In London, it’s easier to find antique shops than it is to avoid them, and given the treasures they yield, you wouldn’t want to avoid them anyway. Here’s our guide to the best antique shopping in London.

1. The Old Cinema

The Old Cinema was once just that, a local picture house circa 1908 to 1934. Today, the Old Cinema is now home to more than forty of the UK's most trusted antiques dealers, with thousands of products also available online. 

Buy art deco, midcentury, industrial, Hollywood regency, and upcycled furniture, accessories, homeware, lighting and gifts. 

Shop The Old Cinema

2. Portobello Road Market

You can’t go antique shopping in London without visiting Portobello Road in Notting Hill, West London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, with the antiques sector mainly located on Elgin Crescent to Chepstow Villas. Various shops are open throughout the week, but the full range of arcades and street stalls that enable Portobello Road to call itself the world’s largest antiques market is open only on Saturday. 

What will you find, besides swarms of people? Just about everything, from just about everywhere and every era, in every price range.

3. Grays Antiques

Grays Antique Market and its sister market, Grays Mews, are home to over 200 antique dealers that make up this two-building marketplace. Its offerings are what you’d expect from an international emporium located in London’s exclusive Mayfair enclave. At Grays, they source, buy and sell all antiques from all over the world.

4. The Junk Shop

When shopping in London at the Junk Shop, expect to find pictures, prints, glass, porcelain, china, books, ephemera, silver, brass, metalware, toys, scientific instruments, taxidermy, clocks and barometers! Toby Moy, who owns the business, comes from a family of antique dealers. It is one of the last remaining shops of its kind in Greenwich. You can spend hours here looking at things. There is even a quaint tea room serving homemade cakes, cream teas, tea and coffee.

5. Alfies Antique Market

Under the same ownership as Grays, Alfies is somewhat less rarefied and smaller, with “only” 75 or so dealers. It is worth a visit for its fabulous Art Deco architecture and antique wares. Many of the neighbouring shops on Church Street began as stands in Alfies, so they’re worth checking out too while you’re shopping in London.

6. Camden Passage Antique Market

Often confused with Camden Market, which is in the neighbouring borough of Camden, Camden Passage is located in Islington, the borough directly east. The Camden Market antiques shops make up the majority of Camden Passage, which also hosts outdoor stalls on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In addition, its Pierrepont Arcade is the site of a books market on Thursdays and Fridays.

7. London Silver Vaults

The London Silver Vaults market is home to more than two dozen dealers. This underground market was The Chancery Lane Safe Deposit. A bomb destroyed the building above the vaults during World War II, but the vaults themselves remained intact. Its shops sell all manner of silver and silver-plate tableware, jewellery, candlesticks, frames, trophies, and gifts, not just from Britain but also from India, Japan, and Russia, dating as far back as the 16th century.

8. Circus Antiques

Founded in 2007, this antique shop in Kensal Rise specialises in antiques from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The shop currently stocks mid-20th century Italian armchairs, a 1970s convex mirror and a mahogany desk from the 1800s. It has products of different styles and from many countries, including England, France, Italy, Sweden and America.

9. Butchoff Antiques 

Based in Kensington, Butchoff Antiques sells furniture, mirrors, lighting, painting and decorative objects from the 18th and 19th centuries. The store stocks “exceptional, exhibition-quality pieces,” so expect the grandiose and the decadent from Britain and elsewhere in Europe. Think carved wood display cabinets, ornate mirrors and Gothic-style chandeliers.

Shopping in London for antiques can be an enjoyable pastime whether you plan to make a purchase today or are just browsing. You never know when something exciting will catch your eye.

In our modern and ever-changing world, antiques serve as a reminder of our rich past. Like vintage, shopping antiques has an ethical value, and you are bound to find something original with a more personal significance. The modern pieces we find today generally decrease in value and often deteriorate faster than antiques; therefore, buying a few antique pieces can also be seen as an investment.

Today’s décor is eclectic and mixing old with new styles adds an interesting element to an interior. London is an antique haven. Happy shopping.

By Melanie Christensen

@melanieartiste