The West London neighbourhood of Notting Hill, W11 is one of the most interesting and fashionable areas in all of London . Easily accessible by public transport, and close to the city centre it is a good place to base yourself or is an easy area to spend a day (or three!) exploring. Tube lines in the area include Notting Hill Gate (Central, Circle and District Lines), Holland Park (Central Line), Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park (Hammersmith and City Line). Many bus routes also serve the area including the numbers 7, 70, 28, 31, 328, 52, 94, 390 and others.
Notting Hill has been a trendy area for quite some time now, although it really appeared on the Radar for international vistors after the release of the eponymous 1999 movie starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Much of the movie was filmed in and around the neighbourhood, and a number of the locations are recognisable around the Portobello Road market (the blue door on Westbourne Park Road and the bookshop on Elgin Crescent for example).
Portobello Road itself plays host to one of London 's largest and most interesting street markets - Portobell Road Market, which really springs into life on a Saturday. No visit to London would be complete without spending a few hours here. PortobelloRoad itself stretches for a couple of miles, starting at Pembridge Road near Notting Hill Gate, and running the length of the neighbourhood, over Westbourne Grove, the Westway and Golborne Road where the street market stops.
The first half of the market is taken up mainly by antique stalls and permanent shops, making up the largest antiques market in all of Europe . The visitor is likely to find all manner of goods and curios here, from turn of the century fashions and accessorries through maps and books, memorabilia, toys and games, and antique furniture to name but a few. Once crossing the fashionable Westbourne Grove, lined with expensive boutiques and cafes (favourite celebrity haunts), the antiques stalls are replaced mainly by the fruit and vegetable stalls, as well as stalls selling meat, fish, snacks and lunches. It is always worth haggling for a good price to try some fresh British produce or some more exotic fruits from the Caribbean and beyond. As you continue northwards up Portobello Road , the fruit and veg stalls give way to a more mixed bag of offerings. Between Westbourne Park Road and the Westway you can find everthing from socks to caps, british souvenirs to African handicrafts , cosmetics to CDs and everything in between. Beyond this, and underneath the Westway flyover you can find the clothing stalls - many young designers start off here, and it is a great place for browsing through lines from potentially the next McCartney or Von Furstenburg. The market continues from here and begins thinning out where you will find the more jumble type items, knick knacks and second hand stuff. Finally the market finishes just short of Golborne Road , a good place to rest and grab a coffee and pastry from one of the Portuguese bakeries or Moroccan cafes there.
Apart from the market, Portobello Road and its surrounding streets also offers a good selection of permanent shops , cafes, bars and restaurants. Visiting these outside of a Saturday will mean less crowds and allow you to see the neighbourhood as the locals see it. Some reccomendations on Portobello Road include the following: For the best cupcakes in London : Hummingbird Bakery . For the best coffee in the area: Coffee Plant . For everything Spanish , including a great cafe and supermarket: Garcia's. For celebrity watching and a good cocktail in cool surroundings: The Electric Bar & Brasserie . For good value and healthy vegetarian lunches: the Grain Store .
Within a few minutes of Portobello Road , and taking you into the ‘real’ Notting Hill, there are innumerable places worth mentioning. Some of the more notable places include: for great baking and brunches: Ottolenghi on Ledbury Road . For brunches and celebrity watching: Tom’s on Westbourne Grove. For cool, yet grungy down to earth and popular club: Notting Hill Arts Club on Notting Hill Gate. For too cool you’ll never get in unless you charm the doorman: Westbourne Studios on Acklam Road . For funky and contemporary cocktail bar: The Lonsdale on Lonsdale Road . For DJs and Sunday barbecues: The Metropolitan on Tavistock Road . For newly-refurbished retro-chic Pub: the Pelican on All Saint’s Road. For pavement café wining and dining: Raoul’s on Talbot Road . For a popular pub- and -Thai restaurant: The Walmer Castle on Ledbury Road . For tasty Asian street food: Nyonya on Pembridge Road . For a cosy and top notch Chinese restaurant: Uli on All Saint’s Road. For ultra-cool ever-popular celebrity hangouts: The Westbourne or The Cow on Westbourne Park Road . The list goes on and on, with new places opening up all the time.
As well as the trendy markets, shops and bars, Notting Hill is also an area of contrasts. It is the heart of London ’s Afro-Caribbean community, evidenced by the large numbers of shops and cafes selling Caribbean food, the reggae music stores, but perhaps most importantly, the annual Notting Hill Carnival . Occurring during the last weekend of August, Europe’s largest street festival is similar to the carnivals across the Caribbean and South America, celebrating the music, food and culture of the Antilles . An intense, loud, packed out event, it draws people from all over the country and beyond to participate in a big parade, dancing, partying and general debauchery . Whilst many would say it has lost some of its spirit to commercial interests, interfering local authorities and increased police controls in recent years, it still remains one of the most exciting and memorable festivals anywhere, and should not be missed if you are in town at that time. Unless you have children go to the very dynamic adult Carnival event which is the day after the children's Carnival generally a lackluster event.
To get the real feel of the neighbourhood, it is worthwhile to move beyond the street market and the images conjured up by the eponymous movie, and walk down some of the streets away from Portobello Road and Notting Hill Gate. Just spending a day in the boutiques of Ledbury Road and Westbourne Grove, or whiling away time people watching in one of the many cafes and bars will help you appreciate why the area has become one of London’s most popular and expensive places to live. Not to be missed!