Walking The Regent's Canal
City Road Basin east of Angel
Start: Paddington Station, Praed St, London W2 1RH
Finish: Limehouse DLR Station, Commercial Rd, London, E14 7JD
Distance: 16.3 km (10.1 miles)
Elevation change: + 86 / -110m. Net -24m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Jubilee Greenway
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 1, C1, 2, 6, 13, 27
Pubs / Cafes on route: Loads. It’s London.
Map: London North Map | The City, West End, Enfield, Ealing, Harrow & Watford | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 173
Links: Regent’s Canal (Wikipedia / Canal & River Trust), Paddington Basin, Little Venice, Camden Lock, Islington Tunnel, Limehouse Basin
The Regents Canal is a 13.8km waterway that links the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal at Little Venice with the River Thames at Limehouse Basin in the east of London. I’ve cycled or walked bits of it over the years but never a full end-to-end walk. So, with canals being the theme of our weekend adventures this winter, Timea and I set out to walk it.
Being in the north of London there’s excellent public transport links to the start and end. You can also cut the walk into smaller sections, returning to nearby tube or bus stops along the way to pick up where you left off. On a long summer’s day we might have tackled it all in one go. With a winter walk on shorter days and wanting to take our time through the interesting parts, we cut it in two using King’s Cross St Pancras as our middle-point. Navigation is very easy as you’ll be following the towpath, however there’s a few sections of tunnel where you’ll need to follow them above ground. The Juiblee Greenway follows the route of the canal and is well-signed, so follow the ground-level markers to keep on track.
We chose a west to east route starting from Paddington Station. There’s an exit near the Hammersmith and City Line platforms that leads directly onto the canal. Rather than start there we exited Paddington at the southern entrance to walk down Praed Street to start at Paddington Basin. The Basin had completely changed since I first went there as a child with my Dad on our many London outings. Back then it was unloved patch at the back of St Mary’s Hospital where my dad was born. Now it’s a busy and lively development of apartments, businesses and restaurants.
From Paddington Basin follow the canal for 1km to the junction with the Regents Canal at Little Venice. The bridge at Westbourne Terrace Road also brought back memories as it was the finish point of my first Ultra Marathon back in 2015. Once over the bridge and onto the northern side of Browning’s pool you’re on the Regent’s Canal.
For the first section you’ll need to keep off the towpath for a while as the Lisson Road Moorings are a private section, then you need to pass above-ground for ~250m over Maida Hill Tunnel. Once over the tunnel you can keep to the towpath for 5.4km to the Islington Tunnel at Angel. Along the way you’ll pass through the the back of London Zoo at Regent’s Park, Camden Lock and the redeveloped area to the back of Kings Cross.
When you reach the Islington Tunnel leave the towpath and follow the Jubilee Greenway south down Penton Street then east along Chapel Market to Angel. Cross over Upper Street and follow Duncan Street in an easterly direction to return to the Regent’s Canal towpath. This eastern section is quieter but no-less interesting. You’ll need to leave the path for food and drink but there’s good options along the way. We found a great cafe at the start of Broadway Market in Hackney just a couple of minutes off the path.
The final stretch passes along the edges of Victoria Park and Mile End Park before finishing at Limehouse Basin. Our original plan was to walk around the basin but it was getting dark so we cut straight across to Limehouse DLR to return home. We did get some great shots of Canary Wharf and friends lit up in the background. We’ll return another day to revisit the basin and walk the Hertford Union Canal and Limecut Cut.
The Bridges
Bridge numbers counting up from 1 at Little Venice to 64 near Limehouse Basin. Not all bridges have numbers on them.
