Been there readers offer their top tips on which markets to visit, from sampling Finnish delicacies in Helsinki to avoiding the crowds in Barcelona's Mercat de St AntoniWINNING TIP: Old Market Hall, Helsinki, FinlandThis market has been selling Finnish delicacies to locals and tourists for more than 120 years. Look out for berries, game and seafood. It's a great place for meeting friends over a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun. Or try fried reindeer slices with potato mash and lingonberry sauce followed by oven-baked cheese with Arctic cloudberries and cream. Most importantly: stock up on sausages and beer for an evening of sauna, skinny-dipping and barbecue.Monday to Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday 8am-4pm, Etel�ranta, South HarbourMiffleUKBrixton market, LondonA stroll down Electric Avenue takes you past well-established British fishmongers and more recently arrived Portuguese grocers. Further into the market are the Caribbean staples ? salt fish, plantains, green bananas and cassava. Butchers cater for many different communities. Some are halal, some sell pigs' trotters and tails, others have Brazilian sausages or Colombian delicacies. There are new shops and stalls in the Granville Arcade: small independent coffee shops, bakeries and an old-fashioned sweet shop.Monday to Saturday 8am-6pm (Wednesday till 3pm), Electric Avenue, brixtonmarket.netKadkuEdinburgh farmers' marketIn the lee of Edinburgh Castle, this weekly market attracts independent food suppliers from as far away as the Black Isle, north of Inverness. The setting is so picturesque that almost every week there is a professional photographer or TV film crew in attendance. I buy bacon from Puddledub Pork, jam from the Strawberry Shop (from Perth), and delicious Laprig Fruit apple juice.Saturday 9am-2pm, Castle Terrace, edinburghfarmersmarket.co.ukKenWilsonDoncaster marketThe market has been at the heart of the town since medieval times. There are around 400 shops, stalls and stands. The real treats for foodies are the outdoor fruit and vegetable market and the indoor fish and meat markets. Stallholders are great Yorkshire folk always ready to chat, offering cooking tips and advice ? whether you want it or not.Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays 8.30am-4pm, tinyurl.com/6kt73w3AilsaEJFranceProven�al market, AntibesThe market building is a riot of colour and competing smells. Spices of brilliant hues vie with fresh vegetables from the surrounding small holdings. Cheeses of all shapes and sizes, unnamed animal parts fashioned into sausages. By 10.30am the stallholders are relaxed and gossiping. Les menag�res have gone home with their purchases and only the tourists remain. By 1pm the building is swept clean and the Antibois sit in its shade drinking their pernod.Daily except Monday, 6am-1pm, daily from 1 June to 1 September, Cours Mass�na, antibes.co.uk/marketsCurzonMarch� Bastille and March� d'Aligre, ParisHere's my tip for a Sunday epicurean market outing. These markets are conveniently close yet delightfully different in atmosphere. March� d'Aligre: with its village atmosphere you might catch yourself fantasising that you are in a vintage French film, rubbing shoulders with locals as they shop for every type of food from fishheads and tripe to organic bread and wild mushrooms. Less than a mile away is March� Bastille, where you'll find a vast, glorious feast as most traders offer morsels for tasting (d�gustation) of every kind of food for free. As you munch your way through the happy throng you'll find food for the soul and mind too as street performers and assorted, small, political manifestations (demos) are on hand to entertain and educate ? Bon app�tit!d'Aligre: Tuesday to Sunday 7am-1pm, Place d'Aligre, marchedaligre.free.fr; Bastille: Thursday and Sunday 7am-2.30pm, Boulevard Richard LenoirMspithyAvignon and Colmar food marketsThese markets are very different, but are both brilliant showcases for regional produce and less aimed at tourists than many others. In Avignon in spring, there is new-season garlic, artichokes and other bounty from the south of France. Up in Alsace, and planning ahead, Colmar market has the autumn treats of vin nouveau and flammekueche, plus all the ingredients you need for a hearty choucroute garnie.Avignon: daily except Monday, 6am-1.30pm, Les Halles, Place Pie, avignon-leshalles.com; Colmar: daily except Monday, approx 8am-5pm, Le March� Couvert de Colmar, 13 rue des Ecoles, colmar.frMaggie57ItalyMercato di mezzo, BolognaJust off Piazza Maggiore is one of the most tantalising sights in the world ? a warren of streets dedicated to the best fresh produce in Italy. Cheese, salami, fish, chocolate, fruit, vegetables, bread, pastry, and even a Chinese takeaway ? all will arouse your taste buds. And on Viccolo Ranocchi ? heralded by the single word Vino ? is the ancient Osteria del Sole, where you can take your food and buy a drink to wash it down.Monday to Saturday (not Thursday) 7am-1pm, 4.15pm-7.30pm, Thursday 7am-1pm, Via Pescherie VecchieUmamiSpainMercat de St Antoni, BarcelonaThis market is similar to the Boqueria but with fewer tourists, and the fruit stalls have the most incredible selection. Pick something you've never seen before ? chances are it will be local and beautifully fresh. The stallholders know enough English (or at least have good enough miming skills) to tell you how to eat it, so go find a park and try something excitingly new ? I dare you.Monday to Thursday 7am-2.30pm, 5-8.30pm, Friday and Saturday 7am-8.30pm, Comte d'Urgell, mercatdesantantoni.comTeacup2La Boqueria, BarcelonaStaying in a self-catering apartment in Barcelona? The tapas bars may be tempting, but we were won over by the variety and quality of food on sale at this vibrant market. Being on the coast there is a wide selection of fresh fish and seafood, as well as meats, chorizo and other sausages, fruit and vegetables, herbs and spices.Rambla, +34 93 318 25 84, boqueria.infogdeanoukHungaryGreat Market Hall, BudapestThe Great Market Hall is on the Pest side of the Liberty Bridge. The building is of beautiful neo-Gothic construction with intricate, heavily decorated roof tiling. The market itself is used by the people of the city for vegetables, meat and fish, but it's also a tourist mecca with lots of traditional salami and paprika on sale. The sights and smells of this market are unforgettable, but its setting is the cherry on the cake.Monday to Friday 6am-5pm, Saturday 6am-2pm, V�mh�z k�r�t 1, tinyurl.com/63q6wahSipiJapanTsukiji fish market, Tokyo Tsukiji fish market, in the centre of the city, is the biggest in the world. You need to get there for 5am, but it's well worth the pain. Visitor numbers are strictly limited and to get in on the action you need the early start. Don't miss breakfast at one of the tiny sushi restaurants in the outer market. Perch at the counter and feast on the freshest, tastiest sushi and sashimi.Daily except Sundays and occasional Wednesdays, 5am-1pm, 5-2-1 Tsukiji, tsukiji-market.or.jptroutiemcfishCambodiaPsar Kandal market, Phnom PenhThese narrow alleyways full of stalls crammed closely together are where the locals buy their food, rather than in shops and supermarkets. Banana flowers, mini mangoes, herb and spice stalls selling fresh galangal, ginger, chillies, turmeric; fish stalls with live fish in tanks and enormous aluminium basins full of squid and shellfish; egg stalls selling fresh and preserved eggs of all sizes and hues, meat and medicine and drink stalls. Everything is displayed beautifully in large baskets or on rattan mats.Every morning, Kandal Market near Wat OunalomKittyDThailandAyutthaya night marketThe central night market of world heritage site Ayutthaya is a wonderful, friendly place for all the family. Wander among the many steaming food stalls picking your dish from the bizarrely exotic (stir-fried frogs) to the ubiquitous and downright delicious (pad Thai) then settle on a table by the river, taking in the stunning views of some of the many lit up temple ruins. You can catch a boat from here to see many more ruins at night.Every night, Th U ThongCabnfevergirlAustraliaSydney fish marketNo trip to this wonderful city is complete without a trip to its famous fish market ? a real foodie's paradise. You can have a guided tour or you can take a course at the Seafood School. Best of all, you can eat delicious, freshly landed seafood on the quayside, but watch out: you may have to share your meal with the locals ? cheeky pelicans that come right up to the table in the hope of a free lunch.Daily 7am-4pm, Bank Street, Pyrmont, +61 2 9004 1100, sydneyfishmarket.com.au MellyMel66USADekalb farmers' market, Decatur, Atlanta, GeorgiaThis began as a small produce stand in 1977, and has grown into a true world market serving up to 100,000 people a week. Fascinating place ? if you are looking for a fresh, unusual ingredient you'll find it here.Daily 9am-9pm, 3000 E Ponce De Leon Avenue, dekalbfarmersmarket.comMikeFinnDominica and St LuciaCreole day markets, Roseau and CastriesDominica and St Lucia both hold special food markets during their Creole Week festivals at the end of October. Stunning displays of local fruits, vegetables and spices are created for the event. Market vendors wear traditional costumes, stalls are festooned with brightly coloured madras fabrics and decorated with tropical flowers. Visitors can also sample the delights of a fresh jelly (young) coconut, sugar-cane juice or a more substantial meal from a roadside snackette.Roseau, Dominica: last Saturday in October, Old Market Plaza; Castries, St Lucia: last Saturday in October, Jeremy StDorivalFood and drinkHelsinkiBarcelonaEdinburghAvignonParisBolognaSydneyKrakowTokyoGuardian readersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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