Vintage and Secondhand Shopping in London by Area: Markets and Days

Which area for which kind of browsing

Vintage shopping in London is organised by area more than by shop, and shops change, so this guide stays at market and area level. In the markets we checked, vintage clothing is found at Portobello in Notting Hill and at Brick Lane, Spitalfields and Columbia Road in East London. Antiques, jewellery and collectables are found at Alfies in Marylebone, Camden Passage in Islington and Bermondsey Square. Greenwich Market lists antiques and collectables as one of several categories.

A pattern that helps on a date: browsing is easy to talk across, because you can each pick things up and say what you would do with them, and nobody has to commit to a purchase. That is a pattern, not something the sources say.

West London: Portobello Road and Notting Hill

The Portobello Road Market website (visitportobello.com, which does not say who publishes it) lays the market out along a long road: antiques dealers at the southern end, antique stalls on Westbourne Grove between Portobello Road and Kensington Park Road, fruit, vegetables and household goods in the middle, and vintage clothing and bric-a-brac stalls in the northern sections near the Westway. It gives Monday to Sunday 8am–7pm, with traders usually operating 8.30am–6pm and seasonal variation, and says the market has a history stretching back 160 years. Read those hours with its day-by-day notes: Monday to Thursday only part of the road trades, with ‘sometimes’ casual stalls of vintage clothing or bric-a-brac; Friday is the second busiest day, with antiques at the southern end and vintage clothing and collectables around Portobello Green; Saturday is the busiest day with the whole market trading; and outside summer and December there is no Sunday street market on Portobello or Golborne Roads, though the vintage stalls and shops near Portobello Green are open. The antiques arcades between Chepstow Villas and Westbourne Grove open only on Saturdays, most from 7am until about 4pm.

The vintage clothing market lists Friday 9am–5pm, Saturday 9am–5pm and Sunday 10am–4pm, under the Portobello Green canopy, and its trader listings include vintage clothing, military surplus, designer clothing and handbags, jewellery and accessories from independent traders. The separate Portobello Green Market site lists Friday, Saturday and Sunday 9am–5pm under the Westway, and says Friday leans towards vintage, Saturday is the busiest day with a mixed offering, and Sunday adds antiques, artisans and makers. The two sites give different Sunday hours, 10am–4pm and 9am–5pm, which is a reason to check on the day.

A 2024 transport analysis by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea also says the market is busiest on Saturdays, says the road is too narrow to share between pedestrians and cyclists, and says the usable walking width is limited during market hours because parked vans take up much of the street. The Portobello website calls Saturday the busiest day and Friday the second busiest; it does not say how busy Sunday is.

The market's access page lists Ladbroke Grove (Hammersmith & City and Circle lines, five minutes' walk) and Notting Hill Gate (Central, District and Circle lines, ten minutes' walk), and buses 7, 49, 52, 205 and 452. It gives no accessibility information.

• Portobello Road Market (vintage clothing)market

  Portobello Green, by the Westway, W10 · Nearest: Ladbroke Grove (5 minutes) / Notting Hill Gate (10 minutes), as stated by the Portobello Road Market website

  The vintage clothing market lists Friday 9am–5pm, Saturday 9am–5pm and Sunday 10am–4pm; the website's headline hours for the wider market are Monday to Sunday 8am–7pm, but only Friday and Saturday have the whole market trading.

• Portobello Green Marketmarket

  Under the Westway, Portobello Road, W10

  Lists Friday, Saturday and Sunday 9am–5pm, with vintage clothing, designer goods, antiques and collectables.

East London: Brick Lane, Spitalfields and Columbia Road

The Old Truman Brewery at 91 Brick Lane publishes hours for several markets. Brick Lane Vintage Market, at F Block, 85 Brick Lane, lists Monday to Friday 11am–6.30pm, Saturday 11am–6pm and Sunday 10am–6pm, and describes itself as the largest vintage market in the UK with over 100 shops. That is the brewery's own claim, which we have not independently checked. Backyard Market, which the brewery describes as independent fashion, jewellery and art stalls, and the Tea Rooms, described as offering antique finds, homeware, rare books, vinyl and retro furniture with a French café, both list Saturdays 11am–6pm and Sundays 10am–6pm.

Old Spitalfields Market's traders' market runs Sunday to Friday 10am–6pm and Saturday 11am–5pm. Its traders page lists contemporary and vintage fashion among the stalls, with up to 110 stalls on busier days and a Saturday Style Market of independent designers, and describes the canopy in Crispin Place as wheelchair and pushchair accessible. Spitalfields is four to five minutes from Liverpool Street. The brewery gives Shoreditch High Street as five minutes' walk, Liverpool Street and Aldgate East as ten and Old Street as fifteen.

Columbia Road's own site counts about sixty independent businesses on the road, with vintage clothing stores and antique shops among the types it lists. It gives the flower market and shops as Sundays from 8am until ‘3ish’ and says some shops are also open during the week, without saying which. Shops change, so we name none. For a Sunday plan, treat the road as a possible vintage-and-antiques add-on to the flower market.

• Brick Lane Vintage Marketmarket

  F Block, 85 Brick Lane, E1 · Nearest: Shoreditch High Street (5 minutes), as stated by the brewery

  Lists Monday to Friday 11am–6.30pm, Saturday 11am–6pm and Sunday 10am–6pm; describes itself as the largest vintage market in the UK.

• Backyard Market and the Tea Roomsmarket

  Next to 146 Brick Lane, E1

  Both list Saturdays 11am–6pm and Sundays 10am–6pm; independent stalls of fashion, jewellery and art at Backyard Market, antique finds, homeware, books and vinyl at the Tea Rooms.

• Old Spitalfields Market (traders' market)market

  56 Brushfield Street, E1 · Nearest: Liverpool Street (4–5 minutes), as stated by the market

  Sunday to Friday 10am–6pm and Saturday 11am–5pm; contemporary and vintage fashion among the stalls; the canopy is described as wheelchair and pushchair accessible.

• Columbia Roadmarket

  Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets · Nearest: Hoxton (Overground), as stated by the market

  Flower market and shops on Sundays from 8am until ‘3ish’, some shops open in the week; about sixty independent businesses, with vintage clothing and antique shops among the types listed.

Antiques and jewellery: Marylebone, Islington and Bermondsey

Alfies Antique Market, at 13–25 Church Street, Marylebone, NW8 8DT, describes itself as London's biggest indoor antique and vintage market, in a four-floor art deco building with nearly one hundred dealers selling antique jewellery, vintage clothing, fine art, collectables, furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass and silverware. It lists Tuesday to Saturday 10am–6pm, and its history page says it opened in summer 1976 and has nearly 50 years in the business. It names Marylebone Station, Edgware Road and Baker Street as the closest tube stations. The pages we read state no admission price and no accessibility details, and the site's footer carries a 2024 copyright date, so check the hours before you go.

Camden Passage in Islington's Angel area describes itself as a car-free street of antique, vintage and contemporary shops, outdoor markets, cafés, restaurants and bars. Its market page lists Wednesday and Saturday 9am–6pm, adds that stalls may appear on Thursday, Friday and Sunday ‘subject to change at short notice’, and describes antique, vintage and collectable finds, including jewellery and vintage clothing.

Bermondsey Square's antiques market lists Fridays only, open to early risers at 6am and closing by 2pm, with silverware, china, vintage furniture, glassware, jewellery and collectable oddities. The square's page calls it one of the oldest and most storied antique markets and says it historically operated under the market overt law, abolished in 1995. It gives the address, Bermondsey Square, SE1 3UN, but names no station, so plan the route on TfL Journey Planner.

• Alfies Antique Marketmarket

  Church Street, Marylebone, NW8 · Nearest: Marylebone / Edgware Road / Baker Street, as listed by the market

  Lists Tuesday to Saturday 10am–6pm; describes itself as London's biggest indoor antique and vintage market, with nearly one hundred dealers over four floors.

• Camden Passagemarket

  Angel, Islington, N1

  Market lists Wednesday and Saturday 9am–6pm, with stalls possible on other days subject to change at short notice; antique, vintage and collectable finds.

• Bermondsey Square Antiques Marketmarket

  Bermondsey Square, SE1

  Fridays only, from 6am to 2pm; silverware, china, vintage furniture, glassware and jewellery.

South-east London: Greenwich Market

Greenwich Market says it opened in 1737 and is open daily 10am–5.30pm, with over 120 shops and stalls across the Main Market Hall and the Cutty Sark Street Food Market. Its categories include arts and crafts, antiques and collectables, food and drink, fashion and accessories, and gifts and homeware. Its visit page says the arts and crafts market trades on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and weekends and the antiques and collectables market on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and that the market is closed on Christmas Day and the first six Mondays of the year, so antiques and collectables are not listed on Saturdays or Sundays. The visit page puts the DLR's Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich station across the road and Greenwich station ten minutes' walk away.

• Greenwich Marketmarket

  Greenwich, SE10 · Nearest: Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich (DLR), as stated by the market

  Open daily 10am–5.30pm; over 120 shops and stalls; antiques and collectables market listed Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

By day of the week

Monday to Thursday: Brick Lane Vintage Market and the Spitalfields traders' market trade every day. Greenwich Market is open daily, with arts and crafts on Mondays and Wednesdays and antiques and collectables on Tuesdays and Thursdays (it is closed the first six Mondays of the year). Alfies adds Tuesday to Thursday, and Camden Passage adds Wednesday. On Portobello Road only part of the road trades Monday to Thursday, and its vintage clothing market lists only Friday to Sunday.

Friday: Portobello's vintage clothing market (9am–5pm) and Bermondsey Square's antiques market (6am–2pm) open, alongside Brick Lane Vintage Market, Spitalfields, Greenwich (arts and crafts and antiques) and Alfies. Saturday: Portobello with its whole market and the antiques arcades, Alfies, Camden Passage's second main day, Brick Lane Vintage Market plus Backyard Market and the Tea Rooms, Spitalfields (from 11am) and Greenwich (arts and crafts). Bermondsey Square and Columbia Road do not list Saturday trading. Portobello is the busiest, according to the council and its own website.

Sunday: Portobello's vintage clothing market (10am–4pm on its page, 9am–5pm on the Portobello Green Market site), the Brick Lane markets (from 10am), the Spitalfields traders (10am–6pm), Greenwich (10am–5.30pm, arts and crafts) and Columbia Road (from 8am) trade. Alfies and Bermondsey Square do not list Sunday opening, and outside summer and December Portobello Road itself has no Sunday street market.

How to browse well: pattern-level advice

Pick the day for the kind of outing you want. Bermondsey's own timetable, 6am to 2pm on Fridays, rewards an early start. Portobello on a Saturday is the full market and, per the council and its own website, the busiest day. Brick Lane Vintage Market and Spitalfields list weekday trading if you would rather browse away from the weekend, though the pages do not promise it is quieter.

Walk a market in one direction. Portobello's own layout runs antiques at the southern end, then Westbourne Grove, then fruit and vegetables, then vintage near the Westway, so a single pass avoids doubling back. Treat superlatives as the markets' own words: ‘largest vintage market in the UK’ and ‘London's biggest indoor antique and vintage market’ are descriptions by Brick Lane Vintage Market and Alfies themselves.

This is general advice, not from the sources. Check seams, zips, linings and labels on clothing, ask a dealer about age and any repairs, and keep a tape measure in your pocket. Whether stalls take cards is not covered by the pages we read, so ask the trader. Cafés and restaurants are listed on the Columbia Road, Camden Passage and Spitalfields pages if you want a seat afterwards.

Before you go

• Traders set their own days. Camden Passage says stalls may appear on Thursday, Friday and Sunday ‘subject to change at short notice’, Portobello's two sites give different Sunday hours, and on Portobello Road itself the whole market trades only on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Bermondsey Square is Fridays only, 6am–2pm. Alfies is Tuesday to Saturday. Check each market's page the day before. Greenwich lists antiques and collectables on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays only.
• Access, as stated: the Spitalfields traders' canopy is wheelchair and pushchair accessible. Portobello's pages give no accessibility information, and the council describes the road as narrow, with limited walking width during market hours. The Alfies and Camden Passage pages we read give none.
• None of these pages states what items cost, and Alfies states no admission price, so this guide lists no prices.
• ‘Largest’ and ‘biggest’ are the markets' own wording.

Questions people ask

Which day is best for vintage at Portobello Road?

Portobello's vintage clothing market lists Friday and Saturday 9am–5pm and Sunday 10am–4pm. A 2024 council analysis and the Portobello website say Saturday is the busiest day, and the website calls Friday the second busiest; it does not say how busy Sunday is, and outside summer and December there is no Sunday street market on the road.

Is Brick Lane Vintage Market open on weekdays?

Yes. The Old Truman Brewery lists Brick Lane Vintage Market (F Block, 85 Brick Lane) Monday to Friday 11am–6.30pm, Saturday 11am–6pm and Sunday 10am–6pm. Backyard Market and the Tea Rooms list weekends only.

Where can I find antiques in London on a weekday?

Alfies Antique Market lists Tuesday to Saturday 10am–6pm, Camden Passage lists Wednesday 9am–6pm as a main market day, Bermondsey Square's antiques market runs on Fridays from 6am to 2pm, and Greenwich Market lists antiques and collectables on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Check each market's page first.

Portobello Road or Brick Lane for vintage?

Portobello's vintage clothing market lists Friday to Sunday under the Westway, and the council and the Portobello website say Saturday is the busiest day. Brick Lane Vintage Market trades daily, with Spitalfields' traders' market nearby. Brick Lane fits a weekday outing; Portobello fits a Friday to Sunday one.

Is Bermondsey antiques market open on Saturdays?

Bermondsey Square's page describes a Friday market, open from 6am and closing by 2pm. It does not list Saturday trading, so check the page before you travel.