Thames River Cruises

The Thames is why London exists, and a boat is the best way to understand it. The river bends through the city like a timeline: Westminster's Gothic parliament at one end, the medieval Tower at the other, Wren's churches and the glass towers of the City between, and the riverside warehouses and new skyline of the old docks downstream. A cruise strings these landmarks together in order, from water level, with nothing in the way — the angle on Parliament and Big Ben that you cannot get from land, the sweep under the bridges, and the moment Tower Bridge rises ahead. The options suit different trips. Classic sightseeing cruises run between Westminster or the London Eye and the Tower, often with live commentary from crew whose London humour is half the fun, and the longer run continues to Greenwich, home of the Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory and the Old Royal Naval College — a World Heritage Site and one of the most beautiful day trips in London. Hop-on, hop-off sightseeing passes let you use the boats as transport for a day or two. Uber Boat by Thames Clippers, London's fast river-bus service, runs frequent catamarans used by commuters and visitors alike, and is excellent value with contactless-style fares for point-to-point hops. Evening cruises add the illuminated bridges, and dinner, afternoon tea and comedy cruises turn a sailing into an occasion. Most sightseeing boats have both an indoor saloon and an open deck, so they work in any weather. For a first visit, a single journey from Westminster to the Tower or to Greenwich, early in the trip, is the best orientation money can buy.

For most of its history the Thames was London's main road, crowded with watermen ferrying passengers between stairs and landings, and with the commerce of an empire unloading in the docks. The embankments built in the nineteenth century tamed the river into its current shape, pushing the banks in and burying Joseph Bazalgette's great sewers beneath the new riverside roads; the Port of London's working docks moved downstream in the twentieth century, leaving the wharves to be transformed into homes, offices and promenades. Riding the river, you can still read this history: the watermen's stairs leading down to the water, the old warehouse cranes at Butler's Wharf, and the Isle of Dogs' towers rising where ships once unloaded.

Choosing your boat: the Tiqets range covers the main operators, from a straightforward Westminster-to-Tower sightseeing cruise to the longer Westminster-to-Greenwich sailing, a two-day Uber Boat hop-on pass, evening and night cruises, afternoon tea cruises and combinations with the London Eye or the cable car across the river at Greenwich. For pure sightseeing with commentary, choose a dedicated sightseeing cruise; for flexibility and value, use the Uber Boat as transport, sitting outside at the back for the best views. Piers at Westminster, the London Eye, Embankment, Bankside, London Bridge and Tower are all central. In winter, schedules thin and open decks are cold, but the cabins are heated and the low light flatters the skyline; evening cruises are at their best from autumn onward, when darkness comes early.

Building a day around the river: ride the London Eye, board at the pier beneath it, sail past Parliament and the City to Tower Pier for the Tower of London, then continue to Greenwich for the afternoon — the Royal Observatory's meridian line, the Painted Hall and the Cutty Sark — and ride back on a fast Uber Boat as the lights come on. It is one of the finest days London offers, and it moves at the river's pace rather than the Tube's.