London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [71]
The Notting Hill district is centered around the Portobello Road antiques market, bordered in the west by Landsdowne Road and Landsowne Crescent—address to the Hill’s poshest 19th-century terraced row houses—and to the east by Chepstow Road, with Notting Hill Gate and Westbourne Grove Road marking the southern and northern boundaries. In between, Rastafarians rub elbows with wealthy young Brits (a.k.a. “Trustafarians”) and such fashionable folk as reporter Christiane Amanpour and Lady Antonia Fraser have been spottted at the chic shops on Westbourne Grove and the lively cafés on Kensington Park Road.
Notting Hill as we know it was born in the 1840s, when the wealthy Ladbroke family laid out a small suburb to the west of London. Before then it had been known, informally, as “the Potteries and the Piggeries,” in honor of its two industries: ceramics and pig farming. Notting Hill’s transformation from poverty-stricken backwater to super-trendy enclave started in the 1980s and had reached its peak by the early 2000s—helped, in no small way, by the Julia Roberts’ flick that bore its name. For the Notting Hill of the film sets (the Travel Bookshop on Blenheim Crescent is Hugh Grant’s bookshop in the film Notting Hill), head straight for Westbourne Grove, replete with chic boutiques and charity shops laden with the castoffs from wealthy residents. The whole area sprung up around Portobello Road, with the beautifully restored early-20th-century Electric Cinema at No. 191. The famous Saturday antiques market and shops are at the southern end; Westway Portobello Green Market, under the Westway overpass, is filled with bric-a-brac, secondhand threads, and clothes and accessories by young, up-and-coming designers. Nearby on Acklam Road are the Westbourne Studios, an office complex with a gallery, restaurant, and bar open to the public, and the capital’s best skateboarding park, Bay Sixty6.
In Bayswater—found north of the royal parks and a welcome hub of tourist restaurants and midprice hotels—the main thoroughfare of Queensway is a rather peculiar, cosmopolitan street of ethnic confusion, late-night cafés and restaurants, a skating rink, and the Whiteleys shopping-and-movie mall. Nearby Paddington Station is the namesake for the marmalade-loving Paddington Bear.
GETTING ORIENTED
TOP REASONS TO GO
Portobello Road Market: Seek and ye shall find; go early-morning antique hunting at London’s best and most famous market on Saturday for the top bargains, or come during the week for a leisurely browse.
Notting Hill shopping: In addition to Portobello Road Market, you can search for vintage designer pieces at the numerous secondhand and retro clothing stores.
Westbourne Grove: Watch these locals stroll the streets as if they were one big catwalk, then drop in for lunch at one of the Grove’s colorful ethnic restaurants.
Electric Cinema: Catch a movie reclined on a two-seater leather sofa, beer and bar snacks in hand, at this restored early-20th-century theater–then splurge for dinner at its fantastic restaurant, the Electric Brasserie.
Café Society: There are few better places to people-watch and take in the passing fashion parade than from a sidewalk café seat here.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TIME
Saturday is Notting Hill and Portobello Road’s most fun and frenetic day. You could easily spend the whole day shopping, eating, and drinking here.
The market can get very crowded by noon in nice weather so come early if you are serious about shopping.
You may prefer to start at the end of Portobello Road and work backward, using the parks for relaxation after your shopping