Fodor's Expert Review The Camden Markets

Begun in the early 1970s, when weekend stalls sold the output of nearby craft workshops, Camden Lock Market later expanded to five markets: Camden, Camden Lock, The Stables, Buck Street, and the Canal Market, all grouped around two locks on Regent's Canal. Though much of the merchandise is targeted at young street-fashion aficionados as well as aging hippies, anyone with a taste for alternative culture will also find plenty that appeals. This shopping experience is best suited to those who don't mind large crowds and a boisterous atmosphere (i.e., teenagers), especially on weekends. For many years, the markets have hosted more than 1,000 stalls offering a wide-ranging array of merchandise—vintage and new clothes, antiques and junk, rare vinyl, vintage board games, ceramics, Indian bedspreads, fetishwear, obscure band memorabilia, and toys.

The outdoor Camden Market on Camden High Street mainly sells cheap jeans, secondhand clothes, and tacky pop-culture paraphernalia; Camden Lock Market is the place to go for artisans' crafts, clothes, and jewelry, plus loads of street food stalls while The Stables Market, which has expanded into the so-called Catacombs (Victorian brick arches), has more than 700 shops and stalls and is where you go for furniture and vintage items. The Buck Street Market, made of largely converted containers, sells food and fashion with an emphasis on sustainability. The former Canal Market is now known as Hawley Wharf, an upscale mixed-use complex with luxury apartment buildings plus retail and independent dining outlets featuring cuisine from Afghanistan to Jamaica, a canal-side farmers' market, and a Curzon arthouse cinema. The other markets are currently earmarked for further redevelopment, so more gentrification is in the cards—if the original scrappy, bohemian atmosphere of the area appeals to you, enjoy it while you can.