Columbia Road Flower Market trades every Sunday from 8am to 3pm, according to the market’s own website and Tower Hamlets Council. For the rest of the week the street, which runs off Hackney Road in Bethnal Green, is quiet. On Sunday morning it fills with flower traders, plant buyers and visitors from across London and abroad.
The market has been part of the East End for more than 150 years, starting as a covered market in the 19th century, the council says. In February 2026 it was named Best Market Attraction at the Great British Market Awards, run by the National Association of British Market Authorities. It was the only London retail market to win at that year’s ceremony, a year after being named Britain’s Best Small Outdoor Market.
This guide covers when to go, how to get there and what else is open on the street on a Sunday. For the other markets in the area, see the guide to Shoreditch markets by day.
What you can buy
Traders sell cut flowers, dried flowers, succulents, cacti, house plants and herbs. Stock changes with the seasons. Herbs arrive in spring, and in December the street is lined with Christmas trees. Many pitches are family businesses: the market’s information site notes that some stalls have passed down through generations of the same families.
Prices are set by each trader. Many take cards, but carrying some cash as a back-up is sensible.
When to go
The market opens at 8am. The street is at its quietest in the first hour, when traders are still setting out stock and the narrow pavements have room to move. By late morning the road can be crowded enough that walking from one end to the other takes a while, especially in spring and in the weeks before Christmas.
The market closes at 3pm. Anyone who wants a wide choice should arrive early. Anyone who wants to avoid crowds should either come at opening time or in the final hour, when the street starts to empty.
How to get there
There is no Tube station on Columbia Road. The nearest station is Hoxton on the London Overground, about a ten-minute walk away. Shoreditch High Street, also on the Overground, is a little further. From the City or Liverpool Street, the walk north through Shoreditch takes around 20 to 25 minutes, and buses run along Hackney Road at the western end of the street.
Driving is a poor idea on a Sunday. The market takes over the road itself, and the official website points drivers to its parking information before setting out.
Where to eat and drink on the street
Several businesses on and around Columbia Road open specifically for market day.
Lily Vanilli, 6 The Courtyard, Ezra Street, E2 7RH. The bakery off Columbia Road opens on Sundays from 9am to 4.30pm, according to its website.
Brawn, 49 Columbia Road. A neighbourhood restaurant serving Sunday lunch from noon to 2.15pm, with no Sunday dinner service. Booking is wise on market days.
The Royal Oak, Columbia Road. The pub opens on Sundays from noon to 10pm and serves a Sunday roast, with the kitchen open until 9pm.
For more choice, Brick Lane is a 15-minute walk south, with 24-hour beigel shops and the Upmarket street food hall. The Shoreditch restaurants guide covers the wider area.
A Sunday route
A simple way to spend a Sunday is to start at Columbia Road at 8am, then walk south to Brick Lane for the vintage market and the Sunday stalls around the Truman Brewery, and finish at Old Spitalfields Market. All three are covered in the markets guide, and the vintage shops guide lists the shops that open on Sundays.
The streets between Columbia Road and Brick Lane also have some of the area’s best-known murals. The self-guided Shoreditch street art walk maps a route that can be joined on the way.
Gardens and growing in East London
Columbia Road is the most famous place in East London to buy plants, but not the only story about growing things in the area. Made in Shoreditch has written about Shoreditch in Bloom and the idea of the urban garden, and interviewed the artist Mahtab Hussain about Please Take a Seat, a bench project collecting East London stories.
For more ideas for a weekend in the neighbourhood, see things to do in Shoreditch.