London: Thames River Cruise
 

Hello All!

I thought perhaps we might consider a river cruise on the Thames.

City Cruises seems to have a well-developed website. Are they any good? Catamaran Cruisers looks very nice as well. What do you think?

I look forward to your recommendations. Thank you! :)

If you take a cruise on the Thames I would use it to go somewhere - not just see the banks of the river and a bridge or two. There are boats either to Greenwich or to Hampton Court Palace - either place good for most of a day. I would pick one of those.

we did the Thames Boat ride to Grenwich. While it was just a boat ride, there was a moderate amount of sightseeing from the boat...But it is really not that great....

No - the point of the trip is to see Greenwich - the Naval Museum, the Prime Meridien and the Cutty Sark and the cute little village. The boat ride is just an alternate way to get there - rather than a boat to nowhere.

I've done several boat trips to Greenwich, and on every occasion, there was lively commentary all the way down by one member or another of the crew. There's a lot of London history (dating from Roman times) along the quais, in addition to some of the most atrocious "modern" architecture imagineable.

I don't think it's worth riding both ways, though. Walk the pedestrian tunnel to Island Gardens and take the DLR home.

I've taken the boat to Kew, and the ride down the Thames was so interesting, I was sorry I didn't go all the way to Hampton Court. I think it is nicest on a hot day.

The boat I took departs from docks directly under the Westminster Bridge (north bank). It's a barge, and the bargeman takes a poll to ask if his passengers would like him to talk about the history of the river (and the buildings on the banks) or not. Hope that your fellow travelers want to hear him talk because the impromptu lecture is interesting and really does impart a sense of how important the Thames was to the development of London (and how it is woefully underused today).

I like the ride down to Greenwich and actually find it very interesting. Also, it is relaxing if you have been doing a lot of walking.

We just hopped on a boat in front of the Tower of London and hopped off near Parliament. It was a nice rest for our weary feet, and it was surprisingly enjoyable!

have fun!
dina

You don't have to be in London to do a cruise on the Thames and some of the cruises outside London are very scenic.
Salters Steamers does a variety of cruises that you could combine with a trip to Windsor Castle, for example, or Henley, where the famous regatta takes place.
The cruise from Marlow to Windsor is particularly picturesque. You could, for example, take a morning train up to Windsor, tour the castle, have lunch, then catch the 2:15 pm steamer to Marlow (a very pretty town), have dinner at any of several excellent restaurants (Marlow Bar & Grill is close to the boat stop, the Hand & Flowers is attractive and has a Michelin star, Tiger Garden has good Indian, the Two Brewers does good pub food, etc.) and catch a train back to London from Marlow (change in Maidenhead). Or skip dinner in Marlow, merely have a nice walk around, then head back on the train for dinner in London.
http://www.salterssteamers.co.uk/

One caveat: Salters doesn't take reservations except for groups. Strongly recommend you call the day before your planned cruise to make sure that a group hasn't taken up all the spots or that they're not having trouble with the boat (I ran into both of those situations last summer).

Thank you for the suggestions.

Having a destination is something that I did not think of. Now I'll have to see if we can fit it in (not that we have lots planned to begin with).

I only did a brief search, but is the Naval Observatory open for visitors?

Question: How does one pronouce Greenwich? Is the "green" as in the color green, or as the town in Connecticut?

BTilke, I checked Salters website. My oh my, the boat looked <i>very full</i>!

Thank you!

I second Robespierre's advice to take the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) back to central London - it's an overhead raised automated people mover with great views of the old Docklands that have been redeveloped into one of Europe's greatest financial centers - futuristic architecture mixed in with water. You can now board the DLR in Greenwich itself near the Cutty Sark but it's also neat to walk thru the old pedestrian tunnel under the Thames to Garden Islands, the former terminus of the DLR, and hop the DLR there. By Garden Islands station is an ASDA superstore for picnic supplies (owned by Wal Mart!) You can also return to London from Greenwich be frequent train. Assuming you'll have enough of the boat one way - i think it's aneat way to go in any event. At one time these cruises were thronged on Sundays during times when pubs had to close as they could for some glitch in the law serve booze on board anyway - pub laws have changed but you can still have a pint or two or three en route i believe.

It's gren (rhymes with &quot;hen&quot;) itch.

The Royal Observatory is not only open, but a free guided tour will take you through the history of maritime navigation and &quot;the longitude problem.&quot;

And, of course, there's the obligatory photo op showing you straddling the Prime Meridian, with one foot in east longitude and the other in west.

The National Maritime Museum is worth as much time as you can spare.

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/

PalQ's misremembered a little. The ASDA isn't by Island Gardens DLR station, but Crossharbour, two stops up the line. For picnic things, you'd be better off at the Marks and Spencer near the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.

You can also get some open parkland to walk in, in Greenwich Park around the NMM and the Observatory, or you could stop at Mudchute DLR station and walk around the City Farm, talk to the cows and sheep and so on.

And if you're not suffering from museum overload, the Museum in Docklands (West India Quay DLR station) is worth a visit, for the history of the river and the people who worked on it and in the Docks. This one isn't free however:
http://www.museumindocklands.org.uk

If you really want to go all out, you can take a 6 day Thames cruise. I did in 1992. It's a very relaxing &amp; beautiful itinerary such as BTilke mentioned.