Extended Stay America

Travel To Flea Markets

Travel To Flea Markets

One of the world's largest flea markets is right in my home state.  The one in San Jose has more than 2,000 booths and sprawls over 40 acres... eight miles of booth-lined walkways with arts, crafts, jewelry, antiques... and junk!  Lots of junk.  It's been there forever.... OK, at least since I was a kid.

The old saying tells you something about them..., "One man's trash is another man's treasure."  Well, that isn't always what you find anymore.  It's gotten a lot more commercial since I first went with my Mom and Dad, but it still draws huge crowds... vendors hoping to make some money, and shoppers hoping for a bargain or at least a day of fun.

Now I'm not much of a shopper, and we usually go more for museums and history when we travel, but sometimes you can have lots of fun at flea markets around the world, and learn something about that country's culture at the same time.  At the very least, finding one of these giant jumble sales will keep you from getting museum sensory overload!

Probably the first one we ever found abroad was the Marche Aux Puces de Clingnancourt in Paris.  All the French guidebooks mention this one.  It's a great place to prowl around and find all sorts of vintage French items.  I have to admit... we never bought anything, but it was a fun way to spend a morning.

If it wasn't the Marche Aux Puces, then perhaps our first international "junk prowl" was Portobello in London, or maybe it was the Camden Passage to look at antiques.  (Certainly not to buy... we couldn't afford that on those early trips!)  There are antique and junk markets all over London, many have become touristy, but if you look hard and bargain, you might still find a treasure to take home.  There are lots of websites to direct you to all of the possibilities.

You'll find markets like this all over the U.S....  From the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market in New York to the the Pasadena Rose Bowl Swap Meet which is supposed to be the largest on the West Coast.  There's the "127 Corridor" in the middle of the country.  It's actually a giant once-a-year yard sale that stretches over 600 miles through 5 states in August.

There's the Mercat Gotic in Barcelona, Spain.  In South America, there is the San Telmo Flea Market in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in Japan, there's the Togo Antique Market in Tokyo.

You can find them in many less developed areas too.... but what really differentiates a flea-type market from the local bazaars?  Flea markets typically sell second hand goods....  The question sometimes is when do they become antiques?  ....And, in those developing counties, the next questions is... what is really an antique, and what is just made to look like one?  Remember, anywhere you shop, it's always buyer beware.  Far from home, it's hard to return what you bought.  

Go ahead and explore those markets where ever you find them... and if you find that one man's junk is YOUR treasure... buy it and enjoy it.