Sunday in Shoreditch: the markets in order, hour by hour

A Sunday in Shoreditch has a running order: Columbia Road first, from 8am, then Brick Lane once the Truman Brewery markets open at 10am, then Spitalfields before it shuts at 5pm. Do it the other way round and you get the flower market's leftovers and Spitalfields' crowds. This weekend that is Sunday 1 November, the morning after Columbia Road's Day of the Dead festival. Wear shoes you can walk in and carry some cash.

8am: Columbia Road

The flower market runs every Sunday from 8am until around 3pm, and the market's own advice is to come early for the widest choice. The stock follows the seasons: autumn plants and bulbs now, Christmas trees in December. Hoxton Overground is the nearest station. If you buy something too big to carry for the rest of the day, Pedal Me's cargo bikes will deliver it home; book with their team at the market. Breakfast is a bagel from Cafe Columbia, which serves bagels on Sundays only and is now in its third decade. Public toilets are on Ezra Street.

10am: Brick Lane

Then on to Brick Lane. Sunday is the day the street market is out, with sellers of second-hand furniture, clothes and bric-a-brac and the odd street performer. If you skipped breakfast, Beigel Bake at 159 Brick Lane is open 24 hours, seven days a week, so it will be ready whenever you are.

At 10am the Truman Brewery's markets open their doors, and on a Sunday they all keep the same hours, 10am to 6pm:

• Upmarket, 83 Brick Lane: international street food every day, with retail stalls added at weekends. The lunch stop.
• Brick Lane Vintage Market, F Block, 85 Brick Lane: more than 100 vintage sellers underground.
• Backyard Market, next to 146 Brick Lane: independent fashion, jewellery and art. Weekends only.
• The Tea Rooms, next to 146 Brick Lane: antiques, homeware, rare books, vinyl and retro furniture. Weekends only.
• Provisions, Ely's Yard: a producers' market of seasonal fruit and veg, baking, natural wine, flowers and pantry goods. Weekends only.

Of the vintage shops off the lane, Levisons on Cheshire Street opens at 10.30am on Sundays and ATIKA on Hanbury Street at noon, so leave ATIKA until after lunch.

1pm: lunch

Two choices. Stay on Brick Lane and graze the Upmarket's stalls, or walk down to Commercial Street for a proper sit-down at St John Bread and Wine, which serves lunch every day from noon with a last seating at 3pm and a bar menu from 3pm to 5pm. The menu changes daily. Book on a Sunday.

3pm: Spitalfields

Old Spitalfields Market at 16 Horner Square is open 10am to 5pm on Sundays, with the street food at The Kitchens running 11am to 5pm. By mid-afternoon the morning crowd has thinned a little, and it is the right place to finish because Liverpool Street is five minutes away.

If it rains

Columbia Road is an open street and gets no kinder in the wet, but the flowers are still there and the crowds are thinner, so go anyway with an umbrella and a bag that can take a soaking. After that, the day moves indoors easily. The Vintage Market is underground beneath the Truman Brewery, and Spitalfields trades under its Victorian market roof. On a wet Sunday, reverse the second half: Spitalfields straight after lunch, then the Truman Brewery until 6pm.

Staying on for the evening

If the day runs long, St John Bread and Wine also serves supper on Sundays from 6pm, with a last seating at 9.30pm, which turns a market day into a long Sunday dinner. The Truman markets close at 6pm and Spitalfields at 5pm, so plan the last hour of shopping around those times rather than discovering them at the door.

The alternative: Redchurch Street

If markets are not your thing, swap the afternoon for Redchurch Street. Labour and Wait at number 85 opens 10am to 6pm every day, and most of the street's shops open on Sundays from 10am or noon.

Making it work

• Cash: some Columbia Road traders take cards and some don't, so carry a little cash for the whole day.
• Bags: bring a tote. Flowers first, then clothes, is the order that keeps both in good shape.
• Timing: Columbia Road gets quieter later in the day, but some traders start to sell out, which is why it goes first.
• Getting home: Liverpool Street from Spitalfields, Shoreditch High Street from Brick Lane, Hoxton from Columbia Road.