Pub Walk - London Paddington Basin to Little Venice towpath WALKING TIPS walk time 30-40 minutes Walking times are approx, access point measured on an average distance 1.6km / 1 mile pub pace of two miles an hour. Regent’s Park (1.6km/1mile/30mins) parking Follow the water and enjoy walking at your own pace... waterbus stop but allow time to simply sit Warwick Avenue end al an and stare along the way. C bus stop ’s e nt u Walk one way and hop on a Maida Hill e en railway station g v bus for your return, or turn (1.2km/¾mile/25mins) e A R da around and walk back to ai London Underground M ng discover a different view. ddi ton Pa C e n t 3 r a l (15 mins) Little Venice W arwi ck Cres cent he Poin r T t Grand Union Canal e F C o a v fé o o b t Paddington Arm s 2 b o s r a i o d (10 mins) t 5 r g R C e o start (25 mins) A40 l y l i a w n t s A e W g 1 4 0 B 4 (6 mins) r i d ce ni g e N e Edgware Road V o le r (320m/350yds/5mins) t t t 4 h i L S W (20 mins) he ld on S h q u a a P r re 6 a f 0 d R 42 d d A in St Mary’s g t Bridge Fan Bridge o n Paddington Basin Ar d m rf Roa Wha South Paddington Station The Walk - Step by Step Walk into the soothing oasis of a parallel world hiding under the city’s nose. The Regent’s Canal keeps history contemporary with its unique zest that bonds architecture ahead of its time today, with architecture ahead of its time 200 years ago. Along the journey, for anyone interested in listening, the past will tell its story in the names of places such as Merchant Square, but the verve of the present bursts uninhibitedly from joggers, cyclists and coffee sippers. In this amble along the waterside city, rural wellies lie on boat rooftops with brightly coloured flowers planted in them. Even bridges aren’t just bridges, they are rolling and folding sculptures of function and flare. A smart stroll that is soothing, uplifting and thrilling all in one. CANAL: Paddington Arm Grand Union Canal, Step from the main road into Paddington Basin (end of the 4 Passing moored boats on both sides of the canal, you go Regent’s Canal Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal) and you are struck under another main road and enter the wide open pool of START by calm as sound changes to the trickle of fountains by the Little Venice, where the Regent’s Canal meets the Grand START: Paddington Basin floating flowers in the centre of the canal water, and the Union Canal, lined with boats and surrounded by white OS Grid ref: TQ270816 Postcode: W2 1JS occasional honk of geese. The Basin is surrounded by stucco-clad Regency houses. The small island in the middle is dazzling skyscrapers which seem only to accentuate the named Browning’s Island after poet Robert Browning who is FINISH: Little Venice quiet. Look out for the fan bridge across this end of the canal. thought to be the first to name the area Little Venice. Boat OS Grid ref: TQ262818 Postcode: W2 6DN Completed in 2014 with five ‘fans’ to open and close, it is as trips run from here, a boat café is moored at one end and much a sculpture as a functional footbridge, and is part of the there’s even a floating theatre boat. For most of the year, DISTANCE: 1.6km / 1 mile Paddington Public Art Trail. Little Venice is an oasis of calm, its gentle water bordered by (double if walk back to start) tree-lined roads and a quiet park, but that all changes in May 1 Keeping the canal to your left, follow the path past the pizza each year. Every May Bank Holiday, Little Venice goes mad, APPROX TIME: 30-40 minutes restaurant. Notice the bronze statue taking a seat in the with hoards turning up for the famous Canal Cavalcade, circular seating area here – Sir Simon Milton was Deputy organised by the Inland Waterways Association. Boats cram PUB: The Lockhouse canalside at Paddington Mayor of London under Boris Johnson, and was instrumental side by side, stalls line the waterside, and that special Basin, The Union canalside at Paddington in the regeneration of what is now Merchant Square. Continue waterside festival feeling grips the crowds. Central, The Bridge House by Westbourne past the self-hire boats and cross Rolling Bridge over a short Terrace Road Bridge inlet. The bridge’s eight sections are designed to ‘curl’ up 5 The towpath curves with the pool towards the permanent when it opens. mooring of a converted café barge. Just under the bridge, a PARKING: Car park at Paddington Station former tollhouse is now home to Canal & River Trust offices Postcode: W2 6AA, and Bell Street near 2 The shop and café with outdoor seats to your right look out and boat moorings stretch along either side of the canal. Edgware Road Postcode: NW1 5BZ over moored narrowboats along the canal to your left. Follow Head up the slope and across the Grade II-listed bridge to the path under a footbridge and round the bend in the canal, follow the towpath around Little Venice. TRAIN/BUS: and then cross over to the other side of the canal on the next Nearest train/Underground stations – footbridge. Just beyond a café there is the rear entrance to END Under the Grade II-listed Warwick Avenue Bridge and Paddington, Edgware Road & Warwick Avenue Paddington station, and even statues of Paddington himself. Junction House, the scene ahead is of moored boats on both National Rail Enquiries sides of the water, mirrored by terraces of Regency houses. Tel: 03457 484950 www.nationalrail.co.uk 3 More boats spread out in front as you walk under the main Some residential boat owners have developed canalside Transport for London road bridge. The Paddington Central area is alive with bars, gardens to such an extent that it’s become a haven of pots Tel: 0343 222 1234 www.tfl.gov.uk restaurants and cafés on and by the canal, with plenty of and wisteria. You could take a bus from here or stroll back the outdoor seating along the water to watch the world go by. way you came for another peek. There is open air table tennis under the A40 flyover and the intriguing bronze statues ‘Two Figures’, also part of the Public Art Trail. canalrivertrust.org.uk.