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Tube: Camden Town. For all the gentrification of the last twenty years, Camden Town retains a seedy air, compounded by the various railway lines that plough through the area, the canal, and Europe's largest dosshouse. The market, however, gives the area a positive lift on the weekends, and is now the district's best-known attribute. Having started out as a tiny crafts market in the cobbled courtyard by the lock, Camden Market has since mushroomed out of all proportion. More than 100,000 shoppers turn up here each weekend, and parts of the market now stay open week-long, alongside a similarly-oriented crop of shops, cafes and bistros. The market's overabundance of cheap leather, DM shoes and naff jewellery is compensated for by the sheer variety of what's on offer: from bootleg tapes to furniture, along with a mass of street fashion that may or may not make the transition to mainstream stores. To avoid the crowds, which can be overpowering on a summer Sunday afternoon, you'll need to get here by 10am - by 4pm many of the stalls will be packing up to go. Despite having no significant Jewish associations, Camden is home to London's Jewish Museum (Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-4pm; GBP3; www.jewmusm.ort.org), at 129 Albert St, just off Parkway. The purpose-built premises are smartly designed, but the conventional style and contents of the museum are disappointing: apart from the usual displays of Judaica, there's a video and exhibition explaining Jewish religious practices and the history of the Jewish community in Britain. More challenging temporary exhibitions are held in the museum's Finchley branch on East End Road, N3 (tel 020/8349 1143).
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