Things to do in Camden: the first-visit essentials

Camden Market opens at 10:00 every day, the canal towpath is free, and the view from Primrose Hill costs you a short climb. That is a full first day in Camden for nothing, before you buy a gig ticket or a boat ride. Here are the essentials, in the order we would do them, with times and prices.

1. Camden Market, from 10:00

Daily 10:00 to 19:00, free entry. The market is four areas strung along Chalk Farm Road and the canal: the Lock at Camden Lock Place, the Stables at the top of Chalk Farm Road, Hawley Wharf and the cobbled North Yard. Camden Market’s visitor page gives the hours as 10:00 to 19:00 every day, including bank holidays, with the Hawley Wharf food halls open from 11:30 to 23:00. Traders set their own hours, so the earlier you arrive, the more is open and the less you queue.

Inside the Stables, find the bronze of Amy Winehouse by Scott Eaton, unveiled on 14 September 2014, which would have been her 31st birthday. Londonist places it next to the Lock Tavern.

2. The Regent’s Canal

Free, always open. The canal runs right through the market, and the towpath is the best walk in Camden. Go west from the Lock and it is two miles, about an hour, to Little Venice, past the edge of Regent’s Park and through part of London Zoo. Go east and it is about a mile and a half to Granary Square at King’s Cross, past the gasholders and a nature reserve.

3. A boat to Little Venice

From £17, about 45 minutes. If you would rather sit, the London Waterbus Company runs one-way trips from West Yard Wharf in the market to Little Venice, adults £17 and children £14, per its booking page. Book ahead at weekends.

4. The view from Primrose Hill

Free. Walk up Regent’s Park Road to Primrose Hill. The Royal Parks says the summit is almost 63 metres above sea level and one of London’s six protected viewpoints, with the trees kept low so nothing blocks the skyline. Look down for the York stone edging with its William Blake inscription. The park was bought from Eton College in 1841 as open space for the people of north London, and it has had a lively reputation ever since. Go at sunset, and bring a layer.

5. The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse on Chalk Farm Road, NW1, was built in 1846 and 1847 as a railway engine shed, a turntable for steam locomotives designed with Robert Stephenson. It spent decades as a Gilbey’s bonded warehouse before becoming the performance space it is now. Even if you have no ticket, it is worth seeing from the outside on the way to Chalk Farm, which is its station. Check roundhouse.org.uk for gigs and shows.

6. A gig

Camden is a music town before it is anything else. A first-timer’s shortlist:

• Jazz Cafe, 5 Parkway: live music and club nights, with a mezzanine restaurant looking down on the stage.
• KOKO, Camden High Street: live shows most nights, plus its Electronic Nights club series.
• Electric Ballroom, 184 Camden High Street: 80 years in Camden, by its own count. It began as an Irish club, and The Clash, Madness, Joy Division and The Smiths have all played it, per its site.

7. Dig for records and vintage

Camden still sells records to people in leather jackets. All Ages Records at 27A Pratt Street has been a DIY punk and hardcore shop since 2003 and opens 11:30 to 18:30 every day. Raven Records at 24 Camden Road is a heavy metal shop with an alcohol-free bar. In the Stables, St Cyr Vintage on Saddle Row does 1950s to 1970s dresses and sizes every item, and Camden Vintage in the Horse Tunnels does Barbour and Burberry. Go on a weekday afternoon if you want the traders to talk.

8. Eat

For a first visit we would do lunch upstairs at Hawley Wharf, at Three Uncles for roast duck on rice, and dinner at Andy’s Taverna on Pratt Street, open since 1967, or Lemonia in Primrose Hill, open since 1979.

A first day, hour by hour

• 10:00: the Stables and the Lock, before the crowds.
• 12:30: lunch at Hawley Wharf.
• 14:00: the towpath west towards the zoo, or the boat to Little Venice.
• 16:00: up Primrose Hill for the view.
• 19:30: dinner, then a gig on Parkway or Camden High Street.

Getting around

• Camden Town station is closest to the market but heaves at weekends. Until 2019 it was exit-only on Sundays to manage the crowds.
• Chalk Farm is about ten minutes’ walk from the Stables and is the station for the Roundhouse.
• Camden Road on the Overground is about eight minutes from the market.
• Weekdays are calmer; Saturday afternoon is the peak.