Columbia Road Flower Market

It’s primarily a flower market but this is the one day of the week that everything on Columbia road is open if flowers aren’t really your thing. The street harks back to a time when as Napoleon put it “Britain is a nation of shop keepers”* with independent little shops selling anything from perfume to old fashioned candy to china tea sets. My favourite spot is ‘The Cake Hole’ but it gets full and sold out pretty quickly. There are a number of lovely places though from ‘Jones Dairy’ to the place which sells calamari in a polystyrene cup out of a hatch in the front of their house. When the sun is out you can expect Columbia road to be heaving so it’s great for a browse but don’t expect to get anywhere in a hurry. It’s got a couple of good vintage stores, and stands selling everything from old porceline tea cups to hnad made jam. But even if you’re not into crowds it’s still one of the prettiest streets in London to visit.
*I believe he meant this as an insult

Below are a few of shops on Columbia Road….