Welcome to our London Christmas Shopping Guide 2015. Over the next few weeks we'll be pointing you in the direction of our favorite shops and shopping neighbourhoods near the meeting and ending points of our London Walks …
No.2. Camden Market
Canal Guide Roger keeps his recommendation short and sweet:
How about Camden Market? 20 million visitors a year can't be wrong! Camden Market is made up of three separate markets; Union St, The Lock and The Stables and is home to a great many independent retail stalls – as well as global street-food stands, restaurants and bars. Camden Market is usually open every day from 10am - 6pm.
It's a good tip, Roger, many thanks. It's also a handy port of call at the end of the Canal Walks this month: Sunday 6th December: Little Venice to Camden meet at Warwick Avenue Tube 2:30p.m; and Sunday 27th December: Little Venice to Camden meet at King's Cross tube by the taxi rank. Both Walks finish in the middle of Camden Market.
DC Editor Adam adds: Londoners have a love-hate relationship with Camden Town. For many it’s merely the station at which they are forced to break their journey because the Northern Line is conspiring against them and sending more trains to Bank or High Barnet than Charing Cross or Edgware (or vice versa). (Tip: don't take it personally, guys.)
For others still, who may dearly want to love Camden but have nostalgic reservations, the cry these days is of homogeneity and commercialisation. And while it’s true that the shops and markets have been infiltrated with some big corporate names, it's also true that Camden still possesses enough character to illuminate the London pageant without looking like it’s breaking too much of a sweat.
The show on display in the streets is remarkable in itself, the punters forming a Bayeux Tapestry of pop culture covering the last 60 years. Okay, the vintage shops may be a little hit and miss, but isn’t that the nature of thrift shop shopping? And maybe we could do without the chain coffee shops. But music still thrives here. Roger, thanks for the recommendation – rumours of Camden Market's death have been greatly exaggerated in hipster circles. It remains a London must-see.
And don't forget the OLD CAMDEN TOWN walk at 11 am on Saturdays from Camden Town Tube
Here's Special Correspondent David with an intro…
Camden Town is the London smorgasbord par excellence. A place where the past melts imperceptibly into the post-modern. A place of canals, cafes, cobblestones, Catacombs, craftsmen's studios, street cred, NW1 literati, Industrial Age iron and brick, leafy terraces and crescents, antiques, artists, actors, and art deco.
And that's not to mention Camden Lock, London's busiest and brightest market – and its fourth largest tourist attraction – which "at its best combines the bonhomie, excitement and buzz of Rio's Carnival"! The Lock is the centrepiece of the walk, but Judith, a local artist, also explores the sights behind the sights, unrolling the shifting scene like one of those Victorian panoramas: everything from street style and Neobeatniks to Dickens, Dingwalls, and the Vanishing Viscount by the canal; and from George Bernard Shaw and Toss the Pieman to Dylan Thomas, Bob Dylan and the Electric Ballroom. Afterward, if you like, you can take a traditional narrowboat to the Zoo or Little Venice.
The Old Camden Town Walk takes place every Saturday morning at 11 am
Meet Judith just outside the exit of Camden Town Tube.
Christmas 2015 With London Walks
The Amazing Old Shops Walk takes place on the 19th December – meet Judy at Green Park Station at 10:45a.mThe Christmas Lights & Seasonal Cheer Pub Walk takes place on the 19th December meet at Embankment Tube 7:15p.m
On Christmas Day there are TWO London Walks:
Walk up an appetite with The Christmas Morning 1660 Walk – meet at 11:00a.m by the big tree in Trafalgar SquareWalk off the pudding with The Christmas Day Charles Dickens Walk – meet by the big tree in Trafalgar Square at 2:00pm
How to find Camden Market…
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A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
