Have you heard of Big Ben? The London Eye? Buckingham Palace? Westminster Abbey?
Yes?
What about Camden Town?
Probably not.
Summer 2014, my parents and I spent a week in London, and it was easily one of the most incredible experiences in my life thus far. We stayed in a Holiday Inn right along the Camden Lock (a canal) in Camden Town. If it weren't for our hotel location, we might not have discovered this little gem of a town, which turned out to be my favorite place we saw from that trip.
Camden Town as indicated by the red pin.
Let me start off by telling you-- Camden Town may be part of London, but it honestly felt like a separate world in and of itself. Our hotel was literally on the side of Camden Lock.
In the lobby, there was a Starbucks (I felt right at home!). Of course, in the UK, people are a bit more conscious of what they put in their food (get on board, US!), so my frappe had a slightly less "high fructose corn syrup" flavor to it. In the mornings, my mom would reach into a little coin pouch she bought, pull out a couple pounds (the currency used in England), and I would head down to the lobby to buy myself a coffee. It all had a cozy vibe to it, and that's before we even stepped foot outside for the day.
Outside the hotel was where things got extra awesome.
Behind our hotel was Camden Lock—a petite but nevertheless adorable canal with a bridge over it. Beautiful trees draped over the bridge, and on the other side was a market.
I'm sure plenty of you have been to markets before-- farmer's or flea-- but this one was different. Every day from early morning until late afternoon, the market center was full of tables and carts of people making meals on the spot. You could find food of just about any culture in that market square.
I remember my dad buying some chicken dish off of an Asian food vendor, my mom bought a vegetarian meal, and I found myself drawn to a Polish food cart. I checked out every vendor in the square, and when I finally decided on the Polish food, I ordered kielbasa and pirogies. I was just expecting something mediocre, which was terrible of me to make an assumption about someone just because they work a food cart. That kielbasa and those pirogies were bangin'. He fired up his little stove and grill and next thing I know, I've got a plate full of pirogies and a hunk of kielbasa on a baguette.
I ordered some watermelon smoothie-type drink off of another vendor as my beverage. Also good. We found a picnic table in the market center and relaxed under some shade as we ate our lunch (this was just one incident of us eating there, but some of the best food we have ever eaten was in Camden Town, so we ate in the area multiple times during our trip).
After we ate, we decided to shop around in the market itself. Surrounding the crowd of food vendors were little shops with simple clothes, jewelry and the like. Once we travelled a little deeper into the market, we came across the Horse Tunnel Market. Yes, you read that right.
This extension of the Camden Town market was literally through tunnels. This was one of my favorite parts. In these tunnels were more food vendors, literal hole-in-the-wall shops, and even hookah bars.
Throughout Camden Town, you could find a lot of Steampunk clothes and accessories, especially in the Horse Tunnel Market. I personally have a fascination with Steampunk style, so I stared in awe at all the little shops in the tunnels with Steampunk dresses, top hats, necklaces, and other trinkets. I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish Steampunk was in style right now.
Right outside the other end of the Horse Tunnel Market was a larger store, with two cyborg-looking statues. The store was called "Cyberdog" and apparently was a rave store that sold light-up products. I just felt like mentioning this because it really emphasizes the random awesomeness of Camden Town.
On other occasions on our trip, we ventured the opposite direction of the Camden Lock marketplace, and into Camden Town itself. The storefronts here were larger, but undeniably quirky.
Along the street were more food vendors (moral of the story-- if you want good food and lots of options, visit Camden Town), including a man who sold fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a man who sold homemade doughnuts out of his cart.
The surrounding area ranged from simple but delicious food cart goods, to a snazzy Asian restaurant called "Gilgamesh" (pictured below). The entrance may not look like a high-class restaurant, but if you do some research of your own, you'll find that the interior has stunningly intricate decor. We did not enter the restaurant, so I'm merely showing you things from the view that we saw them.
Check out that fancy escalator.
Even though Camden Town isn't well known to tourists, it was by far my favorite place in London. Because it isn't a typical tourist destination, it isn't as overly crowded-- there are mostly just locals. The people there were diverse and unique (I think I saw people with just about every outrageous hair color, and so many people with bizarre piercings). In Camden Town, you can find some of the best food and most interesting shops.
If you ever have the chance to go to London, don't overlook Camden Town—you never know what you might find there.
