Best markets in Reading
3 markets worth timing your visit around, plus a fourth in Bracknell if you’re staying more than a few days.
Reading Farmers Market stalls with produce and baked goods
Reading Farmers' Market
Held on the first and third Saturday of the month at the Great Expectations pub car park on London Street, 9am-1pm. Around 25-30 stalls: rare-breed pork, Chiltern lamb, unpasteurised cheese from the Wooden Cow dairy, sourdough from Warings, local honey, and West Berkshire Brewery beer. Prices are farm-gate — pork sausages $8, a decent-sized cheese wedge $9. Best to arrive by 10am; the good bread and pastry stalls sell out.
Broad Street Mall and the Union Street stalls
Union Street — locally called Smelly Alley for its historic fishmongers — still has a real fresh fish counter (Reading Fisheries) and a proper butcher (Vicars butchers). Both work with the surrounding restaurants and sell direct to walk-ins. Small but genuine, and cheaper than any supermarket. There's a general Saturday street market on Broad Street with clothes, produce, and cheap household goods — practical rather than picturesque.
Reading Christmas Market and Bracknell
The Reading Christmas Market runs late November to mid-December along Broad Street — wooden chalets, mulled wine at $6, bratwurst at $8, craft stalls that lean gift-shop. Worth an evening but not a destination on its own. For a bigger weekly experience, Bracknell Market runs Wednesdays and Fridays, 20 minutes by train ($6 return) — over 50 stalls with everything from spices to phone cases, and it's what Reading's own general market used to be.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before they set off on this one.
First and third Saturdays of each month, 9am-1pm, at the Great Expectations pub car park on London Street.
No daily general market. Union Street has permanent fishmongers and butchers open Monday-Saturday.
Late November through mid-December on Broad Street. Check readingukbid.co.uk for exact dates each year.
Most stalls take contactless now, but a few cash-only stalls remain — bring $20 in cash to be safe.
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