Coal Drops Yard
A reborn Victorian coal depot behind King's Cross, free to wander, with curving canalside arches, independent shops and a fountain square where a thousand jets dance.
The lowdown
The land behind King's Cross was a forgotten tangle of Victorian rail and coal infrastructure until a vast regeneration turned it into one of London's most enjoyable free places to wander. At its heart is Coal Drops Yard, where the old buildings that once received the capital's coal have been reshaped, by the designer Thomas Heatherwick, into a curving street of shops under sweeping new roofs.
Right beside it, Granary Square opens onto the Regent's Canal, and its great draw is a fountain of more than a thousand individually lit jets that children and overheated adults run straight through on warm days. The wide canalside steps double as a free grandstand for watching the water and the boats.
You do not have to spend anything to enjoy it. The architecture, the canal, the fountains and the pocket parks tucked around the edges, including a tiny park inside an old gasholder frame, are all free, making it a brilliant unhurried hour by the water.
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