Places to visit in London: Riding the Thames

The river Thames as it flows through Central London

The river Thames is one of the most famous rivers in the world but unlike the majority of rivers that flow through major cities, the Thames weaves its way up, down, in and out of London before heading east into the North Sea at one end and heading deep into England’s interior in a westerly direction.

The stretch that captures most people image of the Thames is the sections that starts at the Houses of Parliament through to Tower Bridge, but let’s take a brief look what you will get for your money and a look at something rather special.

I simply cannot imagine a better way to see and learn about this beautiful historic city than taking a guided sightseeing tour along the River Thames. Whether it's your first time in London or you're a resident, there's always something new that can only be seen from the river.

Tickets can be purchased in advance online before you visit London and yes, you will save a little money but I would advise against advance ticket purchases. One reason is that you never know what the weather may be like and there’s nothing worst than sitting on a boat in a gale-force wind (unless you’re Popeye that is!) and there are so many things to do in London that your plans may change so be smart and use the river boats as a form of bus service.

My recommendations are to purchase tickets on the day you wish to sightsee at the riverside and consider saving money by combining the cruise with sightseeing at various stops such as the Tower of London and Greenwich. Also consider purchasing tickets that permits the use the boat for the entire day, getting on and off whenever you wish.

Nearly all tourists end up at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament at some point so if you walk down to the riverside just opposite Big Ben Westminster Pier) you will see all the cruise companies’ small offices where you can purchase tickets. The majority of sightseeing stops occur between Big Ben and Greenwich and some of the companies has slightly different agendas, but let me just highlight one of the largest cruise company agendas. The company is City Cruises and their website is http://www.citycruises.com/

The cruise has a number of stops along the way, any of which you can hop on and off the boat as many times as you like. Each stop takes about 5-10 minutes so you will have plenty of time to see the sights. When purchasing tickets be sure to take into account the length of time it will take to get from one end of the cruise to the other and timetables are always available.

The first stop of the cruise is Westminster Pier where it makes its way over to the foot of the London Eye (London Eye Pier).

Next stop is Tower Pier where you will see Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. On route the tour guide will normally be supplying you with lots of facts but with a Londoner’s sense of humor. From the Tower Pier it’s a long ride down to Greenwich where you will find the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Meridian Line, and the inspirational architecture of Sir Christopher Wren at the Old Royal Naval College.

The boats are sturdy and clean, with fully equipped toilets and a small bar where you can purchase food and drink. However the prices are normally ‘tourist’ prices so many people will just carry on their own food and beverages. If it’s a sunny day make your way up to the top deck and enjoy a small picnic while the city floats past you. Be warned though that on sunny days you will get a fair suntan while sitting up top.

The cruises are a pleasant way to see London and if you get a good tour guide you will learn some very interesting facts along the way in an informal and amusing manner.

But recently there have been two special additions to the Thames sightseeing line-up.

The first is duck tours which use old WWII amphibious trucks. These DUKWs were originally used in World War II to carry supplies from ships to points on land but are now being used in several cities throughout the world as tourist attractions.

I think this quote from the official duck-tours website says it all:

“A Duck Tour is an absolutely unique sightseeing tour. Not only are you rewarded with a live guided tour of the City of Westminster by road, passing landmarks such as Trafalgar Square, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, you are also treated to an unforgettable trip along the river, without ever leaving the comfort of your seat! Nothing compares to the thrill of driving from the road straight into the Thames.”

Advance booking for these tours is essential and during the summer season you need to book early. You can get more information from http://www.londonducktours.co.uk/

The second unique tour is one which I would recommend to anyone – the Thames RIB Experience – basically power boating on the Thames! My wife and I took one of these tours recently and it was the highlight of our visit. The staff on board was great and when you’re not holding on for dear life you are in fits of laughter.

The RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) tour starts and stops from the foot of the London Eye and capacity for only 12 passengers at a time, again advance booking is highly recommended. This tour starts off heading west along the Thames past the Houses of Parliament which is the opposite way to the majority tourist attractions.

The tour then heads west a short distance and then pauses while the tour guide points out the building owned by MI5 which is the British Secret Service. Then the speakers attached to the boat erupted into the James Bond 007 theme at maximum volume and then you’re off again making huge figure of eights at high speed. I swear that James Bond himself came to a window and shook finger at us! The boat does turn on a dime and if you are seated at the edge you can easily dip your hand in the water but at no time do you feel unsafe.

The tour then makes its way back along the Thames, past Big Ben and the London Eye and under Tower Bridge, all the time being given commentary by the knowledgeable tour guide. Once past Tower Bridge the river starts to widen and the boat builds up speed. This is the fun part! We were told as we passed the Thames River Police headquarters that the RIB crew were warned about speeding at that particular point after shooting past and creating a large tidal wave just as a police crew were refueling their boat!

Once again the boat begin maneuvering into huge figures of eights again, plus the weaving in and out of the larger cruise boats causes quite a bow wave and hopping at high speed over the bow waves of the larger boats.

The whole experience was fantastic and the only word of warning I would give is that if you wear contact lenses like me, travelling at high speed on an open boat with the wind blowing straight in your face made me wish I had worn my sunglasses!

Also the space on the boat is pretty restricted so you cannot take on large cases. The staff does have a small storage space available at the dock for smaller items.

The price can be high for this boat tour. My wife and I have taken this tour and it was well worth spending the money. You can access their website at http://www.thamesribexperience.org/ or you can book tickets at a variety of other tourist websites.

So make sure that you plan a trip on the Thames while visiting London, whatever type of cruise you decide to take will be memorable.

As usual, fee free to contact me at alanbarnard@rocketmail.com