London is full of colorful addresses and it would be hard to zero down on one which I can say takes the crown. Floral mania is not new to London, the city gets attacked by Instagram hysteria of wisteria, magnolia, cherry blossoms and all sorts of pink posts. However this is where the city comes to feed its flower power.
Columbia Road market, is the largest Sunday flower market in London. One of my favorite spots in East London to spend atleast half of my Sunday, not only for buying flowers but for lots of other entertainment.
Columbia flower market is only a Sunday affair. To reach here you can take a train to Shoreditch High Street or Hoxton and then its a 10 minute walk from there. The flower vendors start laying their kill for the day by 7am.
Its good to go there either early like 8:00 am or 8:30AM or probably later like 12:30 to 1pm. The market is laid out on the road with stalls of flowers and plants on both sides. Across the pavements there are permanent boutiques, cafes, vintage shops which are also open.
In the morning hours the market can get real busy and packed. I visited here around 9am and it was hard to cruise the way through a congested crowd. There were some serious buyers, some were just having a look, and a whole lot of others were clicking pictures and selfies which made navigating really hard.
This is probably the best place to bargain some amazing flowers for a very reasonable price. Two orchids for 4 quid or a bunch of roses for 5, you will hear the guys shouting out loud to pick a bunch at their stalls. Serious shoppers carry back a loot in their car boots from here. As the day progresses, the flower sellers also push their prices down to clear the stock.
Once you are done with the flowers, walk around other streets in the market. There is a vintage market too selling all kinds of stuff from clothes to accessories. There are some very cute cafes and you can grab a coffee or some fluffy croissants,
I treated myself to a lovely flat white at Lily Vanilli, a cute cafe huddled in the courtyard at the market.
Flowers, food, coffee and local bands performing; there is no better way to start your Sunday in London.
Even if you are not the one who keeps that bunch of sunflowers on your window sill, you can still enjoy the floral madness and head to Columbia Flower market for a different and relaxing Sunday.
