Notting Hill Walking Route

One of the World's Great Street Markets

Portobello Road has been a market street since the 1860s, when it was known for herbs and spices. The antiques trade grew significantly after the Second World War, when dealers moved here from the Caledonian Market in Islington. Today it is one of the most famous street markets in the world. The antiques section — concentrated at the southern end near Notting Hill Gate — is particularly well known and has been popular with visitors for decades. The market runs every day but Saturday is the main event, when around 1,000 stalls trade.

The Painted Terraces

The pastel-painted stucco terraces of Notting Hill were not always considered desirable. In the 1950s and 1960s, the area was one of the most deprived in London, with large houses subdivided into overcrowded bedsits. The transformation into one of the most expensive postcodes in the world happened gradually from the 1970s onwards as the houses were bought and renovated. The distinctive painted facades — cream, white, pale blue, pink and yellow — became the visual shorthand for a certain kind of wealthy West London living. The 1999 film Notting Hill, starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, cemented the image internationally.

The Heart of the Carnival

From the 1950s onwards, Notting Hill became home to one of Britain's first large Caribbean communities, as people arrived from Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica and other islands under the British Nationality Act. The community faced significant hostility — the Notting Hill race riots of 1958 were among the worst in British history. The Carnival was founded in 1966 by Trinidadian activist Claudia Jones as a direct response, intended to celebrate Caribbean culture and build community solidarity. It now attracts around two million people over the August Bank Holiday weekend and is the largest street festival in Europe.

A Hidden Park

Holland Park covers 54 acres and was the private grounds of Holland House until the estate was sold to the London County Council in 1952. The park opened to the public in 1952. It is divided into several distinct areas — formal gardens near the house, a woodland area with peacocks, and open sports grounds. The Kyoto Garden, a traditional Japanese garden donated by the city of Kyoto in 1991 to mark the Japan Festival in London, is one of the most peaceful spots in West London. The open-air theatre in the park runs a summer opera season every year.

Bombed but Not Forgotten

Holland House was built in 1605 for Sir Walter Cope and became one of the great Whig political and literary salons of the 18th and 19th centuries. Lord and Lady Holland entertained Byron, Dickens, Macaulay and Talleyrand here. On the night of 27 September 1940, German incendiary bombs destroyed most of the house in a single night. Photographs taken the morning after — showing the ruined shell with books still on the shelves — became some of the most famous images of the Blitz. The east wing survived and was converted into a youth hostel in 1959, which it remains today.

Design as a Discipline

The Design Museum was founded in 1989 by Sir Terence Conran and Stephen Bayley, originally in a converted banana warehouse at Shad Thames near Tower Bridge. It moved to its current home — the former Commonwealth Institute building on Kensington High Street — in 2016. The Commonwealth Institute was built in 1962 to celebrate the newly independent nations of the British Commonwealth and was notable for its striking tent-like copper roof. The conversion preserved the roof and the dramatic interior volume while creating a modern museum inside. The permanent collection covers contemporary design, architecture and fashion and is free to visit.