Columbia Flower Market
Need a good and cheap date night? Or a girls day out? The Columbia Flower Market is the perfect place to admire the little things life. It's also a prime spot for taking a gazillion instagram photos.
Whether you're a rose, tulip, lilly, pansy, or ivy girl, there's a plant for everyone. It's a place where you can find almost any type of flower in the world, and a place where you can find any type of herb, cactus, bush seeds, or my personal favorite: a pink pineapple, that is out there. And there's also no need to buy an entire bunch, you can also purchase a single rose in the color (or rainbow dye) of your choice. And just to throw in a tip for the boys out there: there are multiple orchid plants (seems to be all the rage with girls now FYI), and they are all at reasonable prices.
It's the perfect atmosphere to even bring the family. You truly do feel like you're falling down the rabbity hole with Alice and are among the flowers! There's multiple vendors, small cafes, and boutiques. The cute boutiques have reasonable prices and feature hand made stationary, knit scarves and hats, candles, decorative house accents like bird cages, and many more shabby chic items that will bring so much character to your flat!
What I found most unique when I went there was the October theme many of the booths seemed to have. Although I had wanted to go in the summer or any time in the spring, I ended up here on an October Sunday morning. And yet, it was magical. During the fall months these booths are advertising tiny pumpkins in orange, white, and even blue! They have harvest colors which many young me were actually buying for their mothers. Straw, marigolds, cornucopias, and corn were all being sold. And the smell of roasted coffee and apple cider was in the air. The small cafes advertised pumpkin soups, cranberry muffins, and a chance to warm yourself up with some harvest tea. The atmosphere is divine! And the vendors told me they try to cater to the season.
Facts to Know:
Opens: Every Sunday at 8 am to 2pm. A perfect early coffee or after church Sunday brunch activity.
The market is some distance from Liverpool Street station and Bethnal Green and Old Street tube stations; but is well served by bus routes 26, 48 and 55 on Hackney Road, and 8, 388 and D3 from Bethnal Green Road. Hoxton station, on Cremer St, is close.