Most of Sydney’s markets are unlike Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market or South Melbourne Market which are fixed buildings and stalls operate from within the building and around the peripherals of the building.
Instead, most of them are temporary in nature and often make use of school compounds to stage the marketplace during weekends or designated days of the week.
Markets also differ in nature where some are dedicated to just food, like The Rocks Friday Foodie Market, others are more varied which could include fashion, accessories, art pieces of various forms (paintings, carvings, ornaments etc.), furniture, and daily tools and accessories.
In our short stay in Sydney, we visited a number of markets. We went to:
- The Rocks Friday Foodie Market: Happening at Jack Mundey Place at The Rocks every Friday from 9am to 3pm, food stalls (and some non-food stalls) line up Argyle Street and turned it into a hawker centre of sorts. An eating area is carved out right beside La Renaissance Patisserie but most people just grab and eat on the go. We tried a Spinach and Cheese with Beef Turkish Cozleme (something like murtabak) and found it very yummy!
- Paddy’s Market: This is a market with a permanent building in Haymarket near Chinatown and dates back 150 years ago. Arranged in an easy-to-walk grid fashion with an eclectic array of goods such as souvenirs, clothes & produce, Paddy’s Market opens from 10am to 6pm from Wednesday to Sunday. It’s a huge market and we didn’t even cover 20% but we did get a feel of what it offers.
- Paddington Markets: Every Saturday from 10am to 4pm rain or shine, Paddington Markets, located on the grounds of Paddington Uniting Church, has been open since 1973! Started as a market to encourage local fashion designers, craftspeople, jewellery makers and artists, the market has over 150 unique stalls filled with creative fashion and accessories, beautiful smelling soaps and candles and pictures that inspire.
- Glebe Markets: Also operating every Saturday fro 10am to 4pm in Glebe Public School is Glebe Markets, the showcase for the cutting edge of fashion and design. There is also free music from 12noon to 3pm every Saturday as you ‘lose yourself at Glebe for a day‘. We were there rather late and some stalls were already closing but we did enjoy the friendly community feel of the markets.
- The Rocks Weekend Market: Following up with the Friday Foodies Market, The Rocks Weekend Market covers an extended area with a covered tentage across George Street and operates every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Here you can browse through hundreds of great finds, made by many hands. We quite enjoyed strolling along cobbled laneways through stalls ad marveled at the fashion, handcrafted jewellery, textiles, homewares, art, beauty products and photography.
We did not buy anything but thoroughly enjoyed the market feel and the friendly environment of the markets. Of course, the weather was very nice to us throughout too!
Eat.Eat.Walk.Walk . 吃吃走走 
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