Comments on: Wonderful street markets?

Question: Wonderful street markets?

Morrigan — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:10:49 -0800

Can you recommend the most amazing street markets?

I love outdoor or indoor markets in urban areas where you can wander and get lost for hours. I'm thinking Albert Cuyp Market in Amsterdam, Khan el-Khalili in Cairo, that sort of thing. Holiday markets, too. Any ideas?

By: JJ86

JJ86 — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:20:40 -0800

El Rastro en Madrid. Maxwell Street in Chicago.

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:22:48 -0800

Just a couple random places here;

Pike Place Market in Seattle

The Chatuchak District in Bangkok, Thailand.

There's lots of districts in Bangkok that have markets though, and its been a decade or more since I was there. It's a pretty crazy place.

There was a great, colorful market I visited in Hong Kong once, too, but I cant recall the name or the district. Like Bangkok, however, big street markets are pretty common.

By: aramaic

aramaic — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:29:48 -0800

Talaat Dala in Luang Prabang & Talaat Sao in Vientiane. Note, however, that I haven't been there for a couple years, however, so they may have changed.

By: aramaic

aramaic — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:30:57 -0800

Hmph. Cut & paste editing strikes again. However however. Feh.

By: alkupe

alkupe — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:32:11 -0800

i like Mercat de la Boqueria on Las Ramblas in Barcelona a lot. Its mostly food as i recall and may not be as extensive as what you're talking about.
But its damn good.

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:54:16 -0800

There was a great, colorful market I visited in Hong Kong once, too, but I cant recall the name or the district.

Temple Street Night Market, I bet.

By: otherwordlyglow

otherwordlyglow — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:54:53 -0800

The Marche aux Puces in Paris is always incredible. The Tunis medina was super interesting, too.

By: Mutant

Mutant — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:06:01 -0800

We really liked the
Kapali Carsi in Istanbul. Covered, the locals have proudly proclaimed it the worlds first shopping mall.

The Al-Ataba outdoor street market in Cairo was particularly interesting solely because of the incredible range of stuff sold.

I couldn't take photos, but the street markets in Lagos were very diverse and energetic.

Closer to home, Camden Town Market is always good for an entire day.

I'm another market lover; there is no better experience on earth than a bustling market.

By: yggdrasil

yggdrasil — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:36:20 -0800

Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, Australia. Largest (covered?) market in the Southern Hemisphere, IIRC.

By: boosh

boosh — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:47:55 -0800

I loved the flea markets in Kyoto, which are held in the grounds of some of the main temples.

The Saturday market on Portobello Road is great if you're feeling rich or are happy to browse without buying.

By: escabeche

escabeche — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:56:15 -0800

Panjiayuan in Beijing is like nothing else I've seen; you won't have time to traverse the whole thing, but a few hours will suffice to give you the general idea. Seconding Las Ramblas and Marche aux Puces.

By: bru

bru — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:09:00 -0800

Marrakesh and Fez (Morocco).
Nice (France).

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:22:45 -0800

The first planned event of my recent trip to Hawaii was a visit to the Hilo Farmer's Market. Amazing food at ridiculously low prices, tons of arts and crafts, and friendly folks.

By: essexjan

essexjan — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:24:01 -0800

Walthamstow Market. A proper east London street market, which has changed over the years to reflect the changing demographic of the population from predominantly white working-class to a much wider ethnic mix.

By: thethirdman

thethirdman — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:36:49 -0800

The old medina in Casablanca I liked. Also Myungdong in Seoul, although it's less crafts and more manufactured goods- still massive though.

By: boots

boots — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:01:53 -0800

Kejetia market in Kumasi, Ghana

By: RandlePatrickMcMurphy

RandlePatrickMcMurphy — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:05:46 -0800

Kashgar used to be pretty impressive, but i hear the Chinese moved it into a new covered space now.

By: hazel

hazel — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:45:44 -0800

Its not big or chaotic, but many handmade/local goods:
Nelson Market (South Island of New Zealand).

By: zpousman

zpousman — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:17:06 -0800

Old City in Jerusalem is pretty amazing. And you're sure to get lost. Machane Yehudah is a vegetable / grocery / baked goods market in Jerusalem, that is not in the same neighborhood (it's in new Jerusalem). If you've gone all that way, probably worth checking out the Port of Yaffo market as well. Though I don't like it as much as the old city.

By: Araucaria

Araucaria — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:34:09 -0800

El Mercado Central in pretty much any larger Central American city would be cool. I'm thinking in particular of the one in San José, Costa Rica. I liked the one on Las Ramblas in Barcelona better (mentioned above), though.

By: amanda

amanda — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:13:31 -0800

The Project for Public Spaces website is a great resource for all sorts of information on great public spaces and what makes them so wonderful. They have a section on public markets.

By: btkuhn

btkuhn — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:39:13 -0800

CHICHICASTENANGO--- THE MOST COLORFUL NATIVE MARKET IN THE AMERICAS is wonderful.

By: Deathalicious

Deathalicious — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 06:46:33 -0800

I'm a huge street market enthusiast, this is right down my alley (no pun intended).

Night Market in Kaifeng, China

Palermo has several excellent fruit and vegetable street markets that stretch for blocks in many directions. You haven't lived until you've eaten an Italian artichoke, raw, straight from the market (Remove the outer leaves, then rub with a little lemon juice or salt and olive oil. Munch munch munc).

Khan al Khalili in Cairo is an interesting market, but you can see even better stuff if you head west towards Ataba. The Imbaba neighborhood also feels like a market as you're walking through it, and part of it is an extensive, winding vegetable/fruit/bits of a sheep market as well.

Mercato Centrale in Florence, Italy is technically covered but really, really cool. I haven't been in 10 years, though

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is both Grand and Bizarre. But, again, 10 years.

There are really amazing street markets throughout London. My favorites are Chapel Market and Dalston Market.

By: of strange foe

of strange foe — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:44:01 -0800

Chenghuang Temple (also called Yi Temple) in Shanghai.

By: j3s

j3s — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 15:43:22 -0800

I loved the Turkish Market in Berlin. It's on Maybachufer in the Kreuzberg neighborhood, Tuesdays and Fridays, though Fridays tend to be much more crowded.

By: blindcarboncopy

blindcarboncopy — Mon, 14 May 2007 07:05:40 -0800

If fortune brings you to China, Xi'an muslim quarters (area around the Grand Mosque) is the closest thing I've experienced to Istanbul's Grand Bazaar. While not covered, it looks, feels and smells the same. Many hours of entertainment guaranteed. Plus, as long as you are in Xi'an, you can visit the terracotta warriors nearby.

This thread appears to suggest that Turks are best at outdoor markets, and in my limited experience I must concur...