the travel book shop notting hill

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London , London Film Tours · August 16, 2023

A Visit to Notting Hill Travel Bookshop: Everything You Need to Know in 2024

Looking to recreate your favorite rom-com scene? Here’s my personalized guide and everything you need to know for a visit to the Notting Hill Travel Bookshop. Enjoy!

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We all know the scene. Julia Roberts slow pursue through the Notting Hill Travel Bookshop. Hugh Grant’s infamous eye-turn and blushed slew of book recommendations. The rom-com that hit London lovers by storm has all the nostalgia of Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts romance tucked into a quaint bookshop, in you guessed it, Notting Hill.

If you’re a Notting Hill fan like me and looking to turn your on-screen vicarious romance into real life — the Notting Hill Travel Bookshop is calling your name. Rom-com lovers have flocked from all parts of London (and abroad) to relive the Notting Hill scene. And if you’re reading this, I’m guessing you want to do the same.

Without further ado here’s everything you need to know about the Notting Hill Travel Bookshop. And to add to your Notting Hill obsession, I’ve popped in some of the movie quotes throughout the blog (definitely not a superfan).

William : I live in Notting Hill. You live in Beverly Hills. Everyone in the world knows who you are, my mother has trouble remembering my name. Anna Scott : I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. Notting Hill

Where is the Travel Bookshop in Notting Hill?

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Notting Hill Bookshop (@nottinghillbookshop)

The travel bookshop sits pretty right off of Portobello Road at 13 Blenheim Crescent, London W11 2EE. The exteriors are hard to miss, with bright blue exteriors that match Hugh Grant’s infamous blue door (located at 280 Westbourne Park Road).

How to get to the Travel Bookshop in Notting Hill, London

The Travel bookshop in Notting Hill is around a 10-minute walk from Notting Hill Gate station. One of the easiest ways to reach Notting Hill Gate (or anywhere in London really) is Citymapper. I rely on it endlessly and if you just pop in “Notting Hill Gate” you’ll get there without a hitch.

William : Would you like something to eat? Something to nibble? Apricots, soaked in honey? Quite why, no one knows, because it stops them tasting like apricots and makes them taste like honey… and if you wanted honey, you could just… buy honey. Instead of apricots. But nevertheless they’re yours if you want them. Notting Hill

When to go & What to buy at the Notting Hill Travel Bookshop

Of course, due to it’s popularity, any time you go has the potential to be crowded. But I’d suggest going in the morning and pairing it a brunch in Notting Hill (Farm Girl Cafe if you’re wondering).

Although the shop originally exclusively sold travel books, they expanded into nearly every area of publishing (though travel is still the main focus). They’ve also got tons of beautiful gifts to get your hands on if you’ve got a super fan waiting at home. So in addition to recapturing your movie moments — I’d definitely suggest buying something while you’re here.

Notting Hill Bookshop Scene

I’m assuming if you’re reading this blog that you’re just as well-versed in this rom-com as I am. But just in case — here’s the bookshop scene. In the movie, Will (Hugh Grant) works in the travel bookshop where he meets Anna (Julia Roberts) a Hollywood Actress from America visiting London for a movie shoot.

As all rom-com’s go, one thing leads to another, they fall in love, the end. But there’s something about the movie and the bookshop that’s timeless. And if you’re a London lover like me, a visit to the Notting Hills Travel Bookshop will give you all the London feels again.

Anna Scott: You know what they say about men with big feet William : No, I don’t, actually. What’s that ? Anna Scott : Big feet… large shoes. Notting Hill

A Quick History on the Travel Bookshop, Notting Hill

Before the bookshops claim to fame the Notting Hill Travel Bookshop was just a charming local bookshop on the streets of West London. The director Richard Curtis used to pass the bookshop all the time, promptly inspiring him for the set of the film. But when asked to use it as the filming location for Notting Hill…they refused. So he ended up recreating the bookshop on set, and the rest is history.

Although the filming location took place elsewhere the location was quickly recognized as the heart-throb central it was — and thousands of fans flocked to the shop each year for their Notting Hill moment (me very included).

The store ended up closing in 2011 (after a long campaign to keep it going ). However it was bought by The Book Warehouse after the Travel Bookshop owner Simon Gaul realized his children weren’t interested in continuing the family-business. But the Book Warehouse made sure to keep the spirit of rom-com alive with the Notting Hill odes and the name, The Notting Hill Bookshop.

To clear up some quick confusion for my movie fans — the bookshop in the actual film is called “The Travel Book Company”, but the real store it’s based on was called “The Travel Bookshop”. Glad we got that out the way.

Anna Scott: Can I stay for a while? William: You can stay forever. Notting Hill

Proposals at the Bookshop

My rom-com heart melted when I found out just how many proposals take place in the bookshop! The owners told press that many couples come to drop on one knee and they even help with the planning process sometimes to make it extra special (definitely not giving you ideas).

But if you can believe it — people really do come from as far as America (hey!) to Asia and Australia to make their Notting Hill I do’s.

Favorite heart-melting stories include….

A couple from China having their wedding photos taken inside the shop (goals)
A German couple combining Notting Hill and Harry Potter sneaking an engagement ring inside one of the books (I know he got brownie points)
An American couple coming back to the Notting Hill bookshop for their wedding anniversary (goals…and anniversary goals!)

Oh God, this is one of those key moments in life, when it’s possible you can be really, genuinely cool – and I’m failing 100%. I absolutely and totally and utterly adore you and I think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world and more importantly I genuinely believe and have believed for some time now that we can be best friends. What do YOU think? Honey, Notting Hill

Exploring the Notting Hill Area + Other Film Locations (Market Scene, Blue Door etc.)

If you’re in the Notting Hill area it’d be a waste not to see the rest of the area. Personally, I suggest taking advantage of Portobello Market and popping into a pub like the Churchill Arms. And of course, grabbing a fresh read at the travel bookshop (you know… “just in case browsing turned to buying” ).

If the Notting Hill fandom moves ya, here are all the addresses of the film locations for the movie.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to watch Notting Hill for the 11th time.

Be sure to read up on the best things to do in Notting Hill before your visit —and if love Notting Hill, you’re sure to love Primrose Hill too!

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'Notting Hill' Stans Are Proposing At This IRL Film Location & My Heart Is SO FULL

If you’re just a girl, standing in front of a bookshop, asking if it’s the one from Notting Hill — there’s a chance you’re going to have to fight the crowds to get your romcom fix. The film, which features Hugh Grant as a bumbling bookshop owner in the London neighbourhood, is officially turning twenty next year and fans of the flick still filter in day in and day out to visit the bookshop. One of the shop’s owners revealed that in fact it’s become a popular proposal spot with young lovers cosying up between the bookshelves and dropping to one knee. So, where is the bookshop from Notting Hill ? Well for starters, it goes by a different name IRL.

In the film, the bookshop goes by the name The Travel Book Company and was based on another real store called The Travel Bookshop. The movie wasn't actually filmed in there as apparently the owners told Hollywood to buzz off , Sky reports, but the Notting Hill crew did completely rebuild it for the beloved romance. Sadly, the family-run establishment which served as the original inspiration closed in 2011. However, it was later bought by a company called The Book Warehouse according to Sky and now goes by the name The Notting Hill Bookshop . As a lovely little nod to the film, the back part of the store is still called The Travel Book Co. .

The iconic shop is located just off Portobello Road and the full address is 13 Blenheim Crescent, London W11 2EE.

It’s easily recognisable by its exterior, which is matched to a similar hue to another iconic Notting Hill sight: Hugh Grant’s blue door. (You can also visit that door, which is still blue and always crowded with fans, over at 280 Westbourne Park Road.)

James Malin, one of the owners of The Notting Hill Bookshop, spoke with The Sunday Telegraph ahead of the film’s 20th anniversary. He revealed that loads of tourists visiting London have actually popped in and then popped the question , with many proposals taking place amidst the rare books. Malin and his brother Howard seem like they’re secret romantics themselves, as Malin revealed that occasionally they’ll play a part in making the proposal extra special.

He said, “We have had several [proposals] during the past few years and there’s other people that we are not aware of, like an American couple we didn’t find out about until they returned for their anniversary. We don’t always find out they are proposing, but if they want us to do something special, we will.”

The heartwarming tale of an awkward bookshop owner and international Hollywood star turns out to be a way more universal one than I thought. Malin explained that many travel in from places as far flung as Asia and Australia.

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He said, “We have seen an increase in the past five years but I can’t say why, it’s just a great thing to happen. They come from all over — it’s like a — we’ve had people from Australia, America, China and Japan.”

It sounds like some people have gone above and beyond just dropping to one knee, as he recounted a story of how a Chinese couple showed up to take professional wedding photographs in full regalia.

Another couple from Germany also combined two of my favourite things ( Notting Hill and Harry Potter ) as one of them snuck an engagement ring into the back of a Harry Potter book and surprised his partner with it.

My favourite story though? Apparently one couple actually had their own Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant meet-cute at the shop. I’m seething with jealousy.

Malin said, “A young Chinese couple who met in our shop...came back six months later to tell us they were still together.”

Gah. I’m signing off for the day, a Notting Hill re-viewing is in order.

The Notting Hill Bookshop

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I founded the Travel Bookshop in 1979; it was run privately for more than 30 years. Nestled between the local art galleries, eateries and the many retro and avant-garde boutiques of Notting Hill, it offered a cornucopia for travelling readers. So enticing was this bookshop, it was chosen as the main setting and inspiration for the 1998 film Notting Hill starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts .

I was often asked why I had started the shop and so here is the story behind it … Almost my first job had been in a bookshop – WJ Bryce in Museum Street near the British Museum. I LOVED working there although I was only paid £7 a week. After about 2 years I left to go travelling and when I came back (having been round the world and having lived in New York), I had a bad skiing accident. There is nothing like being unable to move to give you time to think. I decided to go to university and got accepted to read Chinese at SOAS – after that 4 year course I still wasn’t qualified to do anything so I mentioned to somebody that when I retired I would like to have my own bookshop. They looked at me and asked ‘Retire from what, Sarah?’ and ‘If you want to do something, do it now.’ Good advice. I decided to specialise in travel and was the first shop to arrange the books under country – so that I had function side by side with guides and histories etc. Although it still might not have gone ahead – as I went to the US for a holiday – tod people of my plans – and they all told me what a great idea it was, but they also warned me that when I got back to the UK – people would say ‘Don’t do it.’ That’s exactly what happened – but geared up by the American ‘can do’ philosophy – I went ahead. I opened in Abingdon Road in Kensington and in late 1981 moved myself and the shop to Blenheim Crescent – where the shop, now known as the Notting Hill Bookshop, flourishes. All of this and more can be read about in my autobiography Halfway to Venus – now available as an e-book.

The Travel Bookshop Notting Hill London

Portobello Road Notting Hill West London.

The Travel Bookshop, Notting Hill, West London

Made famous by its role in the 1999 film Notting Hill , The Travel Bookshop is an iconic presence in the Notting Hill district of west London .

The Travel Bookshop was founded in 1979 and aims to offer the literary traveler a complete reading experience that includes every country in the world.

The book shop is situated among the local art galleries, cafes, and the many boutiques of Notting Hill. It is open from 10 am to 6 pm Monday to Saturday and 12 pm to 5 pm on Sundays.

London’s The Travel Bookshop on Blenheim Crescent in Notting Hill. W11

Visitors to London may also enjoy visiting the Tower of London , St Paul’s Cathedral , or the Houses of Parliament . Portobello Road and its market are nearby.

Access – Getting There

The Travel Bookshop 13-15 Blenheim Crescent Notting Hill London W11 2EE Tel: 020 7229 5260

The nearest tube stations to the bookshop are Ladbroke Grove on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines or Notting Hill on the Central Line. The following London buses pass close to Notting Hill Tube Station: 27, 28, 52, 328, 452, N27, N28, and N31.

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Movie enthusiasts across the world have travelled the streets of West London in search of the beloved travel bookshop that featured in the iconic film, Notting Hill.

The quaint book store known in the film as The Travel Book Company was owned by Will, Hugh Grant's character, and it was actually based on a real Notting Hill book store.

The real book store, called The Travel Bookshop was the inspiration for the 1999 classic but to the upset of Notting Hill fans, it sadly closed in 2011 after a hard fought campaign.

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The family run shop on Blenheim Crescent, just off Portobello Road , opened in 1979 and was frequented by Notting Hill film director Richard Curtis which led to the inspiration for the film.

Although the movie wasn't actually filmed in the West London store, its interior design provided the arrangement for the on set replica. But after 32 long years in business, the store fell on hard times and found itself on the brink of closure in 2011.

Several writers and actors launched a campaign to reverse the closure and the save the specialist book store.

Poet, Olivia Cole led the way in 2011 even offering to volunteer at the store saying in the Guardian: "It’s an amazing specialist bookshop and it has the Notting Hill novelty but it is the same sad story that we’re seeing in high streets all over the country.

"Loads of independent bookshop are having a bad time."

Actor, Alec Baldwin who played Julia Roberts' boyfriend in the film was also in support of the campaign calling for it to be saved. However, the iconic store, which helped Notting Hill gross more than £220 million, closed for good in 2011.

However, like a phoenix rising rising from the ashes, the store was bought back to life after being purchased by The Book Warehouse. It's in the same location on Blenheim Crescent as the original store but now goes by the name, The Notting Hill Bookshop, no longer operating as a specialist travel book shop.

The Travel Bookshop was bought in 2011 and now goes by The Notting Hill Bookshop

The last owner of The Travel Bookshop said in The Bookseller: "'Book warehouses are just that; a place where remaindered books, cards, calendars, magazines etc are found.

"Worthy though such enterprises are, 'The Book Warehouse Notting Hill' has no association whatsoever - despite its occupying a part of the old location of The Travel Bookshop - with that 30+ year-old enterprise."

Many Notting Hill fans still visit the Notting Hill Bookshop, with some lovebirds even proposing in the romantic spot. So although The Travel Bookshop is no more, its legacy of romance and mystery still lives on in West London.

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A Self-Guided Walking Tour of "Notting Hill" Film Locations in London

The 1999 film "Notting Hill" is set in the district of London by the same name where a bookshop owner played by Hugh Grant meets a famous American actress played by Julia Roberts.

If you're taking a trip to England's capital city, you can take a walking tour of locations made famous by this romantic comedy by starting from the Notting Hill Gate tube station . The walk is about two miles long and will take under an hour to complete from start to finish, but you could also spend more time at any of these destinations, so set aside extra time for your trip just in case.

The Print Room (Formerly Coronet Cinema)

At 103 Notting Hill Gate—next to or opposite the Notting Hill Gate tube station (depending on which exit you take)—you'll find the Print Room , which was formerly the Coronet Cinema. This is where the character William (Hugh Grant) watched "Helix," the science fiction short film starring Anna Scott (Julia Roberts).

The Coronet opened as a theater in 1898 and was such a well-respected venue that it was where King Edward VII saw a performance and Sir John Gielgud watched his first Shakespeare play. It served as a cinema for the local community for years and was transformed back to a theater in 2010.

If you have the time, you can return here later at night to catch an Off-West End show, a poetry reading, musical performance, or even an educational talk or discussion.

Bella and Max's House

The next stop on the tour is the home of William's friends Bella, played by Gina Mckee. From the Print Room, walk down Notting Hill Gate towards Holland Park tube station. At Holland Park station, turn right onto Lansdowne Road then walk until you come to 91 Lansdowne Road on your right.

In the film, William surprises his younger sister, Honey Thacker, and her partner Bernie (Hugh Bonneville) by bringing the famous Anna to Honey's birthday party at Gina's house. William and Anna wind up leaving the party rather intoxicated, laughing as they ventured out into the neighborhood. You can snap a quick picture in front of the building before continuing to follow the pair back into the neighborhood.

Rosmead Gardens

Right around the corner, you can take in excellent views of Rosmead Gardens , where Anna and William first stumbled drunkenly after leaving Gina's house. Simply turn around and make your first right onto Rosmead Road.

Anna and William break into these private communal garden, but while the movie may have made it appear like a good idea to break into these gardens, it's best to just observe them from the road. Not only is it illegal to trespass on this private property, but if you try to climb over the wall like Hugh Grant, there is a pretty big drop from the railings on the other side and you could get injured.

Rosmead Gardens is part of the Ladbroke Estate, which includes other nearby private gardens: Arundel Gardens and St. John's. Despite looking like a small park, these private gardens are owned and maintained by the local residents, who are the only people with keys for access.

Portobello Road Market

From the gardens, head back to the left along Lansdowne Road, past Gina's house, and make a left onto Ladbroke Grove (the first left). Walk up a block to Elgin Crescent, make a right, then continue two blocks before making another right onto Portobello Road.

This section of the street is known as Portobello Road Market , which is one of the most famous street markets in the world. With markets held six days a week—including the popular Saturday antique sale—Portobello Road Market is a great way to spend the afternoon even if you're not a fan of the "Notting Hill" film.

In the opening scene of the movie, Hugh Grant is seen walking down Portobello Road Market on his way to his bookshop, The Travel Book Company.

The Travel Bookshop

For fans of the film, in particular, the Travel Book Shop is a must-see destination on the walking tour and is less than a block from where you turn onto Portobello Road from Elgin Crescent.

This spot at 142 Portobello Road was used as the location for William Thacker's (Hugh Grant's) Travel Book Shop in the movie, but there has never been a bookshop there. It was formerly the Nicholls Antique Arcade, then a furniture store called Gong, and it currently serves as a gift shop. There is a sign on the building, though, for "The Travel Book Shop" that has remained in place since filming took place in 1998.

The fictional bookstore in the film was also based on the real Travel Bookshop nearby (13 Blenheim Crescent), which you can get to by turning back down Portobello Road, walking past Elgin Crescent, and making a left on Blenheim Crescent. The original Travel Bookshop closed in 2011 but has since reopened as the Notting Hill Bookshop.

The Blue Door (William's Flat)

For the next stop, continue up Portobello Road to the left from the Notting Hill Bookshop, past Saint's Tattoo Parlour where a confused man in the movie stumbles out with a tattoo of "I Love Ken" but no recollection of why he got it. The next road, Westbourne Park Road, is where you'll find the famous blue door that leads to William's flat in the film.

The house was once owned by the movie's screenplay writer, Richard Curtis. The blue door was incredibly popular and many people came to write their name on it, but the original was removed and sold at auction at Christie's. It was replaced with a black door to not attract so much attention, but time has moved on and the current owners have kindly painted the door blue again.

The property is valued in the multi-millions and is actually a converted chapel with huge windows and ornate church features, thus nothing like the studio set used for the interior scenes in the movie. You can't see any of this from the street though, but you can snap a quick photograph in front of the new blue door.

Coffee Shop

Once you've snapped a photograph, head back across Portobello Road to the opposite corner, where you'll find a chain coffee shop called CoffeeBello. In the film, there was a small cafe next door with tables and chairs on the sidewalk, but now it's a hair salon.

This is where William buys a glass of orange juice and then bumps into Anna on the corner, spilling the juice on her. He then explains he lives just across the road and suggests they go there to get cleaned up.

Tony's Restaurant

From the coffee shop on the corner, continue down Portobello Road the way you were heading before stopping at the blue door. You'll pass under The Westway then turn right onto Golborne Road to arrive at 105 Golborne Road, where you'll find the location of Tony's Restaurant in the film.

Now an art store and gift shop called Portfolio, this location in the film was owned by William Thacker's friend Tony (Richard McCabe). The aptly-named Tony's Restaurant was deemed a failure, but Tony and his friend Bernie played "Blue Moon" on the piano on the night it closed in the film.

Ending the Walking Tour

From here you could walk along Portobello Road all the way back to Notting Hill Gate, although Ladbroke Grove tube station or Westbourne Park tube stations are both closer. Alternatively, you could continue up Golborne Road and take a walk along the Grand Union Canal.

To reach the canal, walk up Golborne Road and continue straight ahead, passing Trellick Tower on your right. When the road bends to the left and becomes Kensal Road, head onto the canal path next to Meanwhile Gardens. Turn right and in about 20 minutes you'll reach Little Venice where you could consider doing the Little Venice to Camden Walk.

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The Notting Hill Bookshop

London Store 13 Blenheim Crescent, London, W11 2EE, UK

Monday - Sunday 9am - 7pm

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A tourist attraction made popular by the movie.
Pre-wrapped books for surprise gifts.
A visit may coincide with a marriage proposal.

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13 Blenheim Crescent

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Made famous by the 1999 movie, Notting Hill, this bookshop is often surrounded by a crowd of tourists. The actual bookshop that featured in the movie was inspired by The Travel Bookshop the previous bookshop at this address. At the time the owner did not allow any filming in his store so a replica of the interior of The Travel Bookshop was built as a film set at the studio.

The Travel Bookshop opened in 1979 and, as the name would suggest, specialized in travel books. The bookshop was sold in 2011 to a bookstore chain and changed its name to The Notting Hill Bookshop expanding into broader range of subjects and titles. Later, when the bookstore chain went out of business it was taken over by brothers James and Howard Malin, remaining The Notting Hill Bookshop .

The bookshop offers many giftable books, from special editions to the surprise factor pre-wrapped "Blind Date with a Book" and "Lucky Dip" (there is a broad description of the contents on the cover).

The romantic roots of the bookstore means that it remains a popular destination for marriage proposals.

The store that was the inspiration for the bookshop in the movie Notting Hill.

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‘Notting Hill’ at 20: Why Julia Roberts Was the Only Choice to Play Anna

By Susan King

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Editorial use only. No book cover usage.Mandatory Credit: Photo by Clive Coote/Polygram/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5884062y)Julia Roberts, Hugh GrantNotting Hill - 1999Director: Roger MichellPolygramUSA/UKScene StillComedyCoup de Foudre à Notting Hill

The manager of London’ Notting Hill Bookshop has a ready supply of Kleenex because so many of the patrons walk in and break into tears.

From 1979-2011, the store was known as the Travel Bookshop. It became famous in “Notting Hill,” the hit romantic comedy celebrating its 20th anniversary on May 28. Julia Roberts stars as Anna Scott, the world’s biggest movie star, and Hugh Grant as Will Thacker, the divorced owner of the bookshop, who meet cute and fall in love.

The actual store was too narrow and small to film there, said manager Olga Lewkowska, so a set was built around the corner from the store, which is located at 4 Blenheim Crescent. The original owner sold the store in 2011 because its focus was too narrow to sustain. The bookshop does still have a travel section but basically features gift books, limited editions or reprints of first editions.

“I don’t think we have had anyone from Greenland in, but I think I’ve met people from every country,” said Lewkowska. “I had a couple from Argentina maybe a month ago come in and the woman was in complete tears. The husband said they watched this film on their first date 20 years ago and got married quite soon after.”

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And many couples become engaged in the store. “Sometimes we don’t find out until afterward,” said Lewkowska, who noted she is not a rom-com person. “People send us a card. Every now and then someone says I want to come in with my girlfriend and can you play our favorite song? And I’ll go down on my knee. “

A few months ago, even she started crying. “We have a little sign where we write various quotes,” she explained. A man from Slovakia called the shop and asked if Lewkowska could write “Will you marry me?” in Slovak and then he would come in with his girlfriend and point at the board and propose. “They came early in the morning. She had no idea anything like this would happen. He gently pointed to the sign and she broke out in tears. I broke out in tears when she started crying.”

The bookshop isn’t the only location fans visit in Notting Hill. They also stop at the house with the blue door at 280 Westbourne Park Road where Will lived in the movie.

“I was walking by last week and there was literally a queue outside the blue door,” said “Notting Hill” screenwriter Richard Curtis , who used to live with his family behind the blue door before he sold it to his sister-in-law.

She sold the original door on Christie’s for charity — it’s currently located in Devon. Because there were so many tourists, the second blue door was painted black. “Then somebody sprayed over the door ‘This is the blue door,'” said Tim McInnerny, who plays Will’s best mate, Max.

After that, the door was repainted blue.

Though Notting Hill was becoming gentrified during production in 1998, Curtis admitted that the film’s success sped up the process.

“I wish I’d been clever enough to buy somewhere in Notting Hill before the movie came out,“ quipped McInnerny. “It would have doubled in price within a year. It did amazing things for the retail value.”

Allcia Malone, a TCM host and author of “Backwards and in Heels: The Past, Present and Future of Women Working in Film,” believes that though the film is “such a fantasy,” there is a real underlying heartfelt emotion and it feels “like it could be somewhat of a reality.”

“Of course, the chemistry between Roberts and Grant,” said Malone, “is so perfect and wonderfully matched. It’s a really sweet story and that big moment when Julia Roberts says she’s just a girl standing in front of a boy. That’s delivered so perfectly, that it really touches your heart. It feels emotionally true. She’s just this sweet girl underneath it all.”

That famous scene was celebrated in the penultimate episode of “The Big Bang Theory.”

Though Curtis has written the beloved romantic comedies “Notting Hill,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Love Actually,” he joked that “I failed the big romantic test of asking my girlfriend to marry me.” But he and his partner Emma Freud have been together nearly 30 years and have four children.

“When I was a little boy I started falling in love with girls,” he said, adding that the girl he was in love with 62 years ago attended at the London premiere the day before of his newest film, “Yesterday.” “She is now my daughter’s godmother.”

He also fell madly in love at the age of seven with a little girl he met on the bus. “I think people like movies that are about things that are very, very deep in their bones. Obviously, I got struck by the love bug.”

He began ruminating on the idea for “Notting Hill” during a break in “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” But the real genesis was his weekly dinners with friends who became the inspiration for Will’s good friends — Max, his wheelchair-using wife (Gina McKee), his sweetly eccentric sister (Emma Chambers) and his clueless friend (Hugh Bonneville) — whom he invites Anna to meet.

“There was one who has never heard of anybody famous and then other one was Helen Fielding, who wrote ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ and knew everybody. I used to imagine what would it be like if I drove down [to their house] with Madonna — how would the dinner party go? The two friends who were hosting the party would have no idea who she was, and Helen would just be screaming with excitement and definitely try to make Madonna her best friend.”

Roberts was the one and only choice of Curtis and director Roger Michell to play Anna — but what would have happened if she hadn’t accepted?

“I don’t like to consider that,” he said laughing.

“Notting Hill” is often called an homage to 1953’s “Roman Holiday,” for which Audrey Hepburn won an Oscar for playing a princess who slips out while visiting the Eternal City and falls in love with a newspaper reporter (Gregory Peck).

But the theory isn’t true.

“We had a meeting with Julia and her agent when she first agreed to do the part,” Curtis recalled. “As they were leaving, her agent said it’s such a beautiful tribute to ‘Roman Holiday.’ I hadn’t seen ‘Roman Holiday.’ Thank god I hadn’t because I might have been self-conscious. I am very glad I didn’t know.“

Originally, they were looking for an unknown actor to play Will. “We thought, wouldn’t it be fabulous — this is a movie about an unknown. We auditioned eight people over a day and by the end of it we said, ‘Oh f–k, it. Let’s go with Hugh.”

What Curtis learned from “Four Weddings and a Funeral” director Mike Newell is that when a movie is cast, the work is “75% done. So, he was unbelievably thorough for even the smallest part. Roger Michell, coming from theater, was exactly the same. So, we tended to spend an unrealistic amount of time casting the movie especially those friends. We wanted to get the right people.”

“We had two weeks’ rehearsals,” said McInnerny. “That’s really important. Julia was there all the time. You can’t invent knowing somebody for 20 years. You have to be together and understand each other’s sense of humor so that you can play with each other on the set and trust each other.”

That trust was especially important when McInnerny had to carry McGee up the stairs. “We did that 19 times. The shot didn’t quite work. I wouldn’t be able to do it now. But I loved working with Gina. We had such a good time.”

McInnerny says he will love Roberts forever because of the kindness she showed his mother at the London premiere.

“I was talking to Julia,” he recalled. “She said to me, ‘So, who have you brought here?’ I said, “I brought my sister and my brother-in-law and a couple of friends and my mom.’ She said, ‘Your mom? I want to meet her.’ I took her to meet my mom who’s sitting in a big chair. She sat on the arm of my mom’s chair and told me to go away. She talked to my mom for 25 minutes.”

When he asked his mother what Roberts had to say, his mother said, “It’s private!”

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The Ultimate Guide to Notting Hill

By: Author Elle Croft

Categories Insider's Guide , London , London , UK

Remember that scene in Hugh Grant’s failing travel bookshop, when Julia Roberts tells him that she’s ‘just a girl standing in front of a boy, telling him that she loves him’? It was this film, named after and set in Notting Hill, that brought a small area in West London into the world spotlight in 1999. Although the film may be a little dated, Notting Hill – the place – remains a firm favourite with locals and visitors alike. Every Saturday the streets burst with bustling markets, and once a year the neighbourhood comes alive with the vibrant Caribbean Notting Hill Carnival.

Whether it’s your first visit or your hundredth, you’ll always find something new in and around Notting Hill. So no matter what you’re looking for: antiques, food, filming locations or just some good old people watching, here’s the ultimate guide to Notting Hill:

The easiest way to reach Notting Hill from London is by tube. Jump on the Central line and get off at Notting Hill Gate
Visit on a Saturday
Arrive early (any later than 11 and you’ll regret it)
Travel in the direction of the crowds (from Notting Hill Gate to Ladbroke Grove tube station)
Explore beyond Portobello Road
Look past the surface of stores (and don’t forget to look up!)
Do your research before buying antiques…they’re often more expensive on Portobello Road than in other antique stores.

Don’t rush to Portobello Road

From Notting Hill Gate tube station to Chepstow Villas: Don’t be in too much of a hurry to get to the main section of the markets or you’ll miss some of the best antique and second-hand shops, character-filled pubs, beautiful houses and even a Banksy (or perhaps just Banksyesque) piece. Instead of getting swept up with the crowds, take some time to stop in the shops along Pembridge Road and the first stretch of Portobello Road. My favourite is Hirst Antiques, the windows of which are positively dripping in jewels. Look out for incredible designer pieces among the piles of bling.

To get your antique fix

From Chepstow Villas to Elgin Crescent: This is the main antique section, with arcade after arcade begging you to come inside and explore. Don’t be fooled by the miniscule exteriors – when you walk in, these arcades open up into mini-marketplaces with myriad stalls of tempting treasures. On the street you’ll find stands selling antiques, collectibles, trinkets and straight up junk. As Hugh Grant said in Notting Hill, some are genuine, some not quite so genuine. While we’re thinking about that famous film, see if you can recognise the location of William Thacker’s travel bookshop (currently, at last check, a fairly average gift shop).

Insider tip: take note of Negozio Classica, a great Italian wine bar to stop at on the way home.

Grab a bite to eat

From Elgin Crescent to Cambridge Gardens: Here you’ll find food – fresh fruit and veg, incredible street food and a selection of delicious restaurants. There are also flowers, a smattering of antiques and the occasional stall selling the most bizarre selection of items that I’m not even sure how to categorize them. If you’re hungry for lunch, I highly recommend the paella, which is probably the best in London. Caffeine hunters should check out Coffee Plant, a painfully hip cafe serving the best coffee on Portobello Road. But if you’re looking for a meal that you can enjoy in a more relaxed setting, don’t miss the French-American Electric Dinner where you’ll enjoy some fabulous people-watching if you can get a table outside.

Insider tip: Although the location of The Travel Bookshop is further up the road, the real store that inspired its fictional counterpart can be found on Blenheim Crescent (turn left just after Electric Cinema). Stop for a photo at The Notting Hill Bookshop, and invest in a book or two while you’re there (have you got any Winnie the Pooh?)

Take a look around

From Cambridge Gardens to Ladbroke Grove tube station: This is where the Portobello Road crowds begin to thin a little. Instead of antiques or food, here you’ll tend to find second-hand clothes and hand-crafted accessories. If you’re done for the day, you can jump on the tube at Ladbroke Grove station, but I recommend heading back the way you came instead. Don’t stick to Portobello Road though; take some time to explore the backstreets – my favourite is Westbourne Grove, home to the delicious deli cafe Ottolenghi which serves sweet and savoury treats you won’t be able to resist.

No matter how much you manage to see, do, buy and eat in Notting Hill, there’s always more to try next time. It’s just one of the reasons why Notting Hill is one of the best parts of London to explore.

Have you been to Notting Hill? What would you add to my list?

Pin this for later:

Saturday 3rd of October 2015

Great! I have a photo with the bookshop and I bought some cool stuff at Portobello road market:)

Thursday 27th of August 2015

As a film and travel blogger I feel ashamed that I haven't been to Notting Hill yet, and it looks like there are so many other things to see and do in that area too. It's safely on my UK travel bucket list now!

I love the Notting Hill market too. I'm not 100% sure but the Travel Bookshop may have closed?

Anne Slater-Brooks

Tuesday 25th of August 2015

I absolutely need to share this with my hubbie who I often find secretly watching Notting Hill! I swear to God he must have seen it around ten times.

This may just inspire him to go explore the actual place!

Claire Robinson

I've never explored Notting Hill - but I love, love, love this post and will use it on my next trip to London! Thanks :)

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21 Utterly Charming Secrets About Notting Hill

Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

Originally appeared on E! Online

Are Will Thacker and Anna Scott still together 25 years later? In the end, did their separate worlds manage to mesh for the long run?

Let's just say yes, totally. Plus, as you remember from the end of Notting Hill , they have at least one child together. But their ultimate compatibility isn't even the most pressing question.

It's Will's shop, The Travel Book Co., that we're worried about, to be honest. Is there any way that his little store on Portobello Road has survived as independent booksellers are shuttering their doors right and left? Did he expand to online sales or remain a brick-and-mortar traditionalist, still selling only travel books? We'd certainly like to think that, especially with Anna pulling in $15 million a picture, the TBC lives on.

In real life, it does and it doesn't (more on that in a bit), but the matter at hand is that May 28 marks 24 years since Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts bumbled their way into each other's hearts as bookshop owner Will and Hollywood star Anna in the hit 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill , directed by Roger Michell and written by Richard Curtis , who would go on to direct the other movie you watch every time it's on, too, Love Actually .

1999 Notting Hill Premiere

Making an Entrance

The whole Notting Hill neighborhood, while already increasingly trendy when the film was shot, became, as Hugh Grant put it, "a hell of a lot trendier" once the movie came out.

The house on Westbourne Park Road that boasted the blue door that served as the front door to Will's flat used to be owned by Richard Curtis —and of course it became a pilgrimage site for the movie's fans.

In fact, so many people scrawled their own autograph on the door, it was eventually removed and auctioned off at Christie's, but another blue door lives on in its place. (The new owner was nice enough to paint it blue.)

Meanwhile, the inside of Will's flat was a studio set because the actual interior of Curtis' home—a converted chapel—was actually quite grand, boasting a courtyard garden and a 1,000-square-foot reception room. And minus some exterior shots, most of the movie was shot on a meticulously built set about an hour away from the actual Notting Hill.

A Novel Idea

The Travel Book Co. doesn't actually exist at 142 Portobello Road as it does in the film, but it's there in spirit. When the film was shot, Nicholls Antique Arcade was in the spot, and it was succeeded by a furniture store called Gong. Now, Notting Hill Gift Shop is there, identifiable by its big blue awning—and a sign reading The Travel Book Shop.

Because they know that's why you're buying a keychain there.

Awning Inspiration

A store called The Travel Bookshop did exist for years on Blenheim Crescent around the corner, according to TripSavvy (which has mapped out a whole Notting Hill walking tour). It closed in 2011 but The Notting Hill Bookshop stands there today.

They probably do have some Dickens, or the new John Grisham.

Stock Footage

Some of the scenes of Anna walking red carpets, flashing her famous smile at the cameras and attending award shows is real Julia Roberts footage "from years gone by," she shared with E! News in 1999, as well as footage shot at the 1998 BAFTA Awards, which in real life she attended with her My Best Friend's Wedding co-star Rupert Everett .

Overall, the scenes that illustrate what a huge star her character is are a "hodgepodge" of her life and Anna's, Roberts said.

What was not real, Roberts was thankful for, was the scene in which Anna opens the door of Will's flat to countless paparazzi snapping away—surrounded by, in what Grant called a "Fellini moment," dozens of actual paparazzi photographing the fake photographers.

"It's always fun if you can exaggerate a situation, thank goodness," Roberts said. "I've never opened a door and seen 500 people...so yeah, it's certainly enjoyable."

Curtis found the opening montage largely lifted from Roberts' actual movie-star life more startling: "We said, 'F--k! That's who we're dealing with,'" he told Vanity Fair in 1999. "It's very easy when you're dealing with a very reasonable, lovely, relaxed, 30-year-old woman to forget that that's also the Julia Roberts who, for 10 years beforehand, you could never have gotten within a hundred yards of. It was a freakish moment when we realized that the woman we were dealing with was actually both those things: this relaxed person and this untouchable, iconic object of which there are so many photographs."

Star-Crossed Lovers

Not only did Grant (and Everett, for that matter) audition to play the titular Bard in Shakespeare in Love , which came out in 1998 and won the Oscar for Best Picture the following year, Roberts was attached to play Violet, opposite Daniel Day-Lewis —but he ultimately didn't sign on, so Roberts left.

All's well that ends well, at least. Gwyneth Paltrow won an Oscar and enjoyed sizzling chemistry with Joseph Fiennes , and Roberts won her Oscar two years later, for Erin Brockovich .

Shaky Suitor

Grant recalled his Shakespeare in Love audition opposite Roberts to Vanity Fair : "I was a very, very unemployed, pathetic actor at the time. I remember being so intimidated by the fact that she was in the room that I got myself in a sort of kerfuffle and missed the chair when I sat down. I sat on the arm of the chair, then had that very awkward inner debate about whether to say, 'Actually, I've missed the chair,' or to pretend that I was really a slightly quirky sort of character who always sits on the arm."

When it came time to make Notting Hill , Grant still used the word "fear" to characterize how he initially felt, explaining, "I think the emotion you have when you first meet someone tends to linger with you. I was all ready to be scared, and I must say, the fear never quite left me."

An American in England

Roberts didn't go unaffected by the Hugh Grantness of it all, either, however.

"I was actually intimidated by Hugh and I think also being the only American in the movie," she told E! News. "Everybody just sounds smarter than you. English people can say the dumbest things and make it sound so charming and fabulously interesting, and once I was able to do that and just realize I'm the only nasally sounding Yank of the bunch, then I was able to sort of relax."

Not Starring Julia Roberts as Herself

"I'm just sort of drifting along in this quite cozy life in this curious backwater of London, and all of a sudden the most famous and beautiful film actress in the world walks into my shop… and romance ensues," Grant told E! News in 1999.

So...it sounds as though Roberts walked in.

Well, Roberts obviously saw the parallels, and it turns out she was surprised by how different she was from Anna.

"I think going into it I sort of thought, well, I'll know how to do this sort of thing, but the situations become quite specific," she told E! News. "And therefore, the choices that she makes are quite specific within that, and I didn't always agree with her choices—and I think because we share a career, I just sort of assumed that we'd make all the same choices.

"But we didn't . I had to really remove my own hubris, or judgment or whatever it is in order to play her honestly."

Roberts clarified what, exactly, bothered her about the character to Vanity Fair : the fact that Anna had a tumultuous relationship with the media because, before she was famous, she had posed nude and the photos had gotten out.

"I didn't agree with what she did, first of all," Roberts told the magazine in 1999. "Didn't agree with how she got into this mess—I would never have been in that situation. Didn't agree with the way she was dealing with it...Didn't agree with the way she was reacting to it. Didn't agree with any of that stuff."

Richard Curtis, Actually

Roberts originally didn't have any interest in playing a movie star.

"How boring," she recalled telling her agent. "How tedious—what a stupid thing for me to do."

It was only after she read Curtis' script—which she only read because it was a script by Four Weddings and a Funeral , Blackadder and Spitting Image scribe—that she decided, " F--k, I'm gonna do this movie."

Nonfiction Section

According to Grant, the movie is inspired by a true story!

"This is a story he won't admit to," the actor told E!, "but he's told me in a drunken moment. A friend of his, an ordinary, normal guy, was in Harrods one day and met a very famous woman, and ended up taking her back to his flat in Notting Hill—and all kinds of nonsense ensued. And they used to meet up, whenever she came to London their affair would reactivate itself—and that was the genesis of his script. But he's so scared of people finding out who this very famous person was that he won't tell anyone that story."

Whoopsie-Daisies

Will would have really hurt himself if he'd made it over the gate to sneak into the private Rosemead Gardens—apparently it's quite the drop to the other side. Instead, he stumbled, leading him to charmingly exclaim, "Whoopsie-daisies!" much to Anna's amusement.

Meanwhile, they couldn't have even waltzed in during the daytime: that particular garden is one of several in the area owned by an estate and maintained by local residents, who are the only ones with keys.

Perfect Nightmare

That's The Newsroom 's Emily Mortimer playing "The Perfect Girl" (as she's credited) who goes out with Will after he Anna don't initially work out. And aside from the awkwardness of knowing your one scene amounts to your character being rejected, the actress showed up with hives, thanks to an allergic reaction from the fabric of a suit she had picked up in a thrift shop.

"It was a nightmare," Mortimer recalled on PeopleTV's Couch Surfing in 2018. "Every time I got nervous— which you do when you're acting—I got hives and my face... well, one side of it you can still see is sort of chipmunk-like."

But surely Grant, with all his charming ways, eased the tension?

"No, no," Mortimer winced, "everybody was really embarrassed! It was very awkward. It was like, 'who is this girl who's come—she's just got one scene and she's making such a meal of it,' and nobody would talk to me. It was weird. I was weird, and I was also really shy and mortified."

Going Bananas

"She liked to throw fruit at me during takes, or just before takes, just to put me off," Grant revealed to E! News.

Roberts concurred. "I threw a lot of fruit at him, to the point where we became a fruitless environment."

Roberts apparently knew not to give it 110 percent during rehearsal, so as to remain fresh for the real deal, "whereas I'd be acting my little heart out, trying to impress the crew," Grant told E! News. So "when the cameras roll, she's great and I'm boring."

Star-Making Turn

Playing Will's unwashed slacker flatmate Spike was a breakthrough turn for Rhys Ifans , most notably when the Welsh actor happily flexes and shows off his "nice, firm buttocks" to the paparazzi waiting outside the front door for Anna.

But though Spike can't help but charm as well as amuse, Ifans apparently went quite method with the role.

Asked if it was true he didn't bathe or brush his teeth during filming, he told Interview in 2011 , "We were filming in Shepardston Studios, and I couldn't bear the journey all the way from London every day, so I got a tent and I camped in a campsite nearby. Every morning this big limo would come and pick me up at the campsite, to the utter bafflement of the campsite owner. He thought I was some kind of eccentric millionaire."

And, "I would bathe occasionally, when I remembered to."

Not helping was the fact that the sneakers the costume department found for him had a "smell that emanated from the dark depths" that "brought a tear to one's eye," he told E! News in 1999. "By the end of the day, the rest of the cast insisted that these trainers were taken away and cleansed—exorcised!"

But while he's got the air of the rogue about him, director Roger Michell (who before Notting Hill directed Ifans onstage in Under Milk Wood ) described him to the Telegraph in 2006 as full of pleasant contradictions: "He's gawky, yet graceful. He's smelly and Welsh and yet he's handsome and winning." Certainly winning enough to work with Ifans again on the 2004 film Enduring Love and direct him in a 2017 West End production of Mood Music .

Ifans told the BBC in 2018 that he'd "rather throw a brick than sign a petition," but he found a happy medium: after being turned on to the cause after playing a homeless man in the one-man play Protest Song in 2013, he volunteered to be an ambassador for the Welsh charity Shelter Cymru , which aids the homeless.

Anything for Horse & Hound

London's posh Ritz Hotel very rarely allows filming inside its 5-star walls, but access was granted to be the setting for Anna's press junket, featuring Will pretending to be a reporter from Horse & Hound .

Alas, there were no animals in Anna's new movie, set in space. Or in her next one, taking place on a submarine.

Familiar Face

Mischa Barton played "12-year-old Actress" in what wasn't her first movie ever, but the first of two in one year that millions of people saw.

The other? The Sixth Sense , which came out that August. Barton is Kyra, the girl under the bed who scares the hell out of Haley Joel Osment .

"12-year-old Actress," meanwhile, was co-starring with Anna Scott in the big-budget sci-fi flick Helix— her 22nd movie, as she told Will of Horse & Hound .

Rarefied Air

Alec Baldwin has been in a trillion movies, including Notting Hill , where he showed up briefly to play Anna's boyfriend Jeff (plot twist!), who shows up to surprise her in London but by the end of the movie, in absentia, is rumored to have quickly moved on—and "most rumors about Jeff turn out to be true."

"By the late '90s, I embarked on a string of leading and supporting roles that gained little attention," Baldwin recalled in his 2017 memoir Nevertheless , "though each offered its own charms and gratifications."

Notting Hill 's big selling point? "Where, for just one day, on a set in London, I got to breathe the same air as the remarkable Julia Roberts."

The two were supposed to work together again on Ryan Murphy 's 2014 HBO movie The Normal Heart , but Baldwin left the project. He can rest assured that Roberts is still a fan, though: In 2017 she said on EW Radio that she had never hosted Saturday Night Live because she was "too scared," but "I would do it with Alec, if we could be comedy partners just doing skits."

Beloved Co-Star

Sadly, Emma Chambers , who played Will's quirky sister Honey (seen here with Hugh Bonneville , the future Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey , playing oblivious stockbroker Bernie), died in 2018 at the age of 53.

Grant posted a rare personal tweet , writing, "Emma Chambers was a hilarious and very warm person and of course a brilliant actress. Very sad news."

James Dreyfus , who played the group's happily married friend Martin, tweeted , "RIP the wonderful and talented Emma Chambers. Unique,& unspeakably funny. Too young. Thoughts with her family."

Curtis, who also wrote for Chambers' other best-known role, Alice Tinker in the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley , told the Telegraph , "We're obviously terribly sad. She really was a great, great comedy performer—and a very fine actress. And a tender, sweet, funny, unusual, loving human being. In my work she worked opposite Dawn French and Julia Roberts—and was more than the measure of the pair of them."

Film producer J onathan Sothcott tweeted , "RIP the wonderful Emma Chambers - best known for The Vicar of Dibley but also stole every scene in Notting Hill. Only 53."

Julia Roberts' Least Favorite Line

Don't worry, the line that left a bad taste in the star's mouth was not "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."

That would be tragic, wouldn't it?

No, the one Roberts wasn't a fan of was when, still tucked in bed, Anna tells Will, quoting Rita Hayworth in 1946's Gilda , "'They go to bed with Gilda, they wake up with me.'"

"I hate to say anything negative about what Richard wrote, because he's a genius, but I hated saying that line," she told Vanity Fair . "To me, it was nails on a chalkboard. I don't really believe any of that."

More to the Story?

Turns out we're not the only ones who wondered how it all turned out for Anna and Will.

"I'm going to talk to Julia about it sometime soon," Curtis told the Mirror in April 2019 about the possibility of getting the band back together, as he did for Love, Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral mini-sequels, both for Britain's Red Nose Day, and both of which were rapturously received.

Roger Michell sounded more skeptical about the prospect, telling Her in 2018 , "I just don't know what the story could possibly be. Are Will and Anna still living in Notting Hill with a load of grumpy teenagers running around? I just don't know. In love stories, you have to split up and then get back together again. If you did that with a middle-aged couple living in Notting Hill, it would feel contrived."

Roberts told ET in October 2018 that these days she would be more likely to play "the parents of the people that are rom-com-ing."

"There came a point in my career where people thought I had turned on romantic comedies, which I love...I love to be in them, I love to watch them. But sometimes, they just don't work at a certain point of life experience." It's not about age, per se, "it's just about what people know that you know."

Well, we know that we're here for it.

( Originally published May 13, 2019, at 3 a.m. PT )

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Guide to the 12 Best Things to do in Notting Hill, London

Notting Hill is one of my favorite neighborhoods in London. It is a posh neighborhood located in West London with so much to offer. From vintage and antique shopping to beautiful colorful streets , Notting Hill is a must-visit during your London itinerary . As someone who has lived in this area, I’ve compiled all the best things to do in Notting Hill, London! This includes the best restaurants to eat at, the best cafes to chill at, where to shop, and where to find the most instagrammable streets!

Note: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase something through the links, at no additional cost to you. Read our Affiliate Disclosure here .

best things to do in Notting Hill, London. Colorful street in the neighborhood

The Best Things to do in Notting Hill, London

I’ve compiled the best things to do in Notting Hill in the list below! As a local, I’m also sharing some non-touristy things to do in London .

1. Shop at the Portobello Road Market

The number one thing to do in Notting Hill is to visit the Portobello Road Market. It is a famous market in London that takes place daily. However, it’s best to visit on a Saturday when everything is in full swing. The market stretches over a mile and offers everything from antiques and vintage clothing to street food and fresh produce.

2. Admire all the colorful houses

wisteria framing a photo of a female standing in front of a pink house on St. Luke's Mews in Notting HIll, London

One of the best things to do in Notting Hill is to stroll through the picturesque streets and admire the colorful houses. They have become iconic thanks to the film “Notting Hill.” Don’t forget your camera for those Instagram-worthy shots!

There are so many beautiful homes in the area so just wander at your own pace to discover them. The best streets are often mews streets which are hidden back alley streets that are converted horse stables. My favorite is St. Luke’s Mews!

However, on your stroll, please be respectful of the people who live in these homes and don’t climb their stairs, etc to take a photo!

Most Colorful and Instagrammable Streets in Notting Hill:

Hillgate Place
St. Luke’s Mews
Pottery Lane
Portobello Road
Lancaster Road
Pembridge Crescent
Elgin Crescent
Heart Facade on Clarendon Cross

A heart facade with yellow, blue and red colors and a female in front. Best things to do in Notting Hill, London

Pro-tip: You can take a Notting Hill Photo tour and be shown all the colorful spots!

3. Take a Walking Tour

You can take a walking tour of Notting Hill to learn about London’s most famous village. You’ll learn about the history and be taken to the best places with a local expert. You can book the tour via GetYourGuide or Viator .

4. Visit the Notting Hill’s Bookstores

Notting Hill Bookshop best things to do in Notting Hill

Book lovers will especially love exploring Notting Hill’s charming independent bookstores, such as The Notting Hill Bookshop made famous by the film “Notting Hill.”

You’ll find the Notting Hill Bookshop and the Travel Book Shop, but the one on 142 Portobello Road (The Travel Bookshop) was the bookstore where Notting Hill the movie was filmed. It is now just a gift shop rather than a book shop and around the corner you’ll find the actual Bookstore. If you’re a fan of Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, it’s a must-stop.

5. Shop for antiques at Alice’s

Alice's best things to do in Notting Hill, London

Alice’s is an iconic store in Notting Hill known for its eclectic offerings. This vintage store has so many cute knick knacks and goods to browse for. Plus, the bright red exterior is really photogenic.

6. Head to Westbourne Grove for more shopping

Westbourne Grove Notting Hill Wild at Heart Flower Shop

Westbourne Grove is a wonderful shopping area in Notting Hill and has so many nice cafes too! This flower shop, Wild at Heart, is one of the most instagrammable spots in Notting Hill! My favorite shop on this street is Sezane. They have great clothes, shoes, and accessories and is a French brand. Also down this road, you’ll find Daylesford , a great place for a coffee or lunch.

7. Watch a Film at the Electric Cinema

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Electric Cinema (@electriccinemas)

Electric Cinema is a luxury theatre on Portobello Road and is one of the oldest working cinemas in Britain. The viewing rooms feature plush seats where you can comfortably enjoy the latest movies while sipping on cocktails and nibbling on gourmet snacks.

8. Notting Hill Carnival

photo by: Robert Sharp

If you’re lucky enough to visit during August, don’t miss the Notting Hill Carnival, one of Europe’s largest street festivals celebrating Caribbean culture. There’s an amazing parade and everyone will be dressed in elaborate costumes. There will also be music, food, and endless entertainment. This is a chaotic time for the area so if you hate crowds it may not be for you. However, Nottinhg Hill is most famous for this carnival so it would be a wonderful experience to join.

9. Admire the blossoms during cherry blossom and wisteria season

During the different seasons, Notting Hill is stunning. Cherry Blossoms at Stanley Crescent is particularly beautiful as it’s set in front of a white prestigious home.

If you’re looking for the best wisteria in London around April when it blooms, then Notting Hill has so many locations! My favorite is St. Luke’s Mews and Horbury Mews.

10. Take an Icing Class at Biscuiteers

Biscuiteers Icing Cafe in Notting Hill, London

Biscuiteers might be my favorite storefront facade in Notting HIll. It’s so cute! This is a biscuit shop and you can decorate your own biscuits during a hands-on class.

11. Stop for a bite at a local bakery or cafe

best things to do in Notting Hill, London visit the bakeries like Layla.

There are endless cafes in Notting Hill. One of my favorites is Layla which serves fresh sandwiches and pastries as well as delicious coffee. It is one of the best independent coffee shops in London . For more recommended cafes check the map at the bottom of this post!

12. Check out the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park

Photo by: Dmitrii E.

Holland Park is located between Notting Hill and South Kensington. It’s a great escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Enjoy a leisurely stroll through beautifully landscaped gardens, admire the peacocks roaming freely, or visit the beautiful Japanese Kyoto Garden.

If you’re seeking other amazing London neighborhoods, read about Belsize Park , Primrose Hill and Hampstead , my ultimate favorite.

Quick Area Guide & Map of Notting Hill

Portobello Road Market
Alice’s Antique Shop
Westbourne Grove
Notting Hill Book Shop
Golborne Road

Instagrammable and Colorful Streets

Hillgate Place for colorful buildings

Best Restaurants in Notting Hill

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Meet Jackie Rezk, the London-based explorer behind Jou Jou Travels. With a knack for uncovering hidden gems, Jackie's travel blog captures the charm of undiscovered places through pretty architecture and bursts of color. Featured in Yahoo News, Tripadvisor, Niche Pursuits, and GetYourGuide, Jackie has been blogging for four years and solo-traveled to over 20 countries. In 2023, she made the leap to full-time blogging, sharing her passion for travel and unique finds with readers worldwide.

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Notting Hill bookshop fights closure with poets and writers

Poets and writers are engaged in fighting to save a west London bookshop which served as the backdrop for the on-screen romance between Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in the film Notting Hill.

The Travel Bookshop, which is due to close in two weeks unless a last-minute buyer can be found, is offering all its stock at half price. The shop’s staff have been told that they will be made redundant after its owners failed to find a buyer.

The 1999 film which starred Roberts as a Hollywood star who falls in love with the store owner (Grant), grossed more than $360m (£220m) and the bookshop remains a popular tourist attraction.

A campaign has been launched to save the store with a handful of writers and poets offering to volunteer a day a week to help run it if a new buyer can be found.

Poet and journalist Olivia Cole, 30, said that she had spent a great deal of time in the bookshop and didn’t want it to close.

“It’s an amazing specialist bookshop and it has the Notting Hill novelty but it is the same sad story that we’re seeing in high streets all over the country. Loads of independent bookshop are having a bad time. With a bookshop like that being so unique and so well loved, I was amazed when I heard it was closing,” she said.

Cole, who said she also used the store “for work and day-dreaming” said she was willing to volunteer one day a week in the hope that lower running costs might attract a buyer.

“We [are] hoping to rally writers and poets and volunteers to the idea,” she said. “The thought that you could run into a poet or writer while doing your book browsing would also add to the appeal.”

On Tuesday, actor Alec Baldwin who played Roberts’ boyfriend in the film added his voice to the campaign by tweeting about the store’s predicament . “Save the Travel Book Shop,” he wrote.

Saara Marchadour who managed the shop for two years until last month said that the economic downturn had hit the 32-year-old store hard and that she was saddened by its likely demise.

“I was shocked when the shop was threatened with closure. It’s a great waste of talented staff and 30 years of history. It’s another piece of what makes Notting Hill and Portobello interesting and I will be very sad to see it go. I hope new owners reopen it,” she said.

Marchadour said the Travel Bookshop was rebuilt for the film with a different interior in an antique shop in nearby Portobello Road. She added that this would sometimes disappoint the hundreds of tourists who would visit the store every week.

“I often heard them say, ‘This isn’t the real one.’” Marchadour, 31, said local celebrities including the director of Notting Hill, Richard Curtis, also visited the store to purchase books.

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21 Utterly Charming Secrets About Notting Hill

Originally appeared on E! Online

Are Will Thacker and Anna Scott still together 25 years later? In the end, did their separate worlds manage to mesh for the long run?

Let's just say yes, totally. Plus, as you remember from the end of Notting Hill , they have at least one child together. But their ultimate compatibility isn't even the most pressing question.

1999 Notting Hill Premiere

Notting Hill was a smash, making almost $364 million at the box office worldwide and becoming the year's top-grossing British film.

That's also easily one of the best parts of the movie, Anna dining with Will's "normal" but endlessly sweet and funny inner circle. Roberts, for one, didn't think the premise was so far-fetched.

( Originally published May 13, 2019, at 3 a.m. PT )

The whole Notting Hill neighborhood, while already increasingly trendy when the film was shot, became, as Hugh Grant put it, "a hell of a lot trendier" once the movie came out. The house on Westbourne Park Road that boasted the blue door that served as the front door to Will's flat used to be owned by Richard Curtis —and of course it became a pilgrimage site for the movie's fans. In fact, so many people scrawled their own autograph on the door, it was eventually removed and auctioned off at Christie's, but another blue door lives on in its place. (The new owner was nice enough to paint it blue.) Meanwhile, the inside of Will's flat was a studio set because the actual interior of Curtis' home—a converted chapel—was actually quite grand, boasting a courtyard garden and a 1,000-square-foot reception room. And minus some exterior shots, most of the movie was shot on a meticulously built set about an hour away from the actual Notting Hill.

Travel Bookshop

Top ways to experience Travel Bookshop and nearby attractions

Ladbroke Grove • 5 min walk
Westbourne Park • 8 min walk

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TRAVEL BOOKSHOP: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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How the rich destroyed Notting Hill Twenty five years after the film, it has been hollowed out

May 21, 2024 5 mins.

I have a Notting Hill story: a housing story. I lived in a walk-up studio on Palace Court at the turn of the millennium and, when I was late with my rent, my landlord sexually assaulted me, and I said nothing, but I paid the following month on time. I wonder if that is a typical Notting Hill story, so common I almost forgot it myself.

But Notting Hill is two cities with two kinds of stories, the dreamlike and the deadly. One Notting Hill contains residents who paid more capital gains tax than three major British cities in 2020; in the other, looms Grenfell Tower, swaddled in rippling tarpaulin. These two depend on each other, because you only need a dreamworld if reality is unjust. Nowhere else in London is so polarised, or practices self-worship like this.

The most famous Notting Hill story is the one by Richard Curtis, which turns 25 today. Curtis is an affable man who can’t look at the world without trying to turn it into something it isn’t: an entirely benevolent place. He has lived in Notting Hill, and he made it an object, like a man writing a love letter to his sofa. His Notting Hill is a retelling of Cinderella with William Thacker (Hugh Grant) as the maidservant and Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) as the prince — now a film star; what’s the difference? They are both thwarted artists (he can’t sell books; her films are terrible) and neither seems to know if they are humble or grandiose or if they want to live in fiction or reality.

Notting Hill feels the same way —more wax-work garden than place — and is the ideal setting for this self-pitying, consumer capitalist love affair, which reaches a climax when Anna gives Thacker a Chagall. Here, on a Saturday morning, the market is swagged for its six million annual visitors. It is a crush, which happens when you hollow out London, put all the wisteria in one place, and write a vapid, world-famous fairy tale about it.

I am posing as a vapid fan on a Notting Hill film tour. Because my fellow fans are foreign tourists — Gucci-heavy Italians, exhausted Israelis, and an ethics professor from Michigan — their first question to the young guide is: do you live here? I repress a snort as she says that she lives in the western suburbs of London, because I knew that.

The idea that Notting Hill is an authentic London is powerful: because cinema says so, we believe that ordinary children walk these streets, though they don’t. The Phoenix Cinema, which appeared in Notting Hill is now an art gallery filled with Victoriana: that is, it has stopped screening a fake London, and has become the set of one instead. This is a film-maker’s ideal: a brightened Victorian slum filled with happy Victorian children, a Dickensian stage without Dickensian ideas. It’s true that Portobello Road — named for a battle in Panama — was once like this. Notting Hill’s gentrification is tidal: the rich come in, leave, and return, and the poor take up whatever space is left to serve them. But we are at the top of the curve: a terraced house on Chepstow Villas is £15 million now, and the only working-class people who own houses in Notting Hill have lived here since the Sixties.

I meet a greengrocer with a flat in Blenheim Crescent. Her father was in Notting Hill, she says, in a yellow shirt, and when she misses him, she watches it. Notting Hill was more fun in the Sixties, she adds, when everyone was on LSD, and I don’t doubt it: actresses manned stalls when they were resting. The market traders are fearful that the market will be shrunk, to make it more like Soho. The market and the carnival are always under threat, being remnants of working-class culture but the traders have bought into the dream world too. One tells me: “It [the market] creeps under your skin, and you come to love this untidy little creature, it becomes part of you.” He sounds like Bert in Mary Poppins , or Richard Curtis himself, if he had given a working-class Londoner a leading role in Notting Hill, which of course he didn’t. It famously had no black characters, though this was a Caribbean district, and you can see the remnants to the north: Jay Dees Catering and Caribbean Take-Away and People’s Sound. Curtis held a looking glass up and saw only himself.

Probably unconsciously, our guide tells us a joke. She pauses by Banksy’s “Made You Look” (2006, it’s the title in scrabble tiles) on the wall of an ugly modernist house. She says the owner interrupted the graffiti artist and was told that if he went back to sleep, he would wake up to a more valuable house. This is Banksy the anti-war anti-Capitalist as Rumpelstiltskin, weaving straw into gold for the already rich. George Orwell’s house is opposite, and I wonder what he would say to Banksy’s intervention. But capitalist activism is popular here: Conscience Kitchen, for instance, on All Saints’ Road.

The betrayal of Benefits Street

By Tanya Gold

Thacker’s Travel Bookshop was inspired by the Notting Hill Bookshop in Blenheim Crescent. Tourists mass round it, taking photographs of themselves. “Notting Hill feels like a film set,” a local woman tells me, “because so many people are taking photographs all the time.” “It’s like a cult,” says another. The shop is packed but almost no one is buying a book. Perhaps they don’t need one since, being in fiction. Instead, they buy canvas bags that say Notting Hill to prove they came here and write love letters, which are posted on the cork board: “Dear reader it was like a dream to enter the store after watching the movie.” We visit the blue door of Thacker’s home. It isn’t the real door: that was auctioned for charity.

You can’t buy a home here, but you can buy an idea. Notting Hill, one tells me, “is huge in China”. Biscuiteers “Biscuit Boutique and Icing Café” has an entire biscuit London in the window, because the more uninhabitable London becomes for the average person the more it is finessed into an aesthetic or, here, biscuit. A ginger-bread resident is £7.95, and you can buy a biscuit pencil to write a biscuit novel.

At the end of Portobello Road is the pub where the murder in Martin Amis’s London Fields was planned: in the novel, the Black Cross; in life, the Golden Cross. It is now, inevitably, a sushi bar, but it is still sticky with alcoholism, which is oblivious to newer dream worlds, having one of its own already, and it is my favourite place on Portobello Road.

“Being a resident from a working-class background we say Ladbroke Grove,” a man tells me, pointedly. (Like all dream worlds, the boundaries of Notting Hill are vague and sinuous). He says calling it Notting Hill, “does bother me. Because of everything that comes with Notting Hill. The working class will be moved out, and the history will be rewritten in a heartbeat. I don’t think tourists truly grasp that.”

The charmed rich tend to destroy what they think they love: they can’t help it. John from Portobello Camera under the Westway says: “So-called people,” — he means the charmed rich — “don’t want nothing to do with the carnival. The very thing they love about the area they don’t want to participate in. They board up their property, lock it down, and fly away. They want to pick their social menu.”

What if King Charles were your landlord?

I head north to the Grenfell Tower and the memorial to the 72 dead. It isn’t much. The memorial is a board by a school, shockingly close to the ruin itself, and a mirror to the corkboard in the Notting Hill Bookshop. “Five years, no justice,” it says. [It’s seven years now]. “We will never forget all these lives lost for what? £££! Your lives ALL matter no matter what age, colour, or creed. JUSTICE FOR GRENFELL.” “Fuck the Tories”. “Poor quality housing kills too”. “You all deserved so much better”. “Missing you is a never—ending sorrow”.

Notting Hill is where the architects of Austerity lived: it is also the site of its calamity. “Could Grenfell have happened elsewhere?” a man asks me. He answers his own question. “In other parts of Kensington and Chelsea, definitely not.” This part of Notting Hill ripples with fury: there are makeshift memorials in scrubby gardens, and on walls. I find a list of 18 children who died in the fire, one still born. Even so — or, rather, for this reason — dream Notting Hill is winning, being pretty, better funded, and a movie star.

Tanya Gold is a freelance journalist.

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Very much enjoyed the article but why is there a need for “authenticity” to be working-class? The lady with a Flat in Blenheim Crescent is sitting on a pile of cash, not to mention the working-class who sold up to live fantastic lives on the proceeds of their houses bought for nothing in earlier decades. Maybe they aren’t authentic enough for the author. It would have been interesting to see what those people thought of the area. Also, the claim that Notting Hill is a Caribbean district when only 2.3% of the entire borough identifies as such is spurious – the same sort of fantasy that the author decries in others. The carnival has always been more of a gathering of people than a local expression of Caribbean culture; government-run, nationally televised from the beginning, I could go on. Nothing wrong with this but it shows the desire for Notting Hill fantasy is not merely held by Richard Curtis and his ilk. More links would have been nice to illustrate points/claims. More please Unherd.

“The carnival has always been more of a gathering of people than a local expression of Caribbean culture; government-run, nationally televised from the beginning.” It was started by West Indians as part of their culture and as a distraction from the violence they faced in the 50s. With no government money. The transformation into a broader, funded event happened decades later.

This is what the modern-day event would have you believe. Check out the history of the Carribean Carnival of 1959 which was later rebranded to be less authentically Caribbean-centric into a generalised “Notting Hill Carnival”. It isn’t a secret history. I agree that it was started in opposition to racial violence.

If you want to get away from violence I can think of better ways to do it than attending the Notting Hill Stabbing Carnival.

I don’t get how a notoriously violent event is in any way a distraction from violence, unless the dissatisfaction at the violence is because they expected to be the ones handing it out rather than receiving it. If they didn’t like it, they could always have just gone home. Nobody invited them (the Windrush myth was always a big, leftist lie).

Yeah, I agree. Britain lost far more men in WWI than in WWII, and yet there was no “need” for mass immigration after WWI. Makes me suspicious of the Windrush myth.

Perhaps you should read more carefully, she says “this was a Caribbean district” – note the past tense.

My point is that it never was, apologies for the misquote.

The market remains a total ripoff. I was there the other week for the first time in 40 years. At a used bookseller I found a first edition of Ian Fleming’s “You Only Live Twice”. I sort of collect readable first-eds, so I looked at the price and he wanted £400. A look on Abebooks showed the going rate to be £30. I hate this ludicrous nostalgia porn for the grand old times, when these places were charmingly scruffy, full of plebs and therefore somehow better. Notting Hill is and always has been a total ǝloɥʇᴉɥs, notable only for the most violent and lawless street event in the country. But you just know that in 40 years’ time another Tanya will be along to say how great the Portobello Road was when you could still buy James Bond first editions there.

It was also an awful film.

I think that experts agree that the rich and the poor wreck neighborhoods in big cities. Experts also agree that the solid middle class and the solid working class are good for neighborhoods. Then there is White Van Man. I don’t think the experts agree on him. The Gardiners lived near Cheapside. Miss Bingley did not approve.

“These two depend on each other, because you only need a dreamworld if reality is unjust.”

Fixed Quantity of Wealth fallacy detected

Notting Hill is where the architects of Austerity lived

“Austerity” meaning the percentage of state spending in the economy has *increased* slightly slower under the Blue Blairites than it would have increased under the Red Blairites.

Coronet cinema not the Phoenix wasn’t it? The Phoenix is in East Finchley.

In the 70s when I lived in NW6 (a bit up the road), we never referred to going to “Notting Hill” but rather to “Notting Hill Gate” (which is the name of the tube station). For me personally, it was a dog leg on the route of the 28 down into Kensington Church Street. Those happy days – spent in pubs with not a sushi bar in sight. Quintessence (remember them?) had a song called Notting Hill Gate. Not a very good song. As the man interviewed remarked, Ladbroke Grove was the neighbourhood – “Notting Hill” per se wasn’t, at least not for me.

I agree. My parents were offered a flat in Chepstow Villas for sale in the 50s and, after going to view the area, my mother refused to move from Putney because Notting Hill Gate looked too rough and run-down!

This is entrancingly bitter.

Funny, I lived in the town where the Robin Williams “Jumanji” was made. Shrug. My kids live in LA, where tons of movies are made. Another shrug. Seems odd that a little romcom from the 90s would have such a huge impact.

it didn’t; this article is an envious and spiteful projection.

So, a sushi bar is your favourite place on Portobello Road. You couldn’t say more about yourself with a single sentence if you tried; this whole article stinks of it.

You missed out “vibrant”. Let’s not forget that these beautiful stucco buildings were not built for poor people to live in. They were built for rich people but, no doubt Ms Gold would be cheering this on, rent controls destroyed the area so that the vibrancy was forced on them in slum-like conditions. It hasn’t been gentrified; it has been repaired.

I was born and spent my early childhood in Notting Hill during the late 1970s and early 80s. The buildings and the market are still there, but the vibe has changed. Portobello Market is now a crowded antiques market for unadventurous tourists. The actual market where you could buy cheap knock-off jewelry, toys, and clothes has all but disappeared. There used to be so many fish and chips, and fried egg and bacon cafes with their sticky red squeezy bottles of tomato ketchup and brown sauce, where the stall holders used to eat and read their newspapers. Portobello Market was dirty back then but lively. I remember the groups of Rastafarians blasting reggae from their ghettoblasters at the Meanwhile Gardens and the smell of cannabis that hung in lazy clouds over them during hot summer days. There were punks too with their spiky hair, studs, and safety pins. The skin-heads were the worst with their Doc Martins and sw*stikas. I remember a group of them approaching my mother one day when she walked me to school and her hand clenching mine in fear. Days later, we would hear about how they doused a four-year old in petrol and set fire to him at the nearby Mozart Estate which always stank of stale urine. Over it all loomed Trellick Tower, that imposing monument to Brutalist architecture watching over us like some dark ancient-world colossus. I remember it changing in the mid-80s. The yuppies came and then the muslims. The old warehouses along the Grand Union Canal got knocked down to make room for luxury apartments. The greasy spoon cafes were replaced by vegan brunch rooms and boutique stores. It got gentrified in the end with the poorer people migrating to more affordable places like Milton Keynes, Slough and Peterborough.

Early 70s carnival was peaceful. My friend and I even marched with the steelbands. And why not, says you. Finch’s pub a good hangout with undercover cops waiting in a Beetle around the corner to nab joint users. The Electric Cinema where I was educated in things beyond these shores. They had a late night show where another friend and I busked. He on mandolin, me shaking the cap. We got enough for the entrance and goodies. Impromptu concerts in Powis Square (were Hawkwind a local band as well?) We put on a production of Noonday Demons(Peter Barnes?) on a raised platform under the arches. Some crack (the Irish meaning!). Ah, nostalgia ain’t what it used to be…

Elegantly caustic. Truly fabulous writing. Ta.

I grew up in Notting Hill between 1954 and the late 1960s. Like most people in this working class area we – that is myself, my parents and 2 sisters lived in one room – before the tenement building we lived in was compulsorily purchased from the owner and we were moved to a council estate in West London. I don’t really recognize this description of the area. Up until the 60s it was a white British working class area with a fair number of Irish, Polish, French, Jewish and even German inhabitants (my parents remained friends with the German couple until my mother died last year). It was a great place to grow up with a great community spirit, children playing in the streets, literally in the middle of the road. There were of course the anti-black riots during that period and the curfews which went with them. This was due to the pretty massive cultural difference between the black incomers and the existing inhabitants.

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Review: Rocking Out, and Falling in Love, in ‘The Lonely Few’

Lauren Patten and Taylor Iman Jones star in an achingly romantic, softly sexy new musical by Rachel Bonds and Zoe Sarnak.

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Two women are singing into a microphone and playing guitars in a scene from “The Lonely Few.”

By Laura Collins-Hughes

Of all the juke joints in all the towns in all the South, Amy had to walk into Paul’s.

OK, yes, he invited her. A musician with a touch of fame, whom he’s known since she was a child, she’s stopping in for a visit on a break from her solo tour.

For Lila, the frontwoman of the local band that’s playing the bar that night, the world shifts permanently when Amy glides in, trailing all the glamour and cool of a life so much bolder than anything Lila has ever lived.

“Great set,” Amy tells her afterward. And when Lila bashfully shrugs off the compliment, Amy repeats it. “No, really — great set,” she says, her words unambiguously flirtatious. The chemistry between these two is instant, and profound. As soon as they sing together, so is the harmony.

“The Lonely Few,” the achingly romantic, softly sexy, genuinely rocking new musical by Rachel Bonds (“ Jonah ”) and Zoe Sarnak at MCC Theater , is Lila and Amy’s love story. The telling of it gives us more of Lila’s world than of Amy’s, though — the same way that the 1999 rom-com “Notting Hill” is grounded more in the world of the ordinary bookseller than of the movie star who wanders in and claims his heart.

Meticulously directed by Trip Cullman and Ellenore Scott, “The Lonely Few” is beautifully cast, and it has an absolute ace in its Lila: Lauren Patten, bringing the full-voiced ferocity that she unleashed in “ Jagged Little Pill ” — and won a Tony Award for — and the endearing awkwardness that she lent to “ The Wolves ,” alongside a vulnerability that could just about break you.

In Lila’s tiny Kentucky hometown, music-making is the passion she gets up to when she isn’t working her grocery store job with her bassist and best friend, Dylan (Damon Daunno), or keeping an anxious eye on her brother, Adam (Peter Mark Kendall), whose drinking is out of control.

Her life is gritty and messy and small. Once Amy (Taylor Iman Jones) comes along, Lila is a little ashamed of that, and of her inability to escape to something better — maybe in a place where the fact of her sexuality isn’t met with averted eyes.

“God, I wouldn’t be able to breathe,” Amy says, though of course she recognizes the feeling. Her songwriting hit is a wistful breakup tune called “She,” about her ex-wife, that made it big only when a man recorded it.

Amy’s tour, as it happens, is on pause; her opening act bailed, and she needs to find a new one. Sensing talent as well as a spark, she enlists Lila and her band, the Lonely Few — which also includes Paul (Thomas Silcott), on drums, and JJ (Helen J Shen), on keyboard — to join her for the rest of the tour.

On the road, romance ensues, and so do family complications: Lila’s fretful guilt as Adam spirals without her, still grieving their mother’s death; Amy’s enduring anger that when Paul — the drummer who was her stepdad long ago — left her alcoholic mother, back in New Orleans, he left her, too.

With a habit of cutting people out of her life, Amy is more of a loner than Lila, but each of them has constructed a carapace. The question is whether they are brave enough to shed them for each other.

This intimate, tightly woven musical envelops the audience: with Sibyl Wickersheimer’s wraparound set, which seats some of the crowd in the bar; Adam Honoré’s rock-show lighting, whose beams touch all of us; and the pulse of the songs, which we feel in our bodies — the hard-driving numbers and the quiet ones, too. (Music direction is by Myrna Conn, leading a mostly offstage four-piece band. Sound design, worryingly muddy at first, is by Jonathan Deans and Mike Tracey.)

It might seem for a while that Daunno, a Tony nominee in 2019 for Daniel Fish’s “ Oklahoma! ” revival, is being squandered in a too-small role. But each of the men gets a number in which he demonstrates the depth of his affection — Dylan and Adam for Lila, Paul for Amy — and each of the actors smashes it. Daunno’s tender reprise of “Waking Up Thirty,” a song about surrendering to dead-end, small-town American life, is devastating.

Seen in an earlier, longer version last year in Los Angeles with a partially different cast, this intermissionless show is constitutionally unsentimental. Ever-present in Bonds’s book and Sarnak’s lyrics is a knowledge of the craggy complexity of life and relationships, and the ways that pain can forestall possibility. Still, “The Lonely Few” puts up a fight against such bleakness.

Over in a corner of the bar is an untouched piano, lurking like a gun in Chekhov. When someone at last sits down to play it, watch out. That’s the cue for one of the scariest human emotions: hope.

The Lonely Few Through June 2 at MCC Theater, Manhattan; mcctheater.org . Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes.

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A Visit to Notting Hill Travel Bookshop: Everything You Need to Know in
A Visit to Notting Hill Travel Bookshop: Everything You Need to Know in
The Travel Book Shop @Notting Hill His Travel, Travel Book, Notting
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The heartbreaking true story of the bookshop that inspired the Notting
Notting Hill: Original The Travel Book Shop

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NOTTING HILL BOOK SHOP VLOG

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A Visit to Notting Hill Travel Bookshop: Everything You Need to Know in
The Travel bookshop in Notting Hill is around a 10-minute walk from Notting Hill Gate station. One of the easiest ways to reach Notting Hill Gate (or anywhere in London really) is Citymapper. I rely on it endlessly and if you just pop in "Notting Hill Gate" you'll get there without a hitch.
Where Is The Bookshop From 'Notting Hill'? It Goes By A ...
In the film, the bookshop goes by the name The Travel Book Company and was based on another real store called The Travel Bookshop. ... one of the owners of The Notting Hill Bookshop, ...
Travel Bookshop
Historical Tours. from. $264.50. per adult (price varies by group size) The area. 4 Blenheim Crescent, London W11 1NN England. Neighborhood: Notting Hill. As West London's friskiest corner, Notting Hill more than manages to retain plenty of the same appeal that's brought the affluent area so much worldwide attention.
The Travel Book Shop in Notting Hill
Fanspot The Travel Book Shop. MovieNotting HillRoger Michell(1999) The romance between an American superstar and a London bookseller in Notting Hill gave the neighborhood a sudden and lasting fame. The scent of the film still lingers in the famous Travel Book Shop, the place where Anna and William meet. The Travel Book Shop - Credit: Fantrippers.
The Notting Hill Bookshop
The Notting Hill, Bridget Jones, Love Actually & Four Weddings Tour of London. Movie Tours. from. $207.00. per adult (price varies by group size) The area. 13 Blenheim Crescent, London W11 2EE England. Neighborhood: Notting Hill. As West London's friskiest corner, Notting Hill more than manages to retain plenty of the same appeal that's brought ...
» The Travel Bookshop
The Travel Bookshop. I founded the Travel Bookshop in 1979; it was run privately for more than 30 years. Nestled between the local art galleries, eateries and the many retro and avant-garde boutiques of Notting Hill, it offered a cornucopia for travelling readers. So enticing was this bookshop, it was chosen as the main setting and inspiration ...
The Travel Bookshop Notting Hill London
The Travel Bookshop, Notting Hill, West London. Made famous by its role in the 1999 film Notting Hill, The Travel Bookshop is an iconic presence in the Notting Hill district of west London.. The Travel Bookshop was founded in 1979 and aims to offer the literary traveler a complete reading experience that includes every country in the world.
The Notting Hill Bookshop Bookshop UK
Bookshop which inspired the Notting Hill film. Quaint and cosy with friendly staff and a curated selection of beautiful editions, quirky titles, quality non-fiction, gifts and toys. The store opened in 1979 and originally specialised in travel books only. In 2011 the shop opened up to a wider audience and broadened its stock to cover most areas of publishing while still maintaining a sizeable ...
The Travel Bookshop: Notting Hill store that inspired Hollywood film to
The Travel Bookshop was the inspiration for the 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill, in which its bumbling owner, Hugh Grant, met and fell in love with a famous film actress played by Julia Roberts.
The heartbreaking true story of the bookshop that inspired the Notting
The quaint book store known in the film as The Travel Book Company was owned by Will, Hugh Grant's character, and it was actually based on a real Notting Hill book store. The real book store, called The Travel Bookshop was the inspiration for the 1999 classic but to the upset of Notting Hill fans, it sadly closed in 2011 after a hard fought ...
A Walking Tour of "Notting Hill" Movie Locations in London
The 1999 film "Notting Hill" is set in the district of London by the same name where a bookshop owner played by Hugh Grant meets a famous American actress played by Julia Roberts.. If you're taking a trip to England's capital city, you can take a walking tour of locations made famous by this romantic comedy by starting from the Notting Hill Gate tube station.
About Us
Opening Times. Monday-Saturday: 9am-7pm. Sunday & Bank Holidays: 9am-7pm. Located in the heart of beautiful Notting Hill, minutes from the vibrant Portobello Market is the world famous Notting Hill Bookshop. These days we concentrate on beautiful gift editions, irresistible pocket hardbacks, satin-bound classics and a wide range of golden gilt ...
Shop
The Travel Bookshop opened in 1979 and, as the name would suggest, specialized in travel books. The bookshop was sold in 2011 to a bookstore chain and changed its name to The Notting Hill Bookshop expanding into broader range of subjects and titles. Later, when the bookstore chain went out of business it was taken over by brothers James and ...
'Notting Hill': Why the Julia Roberts Rom-com Became a Classic
The manager of London' Notting Hill Bookshop has a ready supply of Kleenex because so many of the patrons walk in and break into tears. From 1979-2011, the store was known as the Travel Bookshop ...
The Ultimate Guide to Notting Hill
The easiest way to reach Notting Hill from London is by tube. Jump on the Central line and get off at Notting Hill Gate. Visit on a Saturday. Arrive early (any later than 11 and you'll regret it) Travel in the direction of the crowds (from Notting Hill Gate to Ladbroke Grove tube station) Explore beyond Portobello Road.
The 9 Best Bookshops and Bookstores in Notting Hill
South Kensington Books. As the name suggests, South Kensington Books is located a short way south of Notting Hill but given the quality of this mixed new and remainder bookshop, it deserves a spot ...
21 Utterly Charming Secrets About Notting Hill
A store called The Travel Bookshop did exist for years on Blenheim Crescent around the corner, according to TripSavvy (which has mapped out a whole Notting Hill walking tour). It closed in 2011 ...
Guide to the 12 Best Things to do in Notting Hill, London
Book lovers will especially love exploring Notting Hill's charming independent bookstores, such as The Notting Hill Bookshop made famous by the film "Notting Hill." You'll find the Notting Hill Bookshop and the Travel Book Shop, but the one on 142 Portobello Road (The Travel Bookshop) was the bookstore where Notting Hill the movie was ...
Notting Hill bookshop fights closure with poets and writers
The Travel Bookshop was the backdrop for the romance between Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) and bookseller William Thacker (Hugh Grant) in Notting Hill. Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext Booksellers
21 Utterly Charming Secrets About Notting Hill
Now, Notting Hill Gift Shop is there, identifiable by its big blue awning—and a sign reading The Travel Book Shop. ... It closed in 2011 but The Notting Hill Bookshop stands there today.
We Only Sell Travel Books...No Novels
Directly after William Thacker's first encounter with the superstar Anna Scott, this is a great scene showing the juxtaposition with his everyday life and th...
TRAVEL BOOKSHOP: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)
Historical Tours. from. £211.31. per adult (price varies by group size) The area. 4 Blenheim Crescent, London W11 1NN England. Neighbourhood: Notting Hill. As West London's friskiest corner, Notting Hill more than manages to retain plenty of the same appeal that's brought the affluent area so much worldwide attention. In this attractive ...
The Notting Hill Bookshop
Experience the magic of the Notting Hill Bookshop from anywhere with our online store. Browse our collection of books, stationery, and gifts, and find something special for yourself or a loved one. ... London Travel Books (1) London Travel Books (1 product) Genre 0 selected Reset Genre. Fiction (2) Fiction (2 products) Non-Fiction (1) ...
The Notting Hill Boookshop
Oliver Twist. Charles Dickens. £16.99 GBP. View all. Fall in love with Notting Hill all over again with our online store. Shop our selection of books, gifts, and souvenirs inspired by the beloved Notting Hill Bookshop and the iconic movie.
How the rich destroyed Notting Hill
Thacker's Travel Bookshop was inspired by the Notting Hill Bookshop in Blenheim Crescent. Tourists mass round it, taking photographs of themselves. "Notting Hill feels like a film set," a local woman tells me, "because so many people are taking photographs all the time." "It's like a cult," says another.
Opinion: Rewatching 'Notting Hill,' the truly unbelievable part is Hugh
Rewatching "Notting Hill" 25 years on from its release, the greatest fantasy of the film is not that a movie star could fall in love with the owner of a failing bookshop — but that a group ...
Review: Rocking Out, and Falling in Love, in 'The Lonely Few'
Amy's tour, as it happens, is on pause; her opening act bailed, and she needs to find a new one. Sensing talent as well as a spark, she enlists Lila and her band, the Lonely Few — which also ...
Gary Lineker tweets so he can look himself in the mirror at night
The former England striker, who was pictured leaving a Notting Hill restaurant with Jemima Goldsmith this week, revisited the row last year over his tweet about Suella Braverman's small boats ...

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A Visit to Notting Hill Travel Bookshop: Everything You Need to Know in 2024

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