St. Katharine Docks

I came here by chance a few weeks ago and have since started working nearby. It’s a mix of commercial and residential property, with a vast array of shops (mostly food) — with tapas, sush, Italian turkish etc. It’s one of the few places which looks good, no matter the weather.

Having never been in this part of London (as a Londoner) I was really pleasantly surprised by this little pocket by the Tower of London. Has a south of France feel (although probably a lot colder!) with the boats docked in the water and the array of restaurants to choose from. I’ll definitely be back around here soon — although maybe more in the summer months!

I popped into the café with my parents during one of their visits to London, after stumbling across it during our wander through the docks. I can’t comment on its main menu choices, but for a drink and a cake I’d definitely recommend a visit.
We’d actually had lunch earlier but skipped dessert, so were specificially looking for sweet treats. I had a chocolate orange tart which was excellent — although, so chocolatey that I had to save half of it for when I got home! I also tried a bit of my Dad’s Red Velvet cake which was pretty perfect, and my Mum’s carrot cake has an ACTUAL ICING CARROT on top.
The slice sizes for the cakes were really impressive, and the service was quick and easy. I’d definitely pay another visit to St Katharine Docks Café if I was in the area!

Lovely spot to escape the hassle and bustle of the city… The dock is home to several restaurants and bars making It pleasant and lively to visit at any time of the day. In summer you can relax on one of the benches soaking up the sun while seeing how the boats enter and exit the dock via the working lock.

When you are strolling around the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, you must go there. It is right next to these two over touristic places and will allow you for a nice break for the crowd.
The first half is where you will find quite a number of people seating while eating, there are some street food stalls. Most people stop there and don’t go further.
Just cross the first small bridge and you will arrive in the main marina, its luxurious yachts and the Dickens’ Inn where you can have a drink to restore your energy!
You will make a full tour of the place in 15 minutes and they are definitively worth it.

So, this place isn’t cool because it’s a dock with nice boats, it’s cool because it’s a dock with nice boats hidden in London. If you walk along the pier of San Francisco or Portugal, you can see lots of yachts, but the fact that London isn’t a coastal city, and these docks are right downtown, well, that’s something to enjoy.
Definitely recommend taking a stroll here, but don’t make it your first stop if you are showing tourist friends around. I’d say make it one of your last stops, since they need to see and feel London, to appreciate the docks.

The food market every Friday is AMAZING.
Really good quality food, which can be enjoyed in the lovely scenic docks.
It has everything from Fish and Chips (great quality, not too greasy) to paella, Ethiopian (my personal favorite), Jamaican, Haggis, pork pies and the BIGGEST cookies I have ever seen.
Generally 6 quid will get you a good meal, and the quality tends to be very good street food.
Perfect to spend a summer lunch: we migrate to their from our office almost every Friday!

St Katharine’s Docks would get their 5^th star if the chain venues were replaced with independent places instead. Gorgeous surroundings and a peaceful spot right next to one of the busiest parts of town. If you’re a tourist this place is definitely worth a visit :)

The first time I found St Katherine’s Docks was purely by chance. We were walking around the Tower of London late on a Sunday evening. Having just finished the very last episode of The Tudors, we wanted to let the show live on by walking around the centrepiece of the show.
As we walked under the Tower Bridge arches, not quite ready to head home, I saw a sign for the Docks in a little corner of the buildings. I convinced my partner to check it out with me, and we were amazed!
The docks are now one of my favourite spots to walk around. With the exception of that hideous-​looking hotel that overtakes the view of the bridge, the Docks are great to grab a coffee, sit down for dinner or walk around.

I do love this place. I worked for ten years round the corner, so I watched as it was built up and the restuarants and bars moved in. It can get absolutely packed in the summer evenings at the end of the week — the crowd is mostly business/​suits as it’s a bit out of the way for tourists (even being just over the road from the tower!)
My favourite places:
Mala — best (and only!) Indian — really nice food, great service.
Dickens Inn — go upstairs for pizza and sit on the balcony looking out over the boats.
Ping Pong — often ignored, but actually very very good. usually the last restaurant to fill up.
Cote — very reasonable and good quality.
Go for a walk around the whole complex and you could do one course each at three/​four different places! Definitely finish up at Café Rouge for pudding!
Also, visit at night — it’s stunningly pretty with all the lights on the trees and the boats.

Very cute area to walk around and see the sights. Beautiful boats, coffee, river views. What’s not to like?

A beautiful relaxing way to spend a weekend afternoon. Some nice boats to look at, sensible restaurants including a quite interesting Starbucks pavilion. It feels strange to find a place like this in the middle of London, it’s secluded location perfecting keeping the place away from the majority of tourists. Come by at dusk or night for some stunning views.

The docks themselves are lovely — it’s a really excellent oasis of calm in an otherwise pretty busy part of town. They’re easy to get to and surrounded by quite a few pubs and eateries, with a Waitrose just a few minutes away.
Downsides:
The decking can be incredibly slippery when it’s frosty. Parts of the decking are rough and you have firm footing but other parts are just smooth wood which is what creates a slippery surface. If you slip you’re straight in the water which must be pretty vile.
The shower/​toilet facility leaves much to be desired. It’s freezing as the fan heaters don’t seem to do much more than blow out cold air, and the showers are the joyful combination of poor water pressure, never getting very hot, and going quite cold after about 5 minutes.
I don’t have much dock experience to compare St Katharine’s to, but it seemed on the «meh» side of A-​OK to me.

I was missing London today, so I will indulge and write my memories of this lovely area! How I have missed it, for as many times as I have been to the Tower, is beyond me, but I did, until a team retreat to London where I was asked to be in charge of the logistics… including food (thanks to Unilocal!). If the boss is going to make us be together and do work things all weekend, I’m at least going to enjoy my meals on the company dime! So we spent the morning at the Tower then we walked to St Katharine Docks. How lovely! And what a surprise! I kind of felt like I was in another city. It is beautiful! Work BFF and I looked at each other and both said, «Super cute!» Clearly we have been missing out… of course after that I ended up here a lot… including one of those awful, awkward dates from an online dating website. At least the setting was lovely, almost makes you forget how much awkward is happening.
We ate at one of the restaurants over looking the docks (Ping Pong), although clearly even my British colleagues had trouble finding the place as a few of us were sitting there waiting for some time, wondering if they were lost… in the Tower (cue evil cackle). Eventually they all found it. And of course there were very polite, «Oh, this is splendid» or «Lovely indeed» comments… which, knowing them, I can translate to, «Super cute!» As far as driving there, good luck, but walking there is a cinch and you should definitely make your friends go for drinks or dinner here. Or if your boss is mandating that you spend a weekend with the co-​workers, that you already spend 24 hours a day with, take over and book a lunch here… or you can use it to retreat from them ;) Either way, you won’t regret it.

I very much adore this destination in the capital, and generally I don’t talk about it with people who don’t already know it exists, simply because it’s MY secret haven within MY vivacious city and I don’t want the likes of you spoiling it.
However because I’m nice…
To being, learn the lingo and look like a pro. Most will say, ‘St. Katharine’s Dock’ but her true name is ‘St. Katharine Docks.’ See the difference? St. Katharine is her name with no claim or ownership to the docks themselves, unlike Henry’s poor wife Kathryn H whom I believe very much did make her docks her own and wore them as her final accessory, I might add.
Also, don’t look like a numbty by doing your ‘How to ind it” research before you get there. If you’ve never been or haven’t been in a while, it’s easy to forget where it is. Take your significant other by the hand and walk them out of Tower Hill station, past the old city wall, down the underpass and burst out at the docks! What a legend! I can hear the brownie point tinkling in like a winning fruit machine in Vegas!
Don’t on the other hand, select this as a romantic meeting place for a first date if 1, your date has never been there before and 2, the London Olympic marathon happens to be running right past it, so all the surrounding roads are blocked off and a rather elaborate detour is in place, causing your perspective new beau to be 43 minutes late!

The area: astonishing views of water, boats, tower bridge; a marina within a city. Will make you question what London is.
The experience: peaceful, calm, safe, intriguing, tasteful. When the sun sets, the water turns red, when it’s dark, the walkways light up and you feel like you’re on some dock of centuries past. Little bridges take you across the three separate water basins. Plenty of camera opportunities, whether it’s sunny, overcast, dark or wet.
Good for: picnics when it’s ‘warm’, sitting on a bench and making out, taking a little walking tour with your parents, going for a coffee Saturday afternoon.
The Bad: most establishment are chains: in the entrance area by the bridge: Ping Pong, Café Rouge, and about four other chains. It’s terribly sad and unfortunate, but it’s a London problem, not a local one. Subtract one star for that.
As a NYC transplant, I have to request that we all stage an uprising against any chain restaurants /​coffee establishments, and then boycott them.
Happy yachting, comrades.
Just leave the Waitrose (across the street on the Thomas More St. entrance to the Docks) alone.

Juste au pied de Tower Bridge cette Marina est parfaite pour une balade reposante alors qu’on est juste a cote de la City. On y voit de beaux voiliers et on a pas l’impression d’etre a Londres.

Han pasado 37 años de estas dos fotografías que incluyo. Hay diferencia?, el velero ya no está, ahora hay yates, pero el reloj continúa en el lugar.

Looking for a sunny day spot to meander or simply chill out? It would be hard to beat St Katharine Docks: on the river with excellent views of Tower Bridge with moored boats bobbling and sunlight twinkling on the ripples.
There’s a wealth of pubs and restos nearby (mostly of the meh variety but some good ones can be found) as well as the Tower of London and the continuation of the Thames Path.
Photo opportunities abound in this very London-​y and fairly central place that seems nevertheless to be removed from the fray of London life.

I should have been a sailor. Popeye, Captain Jack Sparrow, One-​eyed Willy (think The Goonies) — I’d be down with their rum drinking, treasure plundering and women chasing. Okay maybe just the rum drinking but still I think there is a sailor in me, which is why I like this place so much.
I actually came down here to dream about a houseboat I want to buy but when I arrived I was totally surprised to see it was full of beautiful boats with a few bustling bars close by. It was like we’d left London for a second. Anyway the boats are beautiful, expensive and there for you to gawp at. I can imagine that it’s a lovely place to wander around on a sunny day, or even sit and read a good book.
Don’t just walk by this London gem, have a look!

My parents used to take me to St Katherine’s Dock all the time when I was little, but I went recently and it was totally disappointing.
A good place to go if you like looking at expensive yachts, barges and the occasional medium-​sized ship, but there isn’t really anything else of any interest (apart from a sailing rope shop which is quite cool)
They restored the original, historical buildings in the marina, which are impressive to look at, but filled them up with rubbish themed Tudor banquet restaurants and naf traditional English pubs. They have beefeaters walking around– enough said.

A yacht marina smack dab in the middle of the city… strolling its wooden plank boardwalks, you feel like you’re in some swank seaport… not at all like you’re wandering an area of London that’s just a stone’s throw from Tower Hill.
This place is a true buried gem… anytime I feel the need for a short escape from London’s standard vistas, I come here. And it really does feel like a yacht club… lovely white boats with mast skeletons all lined up… row after row of liners with wooden and brass embellishments and names like «Mercedes Waterlust»… complete with picturesque pathways and bridges to get from one dock to another.
Along these rustic timber lanes are also shops… there’s Starbucks, of course, but also ping pong and Café Rouge, along with a few more independent establishments, including the darling Dickens Inn, which I’ve been meaning to try.
It’s really hard to describe how charming and refreshing this relatively overlooked part of London is… St. Katharine’s feels like a real getaway from London… yet there it is, right at the foot of Tower Bridge — like most of the best things in life, hidden right under your nose.

Diese Marina liegt direkt im Zentrum von London. Man hat die Tube vor der Nase, man kommt schnell und bequem überall hin. Der Yachthafen selbst ist natürlich auch ein Ausstellungsstück und Besuchermagnet.
Sanitärcontainer gint es leider nur in 2 der drei Hafenbecken. Allerings sind die Waschräume wirklich luxoriös. In jeder Kabine hat man Toilette, Dusche und Waschbecken für sich allein.
Klar das man für diesen luxoriösen Yachthafen auch anständig zahlen.

St Katherine’s Dock
Les quais, les petites boutiques (plutôt chères), les superbes bateaux et une belle auberge avec une façade fleurie: c’est très joli.