Centre for the Alternative Lifestyles, faded but still the best you'll get. (Camden Town)

Member Name: bensci

Product:	Camden Town
Date:	25/06/09 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: People, atmosphere, markets and shopping.

Disadvantages: Becoming more commercial and badly redeveloped.

If the 'alternative' lifestyle is what you're after, you won't get any better than the world famous Camden Town. This has been a centre for Punks, Goths, Cybergoths, Emos and Indies since such genres arose, starting with the Darkwave shop (catering for the Goth community) on Chalk Farm Road.

Camden has faded somewhat in recent years, when I used to (frequently) bunk off from Maths lessons to visit it was less commercial in the sense that the shops and stalls were more hotch-potch and there were fewer high street names. It has lost a lot of the aura of being somewhere special, being somewhere different because of it. There were also considerably less Indie Kids back in t'Good Old Days; they now dominate the area haunting various pubs, clubs and venues such as Koko's and the Oh! Bar.

The newly re-developed Stables has lost all of its charm, the new mall building designs have attempted to be different, but instead look cheesy. The Horse Hospital is a prime example - originally built to tend injured and down-trodden barge horses, now large statues of rearing stallions camply adorn everything like a tasteless brothel keeper's mansion. The food is good and not too-badly priced, there are various international cuisines to excite your tastebuds, from Thai to Indian, Italian to Morrocan. The clothing shops are well worth a look too.

Worth visiting is the famous Cyberdog (in the Stables Market Yard), an establishment I worked in for a good 4 hours of my life. The music is deafening, the atmosphere like a spaceship and the staff are helpful. The clothing however is terribly overpriced and not of the highest quality, but the range is huge, looks fabulous and if you're a Cybergoth you don't have a great deal of choice elsewhere.

The Canalside Market has re-opened. It was burnt to the ground in the famous fire which also claimed the Hawley Arms, a haunt of celebrities such as Amy Winehouse, all of which are now open for business. Although the market seems still in its infancy (the stalls arent that good), a nice touch is the seats made out of sawn in half Vespa Scooters, overlooking the Camden Lock.

If you're looking for a pub, I usually go for the 'Dev', now called The Hobgoblin. Again, it has lost much of its charm as an exclusively Goth pub, but the people are usually friendly and the live music and DJing tends to be decent.

Camden is well worth the visit, especially from a photographers perspective as there is always something interesting to snap. If you want pictures of the punks though, they often ask for money (those cans of K cider have to be paid for somehow), however a zoom lens can be helpful in such regards. Most people will be happy to let you take a photograph if you ask nicely and don't act like a pervert.

Camden Town is one of London's biggest tourist attractions and its markets, shops, pubs, bars and restaurants are well worth the visit if you have the time. Its located on the Northern Line of the tube where the Bank and Charing Cross branches meet and is one of the North London bus and Night bus hubs being served by many routes.

Summary: An excellent day out for any visitor wanting something a little different.