Current Longitude: -0.119824 Current latitude: 51.511214 Location: London, England
Hi There,
Upon arriving in London I was completely at a loss as to where I would live geographically speaking. After a few suggestions to visit Camden Town I immediately fell in love with how weird it was. This lead me to seek out accommodation in Camden and I have been living here ever since. I’m very happy to be able to now talk about an area of London that I live in…
London’s North Eastern suburb of Camden Town is characterised by the weird and the wonderful, acting as an incubator for London’s Punk and Goth subculture. Tattoo parlors and piercing shops now reside in the basements of many shops, lining Camden High Street giving the place a grungy feel.
Aside from the tattoo parlors, Camden Town is well know for the Camden Markets which take up residence in former horse stables. These stables were once used to nurse sick horses which would pull barges up the Regents Canal. Interestingly, the stables continue to pay homage to the old ways with its many horse sculptures. These sculptures make for a nice contrast between and the old and the new use of the area. The space is now filled with international food stalls, jewelers, clothing & vintage stores, pubs & clubs, furniture retailers and more.
London’s Crazy Camden
As you would expect, an interesting place such as this brings with it many, many, many tourists. On Saturdays and Sundays Camden town can become a bit of a nightmare, particularly around the tube station as tourists flock to the suburb. I would suggest visiting mid week, however it is valuable to see Camden on a Sunday in its prime. If you go to Camden on Sunday do your best to catch a bus as this may save you from the ridiculous queues into the tube station.
At night Camden changes quiet dramatically with many of the tourists retreating to other areas closer to the city center. This makes Camden’s nights much more authentic than it’s tourist dominated days. At night many of Camden’s gothic subculture come out to play, residing in venues such as Worlds End and Underworld. Meanwhile, trendy young professionals tend to patronize places such as Blues Bar and the Lock Tavern. Clubs also fill up later in the night, these venues include The Proud, Koko and Electric Ballroom.
Aside from Camden being over run with tourists, it really is worth a visit if your in London. Both the day and nights offer great experiences with the stalls in full swing during the day and some really fun venues open at night.
THE HIT LIST
- The best coffee: ‘Arancini’ – This coffee shop is a little bit off the main drag but offers a great change from your coffee chains. The shop has nice coffee and tasty snacks.
- The besst pubs: ‘Lock Tavern’ & ‘Blues Bar’ – Both great venues to spend your evening at. Both have a warm and inviting feel, serve great food and feature live music.
- The best clubs: ‘The Proud’ and ‘Koko’ – The Proud is located within the stables, with individual stables used as private rooms for hire by its patrons. Conversely, Koko is housed inside a large theatre. Koko offers a large dance floor that is surrounded by theatre style balconies.
- The best snacks: Any of the international food shops inside the markets (a bit hit and miss, but ‘Bang Bang Chicken’ is infamous with locals).
- The best shops: ‘Cyber Dog’ – Maybe not the best shop but surely the most interesting. This shop sells rave and clubbing clothing. The interesting thing is that the shop is themed like a rave, loud dance music included – Don’t miss it.
- What to do: Go to The Stables, Cyberdog, Sit on the moped seats along the canal and eat street food, see live music, walk along the canal, search out a bargain in the markets.
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Longitude, Latitude & Luke 
December 21st, 2013 → 10:21 am
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