Stalls, halls and street food: London’s markets, the back story

About Stalls, halls and street food: London’s markets, the back story

By the ULTIMATE London Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

London has traded in markets for a thousand years. Some, like Borough, still sell food; others, like Covent Garden, have become shopping and dining destinations.

Borough Market

Borough Market, beside London Bridge, has roots in the Middle Ages and still sells fruit, vegetables, cheese, meat, fish and bread under Victorian ironwork, alongside street food.

Leadenhall and the City

Leadenhall Market, roofed in iron and glass by Sir Horace Jones in 1881, was a market for meat, game and poultry; today its arcades hold shops, pubs and restaurants.

A London market is the best place to taste the city.

Covent Garden

Covent Garden’s fruit, vegetable and flower market moved to Nine Elms in 1974. The old market building and the Apple Market now host shops, cafés and craft stalls.

Street food today

The newest markets are about eating: Seven Dials Market, Arcade Food Hall, Maltby Street under the railway arches and Camden Market by the canal.

Our advice: go to Borough on a weekday morning for the produce, Maltby Street at the weekend for street food, and Greenwich or Portobello for browsing.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Stalls, halls and street food: London’s markets, the back story before you go.