Little Venice: A Boat to Camden for 17 Pounds, and a Floating Theatre With Adult Nights

Little Venice is the one part of London where a seventeen pound ticket buys you a boat to Camden Market, through a tunnel, past the zoo, in forty five minutes. The London Waterbus Company runs the Regent’s Canal between Little Venice and Camden Market in either direction, and an adult ticket is 17 pounds. That is the whole case for coming, and it is a better one than most of the lists make.

The second case is that the canal basin is the only place in the city with a floating theatre, and the theatre runs evening events for adults as well as the children’s shows it is known for.

The boat to Camden

The trip takes about 45 minutes, depending on canal traffic and tunnel waits. Adult tickets are 17 pounds for ages 17 to 59, and 14 pounds for children aged 4 to 16, students aged 17 and over, and seniors aged 60 and over. Infants aged 0 to 3 are free, though a child or infant ticket needs an adult ticket selected first.

There are two boats and they are different. The Classic historic narrowboat has live guided commentary in English, forward facing seats and no tables. The Comfort cruiser is a wide barge with booth seating, tables, music, and a licensed bar serving coffee and soft drinks, but no guided tour. If you want the history, take the narrowboat. If you want a drink and a table, take the barge.

The route goes through Regent’s Park, along the edge of London Zoo, and through the 248 metre Maida Hill tunnel, which the operator describes as echoey. Every boat has slide opening windows. Arrive 10 minutes before departure, because check in closes five minutes before the boat leaves, and a ticket is fully refundable up to 24 hours before but not for a missed trip.

One correction to a common assumption: the waterbus does not stop at London Zoo. It passes through the zoo’s grounds and stops at Camden Market, which is a 15 minute walk from the zoo. If the zoo is the point of the day, its own page has the prices and the winter hours that begin on 24 October.

The operator also runs a 90 minute cheese tasting cruise with Pick and Cheese on Sunday 15 November at 4pm, with five British cheeses and their accompaniments, from 35 pounds.

The Puppet Theatre Barge

The Puppet Theatre Barge calls itself the UK’s only floating puppet theatre, with 40 years of puppetry on a converted barge. It moves between Richmond and Little Venice, and as at 13 October 2026 it is moored in Little Venice for the winter season.

Its own listings run Anansi & The Lost Sun on 17 and 18 October for ages 3 to 7, The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse from 24 October to 15 November for the same ages, and The Three Little Wolves from 28 November to 7 February for ages 4 to 10. Evening events at 7.30pm include Arabic jazz on 22 October, Greek rebetiko on 29 October, live magic and drag on 6 and 7 November, and Christmas jazz on 4 and 11 December.

The children’s shows are the main programme, with age bands of 3 to 7 and 4 to 10, but the Little Venice season also has evening events for adults at 7.30pm. Amena, Arabic jazz, on 22 October. Tip the Waiter, Greek rebetiko music, on 29 October. The Great Divinator, a live magic and drag show, on 6 and 7 November. And Beth Aggett and Billy Marrows’ Grandinha Familia, jazz with a Christmas turn, on 11 December. It is a registered charity, number 276527.

Getting there, and where to drink

Warwick Avenue on the Bakerloo line is the station for the basin. The Prince Alfred, a short walk away in Maida Vale, is on our pubs page, and a canal walk toward Regent’s Park ends at the zoo and Primrose Hill.

The boat finishes at Camden Market, and the rest of Camden is around it.

Where to go next

London Zoo is the other end of the walk, and Camden Market is where the boat stops.

The best pubs in London covers the Prince Alfred, and the best parks covers Regent’s Park, which the canal runs along.