Camden and Primrose Hill: markets, music and the canal

About Camden and Primrose Hill: markets, music and the canal

By the ULTIMATE London Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

North of the Regent’s Park, Camden Town grew around the canal and the railways; today its markets and music venues draw visitors from around the world, while Primrose Hill and Little Venice offer calmer streets and water.

The canal and the railway

The Regent’s Canal, completed in 1820, linked the Grand Union Canal at Little Venice with the Thames at Limehouse, and Camden grew up around its locks and wharves. The railways followed: the Roundhouse at Chalk Farm was built in 1846–47 as an engine shed for the London & North Western Railway, and the old stables and warehouses around the lock still give the area its industrial look.

Camden’s markets

The markets began in 1974 among the empty canal buildings at Camden Lock and spread into the old stables and railway arches nearby. Today Camden Market is a maze of stalls selling clothes, crafts and street food from around the world, busiest at weekends. Arrive in the morning to see it before the crowds.

Camden’s music halls have been rebuilt, renamed and reborn for more than a century.

Music in Camden

Camden has been a music district for generations. KOKO opened as a theatre in 1900 and became the Camden Palace nightclub before reopening in 2022; the Electric Ballroom has been a dance hall since 1938; the Jazz Cafe opened in a former bank in 1990; and the Roundhouse has staged concerts since the 1960s.

Primrose Hill and Little Venice

Across the railway, Primrose Hill rises about 63 metres above the Regent’s Park, with one of London’s best views of the skyline, and Regent’s Park Road below is a village street of pastel terraces and independent shops. To the west, Little Venice, where the canals meet, is lined with narrowboats, canalside cafés and the Puppet Theatre Barge.

Our advice: take a canal boat from Little Venice to Camden Lock in the morning, explore the market, then walk up Primrose Hill for the view at sunset and end the day with a gig in Camden.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Camden and Primrose Hill: markets, music and the canal before you go.