For decades one of London's most vibrant, ethnically mixed neighbourhoods, Notting Hill has become a victim of its own trendiness in the past few years (helped on by a certain movie). In some spots, the rich mix of behemians, immigrants, and blue-collar workers that sustained its vitality is rapidly being displaced by a braying crowd of brash yuppies, a movement responsible for the lofty prices you'll encounter.

At the edges can you catch glimpses of the old Notting Hill: toward the south, where the unsightly 1960s facades of Notting Hill Gate do their best to keep the yuppieville at bay, and in the north around Portobello Road and the Westway, where the vibrant market comes together to recreate some of the old Notting Hill magic. Once a year, the whole neighbourhood explodes with Caribbean colour and sound during the Notting Hill Carnival, held the final week of August and attended by over two million people.

Portobello Road Market is always bustling and well worth a visit even if you do not intend to buy. Portobello Road is a narrow, winding thoroughfare, in the middle of Notting Hill. A market has been held here since 1937, and today is really three or four markets rolled into one.

At the Notting Hill end there are over 2,000 stalls selling antiques, jewellery, paintings, coins, medals, silverware and collectables. All the stallholders here are experts so don't expect too many bargains. This area also has many cafes, bars, restaurants and delicatessans.

Further down the hill are fruit and vegetable stalls. The section around Westbourne Park Road and Talbot Road was made famous in the film 'Notting Hill'. Under the Westway is a large flea market offering second-hand clothes, jewellery, records and books, and beyond this at Goldborne Road the market becomes rundown but it's still worth searching for bargains, as well as the Portuguese cafes. Saturday is the best day to go, although some stalls are open all week.