Italian restaurant near Camley Street Natural Parka canalside nature reserve behind King's Cross, 17 minutes from Fiena

Until the 17th century this land was part of the Middlesex woodlands. In the 18th century it turned industrial, and the Regent's Canal was built along its eastern edge. In the 19th century it held coal chutes, first for the canal and then for the Midland Railway. By the 1970s the site was derelict.

In 1984 Camden Council asked the young London Wildlife Trust to look after it, and the park opened in 1985. It closed for rebuilding in December 2017 and reopened in September 2021, and a new cafe and learning centre opened in 2022. The Trust still runs it today. The Mayor of London's Biodiversity Strategy holds it up as proof that "a valuable wildlife space can be created from nothing".

• A small, wild strip: 0.8 hectares, about 2 acres, between the canal, Camley Street and Goods Way, by St Pancras Lock and St Pancras Basin. You go in through an ornate gate on Camley Street.
• Lots of habitats: a summer meadow, ponds, marshland with a reed bed, coppiced and mixed woodland, and a dipping pond with a boardwalk.
• Wildlife: over 300 higher plants have been recorded, including common spotted orchids, and marsh-nesting birds such as reed buntings, moorhens, coots and reed warblers.
• For families: pond dipping and wildlife-watching sessions for children.

Admission is free. Since 2017, the Somers Town Bridge has linked Camley Street across the canal to the new Gasholder Gardens. Background from Wikipedia's Camley Street Natural Park page. Opening times can change, so check the London Wildlife Trust's website before you go.

It's about 1.3 kilometres, around 17 minutes on foot (walking route from OpenStreetMap), heading south past King's Cross and St Pancras stations and across Euston Road to Judd Street. Making a day of it around the canal? See our posts on Granary Square and Coal Drops Yard, Kings Place, the London Canal Museum and St Pancras Old Church.

Morning: breakfast runs from 08:00 to 14:00, with coffee all day. Try the Fiena English breakfast, the Granola bowl or the Classic Benedict. See breakfast until 2pm.

Lunch: the main menu starts at midday. A Pizza Margherita, the Linguine Fiena with chicken, mushrooms and cream, or a Goat cheese salad after a morning outdoors. When the weather's kind, sit on our terrace on Judd Street.

Evening: the kitchen serves until 22:00 Monday to Saturday and 21:00 on Sunday, with cocktails and Italian wines from the bar. Bringing the children after pond dipping? See family-friendly dining, and if the dog came too, dog-friendly dining.

Guests often find us on the way to or from the stations. Ryan described us as a quiet little restaurant near St Pancras station. (Ryan, Google review) Celia called us A hidden gem not far from Kings Cross or Euston (Celia, Google review), and James, in for dinner on a Friday night, mentioned the Friendly welcoming staff, delicious food (James, Google review)

“The coffee is excellent, the staff are friendly and professional”

Loredana, Google review, 2026