UK's 'prettiest street' has pastel-coloured buildings and a ridiculously cool market

Notting Hill is probably one of London’s most popular and well-known neighbourhoods. And for good reason. Not only is the West London spot home to the three-day street carnival every August bank holiday, but it also helped catapult Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant to even greater levels of stardom than they had previously managed with the iconic 90s romcom.

Unlike many of London's best-known attractions (the lastminute.com London Eyecertainly being among the culprits), Notting Hill does live up to the cinematic hype. The whole West London neighborhood has a great energy, which is no doubt fostered in part by the neighborhood’s iconic painted houses that leave it considered one of the prettiest in the country.

The area is known for streets lined with tall townhouses that are splashed with a vibrant selection of paint, lending the London borough a cheerful and upbeat look. The most famous of those streets is Portobello Road, which has been highlighted by Emperor Paint as one of the most colourful areas in the UK.

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Portobello Road is definitely Notting Hill’s busiest street. On Fridays and Saturdays, much of the road transforms into a vibrant and eclectic street market. If you're hunting for bric-a-brac and unpolished diamonds on market day, begin on the Golborne Road end of the street.

There, you will find some very cheap pavement sellers who dump boxes of china, pictures, trinkets, and all sorts of other bits and bobs that are broken in transit on the pavements. It may take a little while, but amongst the tat, you'll be able to find some treasure.

When the market isn’t on and the stalls have been cleared away, Portobello Road remains a bustling place replete with plenty of independent shops, cozy cafés, and, of course, famously colorful painted houses.

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If your goal is to admire and photograph the houses, avoid market days—they tend to get too crowded. Instead, visit around sunset for some truly breathtaking shots. Don’t hesitate to wander off the main street, as some of Notting Hill’s most charming and colorful spots are tucked away along the small cobbled mews streets.

St Lukes Mews has some lovely painted homes, including one painted pink that has become a hotspot of Instagrammers on photoshoots. If you recognise the street, it may be because St Lukes starred in Love Actually.

While most of Notting Hill’s houses are painted in pretty pastel shades, if you're after something brighter, head east on Lancaster Road, right where it intersects with Portobello Road. There, things get loud. The houses here are splashed with primary coloured paint that can light up even the grayest of autumn days.