Portobello Road Market Is a Friday and Saturday Market

Portobello Road Market is open seven days a week and that fact is close to useless. On four of those days it is a fruit and vegetable stall run, and on most Sundays there is no street market at all.

The market itself says so. Monday to Thursday, trading is confined to Portobello Road between Elgin Crescent and the Westway, plus Golborne Road: fruit and veg, household goods, hot food and a few clothing stalls. Friday is the second busiest day of the week. Saturday is the busiest. Outside summer and December, Sunday has no street market on either road.

So the honest answer to when to go is Friday or Saturday, and which of the two depends entirely on what you came for. Here is the whole schedule, read off the market’s own site in September 2026 and rechecked on 28 September.

The street market

Portobello Road and Golborne Road

A mile of stalls under one name, by the council’s own measure, run by the council and a residents’ committee together.

Portobello Road Market

Address

Portobello Road, from Westbourne Grove north to Golborne Road, plus the stalls under the Westway along Thorpe Close

Nearest

Ladbroke Grove, five minutes, on the Hammersmith and City and Circle lines. Notting Hill Gate, ten minutes, on the Central, District and Circle lines

Hours

Open Monday to Sunday 8am to 7pm, with traders usually working 8.30am to 6pm. In summer most stalls set up between 8am and 9am and close between 5pm and 6pm. In winter they set up between 9am and 10am and close between 4pm and 5pm

Booking

No booking. Managed by Kensington and Chelsea Council in partnership with the Portobello and Golborne Management Committee, a non profit representing local businesses and residents

Standing

One of the most famous street markets in the world, running from Westbourne Grove to Golborne Road

How to get in

The published hours conceal the real schedule, which varies by day more than any other London market. Monday to Thursday is a short stretch of fruit and veg, household goods and a few clothing stalls, and nothing more. Friday brings the antiques at the southern end, food and new fashion in the middle, vintage and collectables at Portobello Green, and the busiest day of the year for Golborne Road. Saturday is the full street market and the busiest day of the week. Outside the summer and December there is no Sunday street market on Portobello or Golborne Road at all: the cafes and shops open, and that is the extent of it. The winter hours are genuinely different, not nominally: stalls set up an hour later and close an hour or two earlier than in summer.

The Saturday only arcades

The antiques arcades, Chepstow Villas to Westbourne Grove

The part of Portobello most visitors come for, and it opens one day a week.

Portobello antiques arcades

Address

The arcades off Portobello Road between Chepstow Villas and Westbourne Grove, with further antique stalls on Westbourne Grove between Portobello Road and Kensington Park Road

Nearest

Notting Hill Gate, about five minutes from the southern end

Hours

Saturdays only. Most open from 7am until about 4pm

Booking

No booking

Standing

The concentration of antiques dealers that made Portobello’s international reputation

How to get in

This is the single most important line on the page and the market publishes it plainly: the antique arcades open on Saturdays only, and most of them from seven in the morning until about four in the afternoon. A Sunday visit to Portobello for antiques is a wasted journey, and a Saturday visit that starts at noon has already missed half of it. Dealers arrive at seven for a reason. Friday does have antiques at the southern end of Portobello Road, but the arcades themselves are shut.

The other operators

Portobello Green, Golborne Road and Acklam

Three separate operations sharing the same street, each with its own day.

Portobello Green Market

Address

Portobello Road by the Westway flyover, under the market canopy at Thorpe Close, two minutes from Ladbroke Grove station

Nearest

Ladbroke Grove, two minutes

Hours

Friday for vintage clothing, accessories, collectables and bric a brac. Saturday brings more new fashion and less vintage than Friday. The Ladbroke Grove Farmers’ Market runs Saturdays from 9am to 2pm

Booking

No booking. Run separately from the main council market

Standing

Vintage clothing and street food under the iconic canopy, with the Portobello Green Arcade alongside for streetwear, tailoring, jewellery and skincare

How to get in

Friday and Saturday are not the same market here, which is the detail that catches people out. Friday is the vintage day at Portobello Green and Saturday leans towards new fashion. Golborne Road, at the northern end, is a separate character again: bric a brac, furniture and food, and Friday is its busiest day of the week rather than Saturday. On Sundays outside summer and December, when the street market does not run, the Acklam Kitchen world food market and the vintage and bric a brac stalls near Portobello Green still trade, which makes them the only reason to come on a Sunday. A vegan market runs in Acklam Village most Sundays, and a vegan night market under the canopy fortnightly in summer.

What to know before you go

Saturday is the market, Friday is the better version of it. Saturday is busiest and brings the antiques arcades, the Westbourne Grove antique stalls and the farmers’ market. Friday has the antiques at the southern end, the vintage at Portobello Green and the fullest day Golborne Road has. If crowds matter to you, take Friday.

The arcades open at seven and shut at four, on Saturday only. Everything else about Portobello is flexible. That is not.

There is no Sunday street market for most of the year. Outside summer and December, Portobello Road and Golborne Road have no stalls at all. The shops and cafes open, and Acklam has a food market. Nothing else.

The market shuts on bank holidays. It opens on Good Friday until 5pm and closes on every other bank holiday, which is the opposite of what most visitors assume about a London street market.

Winter is a shorter day, not just a colder one. Stalls set up between nine and ten rather than eight and nine, and close between four and five rather than five and six. That is up to two hours less trading.

Coffee first, shops later. Shops along Portobello and Golborne normally open around 10am Monday to Saturday and later on Sunday. Coffee shops open far earlier, many around 7am, which suits an arcade start.

Everything here was taken from the market’s own published information and rechecked in full on 28 September 2026. One caution: their Winter Sundays listing still gives 2024 dates, so treat the December Sunday markets as happening without relying on those specific days. Confirm before you travel.

Cash or card, which the market does not answer

This is one of the four questions Google lists as most asked about Portobello, and the market’s own site does not answer it anywhere.

That is worth saying plainly, because the same site gives a detailed day by day breakdown of which roads trade and what they sell. It explains the difference between a Friday and a Saturday in four paragraphs. It says nothing at all about how you pay, on any page checked on 27 September 2026, and it still did not when rechecked on 28 September.

So plan for both. This is several hundred independent traders rather than one operator, and there is no central rule for them to publish: a vintage dealer under the Green canopy, a fruit stall on Golborne Road and a cafe on Westbourne Grove are three different businesses making three different decisions.

Carry some cash, particularly for the antiques. At the arcades and the antique stalls the price is the start of a conversation rather than the end of one, and that conversation is easier with notes in your hand than with a card machine between you. For food and the shops, expect cards to be fine and do not rely on it.

A name to be careful with

The web address that many London guides still give for this market no longer belongs to it. It now serves a page advertising offshore casinos that sit outside the GamStop self exclusion scheme, which is what a lapsed domain looks like. That says nothing about the market, which is trading as it always has, but it does mean a link from an older round up will take you somewhere unrelated and worse.

Where to go next

Notting Hill is the neighbourhood the market runs through, and the Notting Hill restaurants cover where to eat when the stalls pack up at four.

London’s food markets is the wider picture, and it sets out the rule this page is an example of: street markets finish in the afternoon, covered halls serve until eleven.

Camden Market is the comparison Google keeps asking about, and the short answer is that it opens seven days a week every day of the year bar Christmas Day, which is the opposite of everything on this page.

Spitalfields Market has the same problem in a different shape: two websites, two sets of hours and a Thursday that starts two hours early. Borough Market is the food one.

Walking any of them costs nothing, which is why they sit in the free things to do in London. Our main London guide has the rest of a visit.

Questions we get asked

Is Portobello Market cash only?

No, but do not arrive without any. The market is several hundred independent traders rather than a single operator, so payment is set stall by stall, and its own website publishes nothing about it anywhere despite giving a detailed day by day trading breakdown. Carry cash for the antiques in particular, where the price is a negotiation, and expect cards to be accepted at most food stalls and shops without relying on it.

What days is Portobello Road Market on?

Every day in name and two days in practice. Friday and Saturday are the full market, Saturday being the busiest and the only day the antiques arcades open. Monday to Thursday brings only fruit and veg, household goods and a few clothing stalls on a short stretch of Portobello Road, plus Golborne Road. Outside summer and December there is no Sunday street market at all.

What time does Portobello antiques market open?

Saturdays only. The antique arcades off Portobello Road between Chepstow Villas and Westbourne Grove open on Saturday and are shut the rest of the week, and the market itself no longer publishes their hours. There are antique stalls at the southern end of Portobello Road on a Friday, but the arcades themselves are closed.

Which is better, Camden or Portobello Market?

It depends which day you have free. Camden Market is open seven days a week, every day of the year except Christmas Day, so any day works. Portobello is effectively a Friday and Saturday market, shuts on every bank holiday except Good Friday, and has no Sunday street market outside summer and December. For antiques, Portobello on a Saturday morning is unmatched. For a day you cannot choose, Camden.

Is Portobello Market open on a Sunday?

Not as a street market, for most of the year. Outside the summer months and December, Portobello Road and Golborne Road have no stalls on a Sunday. What does open is the Acklam Kitchen world food market, the vintage and bric a brac stalls near Portobello Green, and most of the cafes and shops. Special Sunday markets run during the Christmas period.

What is the nearest tube to Portobello Road Market?

Ladbroke Grove, about five minutes on foot, on the Hammersmith and City and Circle lines, and two minutes from the Portobello Green canopy at the northern end. Notting Hill Gate is about ten minutes away on the Central, District and Circle lines and is the better choice for the antiques arcades at the southern end.

Is Portobello Market open on bank holidays?

No, apart from Good Friday, when the street market runs until 5pm. It is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Easter Monday and the early May, spring and summer bank holidays. That is unusual for a London market and worth checking before a long weekend trip.