London Scheduled River Trips

There are several boat companies that provide tours up and down the Thames. Purchasing a Travelcard will result in a 33% discount on the fares on many of these services.

Central London Hop-on, Hop-off Service

This service plies all the piers in central London from Westminster and the Embankment in the west to Tower Bridge in the East operating all year round, though with much higher frequencies in the summer. You can purchase either a single trip fare or for a very small surcharge have unlimited trips on the service all day.

London Piers to Greenwich

There are several services running out to Greenwich principally from Westminster, Waterloo, London Eye Embankment and Tower Bridge piers. The journey lasts between 60 and 90 minutes and passes the old London Docklands areas which have recently been redeveloped into a major commercial and residential area, including Canary Wharf.

---

City Cruises

City Cruises is pleased to offer Original Tour customers a FREE cruise on the River Thames through London. Simply collect your free pass from a member of The Original Tour staff, present it to the City Cruises staff at the boarding pier of your choice and hop-on/hop-off the cruise as you please.

Tel: +44 (0)20 77 400 400
Fax: +44 (0)20 77 400 495
Email: info@citycruises.com

City Cruises depart from Westminster (Big Ben), Tower of London and Greenwich Piers. Most cruises are operated by wheelchair-accessible RiverLiners with toilet, bar and refreshment service on board and commentary also available in English, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish, though these facilities cannot be guaranteed. See London from a different perspective – from the river.

Trips from 30 minutes to three hours or hop-on, hop- off all day long with a River Red Rover ticket (River Red Rover Adult £13.50). One-way and return trips available plus great value family tickets.

Piers

Westminster Pier is close to Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament (with Big Ben), Horse Guards, Whitehall and the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms

London Eye Pier is next to the London Eye, County Hall (with the London Aquarium) and close to the world-renowned South Bank arts complex (including the Royal Festival Hall)

Tower Pier is right next to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

Greenwich Pier provides easy access to the World Heritage Centre of Greenwich, home of the famous tea clipper Cutty Sark (currently undergoing restoration) , the Old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum, the Queen’s House, the Old Royal Observatory – and time itself. On Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays Greenwich also has a traditional covered market.

Journey Times

From the City Cruises website:

From Westminster Pier
Trip to	One way	Return
Tower Pier	30–40 minutes	1 hour 15 minutes
Greenwich Pier	1 hour 15 mins	3 hours
From London Eye (Waterloo) Pier
Trip to	One way	Return
Tower Pier	20–30 minutes	1 hour 15 minutes
Greenwich Pier	1 hour	3 hours
From Tower Pier
Trip to	One way	Return
Westminster Pier	30 minutes	1 hour 15 minutes
London Eye Pier	40 minutes	1 hour 15 minutes
Greenwich Pier	30 minutes	1 hour 15 minutes
From Greenwich Pier
Trip to	One way	Return
Tower Pier	30 minutes	Must alight at Tower Pier and return on another boat
Westminster Pier	1 hour	2 hours 30 minutes
London Eye Pier	1 hour 15 minutes	2 hours 30 minutes

All journey times shown are approximate. Actual times may vary depending upon the state of the tide and other river traffic.

Boat schedule

(from http://www.citycruises.com/rrrinfo.php#Currenttimetable)

City Cruise Route

Our journey through history begins at Westminster Pier, in the shadow of Big Ben’s tower and just a few steps away from Westminster Abbey, where kings and queens have been crowned for almost 1,000 years. This is also the pier closest to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms off Whitehall, the centre of national government, and the Banqueting House, the last remaining building from the old Palace of Whitehall.

Across the river, County Hall, once the headquarters of the London County Council and then the Greater London Council, no longer echoes to the cries of councillors. Down below, the London Aquarium reveals the secrets of the deep while, above, visitors and business people relax in the comfort of the Marriott Hotel.

A few yards downstream we see the Millennium Wheel, better known as the London Eye. In a 25-minute ride it offers spectacular views across London and far beyond.

Through the Jubilee and Hungerford foot bridges and Charing Cross railway bridge, the Royal Festival Hall recalls the post-war days when the river carried some 6million people to celebrate the Festival of Britain at this very site.

To the north, the stunning office development above Charing Cross station echoes the arched roof of the original Victorian terminus – and testifies to the property value of "air rights" above the platforms, making a significant contribution to the railways’ income.

Beyond Waterloo Bridge comes Somerset House, the grand building on the north bank that was once the home of various government departments and is now a vibrant arts, heritage and entertainments centre.

Just beyond, on the opposite (south) bank, the OXO tower has recently gained a new lease of life with studios, restaurants and flats. The design was a clever – and successful – attempt to circumvent the ban on advertising along the riverside. Continuing the domestic theme, on the north side of Blackfriars Bridge, in the square mile of the "real" City of London, lies the home of Persil and many other household products, the head offices of the Anglo-Dutch commercial giant Unilever, next to the old City of London school for boys.

Beyond Blackfriars, look up the steps on the north bank for a view of St. Paul’s Cathedral as we pass beneath the new Millennium Footbidge, which provides a pedestrian link with Bankside, part of the South Bank regeneration development. Among the attractions in this area are the Tate Modern art gallery and Sam Wannamaker’s re-creation of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, the first building with a thatched roof to have been built in London since the great fire of 1666.

The South Bank here is the heart of historic Southwark, once notorious for its seedy entertainment and still owned largely by the Bishop of Winchester whose seat, Southwark Cathedral, the smallest of London’s three cathedrals, can be seen just after the reconstruction of the Golden Hind sailing ship. The Anchor public house is another link surviving from those times.

Through London Bridge a thrilling vista unfolds: the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the retired battle-cruiser HMS Belfast.

Tower Bridge is one of London’s newer bridges, opened in 1894 by Prince Albert after more than half a century of clamour by the City. All proposals for a bridge were resisted vigorously by the shipowners and merchants who needed free passage through the Pool of London. The resulting design is a typically British compromise, the upper level providing uninterrupted foot passage when the lower bascules, carrying the roadway, are lifted to allow tall ships to pass.

On into Docklands: historic Wapping and Limehouse to the north, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe to the south. Many of the old docks have disappeared while those that remain now play host to yachtsmen, weekend sailors and narrowboats.

The riverside pubs, once the haunts of seafarers, lightermen and dockers, now play host to local families, tourists and City workers escaping from the Square Mile. Among the pubs which retain their traditional charm are the Mayflower, where the Pilgrim Fathers moored their ship of the same name before setting off for the New World, the Angel, well known to Samuel Pepys in his days as head of the Admiralty, and the Grapes, one of Charles Dickens’s favourite watering holes.

As we approach Canary Wharf the new commercial face of Docklands is revealed. Canary Wharf and its neighbouring developments are bringing thousands of new jobs to the area. Along the river banks new residential, commercial and leisure developments continue apace.

And so to historic Greenwich, the home of time itself. The Naval College and Seamen’s Hospital have taken on a new role as the main campus of Greenwich University and Trinity College of Music.

The National Maritime Museum, with its new Neptune Court and galleries, offers a fascinating and entertaining visit for all the family. These, together with the historic clipper ship Cutty Sark (currently undergoing major restoration), the Old Royal Observatory, Queen’s House, Fan Museum, traditional covered market and many more attractions form the World Heritage Site of Greenwich.

Whilst the sightseeing services go no further downstream than Greenwich, the London Showboat continues past the O2 Arena (previously known as the Millennium Dome) and on to and through (in normal circumstances) the Thames Barrier which has protected London from the worst effects of tidal storm surges for over a quarter of a century.

City Cruise Reviews (TripAdvisor)

This is a must-do thing for the first-time visitor in London. You get great views of London from the river, and the commentary in itself is worth the tour! Captains are very amusing with their unusual commentaries and their irresistible London accent. Instead of the usual boring commentaries full of sterile notions and details, you get comments that are at one time informative and very ironic (British humour!), though it’s in English only. You have to tip the Captain for his commentary when going off the boat, but I have to say we were very glad to do so because he really deserved it. Bar catering on board is mediocre, like in all boats in the world. It’s best to buy an all-day hop-on /hop-off ticket; like this you can go all the way to Greenwich first, then on returning from Greenwich stop at the Tower of London, then back to Westminster Pier. Only downside: staff at the ticket office were quite unfriendly and impolite, they looked as if they just didn’t care....

I got the London pass and this was included. It was the first thing I did when I got to London, and man am I glad I did!! You get to see a lot of the heart of London. I started in Westminster, by big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and the eye. It took off down river towards London(I got off at the Tower of London stop, but it goes all the way down to Greenwich). The "tour guides" were very knowledge able and seemed like they were enjoying their jobs. It is also a hop-on hop-off ticket, and it lasts all day!

Have used City Cruises twice and both times found them to be great. Comfy seats, and a funny and informative commentary make the trip very enjoyable. Food and drinks are available onboard at a reasonable price. Times are very accurate, the boats very clean and the staff friendly and accomadating. Well worth a few pounds for the trip. NB: If you get a Rover ticket you can hop on and off as you wish.

---

TripAdvisor about River Services

London River Services (part of Transport for London) publishes timetables and river maps similar to the famous tube map. While boat travel may be slower and a little more expensive than tube travel, it offers and extremely pleasant way to cross the city with unrivalled views of the London skyline – Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, etc. Sailing under Tower Bridge is an unforgettable experience!

There are a number of different routes along the River Thames. The faster commuter services operate all day from Woolwich and Greenwich to Embankment and from Putney and Chelsea Harbour to Blackfriars during Peak Hours only. These routes will pass a number of places of interest including the Houses of Parliament and London Bridge.

There are also a number of leisure cruises available. The length of time it takes on a number of routes means that you should consider them an attraction in their own right rather than as just a means to get from one place to another.

Most leisure services will also have toilet facilities (important on a two hour plus trip) and light snacks and drink available (although these can be expensive so plan ahead and bring your own). A number of routes will only make a couple of round trips each day so it important to get hold of the timetable and plan your trip in advance. The timetable will also vary depending on tides, weather conditions, and season which is another good reason to plan ahead as much as possible.

Boats are operated by private companies and they have a separate ticketing system from the rest of London transport; Travelcards will get you a discount off the price of the Riverboat services if you show your Travelcard at the time of purchasing your ticket (this discount is currently 1/3 off the price). Many boat operators offer their own one-day ticket – ask at the pier kiosks. Generally, tickets from one boat company are not valid on other operators’ services.

You can also purchase DLR Rail and River Rover tickets (around £9) which combine travel on the DLR with hop-on, hop-off travel on City Cruises riverboats between Westminster, Waterloo, Tower and Greenwich Piers. You should try to purchase your ticket from the ticket office prior to boarding the boat at the pier where you are stating your journey. However on some services you will need to buy your ticket on the boat so don’t worry if you can’t find a ticket office or if its closed.