Offbeat Attractions near King’s Cross: Museums, Galleries, and Quirky Sights

King’s Cross station is one of the major railway hubs of London and a station that welcomes more than 30 million passengers every year. Famous as the place where Harry Potter set off on his journey to Hogwarts, the station may not have the same magic for us Muggles, but it is a crucial part of the public transportation infrastructure for the UK capital and beyond.

It’s also ideally located to explore some of London’s top attractions. Located next to major cultural institutions like the British Library and the British Museum, the station is the ideal gateway for anyone wanting to explore the intellectual life of this world city.

But London is a city that rewards repeat exploration. No matter how many times you’ve been to the city, and even if you live there permanently, there’s always something new to discover. Along with the major and well-known tourist attractions you’ll find in this area, there are plenty of quirkier spots that are well worth seeing.

Pro-tip! You can drop off your bags near King’s Cross Station luggage storage location, and you’ll be able to explore the lesser-known side of this part of London. Traveling light is the best way to make sure you have a more enjoyable trip, so leave your belongings behind in safety and check out some of these interesting locations.

London Canal Museum

Canals were absolutely vital to the growth of British industry during the Industrial Revolution. Before the invention of railways, canals were the best way to move cargo up and down the country, transporting raw materials to factories and bringing finished products back to sell around the world. Even after the creation of railways, canals continued to be important to British trade until road transport replaced them.

As the capital city of the UK and one of its major ports, London has a dense network of canals, and you can learn more about the history of these waterways at the London Canal Museum. Located right next to King’s Cross station, this museum lets you look inside the cabin of a narrow boat and learn more about the people and animals that worked and lived on these waterways. The museum also preserves the 19th-century icehouse established by a famous ice cream maker. This is a fascinating place to learn more about the industrial history of London and of the UK.

Foundling Museum

Just a short walk from King’s Cross station, this Bloomsbury museum tells the story of the UK’s very first children’s charity.

The Foundling Hospital was established in 1739 by Thomas Coram to house foundlings, a term then in use for abandoned children. The hospital functioned as a care home for children whose parents could not take care of them and was in operation for almost 200 years. Now, the site of the hospital is a museum to this important work, but the charity Coram founded is still going strong, providing important services to at-risk youth in London. The stories you’ll hear in this museum are often sad, but it’s good to know that there are people out there working to take care of vulnerable kids.

Word on the Water

This delightful bookshop is a great place to do some browsing or take a seat in a comfy chair and get some reading done. Word on the Water takes advantage of the dense network of canals around King’s Cross to provide a unique floating bookstore. You never know what you may find among the crowded shelves here, and it’s easy to lose yourself surrounded by so many books. Plus, this quirky bookstore also presents a great photo opportunity for your social media feeds.

Joseph Grimaldi Park

London is a city that is blessed with hundreds of parks, from the huge and famous to the small and obscure. Many of those parks were once graveyards that have been converted to public space, and that fact has made this relatively unknown park a site of pilgrimage for a particular subculture.

You don’t normally associate clowns with graveyards outside the context of a horror movie. But this park is the final resting place of Joseph Grimaldi, a 19th-century clown who is generally credited with inventing the modern form of clowning. Don’t miss the coffin-shaped bronze plaques on the floor that make musical notes when stood on; they are designed to be able to play Hot Codlins, a song Grimaldi made famous during his lifetime.

And if you’re lucky enough to visit on the first Sunday in February, you may witness the annual memorial service for Grimaldi that is attended by clowns from around the world in full costume. It’s a truly surreal spectacle to see clowns performing in a graveyard and something you’re never likely to see anywhere else.

Myddleton Passage graffiti

London is a city steeped in history, and you don’t need to go to its famous museums to encounter it. Take a stroll down Myddleton Passage, just under a mile from King’s Cross station, and check out the graffiti carved into the brick walls.

During the Victorian era, this poorly-lit passageway was a hotbed of crime. This led to increased police presence, and it’s the policeman, not the criminals, who carved names and numbers into the walls here. The police would inscribe their collar number and the division they worked in, which in most cases was G division based out of King’s Cross.

The tradition of policemen leaving their mark died out around the time of the First World War, and over time this area of London was cleaned up. But the marks the cops made are still there today to remind sharp-eyed passersby of an intriguing part of local history.

Explore the quirky side of London

London’s top attractions, such as the British Museum, are well worth visiting. But once you’ve seen these famous places, there’s so much more to explore in the British capital. Leave your bags behind and check out some of these lesser-known but still interesting attractions to immerse yourself in the history of the city.