Leadenhall Market
diagon alley, empty on a weekend
A jaw-dropping Victorian covered market in the heart of the City, all painted ironwork and cobbles. It played Diagon Alley, and on a weekend you can have it to yourself.
Free to visit · City of London · Bank · EC3V 1LT
Opening: Covered market open daily · shops and pubs Mon–Fri
There has been a market on this spot for seven hundred years, but the building you walk into now is a glorious 1881 confection of wrought iron, glass and cobbles by Horace Jones, the same architect who did Tower Bridge. It is free to wander and one of the most beautiful covered streets in Britain.
Look up and the ceiling is painted deep green, maroon and gold, with dragons and crests picked out at the joints. It is so atmospheric that the films came calling, and you will recognise it as the entrance to Diagon Alley in the first Harry Potter film. The optician's shopfront stood in for the Leaky Cauldron.
During the week it hums with City workers spilling out of the pubs, and the cheesemonger, the wine shops and the lunch spots all do a roaring trade. Come at the weekend and it flips completely, near silent and gorgeously empty, just you, the cobbles and that painted roof.
Getting there: A couple of minutes from Bank, hidden between Gracechurch Street and Leadenhall Street among the City towers.
Best time to go: A weekend morning if you want the photogenic empty version, or a weekday lunchtime for the full City buzz. The two are completely different experiences.
Insider tip: Come on a Sunday morning. The City empties out, the market is all but deserted, and you can stand in the middle of that painted Victorian arcade and photograph it without a single person in shot. Midweek it is wall to wall suits.
Official site: https://www.leadenhallmarket.co.uk
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide