St Katharine Docks
Central London's only marina, just east of Tower Bridge, built in 1828 to a Thomas Telford design and converted from a working commercial dock into a yacht-filled waterside quarter of shops, pubs and restaurants.
- Hidden gem
- Price: Free
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Did you know
It once handled luxury cargo: sugar, rum, spices, wine and tea, but couldn't take modern larger ships and was damaged in the Blitz, closing for good in 1968. Today's 185-berth marina is a direct conversion of that same dock basin, not a new build.
Local tip
It's an easy, free wander directly from Tower Bridge, so it's worth combining with a Tower of London or Tower Bridge visit rather than treating it as its own separate trip.
Finding it
- Address
- St. Katharine Docks, East Smithfield, Tower Hill, Wapping, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Greater London, England, E1W 1AJ
- Nearest station
- Tower Gateway DLR Station, 578 m away
Details change, so check with the place before you set off.
More places nearby
- Tower BridgeThe blue-and-white Victorian bascule bridge you can walk inside, with glass-floored high-level walkways about 42 metres above the Thames and the original steam engines in its Victorian engine rooms.
- Tower of LondonThe Norman fortress that grew into a royal palace and prison, still patrolled by Yeoman Warders and holding the Crown Jewels behind the White Tower.
- Wombat's City Hostel LondonA hostel in Tower Hamlets built inside a restored 19th-century seamen's shelter, a short walk from Tower Bridge and Shoreditch.
- Wilton's Music HallThe world's oldest surviving grand music hall, built in 1858 behind a row of Wapping terraced houses and still used today as a working theatre and performance venue.