Leadenhall Market never closes, and almost everything in it does.
The market’s public areas are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is a covered street rather than a building with doors, so you can walk through the Victorian arches at three in the morning if you want to.
The shops, bars and restaurants inside it keep their own hours, and those hours are City hours. This is a market serving office workers, which means it is at its best on a weekday lunchtime and close to empty on a Sunday.
What that means in practice
Two completely different visits, and it is worth knowing which one you are making.
For the architecture: any time at all. Early morning and late evening are when you get the painted ironwork and the glass roof to yourself, and they are the only times you will photograph it without a crowd.
For the shops and the food: a weekday, in the middle of the day.
The market’s own advice is to check with individual retailers before visiting, which is a polite way of saying the hours are not uniform and nobody publishes a single timetable.
What is in it
Boutique retailers, restaurants from fine dining to family, cafés, wine bars and an award-winning pub, with independent brands alongside names like Reiss and Pizza Express.
Two worth singling out. London City Shoe Shine is exactly what it says and is the sort of trade that has largely vanished from the rest of the city. And Pollock’s Toy Museum now has a site here, open Thursday and Friday 11am to 3pm, having left Fitzrovia. Our Fitzrovia page covers where the collection went and why.
That Pollock’s detail is the strongest argument for a Thursday or Friday visit: the market at its liveliest and a small museum open at the same time.
The history, which is older than the building
Leadenhall began as a forum at the centre of Roman London, and there has been a market on the site since the 14th century.
What you walk through now is Victorian: painted ironwork and cobbles under a glass roof, which is why it photographs the way it does. The Roman and medieval layers are underneath rather than visible.
So the thing is genuinely two thousand years old as a place of trade and about a hundred and forty as a structure.
Where it is
In the middle of the City, between Bank and Aldgate, surrounded by the tower cluster. It is one of the few things at ground level in that part of London that predates the glass.
Monument, Bank and Aldgate are all a short walk.
The contrast is the point: the Walkie Talkie and 22 Bishopsgate are both minutes away. Our skyline page covers what you are standing underneath, and Sky Garden is the free viewpoint nearby.
How to plan it
Photographs: before nine or after seven, when the market is open and empty.
Lunch: a weekday, midday, when every unit is trading.
Pollock’s Toy Museum: Thursday or Friday, 11am to 3pm.
A Sunday: the building only. Expect the shutters down.
Leadenhall Market
- Address
- Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 1LT
- Nearest
- Monument, Bank or Aldgate
- Hours
- The public areas are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Shops, bars and restaurants keep their own hours, which are City hours
- Booking
- None
- Price
- Free to walk through
- Standing
- A covered Victorian market on a site that has held a market since the 14th century, and was a forum in Roman London
How to get in
Open as a thoroughfare at any hour, but the trade inside works office hours, so weekday lunchtimes are busy and Sundays are close to empty. Pollock’s Toy Museum has a site here, open Thursday and Friday 11am to 3pm.
Where to go next
Fitzrovia covers where Pollock’s Toy Museum came from, and Sky Garden is the free viewpoint a few minutes away.
The London skyline covers the towers around it, and the food markets cover the rest of the city’s markets.
Questions we get asked
What time does Leadenhall Market open?
The market's public areas are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because it is a covered street rather than a building that locks. The shops, bars and restaurants inside keep their own hours and the market advises checking with individual retailers.
Is Leadenhall Market open on Sunday?
You can walk through it on a Sunday, but most of the businesses inside will be shut. It serves the City, so it is at its liveliest on weekdays and close to empty at weekends.
How old is Leadenhall Market?
There has been a market on the site since the 14th century, and the location was a forum at the centre of Roman London. The covered market standing today is Victorian.
What is in Leadenhall Market?
Boutique shops, restaurants, cafés, wine bars and an award-winning pub, mixing independents with names such as Reiss and Pizza Express. There is also a London City Shoe Shine, and Pollock's Toy Museum has a site there open Thursday and Friday, 11am to 3pm.
When is the best time to photograph Leadenhall Market?
Early morning or late evening. The public areas never close, so the painted ironwork and glass roof are accessible at hours when nobody else is there, which is the only way to get it without a crowd.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 241 in the guide.
Last checked 5 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
