Travel with Jennissa

A few months prior to my UK vacation, I decided to start a travel page on Instagram where I posted pictures from my previous vacations. Soon, I began following many London travel pages for picture inspiration and to extend our to-do list. Along with pictures of the Big Ben, London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the famous touristy locations, I happened to learn about the many Instagrammable locations of this big city. This included the Sky Garden, the very pink and flowery patisserie – Peggy Porschen, Covent Garden and the colourful Notting Hill. Cute pictures of Notting Hill’s colourful houses and doors dominated my feed and I couldn’t keep my chill. I had to see the place!

Each day spent in London was eventful as we visited most of the city’s attractions and this led to our Notting Hill plan being pushed to the very last day. But I’d say, we left the best for the last!
Notting Hill did not fail to impress! The pictures that I had kept seeing for months and months together did justice to how beautiful the place was. Luckily, London was bright and sunny that day – no signs of rain, no cold breeze, it was simply perfect.
As we entered the Notting Hill neighborhood, we were greeted by the warm and vibrant colours of each of the houses. The doors too were brightly coloured and attractive enough to make a passerby stop, open up their phone cameras and click away.

As we continued walking, I came across many wisterias. This purple creeper blooms from early to mid-spring and it usually lasts only for three to four weeks. My London visit couldn’t have been more timely! “Wisteria Hysteria” is a very London thing, so don’t forget to look out for these flowers if you visit the city during the blooming season. Your Instagram might be filled with plenty of wanderlust comments.

Notting Hill is not just about colourful houses but also street shopping. Right from souvenirs sold at a great deal to vintage furniture and clothing to second hand clothes and accessories, and much more.

Portobello Market in Notting Hill is filled with several shops and stalls selling antiques and collectibles of every kind. The best day to visit the market is a Saturday since all street stalls are set up and it makes for a perfect market experience filled with the weekend hustle bustle and energy. Since the market is closed on Sundays, make sure not to make any shopping plans for that day.

Another main attraction includes The Notting Hill Bookshop that features in the Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant starrer, Notting Hill. Well, it’s pretty much like any other cute book store, but hey, it was a movie set!

After some more strolling around, I finally spotted the row of rainbow-coloured houses that I had ever so often seen on Instagram. And wow!! That particular stretch of houses was so beautiful! If only I lived on such a colourful street, I’d have a photoshoot every single day! Lucky are the ones who spot a fancy vintage car. Ah, wouldn’t the houses make for a perfect background?

Just as our Notting Hill outing was coming to an end, we came across some of THE most cutest houses. One was pink and was complemented by a light green bicycle parked outside (how Tumblr!), another one was entirely black, and another one was bright white with wisterias sandwiched in between a dark blue door and a light blue garage door. It was breathtaking! Can someone give me the owner’s phone number already; I need to strike a deal!

Overall, Notting Hill was one of my favourite spots in London as it was absolutely picturesque and the colour splash gave out some great vibes. I would definitely recommend every London tourist to take out an entire morning just for Notting Hill. The long walk will be worth it, and your photo gallery will be the most colourful thing you’ve ever seen.