Day boat trip on the Thames (by massagran)

June 5th, 2009

Now that the sun in finally shining in London, outdoor plans are making a come-back! And a cool idea to enjoy London is to use its boats. Some boats are part of the public transport and some are more touristy. But you can combine them at will to taylor your sunny river day. Fortunately boats leave from the very center of London (right in front of the Big Ben, at the Westminster Millenium Pier) and offer a few different routes (here’s a PDF with the main routes). If you have a travel card, you get a 33% discount, by the way!

My favorite one is the circular cruise. You can see the “Dali Universe Museum” or “Aquarium” in the morning then Hop on at Westminster. You can hop on and off the boat as many times as you want, so … first stop: Festival Pier. Usually street artists, mimes, musicians populate the south bank in this area. You can also grab a drink at the National Theatre (and if you’re lucky you might get free live jazz).

Westminster_pier_1_big
Next Stop, Bankside Pier: The Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, the Golden Hind and Southwark Cathedral are all a few minutes away. The best option is to walk to the next stop (London Bridge Pier). Along the way, Have lunch at Borough Market, a glass of wine at Vinopolis, and if you have time … walk to the City Hall.

From there you have two options. Go under Tower Bridge (taking the boat at London Bridge), or walk on Tower Bridge, and get the boat at St. Katharine Docks). From there, back to Westminster with some (usually funny) comments of the boat guide.

Once you’re back to Westminster, if it’s the weekend, check out the beach party at Festival Pier.

http://iwannagothere.com/users/massagran/routes/day-boat-trip-on-the-thames