It’s businesslike, posh, busy and inexplicably expensive, especially dropping in from India. What is the magic of London? A city where people live in shared shoeboxes and dine with beans in tomato sauce just to call it home. We had a week to find out. Love it or hate it, London is divisive in the best possible way. Either it’s the food, the music, the arts, its multicultural inhabitants or its colorful neighborhoods— this concrete jungle has got something on offer for anyone. But these are our absolute favourite neighbourhoods Notting Hill, Shoreditch and Brixton.
Notting Hill
UK’s most iconic neighborhood Notting Hill was on top of our London wish list. The fashionable area has a vibrant mix of artists, posh families, yuppies and celeb residents. Portobello Road and Westbourne Grove are the most well-known streets in Notting Hill. Visit the Portobello Road Market and wander along side all the pretty cafés, antique shops and expensive boutiques that line both streets. Take any side lane and get lost in the smaller authentic streets of Notting Hill. Find the most beautiful Victorian townhouses, flowering private gardens and bohemian boutique shops.
Shoreditch
In the 90’s edgy artists and early adapters moved into neighborhood outcast Shoreditch and transformed the aging industrial buildings into funky lofts, cool art spaces, hip restaurants, and buzzing nightclubs. Nowadays hipster area Shoreditch situated in London’s East End maintains its original gritty, urban edge despite that the word is out and the neighborhood is getting more and more popular. The weird and wonderfully dressed hordes keep coming to the rough triangle made up by Old Street, Great Eastern Street and Shoreditch High Street. Many of the walls and shop fronts are plastered with edgy street art, which makes any walk an interesting one. Find your perfect vintage outfit in one of the many, many vintage shops or on Brick Lane’s Sunday flee market. Keep up with the cool kids and visit Spitafields Market. Find a posh outfit at one of the fashion stalls of aspiring designers and enjoy a perfect green lunch in the organic produce section.
Brixton
Situated in the center of south London, at the end of the Victoria line, this once gritty, cheap and international neighborhood is becoming a popular pop up heaven. The area is full of interesting new concepts for foodies, clubbers, fashionistas and artists. Take a look at Brixton Village; a community of vintage dealers and artisan food sellers or pop by at Pop Brixton; a space created with locals to showcase the best and most exciting start-ups and businesses from Brixton and Lambeth. Brixton Market is one of London’s best vintage, food and flea markets. The permanent shops are open seven days a week, additional stalls are set up every Friday and Saturday and on Sunday it’s a farmers market. Brixton’s eclectic cultural mecca is a blend of Caribbean, West Indian, African and Asian influences, that you’ll find back in the music, while you’re shopping, and at night in the clubs.
