No real industry remains on the canal banks to speak of, although there are the inevitable technology parks with their fountains and atria to consider. But now Sainsbury and Tesco have realised that people on boats have to buy food too, and in many places there are moorings specifically at supermarkets for hungry boaters.

Of course, in a place like London, with property prices the way they are, a lot of people have been quick to snap up long-term or even permanent moorings and use a boat as a cheap place to live. Some of these floating dwellings aren't really boats at all, more like sheds or portacabins, but they float, so I suppose they qualify as houseboats. You wouldn't want to go to sea in them though.

As you pass through suburbs such as Southall, there is of course the lingering aroma of curry and onion baghi in the air, incidentally one of my favourite names for a boat. It's difficult to see whether these mouth-watering temptations come from factories, houses or restaurants though, because much of the time the canal runs in cuttings below the level of the street.

Except, of course, when it emerges as an aqueduct high over the A40 North Circular Road. Great fun to see all the people struggling to get to A from B and to see just as many people trying to get from B to A.. Why don't they just swap houses?

Later on, you pass the back of Kensal Green Cemetery, where many famous people lie at rest, a timely reminder to live life to the full, as you'll be dead a long time.

And then you arrive at Little Venice. Restaurants, art galleries, waterbuses, houseboats, and a lovely lagoon with weeping willow trees casting a peaceful cool shade over all. See the Gallery.

From there, the Regent's Canal takes you on a trip around Regent's Park, and even through the middle of London Zoo, right by the aviary. OK, further on it gets a bit on the crappy side, particularly through Camden Town, but the busy streets bustle on their way, and the occasional cyclist and more frequent drunk add to the picture of cosmopolitan life.

A lock gate had collapsed on the first occasion I passed through this way, so I had to take a detour around Hatton cut, but that was no bad thing. The Regents Canal picks its way into Limehouse through Tower Hamlets, and the iron grilles on the doors and windows of the flats tell their own story.

But what a finale. Limehouse basin has now become the Jewel in the Crown, of the waterways network. 20 storey apartment blocks surround the basin, all overlooking the boats and yachts that fill this surprising place which is run by the Cruising Association for British Waterways. For £15 a night you can moor your boat, have hot showers, laundry facilities, a library and bar, and plan the next leg of your round-the-world or round-the-British Isles trip. See the Gallery.

Come to London, Come by boat. It's better than by any other means.

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