When my dad came to stay for the weekend recently, he was dead keen to take a boat trip on the Thames. In the end, we booked a hop-on hop-off day ticket with City Cruises and had a great day out. This got me wondering whether it would be possible to see London entirely by boat. After a little research, I've decided that it's definitely do-able and here's how I'd go about it.
Hop-on Hop-Off River Tours
City Cruises is one of the original, open deck sightseeing cruises in London, and also does evening dinner and dance cruises on the London Showboat. Their River Red Rover sightseeing ticket allows you to make stops at Westminster, Waterloo, Tower Pier and Greenwich. Starting at Westminster or Waterloo (about 5 mins walk from Westminster), your sightseeing options are extensive: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, the Houses of Parliament, the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, the London Eye and London Aquarium.
Then take to the river again and get off at Tower Pier which is right next to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge Exhibition. Across the river, you could visit the London Bridge Experience or the London Dungeon for some good old-fashioned screaming in the dark - light relief after all the culture you've been absorbing. Then walk along the south bank to the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Tate Modern and across the 'wobbly' bridge to St Paul's Cathedral.
Finally, take the boat all the way to Greenwich, mainly for the fascinating journey through the history of London's East End. Once you get to Greenwich, there's plenty to see, including the Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum, which both have free admission. Greenwich also has a traditional covered market from Thursdays to Sundays inclusive.
Getting to the O2
Thames Clippers goes to most of the piers mentioned above, but they also offer a service to the O2 which is a great option if the tube journey is too long for you and you want to arrive in style! You could take in the Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2, if you've remembered to book in advance. Otherwise, if you hop on the tube for one stop you can get across the river to the massive ExCel exhibition centre, which is hosting the International British Motor Show at the end of July this year.
Speedboat Trips!
If a river cruise travels at too slow a pace for you, you might be happier taking a high-speed jet boat trip with Flying Fish Tours - all the way from central London to the Thames Barrier. As well as adrenalin-pumping thrills, a jet boat trip will give you views of all the same landmarks as the hop-on hop-off river boat cruise, but in a fraction of the time.
Final Tips
Finally, a word to the wise: London is expensive, but preparation will make all the difference to your day on the water. You can buy tickets to all the major attractions online, often for a lot less than the gate price. Buying online also means you sometimes get to bypass long ticket queues, thus making the most of your time. Some ticketing sites, like www.365tickets.com, sell tickets to many London attractions, as well as river boat and hop-on hop-off bus tickets, all in one place. Also, when I booked with them, I got even more money off when buying tickets to several attractions!
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