Canal boat trips from Camden: every option compared
Forty-five minutes on the water to Little Venice from £17, a 1906 narrowboat with live commentary, a 90-minute round trip through a working lock and a self-drive boat for eight. Which Camden canal trip to book.
By Only Camden Editorial
The short answer: 45 minutes on the Regent’s Canal between Camden Lock and Little Venice costs £17 for an adult on the London Waterbus, or £19 on Jason’s Trip. Both are one-way, both pass London Zoo and the edge of Regent’s Park, and both sell out on sunny weekends. Here is every way onto the water from Camden, and which one we would book.
London Waterbus Company
From £17 adults, £14 children, about 45 minutes. The Waterbus runs in both directions between West Yard Wharf, in the middle of the market at the Lock among the West Yard street food traders, and Browning’s Pool at Little Venice. Fares on its booking page:
- Adult (17 to 59): £17
- Child (4 to 16), student or senior (60 and over): £14
- Infant (0 to 3): free
Trips are one-way, but you get a discount if you book there and back in the same online transaction. Turn up 15 minutes before departure: check-in closes five minutes before. You choose between a classic historic narrowboat with live commentary in English or a wider comfort cruiser with music and a bar on board. The company also runs a 90-minute cheese tasting cruise with The Cheese Bar from £35.
Important, because everyone asks: it does not stop at London Zoo. You float past the aviary and that is it. The Waterbus puts the zoo about a 15-minute walk from Camden Market.
Jason’s Trip
£19 single, £25 return, about 45 minutes. Jason’s runs an original 1906 canal boat from Little Venice to Camden Lock, round the edge of Regent’s Park and past the zoo, with live commentary on canal history from 1800 to the present. The return leg from Camden has no commentary unless a group asks for it. Prices on jasons.co.uk:
- Single: adults £19, concessions £15
- Return: adults £25, concessions £20
- Concessions cover under-14s and over-65s; under-4s go free
You pay on board by card or cash, and the Go City London Pass is accepted. You only need to book ahead for groups of ten or more, with 48 hours’ notice; everyone else turns up, though they advise arriving early. The boat leaves Little Venice at 10:30, 12:30 and 14:30, from the pool beside Westbourne Terrace Road Bridge, opposite 42 Blomfield Road, W9. They sail in all weather, or as their FAQ puts it, almost all.
Our pick: start at Little Venice with Jason’s for the commentary and the old boat, then spend the afternoon in Camden. You get the story on the way in, and the market at the end of it.
Walker’s Quay and the Jenny Wren
90 minutes, round trip through a working lock. The one trip that actually starts in Camden and goes through a lock. Walker’s Quay, at 250 Camden High Street, NW1, runs daily sightseeing tours and a 90-minute cruise through a working lock, per its site. Its boat, the Jenny Wren, has worked this stretch since 1968, according to the Inland Waterways Association. The site does not list fares, so ring 020 7485 4433 before you go. If watching the gates open and the water drop is the point for you, or for your kids, this is the one.
GoBoat: drive it yourself
From £10 a head, eight to a boat. GoBoat rents small electric boats for up to eight people from Paddington, at the far western end. Its headline price is from £10 per person when eight share, for up to three hours, and GoBoat says a three-hour trip from Paddington can take you as far as Camden Lock. You need to book, and prices change with the season and time of day. Best for a group with a cool box and a designated skipper.
What you see from the water
Whichever boat you take, the route between Camden and Little Venice is the same and it is the prettiest two miles of the Regent’s Canal. Heading west from the Lock you pass Cumberland Basin with its moored boats, slide along the edge of Regent’s Park, go right through part of London Zoo by the aviary, and pass under Blow Up Bridge, named after the gunpowder boat that exploded there in 1874. Then comes the Maida Hill tunnel and the wide pool at Little Venice.
Which one?
- Cheapest one-way: the Waterbus at £17 for adults, £14 for kids.
- Best commentary: Jason’s Trip, Little Venice to Camden.
- Through a lock: the Jenny Wren from Walker’s Quay.
- Groups and birthdays: GoBoat from Paddington.
Know before you go
None of the operators promises a full winter timetable on their front page, so check the day before between November and March. The canal is narrow and boats queue at the Maida Hill tunnel, which is why the Waterbus quotes 45 minutes depending on traffic. If you would rather walk it, the towpath from Camden Lock to Little Venice is two miles and takes about an hour, and you can ride back.
