River Thames London Boat Blog

Booking a River Thames Boat Cruise is an exciting and enjoyable way of viewing London’s most unique and famous landmarks – from the oldest to the newest. At night the visual feast is enhanced further with an interactive lighting system on key bridges and buildings in the heart of the city which changes the colour of the illuminations as boats pass by.

The River Thames carves it’s way through the very heart of London from West to East as it flows down to the sea from it’s source in the Cotswolds. The section of river downstream of Teddington, i.e. between Teddington, through London and down to the estuary is called the tidal Thames. As the name suggests the river here is tidal, rising and falling by around 7 meters a day.

The tide is actually one of the biggest factors on the river in London. It dictates where boats can go, how fast they will get there and what the river and London will look like. When the tide is low or out you

For more information on the tide and how it affects activity on the Thames see this link: http://www.livettslaunches.co.uk/page/2.45.html

When cruising through London the sights most people are excited to see are:

• Putney Pier – the start of the famous Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race
• Albert Bridge
• Battersea Power Station
• MI6 Building – where the James Bond chase scene began
• Big Ben and The House of Parliament
• BA London Eye
• Tate Modern and Tate Britain
• St Paul’s Cathedral
• Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
• The Millennium Bridge – The Blade of Light
• HMS Belfast
• Tower of London
• Tower Bridge
• Canary Wharf
• Cutty Sark
• The O2
• Thames Barrier
• QEII Bridge

There are many river boats in London of varying size and with different levels of quality. Some are very pretty and luxuriously appointed, designed for fine dining, others are much more simple, built for disco cruises, parties and club nights. The choice will usually be based around budget as the more you have available the more choice there is, as with most things in life!

It is worth pointing out that it doesn’t matter which boat you are on, the Thames and London’s sights will look the same…

For more information on the River Thames see this link: http://www.the-river-thames.co.uk/thames.htm