London Canal Museum

The London Canal Museum has exhibits about the history of London’s canals, which allowed London to benefit from the Industrial Revolution.

What to see at the London Canal Museum

The museum’s galleries have exhibitions about all aspects of waterways in the United Kingdom with an emphasis on London’s canal system.

You are able to see inside a narrowboat cabin and a recreated stable showing how the horses used to draw the canal barges where kept. The museum also has displays about the people who lived and worked on London’s canals and the goods that were transported by canal boat.

The London Canal Museum’s permanent galleries are complemented by a programme of temporary exhibitions that focus on a specific theme related to London’s waterways.

The museum is housed in an old Victorian ice warehouse, built by Carlo Gatti (who is credited as the first person to sell ice cream to the British public), which housed ice imported from Norway. Visitors to the museum are able to see the preserved ice wells that are located in the building’s basement.

The museum also runs a programme of activities including talks, guided walks along the canal towpaths and guided trips through the Islington Tunnel.

Visiting the London Canal Museum

The London Canal Museum is located on Battlebridge Basin (off Regent’s Canal) near the Kings Cross neighbourhood at the northern end of central London. It is a five-minute walk from Kings Cross St Pancras tube station.

The museum is fully wheelchair accessible.

Free admission is available to visitors with a valid London Pass.

You should allow between one and two hours for a visit and many people combine a visit with a canal boat trip between Little Venice and Camden (travellers with a London Pass can also get a free canal boat trip with Jason’s Original Canal Boat Trip).