Jason’s Canal Boat Trip — Little Venice to Camden

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Craig’s review… Jason's Trip operate a boat between Little Venice and Camden Lock. It's sort of like a houseboat but with the sides missing: low enough to float under the trees, slow enough not to disturb the ducks, and painted like one of those fairground fortune tellers. But you definitely need a lazy day for it. It's the kind of ride that you can try on a sunny afternoon because it's nice and gentle. There are no waves on the Regent's Canal. No one ever gets seasick on a canal boat. The odds of getting shipwrecked in north London are zero. It's just a leisurely chug along the waterway past Little Venice and London Zoo to the wooden lock at Camden.

Journey from Little Venice

I definitely recommend starting from the Little Venice end because if you go in the opposite direction then you won't get any commentary. There's a floating cafe on the other side of the blue bridge if you fancy having a quick cup of tea beforehand, but don't take too long because they insist you get there fifteen minutes early or they'll sell your seat to somebody else. (There's always one person who comes along late -- Don't go yet! Don't go yet! I'm here! I'm here!)

I'm currently standing in a nice orderly British queue waiting to be let onboard whilst the boatman is busy doing his pre-trip checks, which seems to consist mainly of him polishing his brass bell and arranging the flowers on his picnic table. Now he's unstacking the plastic chairs and setting them out in tidy lines. They've got those hot plastic ones that fry up in the sun -- the ones that brand you like cattle when you touch your bare legs on them.

The last time I tried this trip they had a very entertaining guide onboard but I can't see her today which is a bit of a shame. Oh, wait a minute, here she comes. Everything is super friendly and when I step onboard we swap our names and where I'm from, then I pick a seat on the sunny side and wait to get going.

It's a very low boat. If there's radar along the canal then we are under it -- we are practically a submarine. If I hook my elbow over the side then I can easily scoop up some algae, pick up some pigeon feathers, or grab that empty packet of fags that is floating past. A couple of dogs have come bounding down the towpath and I feel like I've been shrunk down to their size and I'm seeing the world through their eyes. After a flurry of tail wags and sniffs and running up and down the length of the boat a few times they're off again, bounding over to their owner by the bridge.

Along the Regent's Canal

Five minutes later the motor chugs up and the guide starts going through all the safety regulations. Then she gives us a little history of the Regent's Canal as we float slowly through Little Venice.

Little Venice is a very picturesque part of London -- it's like one of those pretty little postcards you find stuck to the top of a box of Cornwall fudge. It's all wicker benches, picket fences and pushbikes with flowers growing through the spokes. People are sitting on their little patios drinking cups of tea and waving at us as we float past. The guide seems to know all of their names. She probably recognises all of the individual birds and animals as well -- it's exactly that kind of friendly community.

One of my favourite parts of the trip is when we motor through a tunnel under the road because you can feel the engine's chesty cough echoing off the arch and see the water glistening as it drips down the dirty, dank bricks. When we emerge into the sunlight we're into a pathway of overgrown nettles and weeds and drooping trees, whose limbs start scraping the roof like creepy fingers through our hair.

Now we come to a few more houseboats. There are no flowerpots or pottery frogs this time though, just concrete council flats and electricity substations. They don't call this bit Little Venice -- they don't bother to keep up that pretence anymore. It's just a dirty canal with a few lifebelts nailed up along the towpath in case somebody falls in, but trust me, if they fall in this water then just leave them to die because there's no point -- the life jacket will just melt as soon as you chuck it in.

Then it's under some rusty bridges decorated with peeling paint and graffiti (I'm not trying to put you off -- it's all very atmospheric). You can hear the pigeons cooing in the rusty iron girders above your head and you'll pass about four or five homeless dudes lying on a carpet of cardboard. Paradoxically, if you take the stairs up to the roadway level at this point then you'll discover that it's rather luxurious up there -- it's like two worlds separated by a single pavement. Upstairs you've got Lord's Cricket Ground and the posh car showrooms of St. John's Wood, and down here you've got somewhere that hasn't seen sunshine since 1908.

Regent's Park, London Zoo & Snowdon Aviary

Once the boat passes into the realm of Regent's Park you'll leave behind the concrete colours of the towpath and hit the creams and greens and sunshine yellows of the countryside. You'll be floating through a little valley of leafy trees and million-pound houses because the riverbanks around here are home to some of the most expensive mansions in London, and you can peer up into their manicured lawns and admire their ornamental gardens.

The boat will then pass straight through the top edge of London Zoo (literally inside it) and the banks will have animal cages on them. Unfortunately they're all situated two or three metres above your head but you might get lucky and spot a few warthogs in the first cage after the bridge. Next to them are the African Hunting Dogs. But it's the huge wire mesh of the Snowdon Aviary that's the real beauty and you should be able to see plenty of birds inside there (there's hundreds of them -- ibis, peacocks, all sorts).

Arriving at Camden Lock

The final stretch of the canal pretties up considerably with more houseboats on one side and gardens full of bird boxes, bird tables and a few rowing boats tied up by the riverside stairs.

After passing under a few more bridges carrying the clattering trains into Camden you'll pass by a canoe school and some of the most graffitied walls in London (but this is Camden, remember, so it's very arty graffiti). Then they'll slowly turn in a circle and kick you off at the lock.

Worth a visit? ★★★Value for money? ★★★Good for kids? ★★☆Easy to get to? ★★★

I also recommend… If you enjoy Jason’s Trip then you might like to visit City Cruises (catch a tube from Warwick Avenue to Westminster), Uber Boat by Thames Clippers (Warwick Avenue to Waterloo) and Thames River Sightseeing (Warwick Avenue to Westminster). You might like to spend the afternoon in Little Venice. Or you could try this boat trip on foot with our self-guided walk down the Regent's Canal. If you like canal boats then check out the London Canal Museum

The author Craig Cross owns city-guide.london and has spent the last decade reviewing the capital’s landmarks, attractions and hotels. His guidebook London Squire is available from Amazon

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