crescent, and Denbigh Terrace. Each August, on the bank holiday weekend, the Notting Hill Carnival, Europe's largest street festival, draws over a million people with Caribbean floats and steel bands. The market's southern end is a 5 minute walk up Pembridge Road from Notting Hill Gate Station (Central, District, and Circle lines). The northern section can be reached from Ladbroke Grove Station. Arrive before 9 to 10 a.m. on Saturday, since crowds build after noon. Antiques can be bargained over, and cash is more convenient. The nearby Holland Park and Kensington Palace are good additions to a visit. Watch out for pickpockets at the Saturday market, and be considerate of residents when photographing in residential streets.
Opening hours
Market: Sat 09:00–19:00 is the busiest; Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00 (closes 13:00 on Thu); closed Sun
Nearby sights
- Design Museum
- Kensington Palace
- Royal Albert Hall
- Natural History Museum
- Science Museum
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens
- Harrods