Borough Market
Helene Darroze shops the small producers' stalls here before she eats, and what she eats is fish and chips standing among them.9
Why go
A group of Southwark residents raised six thousand pounds in 1756 to buy a triangle of ground south of the cathedral, after parliament abolished the old market for clogging the approach to London Bridge, and the market has traded on that triangle ever since.3 Records show grain, fish, vegetables and cattle being sold in Southwark by 1014, which is the thousand years the market counts.4
The railway asked for the ground in the nineteenth century and did not get it. Instead the companies took a flying leasehold in 1860, built the viaduct over the traders' heads and left them selling underneath, and every time the viaduct is widened the sixteen trustees are paid compensation. They are required to live nearby.3
Over a hundred stallholders still sell fruit and vegetables here, and the market runs its own quality inspectorate alongside Southwark's trading standards.3 It sold wholesale to businesses for most of its life and only turned to shoppers in the 1990s.4 The estate splits into three, which is the fact that changes a visit: Three Crown Square for larger producers and merchants, the Green Market for small specialist produce traders, and Borough Market Kitchen for street food.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: produce first, from the Green Market, where the small specialist growers sit.2
- Order: the honey truffle and parmesan pork ciabatta from the Black Pig, which is Time Out's one don't-miss on the whole estate.5
- Order: coffee at Monmouth on the south side before you go in, which is Time Out's own route.5
- Avoid: arriving full. The samples are the point: bread, cured meats, cheese, olives, pastries.5
- Avoid: Saturday afternoon, when the market's own guidance is that visitor numbers peak and some passages run 1.5 metres wide.2
What locals & experts say
- Michel Roux, of Le Gavroche:
For me, Borough Market has it all. Great produce, not only from the UK but from all over the world. Likewise, the food on offer is eclectic and multi-ethnic. A true reflection of London.
6 - Helene Darroze, three stars at The Connaught:
Borough Market offers organic products sold exclusively by carefully selected small producers. I do my shopping there before settling around the stalls.
9 - Clare Smyth, three stars at CORE, with the caveat inside her own recommendation:
Borough Market, which is very touristy but there is a lot to do and you can find pretty much anything there.
10 - Tom Kerridge:
Borough Market is pretty cool for something to eat and there's a really good buzz.
Matt Abe builds a whole day around it:we'd start at Borough Market, followed by a walk along the Thames.
11 - Anya Ryan, Time Out, June 2026, on the cost of the reputation:
Being London's best and most famous food market also has its pitfalls: it can get extremely cramped and chaotically busy.
5 - Stephen Halliday, History Today, on what the claim actually is: the market
has a claim to be the oldest of all the capital's markets still trading on its original site
.3
Good to know
- Where: 8 Southwark Street, SE1 1TL, between London Bridge station and the river.
- Timing: closed Mondays and trading Tuesday to Sunday, except in December when it opens every day. Not every trader is there every day.5
- Entry: free and open to everyone.
- Access: all on one ground-floor level with no lifts or stairs, but the surfaces include cobbles and the passageways run from 1.5 to 4 metres. Four accessible WCs, no radar key needed.2
- Which area: Three Crown Square for producers and merchants, Green Market for small specialist produce, Borough Market Kitchen for street food.2
- When it is too full: Time Out's answer is to buy from Neal's Yard Dairy and Bread Ahead and take it down to Bankside for a picnic.5
- The buildings were designed by Henry Rose in 1851 and extended by Edward Habershon in the 1860s, both church architects, which is why the ironwork looks Gothic. The Art Deco entrance on Southwark Street went in in 1932, and the portico from Covent Garden's Floral Hall arrived in 2004.3
- Nearby, and written up here too: OMA and AGORA on Bedale Street, Padella, Kolae, Rambutan, Gourmet Goat, The Rake on Winchester Walk, and BAO Borough on Stoney Street.
- Hygiene: the market is not a single food business, so the register has no one rating for it. Each trader and restaurant carries its own.
Verdict
must-visit — Go to shop rather than to look. Helene Darroze buys her produce from the small growers here and then eats standing among them, fish and chips off the street, which is the visit to copy. Michel Roux calls it 'Great produce, not only from the UK but from all over the world. A true reflection of London.' Southwark residents raised six thousand pounds in 1756 for the triangle of ground it still sits on, after parliament abolished the old market for choking the bridge approach, and when the railway came the companies took a leasehold over the traders' heads and built the viaduct while the market kept selling underneath. Over a hundred stallholders still sell fruit and vegetables, the market runs its own quality inspectorate, and it is still a charity rather than an operator. Learn the three parts before you go: Three Crown Square for the bigger producers and merchants, the Green Market for small specialist growers, Borough Market Kitchen for street food. Clare Smyth's own caveat is worth carrying with you, that it is 'very touristy but there is a lot to do and you can find pretty much anything there', so come early, take the coffee at Monmouth first, skip Saturday afternoon when the passages narrow to a metre and a half, and remember it shuts on Mondays.