St Katharine Docks


Sitting in the shadow of Tower Bridge, this once-booming part of London's Docklands was built in 1828 by engineer-extraordinaire Thomas Telford. To make way for it, 1250 'insanitary' houses were razed and 11,300 people made homeless. The dock was badly bombed during WWII and was finally abandoned altogether in 1968. Its current incarnation, as a marina for luxury yachts, surrounded by cafes, restaurants and twee shops, dates from the 1980s.

It's the perfect starting point for a stroll along the Thames Path to Wapping and Limehouse.

Transportation

  • underground: Tower Hill

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Tower Bridge Exhibition

0.15 MILES

The inner workings of Tower Bridge can't compare with its exterior magnificence, but this geeky exhibition tries to bridge that gap with details of the…

2. Tower Bridge

0.18 MILES

It doesn't matter from where you first glimpse Tower Bridge, with two neo-Gothic towers rising gracefully from either side of the Thames: London's…

3. Tower of London

0.21 MILES

Few parts of the UK are as steeped in history or as impregnated with legend and superstition as the titanic stonework of the Tower of London. Not only is…

4. Trinity Square Gardens

0.33 MILES

This pleasant little park was the site of the Tower Hill scaffold, where a confirmed 125 people met their fate, including St Thomas More, St John Fisher…

5. City Hall

0.36 MILES

Home to the Mayor of London, the bulbous glass-clad City Hall was designed by Foster and Partners and opened in 2002. Visitor access is limited to the…

6. All Hallows by the Tower

0.37 MILES

The oldest church in the City, All Hallows has been a place of worship since 675 CE. It was spared in the Great Fire, but much of today's building is from…

7. St Olave's

0.43 MILES

St Olave’s was built in the mid-15th century and is one of the few churches to have survived the Great Fire. However, it was badly damaged by a bomb in…

8. HMS Belfast

0.44 MILES

HMS Belfast is a magnet for kids of all ages. This large, light cruiser – launched in 1938 – served in WWII, helping to sink the Nazi battleship Sand…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "england/london/the-east-end-and-docklands/attractions/st-katharine-docks/a/poi-sig/371729/1322020",
      "position": "superzone"
    }