If you’re making a special trip for a Cambridgeshire market, Ely is the strongest all-round choice.

That’s not a claim that every visitor will pick the same favourite. It’s an editorial recommendation based on the range of markets running in one place: local produce, street food, handmade goods, vintage finds, books, antiques and more.

Ely’s markets are centred around Market Place, making it easier to turn a market visit into a proper day out rather than a quick wander between two stalls.

Visit Ely lists a Thursday charter market, a Saturday craft, food and vintage market, a farmers’ market twice a month, plus Sunday and bank-holiday markets and smaller weekday events.

The Saturday market looks like the best starting point for someone bringing a friend or relative who wants a bit of everything.

The farmers’ market is the more specific draw, with locally grown produce, artisan food and a Vegan Alley that Visit Ely says attracts visitors from across the region.

That gives Ely something many town markets don’t: a reason to plan the journey around the market itself.

You’re not relying on one particularly good stall being there on one particular day.

The format changes, but there is usually a distinct reason to go.

Cambridge is the easier choice if food is the priority.

The city market at Market Hill runs seven days a week and combines street food and ingredients from a wide range of cuisines with independent traders selling art, plants, clothes, jewellery, books and music.

It’s a great option for a spontaneous lunch or a market stop added to a day already spent in the city.

But that convenience is also its trade-off. Cambridge Market is busy, central and broad; Ely feels more like a destination built around market day.

If the plan is “let’s go somewhere and see what we find”, Ely has the stronger case to pick it.

St Ives is the traditional weekly-market option.

Huntingdonshire District Council lists street markets at Market Hill on Mondays and Fridays, with a farmers’ market on the first and third Saturday of each month.

 It suits a shopper who wants a regular town-market feel, rather than a large food-and-craft day out.

So the short version is: choose Ely for the fullest dedicated market trip, Cambridge for daily food and variety, and St Ives for a more regular weekly market experience.

That’s a starting point for the county, not a countywide verdict.

Which Cambridgeshire market would you send someone to when the stalls are only part of the reason to go?

Tell us the town, the market day and what makes the journey worthwhile.