One Day in London: Regents Canal Walk from Hackney to Paddington

Once you’ve seen all the tourist hotspots in London, what else can you do? One of my favourite things to do – in any city in fact – is take a stroll alongside the waterways. It turns out that walking from Hackney to Paddington alongside the Regents Canal is a little more than just a stroll, taking in 8 miles, but it’s an excellent way of seeing different areas of London, and getting a slice of local life on the way. The Regents Canal walk actually starts at Limehouse Basin. If you’re planning on walking from here, it’s around 9.5 miles in total to Paddington. On our first night we walked from Hackney to Limehouse Basin and into the city proper along the Thames Path.

Mr Fletche and I took this walk back in 2017 as part of our alternative weekend in London! We’ve also revisited parts of the walk on subsequent visits, most recently spending time at Granary Square, Coal Drops Yard and Camden.

Hackney may not be the first place you think of to stay during a London city break but for us its proximity to Regents Canal (and a good value AirBnB in Mile End, a highly unusual find in London!) was a major factor in considering something a little different for our stay. Victoria Park is a wonderful urban park and perfect place to begin your walk along the Regents Canal. I can also highly recommend The Pavillion Cafe in the park for breakfast. Although if it’s a Saturday, you may just want to make Broadway Market your first stop on your Regents Canal walk.

Broadway Market

It was our AirBnb hosts that recommended we stop off here. You can find steps from the Regents Canal just after the gas towers. Even if the market isn’t on, there are plenty of independent shops and cafes where you can fuel up for the day ahead. But on Saturdays, the street comes alive with a vibrant throng of sellers, including some of the best street food options in London. We picked up a breakfast bap and ate it sitting on a bench at London Fields, listening to the talented buskers play. It was almost a wrench to have to leave without picking up more goodies but we didn’t want to be too laden down for the rest of our walk.

Angel, Islington

We continue our walk in earnest now, skirting Haggerston, Hoxton and Shoreditch. The towpath is shared with joggers, dog walkers, cyclists and other strollers like us. We pass a few canalside cafes – you’ll never be short of places to eat and drink on this walk. There are also colourful barges and houseboats aplenty. Industrial warehouses and grafitti make way for gleaming apartment blocks. Canalside living makes way for a leafy, tree-lined passage. You could almost be in the middle of the countryside.

And then we’re briefly forced off the towpath. The canal goes underground, so we follow the signs through Angel. It looks like a great place to explore further but our mission is to plough on ahead. We briefly lose the waymarkers and find ourselves in a housing estate before picking up the trail again,

Kings Cross

The towpath is a little narrower here, and we have to stop to let joggers and cyclists pass. The apartments lining the canal are a little less sparkling and a little more converted warehouse. And then the landscape opens up as we approach Kings Cross. There is an excellent barge/bookshop here, Word on the Water. No time to browse though, although I’d be grateful of the rest at this point. If you’re ready for some food, you can hop off the canal here and explore Granary Square and Coal Drops Yard.

Be sure to check out Gasholder Park, a circular park surrounded by a refurbished cast-iron gas holder. Others have been repurposed into funky looking apartment blocks, giving a new lease of life to these amazing feats of engineering.

Camden

We continue our stroll. Which by now is a full-blown hike. Funky graffiti and hole-in-the-wall bars suggest we’re getting close to our next stop. Which thankfully means lunch. Camden Market has some of the most varied street food offerings and we grab food from far-flung places such as Japan and Tibet and watch the boats float by as we eat.

Camden itself is like entering a completely different world. Walk one way and it is grungy and you feel like you’re entering the underbelly of London. Walk another way and there are brightly coloured buildings, 3d artwork emerging from rooftops and souvenir stores a la Blackpool. It’s one of the busiest places you’ll come across on your Regents Canal walk, so if you’re not a fan of crowds then you’ll probably want to make a fleeting visit and carry on your journey.

Primrose Hill

Appetites sated, we continue. Camden to Paddington is probably the most popular stretch of the Regents Canal Walk, with an increased number of people on the towpath. There are also plenty of sight-seeing boat trips on this stretch too, so there’s even more traffic on the canal itself. We decide to hop off the canal and take a quick detour to Primrose Hill for super views of the London skyline. The canal path skirts London Zoo; you may even spot an animal or two. You’ll certainly hear them.

Little Venice

We head on to the final stretch of our journey. Fancy-schmancy villas line the opposite bank of the canal, with perfectly manicured lawns. The canal is not so fancy-schmancy here, with a thick carpet of lime-green algae covering the water. Colourfully painted houseboats vie for the most imaginative small garden award. We leave the towpath to walk along the pavement; the towpath here is reserved for the owners of these magnificent floating homes.

At Little Venice, Regents Canal meets the Great Union Canal, which winds its way north. The area is actually more reminiscent of the Amsterdam canals than their Venetian counterpart. If you’re traversing the Regents Canal in reverse – or want to make your way back to Camden – then you can hop on a boat from Little Venice and see the sights from the water.

Paddington

When we did our mammoth walk, crawling to Warwick Avenue tube station, little did we know that Paddington was just a couple of minutes walk around the corner. There are plenty of restaurants and bars to congratulate yourself on completing your Regents Canal Walk. In fact, if you wanted to do this walk in reverse you could think about staying at The Pilgrm Hotel, our Paddington base on our last trip.

What will I see on the Regents Canal Walk?

This waterside walk passes through both industrial and residential areas. In some places it’s a little gritty, in others there are pretty little spots, a slice of nature in the middle of the big city. There are iconic landmarks to spot. You’ll pass by the back yards of traditional houses, shiny apartment blocks for luxury canalside living, and beautifully kept houseboats. If you’re lucky you’ll spot a heron, a reed warbler or a kingfisher. You’ll definitely spot a duck or two.

The Regents Canal walk is a perfect way to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.