An hour on the towpath through a hidden London: painted narrowboats and floating cafés, villas and willows, the edge of Regent's Park and the zoo, and the noise and food stalls of Camden Lock at the end. Easy, pretty and a good first morning.
Opened in the 1820s to carry coal and timber across north London, the Regent's Canal is now a green corridor of boats, birds and bikes, a few metres below the streets and a world away from them.
The walk starts at Little Venice, a pool where the canal meets the Paddington arm, ringed by white stucco villas and colourful houseboats. A short street section crosses above the Maida Hill tunnel, then the towpath runs through a deep cutting lined with gardens, along the northern edge of Regent's Park past grand villas and beside London Zoo, where the netting of the aviary rises over the water.
The canal ends its quiet stretch at Camden Lock, where the old stables and warehouses now house one of London's busiest markets. Keep going for 3 km more to King's Cross, where Granary Square and Coal Drops Yard have turned the old goods yards into a canal-side neighbourhood.
Simple to follow: stay beside the water, with one short street section at Lisson Grove.
From Warwick Avenue tube, walk to the pool at Little Venice. Browse the moored boats, including a floating café and a puppet theatre barge.
The canal disappears into a tunnel; follow the signs along Aberdeen Place and down to the towpath again beyond. Towpath gardens and moorings line the cutting.
The canal curves along the edge of the park, below the gardens of grand villas. Past Macclesfield Bridge, the zoo's aviary and enclosures come right down to the water.
The towpath reaches the twin locks at Camden. Climb up into the market for street food from every continent, or carry on east towards King's Cross.
Warwick Avenue (Bakerloo line) is a few minutes from Little Venice. Camden Town (Northern line) is the nearest station at the end; King's Cross St Pancras if you continue.
The London Waterbus Company runs boats between Little Venice and Camden, with a stop at the zoo, mainly in the warmer months. Check the timetable.
Weekday mornings are calm; weekends are lively, with Camden market at its busiest. In summer, the evening light on the water is lovely.
Food in the guide →.jpg?width=960)
Parliament Hill's skyline view, Kenwood and the ponds.
Upriver from Richmond to the Tudor palace.
London's two circular walks, a section at a time.
The Tamsin Trail round London's largest royal park.
Ancient pollards, Connaught Water and High Beach.
Chalk cliffs from Seaford to Eastbourne via Beachy Head.
Wikimedia Commons photographs are used under their Creative Commons licences.
