Every great neighborhood has a market, and every great market tells a story about its neighborhood. Walk through it carefully and you learn more than any guidebook will ever tell you.
What to look for:
Who is shopping? If it is mostly tourists with cameras, the market is a tourist attraction, not a market. Move along. If it is locals with wheeled shopping trolleys, this is a real market, and the neighborhood around it is probably a real neighborhood.
What is in season? A good market is a calendar of what the region eats right now. White asparagus in April means you are in Northern Europe in spring. Tropical fruit you cannot identify means you are in Southeast Asia.
How specialized are the stalls? One stall selling only olives means the olive-eating is serious. One stall selling 'everything' means the market is for shoppers who do not care.
Is there prepared food to eat on-site? A market with a dozen tiny counters selling grilled fish, tortas, bánh mì, arepas, whatever the local snack food is — that is the mark of a market that is alive for locals.
Our favorites worldwide: Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid (increasingly touristy but still excellent), Mercado Roma in Mexico City, Tsukiji's outer market in Tokyo, Borough Market in London (on weekdays only), Marché Bastille in Paris (Thursday and Sunday), the Testaccio market in Rome, Boqueria in Barcelona (early morning, before the tourists).
