Portobello Road Market

We arrived here late afternoon on a Friday in August and the market was still alive but the crowds had disappeared so it was pleasant to walk around without bumping into numerous tourists. (The Notting Hill Carnival was happening the following day so perhaps this accounted for the lack of a crowd?)
Many of the shops appeared to be on the expensive side but the stalls are where the real bargains are at.
It is certainly more on the antique side but there is enough on offer to interest the browsing visitor. The walk down the road is predominantly downhill and just as you think it's ending more shops and stalls appear.
Plenty of quirky bars and restaurants to pull into if you are feeling the pinch of tiredness.
We had been to Camden Market in the morning but if I were to do it again I would do Portabello Road first. It does take a while to walk from Notting Hill tube station to get to the market. And at the other end Ladbroke Grove station is not a station one would call direct as you have to change a couple of times to get back to major rail stations like Victoria, London Bridge and Kings Cross.
However, this is a London icon that should still be on the pathway for those visiting London.

I really enjoyed my first visit to this market. This market extends for blocks and the booths contain everything from old books to vintage clothes to baked goods. You'll want to allow yourself a couple of hours to explore all the stands. Make sure to stop by the "Travel Book Shop" from the movie Notting Hill! Most sites recommend that you get their early, but I arrived at 9am and a lot of booths hadn't even finished setting up. I'd recommend aiming for 9:30am.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks says it best: "Anything and everything a chap can unload is sold off the barrow in Portobello Road."
The market is MUCH larger than we initially thought, and as we were on a time crunch we didn't get to see all of it, but you could easily spend 3-4 hours exploring; we visited on a Saturday, which is the busiest day of the week and best time to see everything. Some items were overpriced and some stalls were full of rubbish, but that's to be expected at any market. We found some great bargains and came away satisfied.
If you're not a fan of giant crowds, try to get here when the market opens at 9 and start making your way through; the large crowds didn't really start to form until after 10:30-11am. There are a couple of public toilets available that are free to use and various ATMs scattered around, though there were always big queues for these, so only use if desperately needed. There are signs everywhere warning of pickpockets, so make sure you've always got a grip on your bag and keep your phone/wallet away when not needed!

We came in around 2pm on a Saturday and it was SO WORTH IT!! Bought items that I wouldn’t have been able to find anywhere else!! Beautiful quirky off the beat items!!! I am so happy we came and didn’t listen to the naysayers who also said that it would suck because it was raining! We also had food from the food stalls and it was delicious!!! Portobello Road Market is a must visit!!

when in London everybody should experience the long walks ,various tastes and the crowded streets full of life and laughter that Portobello Market offers.
10’ minutes on foot from Bayswater where we were staying.
The whole mood and the atmosphere in this area is like of another era ..shops with antiques,paintings,secondhand clothes, vinyl records from all over the world, international cuisine stalls, fresh fruit and vegetables, excellent pastry shopsall of them superb.
There is a south African man cooking and selling delicious paella, made in front of your eyes. We all enjoyed it a lot !
It’s the place where you can eat, love and enjoy yourself. Don’t miss it.

Four of us visited the Portobello markets and I was once again blown away with the variety and sheer size of the market. Almost anything one can expect from a market is at Portobello. The Notting Hill Gate UG station provides easy access The the market area. Highly recommend.

Portobello Road was my favorite market in London. It is a mile long booth-market that sold antique rings, clocks, hats, records, and food. I was able to spend an hour at the market, but it was not enough time because of how big the markets is. I would suggest planning to spend the entire morning here.

A great experience, if you haven’t been before, but not sure if I’d go twice. It is very busy on a Saturday and, while there are some nice stalls, there is also a lot of over-priced tat. The second hand clothes shops that line the market are astoundingly expensive for clothes you could get in a normal charity shop for under £20-30. 345 Portobello Road is a fab vegetarian cafe that’s not on here. That saved the day, because the food was amazing!

The Vintage Fur Garden I visited at Covent Garden last time I bought fur in London, but now they have moved to a beautiful shop at 82 Portobello Road, Notting Hill. I loved them at C.G. but now they have an even bigger selection of gorgeous fur coats and jackets, vintage and modern, classic colours and bright colours. I went to some other shops down the road and none of them had the quality or the choice of designs. I still highly recommend this shop if you are looking for any type of sustainable winter clothing.

went early in the morning at about 9am+ but there are quite a number of traders that aren't open yet. so if you wanna get the full experience, reach slightly later but not later than 12pm because that's when the crowd will start to increase. but i felt that there are a lot of repetition across multiple traders, like they are selling the exact same thing, for example reusable cotton tote with "notting hill" wordings etc.