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Tuesday 10am - 4:30pm Wednesday 10am - 4:30pm Thursday 10am - 4:30pm Friday 10am - 4:30pm Saturday 10am - 4:30pm Sunday 10am - 4:30pm

London Canal Museum

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London Canal Museum

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London's museum of inland waterways and the former ice trade in an old waterside former ice warehouse
(352)

The museum is open Tuesdays to Sundays and Hank Holiday Mondays 10.am to 4.40pm, last entry 4.0pm

14/10/2026

Halloween on the water, three times a day 🎃

Join us aboard our narrowboat Long Tom for a 50-minute trip through the Islington Tunnel, with Halloween lights, scary stories, a hot drink and a spooky biscuit. Trips depart at 11:00, 12:00 and 14:00 on 29, 30 and 31 October 2026.

The tunnel is the longest canal tunnel in London at 960 yards, with no towpath and no lighting, and a museum guide will explain how boats got through it before engines arrived.

Back at the museum, our Top Ten Trail takes on a ghostly twist for the season, and children can play shopkeeper in our ice cream role-play area. But beware. Parents, will you discover a creepy crawly lurking in your ice cream pot?

Your boat ticket includes museum admission, so the trail and the role-play area are covered too.

Adult £17.50, concession £15.50, child £11.25. Every passenger needs a ticket, however young.

Long Tom holds just twelve seats and tickets book fast. Full access information is on the booking page.

Book your trip for 29, 30 or 31 October: lcm.me.uk/hw

08/10/2026

Afternoon tea, with a spooky difference 🫖 👻

Join us aboard our narrowboat Long Tom for a trip with scones, shockingly pale cream and blood-dripping jam, travelling through the unlit Islington Tunnel, the longest canal tunnel in London at 960 yards. The whole trip takes about eighty minutes and departs at 15:00 on 29, 30 and 31 October 2026.

Expect scary stories and Halloween lights whilst you're in the tunnel. A museum guide will explain how boats got through before engines arrived. There's no towpath, so two men would lie on their backs on planks and walk the boat along the tunnel walls with their feet, in the dark, the whole way.

There are twelve seats and a guide on each trip, and we only run one Scream Tea a day across the three days. Book your space soon.

Adult £26.75, concession £24.50, child £19.50. Museum admission is included.

Long Tom isn't step-free. Full access information is on the booking page.

Book your Scream Tea for 29, 30 or 31 October: lcm.me.uk/hw

07/10/2026

🎭 Spend an evening of live variety entertainment inside the former ice warehouse built for Carlo Gatti, the ‘Ice King of London’.

Gatti developed a large business importing natural ice from Norway. Yet ice was only part of the family story. Carlo and other members of the Gatti family were also involved in London music halls, including venues around Charing Cross.

On Saturday 21 November, the New Players’ Theatre Company will recreate a Victorian music hall inside the London Canal Museum.

Expect songs, comedy and speciality acts, performed close to the audience in the museum’s first-floor gallery.

The ground-floor exhibitions open at 18:00, the bar opens at 18:30 and the show starts at 19:30.

🎟️ Tickets start at £16: https://f.mtr.cool/d6i1xd2738

06/10/2026

Halloween Family Fun Day at the London Canal Museum, Tuesday 27th October. October half-term is three weeks away, and this is one to put in the diary now 🎃

The day has four parts:
First, the boat trip: board Long Tom and head out along Regent's Canal to St Pancras Lock. On the way, you'll hear ghost stories told on the water, with Halloween decorations throughout the boat. 🕷️
Back at the museum, the craft workshop takes on an underwater twist — design, cut, and build your own spooky creature to take home.
The museum's popular Top Ten Trail gets a Halloween makeover, with hidden surprises at every turn.
And young visitors can take over the ice cream role-play area — parents, just be warned about what might be lurking at the bottom of the pot.

Your ticket includes:
• A Halloween canal trip on Long Tom, with ghost stories along the way 👻
• A craft workshop to design and build your own spooky underwater creature
• A Halloween makeover of the Top Ten Trail, with spooky surprises
• Ice cream role play — parents, be warned about what might be lurking at the bottom of the pot

Our Halloween boat trips are very popular, and spaces are strictly limited.
Children £5.50 · Adults (16+) £10.50
🎟️ Book your place: canalmuseum.org.uk/whatson/family-fun-days.htm

21/09/2026

It's another . These marks are on Macclesfield Bridge, which carries a road over the Regent’s Canal beside Regent’s Park. They were worn into its iron columns by tow ropes.

But why are some of the marks on the side where tow ropes would no longer run?

Add your answer in the comments, and we’ll explain the marks later this week 🔎.

Photos: ©️Charlie Forman

18/09/2026

🚧 The lift which takes guests from our mezzanine to the first floor is currently out of order, with a new part arriving early next week.

We anticipate it'll be back to normal service from Tuesday, 22 September.

The lift from our ground floor to the mezzanine continues to work, and there is no impact on access to our wharf for boat trips.

17/09/2026

🎭 Join us for an exciting evening of live variety entertainment on Saturday 21 November.

We clear away the exhibitions on our first floor and create a unique performance space inside the former ice warehouse built for Carlo Gatti, the ‘Ice King' of London. Gatti developed a large business importing natural ice from Norway. Yet ice was only part of the family story. Carlo and other members of the Gatti family were also involved in London music halls.

The New Players’ Theatre Company perform a Victorian music hall, like you would have seen at Gatti's music halls in Westminster or Charing Cross. Featuring songs, comedy and speciality acts, performed close to the audience.

The ground-floor exhibitions open at 18:00, the bar opens at 18:30, and the show starts at 19:30.

🎟️ Tickets start at £16: https://f.mtr.cool/nbh589vfe9

15/09/2026

If you visited us today or yesterday for our Heritage Open Days events, thank you - we hope you enjoyed your visit.

📋 Your feedback is important to us; please let us know how your visit went by completing a short survey on the Heritage Open Days website: https://f.mtr.cool/ycugi56nzt Completing the survey will enter you into a prize draw - full Ts and Cs on the above website.

14/09/2026

🧊 From frozen Norwegian lakes to the streets of Victorian London…

Today and tomorrow, 14 & 15 September, you can discover the extraordinary journey of natural ice – and explore the London Canal Museum for free as part of .

For almost 50 years, our building was used to store ice imported from Norway. Follow its journey from frozen Norwegian lakes, across the North Sea and along London’s canals, before it reached Carlo Gatti’s ice carts on the streets of Victorian London.

Across both today and tomorrow, we'll be running Norwegian Ice Tours. The tours take place on the museum’s ground floor and are suitable for adults and older children. There’s no need to book – just meet us on the wharf at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm.

📅 Monday 14 & Tuesday 15 September
🕙 Museum open 10 am – 4.30 pm
🎟️ Free entry for everyone
🧊 Norwegian Ice Tours on both days
📍 London Canal Museum, King’s Cross

Whether you’re fascinated by London’s history, have passed us many times but never been inside, or simply fancy discovering somewhere different, this is a great opportunity to explore.

Admission is completely free. As an independent charity, donations are always welcome if you’re able to support us, but there’s no obligation to give, and every visitor is equally welcome to enjoy our exhibits.

10/09/2026

Our free digital guide includes audio, video and stories that enhance your museum visit. It auto-translates into over 50 languages; opens on your phone with nothing to download, but it still can't beat you exploring the museum in person.

Coronis is half a narrowboat, built in 1935 by Harland and Wolff (the same company that built the Titanic in Belfast), sitting on the ground floor of the museum. You can explore the cabin and learn about how a family of five lived, cooked and slept in a very small space. Use the digital guide to hear William and Tom talk about how families would sleep on board in cramped conditions, and how bathing meant a dip in the canal!

Similarly with the ice wells - view these from our ground floor, and you get a sense of the scale, then explore our digital guide to learn how ice was transported from Norway to London with historic images. There's also a link in the ice well section of the digital guide to view and control our camera in the ice wells.

Plan a visit at canalmuseum.org.uk, or check out our free digital guide first: https://f.mtr.cool/dr8nnv6zfr

Address

12-13 New Wharf Road
London
N19RT

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	10am - 4:30pm
Thursday	10am - 4:30pm
Friday	10am - 4:30pm
Saturday	10am - 4:30pm
Sunday	10am - 4:30pm

Website

https://t.mtrbio.com/lcm, https://www.canalmuseum.org.uk/

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