LONDON WEEKEND BREAKS - Riverboat cruises

There are a number of different companies offering sightseeing tours of London on the river Thames.

These tours are often described as cruises and they can include lunch, dinner and even a "dinner and dance" cruise in the evening.

What you want from one of these boat trips will be up to you.

Some visitors wish to use the boats to hop on and off the Thames at different destinations and then explore on foot. Other riverboat goers treat the experience as a stand-alone tour of the city as seen from the river Thames.

Types of riverboat tour

There are two main types of London riverboat excursion.

The first is a genuine sightseeing tour that lasts anything for 20 minutes to over 3 hours and which will be accompanied by a commentary from a tour guide. These tours may take the form of a single non stop trip, or they may have a number of stops that enable you to buy a hopper ticket. These tickets are normally valid for a day and work in a similar way to a London sightseeing bus.

The second kind of riverboat tour is more along the lines of a cruise where everyone sits down at a table and enjoys a lunch or dinner whilst on a leisurely and relaxed trip down the Thames. This kind of boat tour is intended to be an experience in itself and there are no hop on or hop off stops.

Special London riverboat cruises

In addition to regular hopper and cruise trips, there are also dinner and dance and cabaret shows on some of the vessels. These events tend to take place on the night time cruises and cruises on special days like bank holidays or celebratory days.

Cruise boats can also be commissioned for parties or corporate groups and, in these instances, the organisers will generally be able to provide whatever kind of cuisine and entertainment the client requires.

During busy times of the year and on holidays like New Years Eve, it is advisable to pre-book a river cruise weeks (and sometimes months) in advance.

Back to the main London sightseeing page.