Cruising Down the River Thames

This is perhaps one of my favourite things that I’ve done during London in the Summer. I love London, and having lived 60 minutes away in rural Essex my entire life, it’s shocking how little I have explored it in comparison to some tourists.

I work for a firm of Chartered Accountants in Covent Garden and for the firm’s 70th anniversary, we hired a boat (The Silver Sturgeon) and spent a ridiculously sunny afternoon cruising down the River Thames. Soaking up the sun, eating a delicious barbecue on board and demolishing the contents of the ice cream trolley – perfect.

Not to mention that this is an amazing way to see a few of London’s most loved tourist attractions without the hustle and bustle of actually visiting the sites themselves. You will get to see the London Eye, Tower of London, London Bridge, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Canary Wharf, the Walky Talkie – just to name a few!

You’re right, this sounds expensive (and no doubt it was!), I wouldn’t have ever spent the day on a luxury boat if it wasn’t paid for by my amazing employer. So how can you have this experience on a budget you ask?!

The answer – The Thames River Boat Service. This is basically a regular boat service that operates from various points of the river and run to Greenwich. This option often gets overlooked when the London underground system is so convenient – however, who wants to be stuck in a hot sweaty tube with nothing to see when this is another beautiful option?!

If you were to travel on the London Underground from central London (zone 1) to Greenwich (zone 3), it would cost you £3.30 and you’d lose some sweat in the process. The River Boat Service price ranges from £4.88 to £7.00 depending on your starting destination and it is a much nicer way to travel, especially in summer (unless you need to be in Greenwich quickly, in which case I’d probably take the tube!).

Alternatively, there is the Thames Clipper services which are slightly faster and more luxurious boats but they appear to have less outdoor area (a hindrance if you want to get good photos but probably a better option in Winter!).

And what to do when you get to the other side? EXPLORE GREENWICH! Greenwich is a beautiful UNESCO world heritage site and is definitely worth exploring!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post and all thoughts are my own.
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