Portobello Road Flea Market - London, United Kingdom
The famous Portobello Road antiques and flea market in Notting Hill takes place every Saturday although there are also stalls from Monday to Friday. Running from Chepstow Villas to just under the Westway, it is a colourful, dynamic stretch of London that oozes trendiness and fun. On Saturday, Portobello Road flea market is huge, with over 2,000 stalls, selling everything from books to bric-a-brac, fashion and lace to Limoges porcelain. You will also find fresh produce: fresh fruit and exotic cooking ingredients are also on sale.
Thousands of people mill around, browsing second-hand clothing stalls of this flea market or choosing outlandish material. For those who have the patience to search, there are some fantastic bargains. This flea market is really is the place to shop-and-eat and then shop some more while soaking up the bohemian atmosphere. It is best to go in the morning, by the afternoon you will find yourself getting a little flustered winding your way through the crowds.
And since you are in London, you may also want to pay a visit to the Old Spitalfields Market (one of the most vibrant and diverse places in the whole of London), Camden Passage Flea Market (a selection of market stalls intermingled among antique shops and restaurants), Brick Lane Flea Market (A chaotic, bustling market with second-hand furniture, unusual clothes and curry houses), Greenwich Flea Market (A number of markets offering a variety of hand crafted goods, antiques and food stalls), Bermondsey Market (one of the few markets in London where the majority of items are genuine antiques), or Chatsworth Road Market (a collector’s haven with its own vintage clothing stalls, and high quality antiques).
Where: 65 Portobello Rd, London W11 2QB, UK
When: Monday – Wednesday: 9am – 6pm / Thursday: 9am – 1pm / Friday & Saturday: 9am – 7pm
More information: Next Portobello Road flea market
Richard
Amsterdam 350 exhibitors??? Whole streets are full of stuff.. I would say more then 3500 exhibitors.. Lots of crap.. but the whole innercity is a market
Nicolas Martin
Hi Richard – Thanks for sharing your input. I’ve personnaly never been to the Vrijmarkt yet (I’ve done though some massive flea markets like Munich’s giant flea market for instance, or la Grande Braderie de Lille), and many other sources seem to agree on the 350 exhibitors; but I guess you’re right to say that it might be closer to 3500 exhibitors (all the more so as the Dutch government permits sales on the street without a permit and without the payment of value added tax). I’ll update the post with your info. Thanks again! More info: http://www.koninginnedagamsterdam.nl/vrijmarkt.html
asmaliana
Malaysia also have many flea market in every district in everyday rotation. But here more famous on food and clothing / fabric
flea market insiders
Hi Asmaliana,
Thanks for your input! If you know some addresses in Malaysia worth visiting, please feel free to share; I’ll put them together in a special post. You can alternatively send us your recommendations by email, to [email protected].
jane
hi there,
my name is jane from kenya and would like to know how i can import goods from germany flea markets, like used utensils,wall charts antiques etc. kindly let me know.thanks.
flea market insiders
Hi Jane,
In order to know how you can import goods from Germany to Kenya, you should get in touch with the Kenyan Custom Department and ask them the question directly. Here’s their website: http://www.kra.go.ke/customs/faqcustoms.html and email address: [email protected]
Good luck :):
jane wamaitha
asante sana. will do that.
antique hunter
I have been struggling to find information about the antiques fair at Lake maggiore. I can’t find any information about Borgo D’Ale there. Does anyone have any information?
Seeyen
Hi All, Italy has many wonderful Flea Markets. The one in the Square of Aviano (45 mins north of Venice at the base of the Dolomites) is the first Sunday of the month and features about 200 vendors. There is a wonderful vendor that normally sells at the front of the church steps who has a shop in Asolo (about an hour and a half west) that could best be described as “American Pickers” heaven. I have found everything from Green antique Coca Cola bottles (Italian) there, to book shelves, farm equip, glass wine containers, a neat late 1800’s rusted out lantern, an Italian View Finder, a magnificent desk (for 50 euro…). Asolo Ogetti D’Arte SRL. As an aside…he didn’t ask me to do this…but if I don’t share this gem, I would be remiss.
flea market insiders
Hi Seeyen,
Thanks for sharing your insider tips! I’m pretty sure it will come handy to flea market lovers who plan a “thrifting trip” to Italy/Venezzia :) I think Pordenone also has a big market on Wed and Sat, Spilimbergo on Saturdays and Maniago on Monday.
Fleamarket resident...
Once in Amsterdam you MUST go to the IJ-hallen Flea market. Every first weekend (SA&SU) at Amsterdam NDSM-werf. (there goes a free ferry from Central station)
+/- 750 exhibitors each time. In summer even more side-outs.
flea market insiders
Thanks for your input :) this IJ-hallen flea market looks pretty impressive; it would make an interesting addition to the “flea markets in the Netherlands” listing on fleamapket.com http://www.fleamapket.com/location/netherlands/
Do you have additional information regarding this venue? Like opening days, type of items found there, prices?
Mark Robins
i am looking for markets where i can sell dutch flower bulbs. I am located in East Austria and can travel . Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
MalcolmO
The date of the flea market in munich is a week later. Saturday 26 April.
http://www.fruehlingsfest-muenchen.de/
flea market insiders
Hi MalcolmO, thanks for sharing this update! I’ll edit the post with the correct date. Cheers
JMac
I hear there is an amazing antiques market in Tongeron, And there is a flea market in Homburg, Germany.
flea market insiders
Hi JMac, there is indeed! Tongeren hosts one of the biggest weekly flea market in Belgium ( https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/best-flea-markets-in-belgium ) and Hamburg’s Flohschanze Flea market in Schanzenviertel ( https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/best-flea-markets-in-germany/3/ ) is an absolute must do.
sue
Hi We re looking for a nice big brocante in Northern France or Belgium for January or february….Can anyone help with that???
flea market insiders
Hi Sue! If you’re hanging around northern France and Belgium, I could not but recommend to go to Brussels; there’s a pretty neat flea market taking place every day on the Place du Jeu de Balle (450 merchants work there every day of the year from 6 am to 2 pm): https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/place-du-jeu-de-balle-flea-market/
Also, once you’re in Brussels, you can pay a visit to the antique dealers located in the Grande Rue, Rue Blaes and Sablon Square. And don’t miss to visit Stef Antiek (https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/the-most-amazing-antique-shop-in-brussels/).
Besides Brussels, you have a few nice flea markets in other relatively “nearby” cities, like Tongeren (http://www.fleamapket.com/listing/tongeren-flea-market/), Waterloo (http://www.fleamapket.com/listing/waterloo-flea-market/). If you want to go a little bit further east to the Netherlands (once you’re in Tongeren, it’s a 20 minutes ride by car), you could try Maastricht flea market (http://www.fleamapket.com/listing/maastricht-flea-market/); it’s small, but still worth it.
Amsterdam is very nice too, particularly the IJ-Hallen, which is one of the biggest monthly flea markets in Europe: https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/flea-market-amsterdam/ and https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/amsterdam-tour/ for a whole tour of the city!
Anna
Hello, thanks for a great website and recommendations – of all the flea markets in Europe, are there any that are particularly good for furniture pieces? French, Bavarian, Scandinavian, Belgian, etc?
Desks, antique wooden tables, cupboards, chest of drawers, apothecary cupboards, chairs? In London there is the Sunbury Antique fair which is to recommend, specifically for finding large pieces of furniture.
flea market insiders
Hi Anna, thanks for stopping by! If you’re looking specifically for good furniture pieces in Europe, you might indeed find interesting items on major markets like France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and Belgium/Netherlands. But it all depends on what you are looking for. Without strictly categorizing each country, we could generally say that Germany/Bavaria/Austria are famous for the relatively high quantity of hand painted wooden furniture that were produced in the 18th/19th/20th century, and pretty easy to find (Biedermeier furniture are also pretty widespread in Austria/Bavaria). Denmark leads the Scandinavia group with its eponymous relatively modern furniture (1950s-1970s), while a few Finnish designers like Alvar Aalto and Eero Saarinen strongly influenced the industry with their modern creation& production process. Belgium, the Netherlands and France are well known for the massive quantity of industrial design furniture that were produced there.
Once again we do not mean to strictly categorize each country. However, these are trends that have been more less identified as such.
Also, don’t overlook antiques fairs; because they attract professional dealers and a lot of visitors, you will be able to find quality pieces of furniture there. Sure, they might come at a price, but you’ll also be able to haggle, particularly on “unsold” items on the very last day of the fair. One fair I would strongly recommend is the “Munich Giant Flea Market (located on the Riesen-Flohmarkt Theresienwiese) that will take place on Saturday April 18th, 2015: https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/munichs-giant-flea-market-2012/. It’s literally “massive” with more than 2,000 booth and 80,000 visitors.
LN
Hi, great post! I am looking to buy mainly vintage and secondhand clothing. From your post, it looks as though this flea market primarily sells furniture and antiques. Would you recommend going here for clothing? Thanks!
flea market insiders
Hi LN, thanks for the good words! Which flea market among the 15 featured locations, do you actually have in mind?
LN
Hi,
Sorry, I was probably a bit ambiguous. I am currently living in Berlin and find really great vintage/ secondhand pieces at Mauerpark Market and Neukölln Flowmarkt on Sundays. I’m looking to do a buying trip to Paris next month and check out a couple flea markets. I have an online boutique and love traveling and finding great 70s,80s and 90s pieces from flea markets. Any suggestions for the best ones for clothes in Paris would be so helpful. Thank you
FloridaCharlie
I have been to the Brussels and Tongeren flea/antique markets more than. I would say that the Tongeren market is the better by far for variety, size and willingness to deal.
FloridaCharlie
We have been to the Paris, Brussels and Tongeren flea/antique markets more than once. I would say that the Tongeren market is the better by far for variety, size and willingness to deal.
flea market insiders
Thanks for sharing your experience with us FloridaCharlie :) Tongeren is without a doubt one of the most interesting flea markets held on a regular basis in the Benelux region. It is true that flea markets in Paris like St Ouen tend to be overrated and way too expensive; I guess that’s the price one has to paid for shopping in Paris ;) We’ve regularly featured Tongeren in other review, like this one https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/best-flea-markets-in-belgium/2/ and that one http://www.fleamapket.com/listing/tongeren-flea-market/
And we will definitely feature it on our upcoming Top European Flea Markets for 2016 review. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us!
srinivas pattipaka
hi sir ,
i am from India , looking for antique old coins of India
any one having please message me on [email protected]
mat
Hi there is it the 16th or 23rd April this year?
flea market insiders
Hi Mat! The Flohmarkt am Theresienwiese was on April 16th 2016. We’ll feature the dates for 2017, as soon as they’ll be made official by the Bayerischen Roten Kreuz (BRK) :)
Megha aggarwal
Can anyone tell me if there are any markets known for indian products specifically in Europe….
would be really helpful
morganfairchild
hi guys I would like to know in your experience the best flea market in europe for vintage clothing thanks
Marko
Zagreb Croatia, Jakuševac flea market every Sunday it is a must see
Ashley Miller
Hi Marko, thanks for your input! Hrelic and Britanski trg indeed host two interesting flea markets, each with its own clientele and variety of items. While Hrelic is more like a bric-a-brac, Britanski trg offers more high-end products. But both are worth visiting! More info: https://www.fleamapket.com/listing-region/europe/croatia/
Thanks for highlighting this!
nic
hi guys, i am vintage clothing buyer are there any good markets not in holland i should check out and what days are they ? thanks in advance
yasemen sagnak
Hi, please inform which flea markets and antique fairs are good to find cheap and various of porcelains.. Thanks in advance. Brgds..
Ashley Miller
Hi Yasemen, it’s quite hard to generalize flea markets as they all sell a mix of items ranging from furniture to second hand clothing and crockery. Nonetheless, if you’re on the market for fine porcelain, you could try your luck in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. You can browse Europe’s 150 best flea markets here: https://www.fleamapket.com/listing-region/europe/
Aude
And the Puces du Canal in France ?!!! a wonderful place opened every Thursady, Saturday and Sunday with 200 antic shop and 400 unpacking place! This is the second flea market in Fance !! Visit us ! Welcome ! http://www.pucesducanal.com/
Nicolas Martin
AuthorHi Aude, Absolutely, it’s a wonderful place! We’ve featured it as one of the best flea markets in France in this article: https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/best-flea-markets-in-france/ and, of course, also on Fleamapket! https://www.fleamapket.com/listing/les-puces-du-canal/
Chapman Sandra m
at the moment i believe that car parking resurfacing is going on at waterloos making it difficult to park and less stallholders going as not guaranteed a place
also at la bastions froyennes i dont know if thats on either as they were also having work done on the car parks
i enjoyed reading your site and comments but note there are no contact telephone numbers and when one is making the trip to stand or buy ican be a long way for nothing
Nicolas Martin
AuthorHi Sandra, thanks so much for your input! This will certainly be useful for visitors planning to go to Waterloo!
S Lopez
Hi – So happy to have found your site – great information!!
I’m from California. Do you have any advice if I find something large- what’s the best way to ship something back to the US?
Ashley Miller
We’re so happy to hear that! We actually have an article about shipping flea market finds home: https://www.fleamarketinsiders.com/flea-market-shipping/
I hope this helps!
S Lopez
Thanks so much – the article you referenced is exactly what I was looking for!
Olga
Best thing about the Rastro market in Madrid is actually not the flea market itself, but a bunch of (mostly) new cool shops that opened in the area in the recent years! Check it out http://colouryourcasa.com/15-shops-madrid-rastro/
Ashley Miller
Thanks for sharing Olga!
Natalie
Hello,
Could you please confirm the day and date in April for Vrijmarkt in Amsterdam.
In the section ‘Best flea markets in 2018’ the Vrijmarkt is on Wednesday, 27 April 2018. I believe it is a genuine mistake.
Wednesday is 25 April and Friday is 27 April 2018.
Thank you
Kind regards,
Natalia
Ashley Miller
Hi Natalia,
Thanks for your email! The Vrijmarkt 2018 will take place on Friday 27 April. The Vrijmarkt takes place every year on the 27th of April, for King’s Day (Koningsdag). Thanks for highlighting the typo!
Mina
Hi,
Where is the best place to buy vintage clothes?
Thank you