London’s Top 5 Car Boot Sales

London does markets well. It does antiques well. So not surprisingly it is all good at car boot sales. They remain one of the last places in the city where shopping still contains an element of chance. In a world of algorithmic shopping and same-day delivery, the randomness feels almost luxurious.

Part treasure hunt, part street theatre, part proof that one person’s junk is another person’s oddly specific dream. Somewhere in a school playground or academy yard, beneath a grey sky and the smell of instant coffee, lies the lamp, leather jacket or box of vinyl you suddenly feel destined to own.

These are five of the best regular car boot sales in London right now.

1. Capital Carboot, Pimlico

Address: Pimlico Academy, Lupus Street, London SW1V 3AT

Opening Times: Every Sunday, 11.30am–2.30pm

If you want your rummaging as central as possible, Capital Carboot is one of the easiest in London to reach. The appeal here is obvious: a proper London boot sale without a trudge into the outer zones. You get indoor and outdoor stalls, a strong mix of household goods, clothes, books, antiques and bits of stylish clutter that may once have lived in someone else’s immaculate townhouse. It has the feel of a sale where serious browsers turn up, but so do casual wanderers who came for “just a quick look” and leave carrying a brass lamp and a cake stand.

2. Chiswick Car Boot Sale

Address: Chiswick School, Staveley Road, London W4 3UN

Opening Times: First Sunday of every month except January, 6.30am–12.30pm

Chiswick’s is one of the capital’s best-known car boot sales for good reason. This is the boot sale for people who like the phrase “good eye”. Vintage clothes, furniture, books, plants, homeware — it is a fertile patch for anyone after something with a little age and a little character. Chiswick manages that difficult trick of feeling both polished and genuinely communal. It is not smug, just well liked, which in west London may be the rarest achievement of all.

3. Princess May School Car Boot, Stoke Newington

Address: Princess May Primary School, Barrett’s Grove, Stoke Newington, London N16 8DF

Opening Times: Every Saturday and Sunday, from 7.30am

Princess May School is a north-east London stalwart. Part of its charm is its sheer regularity. This is not some occasional, elusive event you miss by blinking. It is simply there, weekend after weekend, offering indoor and outdoor selling space and the usual democratic mix of children’s clothes, kitchenware, books, odd furniture, useful junk and useless treasure. It feels local in the best sense: practical, busy, unpretentious.

4. St Augustine’s School Car Boot, Kilburn

Address: St Augustine’s School, Oxford Road, London NW6 5SN

Opening Times: Every Saturday, from 7.30am

For a dependable Saturday boot sale, St Augustine’s is a strong option. Like Princess May, this one wins on solidity rather than hype. There is indoor and outdoor space, which is useful in a city where the weather changes its mind every seven minutes. It has that classic London car boot energy: functional, slightly chaotic, occasionally glorious. You are not here for atmosphere in the artisanal sense. You are here because somebody might be selling exactly the thing you did not know you wanted until you saw it for three quid.

5. Peckham Carboot

Address: Harris Academy Peckham, 112 Peckham Road, London SE15 5DZ

Opening Times: Every other Sunday, mid-February to December, 10am–2pm

Peckham Carboot has a lively, well-loved reputation and a useful all-weather setup. This is a good one for anyone who enjoys the social side of a boot sale as much as the bargains. It feels neighbourly and energetic, with a broad mix of clothes, homeware, vintage bits and general Peckham serendipity. A London car boot sale on concrete rather than churned-up mud feels, frankly, like civilisation.