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Ninety seconds on Camden Market
Wandering from Camden Lock into the horse tunnels of the old Stables, you pass over a thousand places to shop, eat and drink beside the Regent's Canal.
Camden Market is one market in three quarters, each with its own look. Camden Lock sits on the canal, with barges, bars and stalls outside and inside a three-storey market building. Hawley Wharf is a canal-side block of food halls and shops.
In the Stables, look at the building itself. It was a Victorian hospital for the railway's working horses, and its tunnels and stable blocks now hold shops, from global brands to local ones.
Off a courtyard, a row of Grade II listed buildings holds independent restaurants. Around the canal, the food stalls run from Tibetan momos to Venezuelan arepas, eaten at the water's edge.
The market began in 1974 as a Sunday crafts fair in the backyard of Dingwalls, a music venue by the canal.
Best seen one quarter at a time, the market works well as a walk from Camden Lock to the Stables and on to Hawley Wharf. Go in at the Lock from the canal towpath or by the main entrance on Camden Lock Place, off the high street.
From the Lock, walk on to the Stables, entered off Chalk Farm Road or through the Horse Hospital entrance. Open the market's interactive map on your phone to search for a trader, find amenities and get walking directions between the quarters.
Leave eating until last: the canal-side stalls, the restaurants in the listed courtyard and the Hawley Wharf food halls on Chalk Farm Road.
A guide is optional here, since the market is made for wandering on your own. The one organised trip the market runs is on the water: a 45-minute boat tour along the Regent's Canal, leaving from the market itself or from Little Venice. It suits families, and you book it in advance on the market's website.
If cobbles are hard going for you or a buggy, start in Hawley Wharf, where lifts reach every floor, and expect slower going on the uneven floors of the Lock and the Stables.
Carry some cash as well as a card, because a few stalls still take nothing else. Leave the car behind: the market has no car park of its own, and public transport is the way in.
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