A day at... Columbia Road Flower Market

Yesterday I took my son to a flower market. It's not the first time he has been to the Columbia Road Flower Market. I remember taking him when he was 2 months old and I was desperate to go out so I took my niece and Mum out for lunch in that area and we ended up at the market. They loved it! And I love this flower market. Unlike some other flower markets in England, this one is outside so you can enjoy the sun whilst looking for a bargain.

There is not a lot of parking in London and that includes around and near this market but you can find some of you would prefer drive with the kids. Sunday traffic in London is easy to get through and parking is usually free so there are no tariffs to bear in mind.


Once you find parking, you will enjoy the walk to the market if you take note of the Victorian terraced houses and the cute cars parked along.

There are also some strange door knobs too if you look closely.

The market is only open on Sundays from 8am until 3pm. It has become a bit of a tourist attraction so it tends to get busy with Asian tourists after 12pm who like to photograph the flowers and take selfies.

The flowers are seasonal of course and you can often barter if you turn up 15 minutes before the market closes. I picked up some pink roses for £20 and filled the huge vase in my entrance hall.

I also picked up these which I put in my new basket bag from Cult Gaia but of course I had to take them out to place them in water later on but I enjoyed admiring them in my basket for the afternoon.

The Shoreditch 20-somethings come out to manage their hangovers around here as there are cute cafes, bars, clothes stalls tucked in the streets. There is also a photography centre for you to look at beautiful photos of the east end and try some cameras. And if you are me, you will spend a good hour here until your son starts crying from hunger. If you want a hair of the dog, try Clutch Chicken. They play 90s RnB music and serve cocktails named after our favourite artists. I love the Missy Elliot!

Wander around the area for some graffiti wall murals and feed into the Shoreditch art scene. The kids love this. When I went with my niece, I tasked with looking for wall murals on every street we passed and she enjoyed it. She even explained what some of the art work meant to her. Yesterday I went round to new streets to find more murals.


Yesterday was a good day!