London Camden Market
 

I will be in london next week, arriving on Sunday. Is the camden market a fun place to take my 15 year old son who is interesed in doing some non tourist things and getting a sense of london life. Also, he would love to get some 70's vintage shirts. Any other neighborhood suggrstions?

He will love Camden Market. Maybe Carnaby Street might have some vintage stuff.

When you get to Camden tube station and exit onto the high street you will turn right towards the market.<BR>After a few shops you'll see an area on your right - an open market - with a huge green sign reading Camden Market.<BR>Ignore this and continue on over the canal and lock.<BR>On your left there is a 3 story building with a great selection of craft stalls which offer a great selection of gifts. Suspect mum/ dad may enjoy this section most but hopefully 15 year old will still like it.<BR>Then continue outside further in the same direction to find areas of more interest to teenagers - heading from the building above towards Stables area.<BR>Lots of clothes, both new and vintage.<BR>The area furthest from the tube station is more full of second hand junk/ antiques (depends on your perspective) - personally i love it.<BR>There are also a number of large warehouse size stores selling furniture and smaller items from Asia, furniture made from old railway timbers, 70s furniture etc.<BR>The market really does have a lot of different areas and it's worth spending the time to get far enough into it to find the best ones for you.<BR>Kavey

I really enjoyed Camden Market. If you have tube tickets for Zone 1 (the main area you'll probably see) you will need an additional ticket for Camden (no big deal - but be sure you have that ticket - I was checked) and I ended up taking a lunch cruise going thru the lock at Camden and by the zoo. Can't for the life of me remember what the canal was (Regent Park)! Anyhow, it was fun. Camden Market is definitely geared towards young people.

You can also enjoy all the shops that line the streets between the tube stop and the market (on the canal), and your teenager will probably drag you into every record shop you pass. I was just there in January and have been on previous trips. There's a mixture of tourist souvies, food, clothes, books, nice arts/crafts, hippy stalls, just a huge assortment, unlike the unique stalls, a lot of the stores sell the same stuff so window shop on your way to the market then decide where to buy on your way back, and you can bargain with some of the shop owners for better prices.<BR>The best part of the entire experience is probably the sea of people and the noise-nearly overwhelming to the Parents and truly memorable for the kid.

Just be very careful of purse and wallets - this is one of the main places where tourists are at risk of pickpockets as it can be so busy.