Camden Locks
Planning your visit
Address: Camden Locks, London, NW1 8AF View on Google map
Opening Times: Towpath open daily
Price: It's free to take to the towpath
Toilets: For customers of the local pubs/cafés, there are some public toilets in the markets
Camden Locks, on London's 'rural' Regent's Canal, has been regenerated into one of the liveliest areas for a great day out. It's a good place for gongoozling (that's watching boats drift by) and for people watching too!
Most famous for its markets - you could literally spend days checking out all of them! This area is great for finding unusual gifts, works of art and antiques. But it's also building a reputation as the place to come for canalside eateries and for sampling cosmopolitan flavours from around the world.
Follow the towpath and find the Pirate Castle, or take a trip boat to London Zoo.
Things to do and see
- Walking - and dog walking
- Fishing
- Considerate cycling
- Gongoozling
- Shopping and sightseeing
Places to eat:
- Cafe Chula
- Chaboba Bubble Tea
- Kims Vietnamese Hut
- Lockside
- La Patagonia
- The Chin Chin Laboratrists
- Yumchaa
- The Ice Wharf
- Feng Shang Princess
- Lock 17
- Walkers Quay
Boat trips:
- Camden Canals and Narrowboat Association
- Hidden Depths Canal Cruises
- Jason's Canal Trip
- Jenny Wren Narrowboat and My Fair Lady Cruising Restaurant
- London Canal Museum
- London Waterbus Company
- The Pirate Castle
- Walkers Quay
Picnic spot:
There a various places to perch as well as tables near the food market.
Trails:
- London's Poketrails
- Audio tour - the London Canal Museum has a downloadable audio tour of the towpath, with many sights to see and stories to be told, you can experience the fascinating history of the area to discover how men fought over land rights, why a hi-tech lock had to be abandoned and how a steam tug towed barges through the tunnel for over 100 years
Wildlife spotting:
There are lots of ducks here for the kids to feed (as long as you remember not to feed them bread), along with coots, moorhens and swans - you may be lucky to glimpse the blue flash of a kingfisher!
Getting here
By car - There's no parking available, but Camden is easily accessible by bus and tube
By tube - the nearest tube station is Camden Town (Northern Line)
By boat - see our list of London boating facilities. Plus, we now have pre-booked mooring spaces in London
