London has about a dozen places where you can hire a small boat for half an hour or so, and most of them are in public parks. Expect to pay roughly £5 to £15 per person for a short go in a pedalo or rowing boat, no booking, no experience and no licence needed.
The two best-known boathouses are in the royal parks, and we cover them in detail elsewhere: the Serpentine in Hyde Park and the lake near Hanover Gate in Regent's Park. Both have full price tables on those pages. This guide is about everywhere else, and about the practical questions that catch people out: which lakes have an upper age or minimum-group rule, which ones shut when it rains, and what happens when a lake runs dry.
Park boating in London is seasonal and weather-dependent. Almost every operator works on a turn-up-and-pay basis, closes in heavy rain or strong wind, and stops for the winter somewhere between the end of September and the end of October. The self-drive electric boats on the canals are the main exception, and they do take bookings.
| Where | What you hire | Season (2026) | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenwich Park boating pond | Pedalos, up to 4 adults | Weekends April-October, daily in school holidays | No - pay on the day, cashless |
| Battersea Park lake | Pedalos and rowing boats | March to 30 September | No - first come, first served |
| Victoria Park lake | Rowing boats and pedalos | Warmer months, hours vary | No |
| Crystal Palace Park lower lake | Pedalos and rowing boats | Warmer months | No |
| Alexandra Palace lake | Pedalos | Closed until further notice (September 2026) | Online or walk-up when open |
| Canals and the Thames (GoBoat) | Self-drive electric boat, up to 8 people | All year at three sites | Yes, book a time slot |
| Hyde Park and Regent's Park | Rowing boats, pedalos, electric pedalos | See our park guides | No |
Greenwich Park: the cheapest pedalo in London
The boating pond in Greenwich Park sits next to the playground at the bottom of the hill, well away from the famous view. It is a small, shallow pond with a hut, and the pedalos go round it in a loop. This is the option to pick if you have young children and twenty minutes to fill rather than an afternoon.
The Royal Parks charges by the person for a 20-minute turn: £4.90 for an adult, £3.45 for a child aged 15 or under, and £14.50 for a family of two adults and two children (September 2026). Young people aged 16 and 17, students and over-65s pay the concession rate of £3.70, and a carer goes free. Each pedalo takes up to four adults, and there is a minimum of two people per hire, so a single adult cannot take one boat out alone.
The hut opens from 10am to 6pm, daily during school holidays and at weekends from April to October. Payment is card, phone or watch only, and there is no way to book ahead. Two things are worth knowing before you walk down the hill: the hut may not open at all if rain is forecast for the whole day, and on busy afternoons the queue is closed early so that every boat is back in before the hut shuts. Check the current details on the Royal Parks boating page for Greenwich.
Two people minimum on the Greenwich pond. If you are travelling alone and were hoping for a solo pedalo, this is the one lake in London that will turn you away. Battersea, Victoria Park and the Serpentine will all let an adult out on their own.
Photo: Ricardalovesmonuments · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized
Battersea Park: a proper lake with islands
The lake in Battersea Park is larger and more interesting to row on than Greenwich, with wooded islands, herons and a long, curving shape that takes a while to get round. The boathouse is on Carriage Drive East, a short walk from the Peace Pagoda and the Pear Tree café. Boats are Pioner pedalos and rowing boats, hired for either 30 minutes or an hour.
The operator runs a longer summer day than most: 10am to 5.30pm from 1 June to 30 September, with the last ticket sold at 5.30pm and the last boat back at 6pm. From March to the end of May it closes earlier, at 4.30pm, and runs at weekends, bank holidays and during school holidays. Prices in September 2026 were displayed as a small chart on the operator's own website rather than as text, so check the current list on the Battersea Boats site before you plan around a figure.
The rules here are clear and worth reading in advance. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult, under-12s must wear the life jacket provided, and alcohol is not allowed in any boat. There is no booking system: you queue at the hut. Guide dogs and other pets cannot go on board, though the operator will find a guide dog a place to wait in the boathouse.
Victoria Park: rowing boats back after thirty years
East London lost its park boats for a generation. Rowing boats and pedalos returned to the West Lake in Victoria Park when Tower Hamlets brought in a new operator, Regal Boat Hire, with a fleet of around 40 boats. The lake is wide and open, with the Pavilion café at one end, and it is much less crowded than the royal parks on a hot Saturday.
Opening hours vary with the season and the weather, and the council itself tells visitors to contact the operator rather than relying on published times. That is the honest position: turn up on a fine weekend afternoon between spring and early autumn and there will almost certainly be boats; turn up on a grey Tuesday in October and there may not be. Combine it with the Sunday food market at Bonner Gate and you have an easy half-day in the East End.
Crystal Palace Park: pedalos beside the dinosaurs
The lower lakes in Crystal Palace Park are the ones with the Victorian concrete dinosaurs standing on the islands. Pedalos and rowing boats are hired from the boathouse in the warmer months, which means you can look at a Grade I listed Iguanodon from the water rather than over a fence. For children who have been promised dinosaurs, this is the version of the promise that actually lands.
The park itself opens every day from 7.30am and closes between about 4.30pm in December and 9.30pm in June and July, so late-summer evenings are long here. Boat hire keeps much shorter hours than the park, and the lakes have been through a major restoration, so check the park's own pages for current operating times.
Alexandra Palace: closed, and worth knowing why
The boating lake below Alexandra Palace normally runs a fleet of pedalos with online booking and half the boats held back for walk-ins. In September 2026 it was closed until further notice because of extreme weather and low water levels, and the venue said it would reopen when conditions allowed.
This is not a one-off. London's park lakes are shallow, many are fed by rainwater rather than a river, and a dry summer drops the water level enough to ground a pedalo. Several lakes also close temporarily when blue-green algae blooms. Before you travel across London for a specific boathouse, look at the operator's home page or social media on the morning of your visit. Our guide to London's weather month by month explains which parts of the year carry the highest risk of a washed-out afternoon.
A low lake closes a boathouse faster than rain does. Rain usually means a delay of an hour or two. Low water after a dry spell can shut a boating lake for weeks, as happened at Alexandra Palace in 2026. Always check before you set out, and have a second plan for the same park.
Driving your own boat on the canal and the Thames
If you would rather steer something for two or three hours than paddle in circles for twenty minutes, the self-drive electric boats are the grown-up version of park boating. GoBoat hires small electric boats that hold up to eight people, travel at about 3.5mph, and need no licence and no previous experience; the staff give you a briefing at the pontoon before you set off.
- Paddington: the narrow canals of Little Venice and the Regent's Canal, as far as Camden Lock on a three-hour hire. The company calls this its trickiest site because the canal is narrow and trip boats come the other way. This location is alcohol-free.
- Canary Wharf: out from Wood Wharf into the old docks, with towers on every side. Open water, easy steering, and a good first trip.
- Kingston: the open Thames, with Hampton Court Palace within reach upstream. The most family-friendly of the four.
- Thames Ditton: a seasonal site that returns in May.
Prices start from £10 per person (September 2026), which means the cost per head falls sharply the more of you there are; a boat of eight is very different value from a boat of two. You can bring a picnic, and dogs are allowed. Check current prices and slot availability on the GoBoat website. The Paddington route runs through the canal basins described in our guide to Little Venice and the Regent's Canal, and the Canary Wharf site sits in the docks covered in our Canary Wharf guide.
The rules that apply almost everywhere
Park boat hire in London is lightly regulated but the operators enforce a common set of conditions, and staff do turn people away.
- An adult in every boat. Children cannot hire alone. The usual threshold is 16, sometimes 18 for the person responsible.
- Life jackets for young children. They are provided free. Under-12s must wear one at Battersea; the royal parks apply the same rule to under-12s.
- No alcohol on board, and staff can refuse to sell a ticket to anyone who appears to have been drinking.
- Babies are often excluded. Regent's Park does not allow babies under 12 months in a boat at all, so check before you build a day around it.
- Cashless payment is spreading. Greenwich Park takes cards and phones only. Our page on paying by card in London explains what to check with your bank before you travel.
- Swimming is not allowed in any of these lakes. If you want to get in the water, see our guide to outdoor swimming in London.
What it costs a family of four
A short pedalo ride is one of the cheapest paid activities in London, which matters when everything else on a family itinerary costs £30 a head. Twenty minutes for two adults and two children at Greenwich costs £14.50. An hour on the Serpentine on the family rate costs £37.10 at the peak price and £25.35 before noon. A GoBoat for a family of four works out at several times that, but it lasts hours rather than minutes and replaces a whole afternoon's entertainment.
Set against a river cruise, the sums look different again. Our comparison of Thames river cruises and the guide to the river bus cover the boats where somebody else does the steering, which is the better choice if you want to cross London rather than potter round a lake. For more low-cost outdoor ideas with children, see our round-up of city farms and playgrounds and the general advice in London with kids.
Choosing a lake by what you want from it
Go park boating if
- You have an hour to fill in a park you are visiting anyway
- You have children aged roughly 4 to 12
- You want something outdoors that costs under £20 for the family
- The weather is settled and you can go on the day
Skip it if
- You are on a tight schedule and cannot absorb a closed hut
- You are travelling in November to March, when nearly everything is shut
- You want a view of central London from the water - take the river bus instead
- Someone in your group cannot manage a step down into a small boat
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to book a boat in a London park?
No. Almost every park boathouse in London works on a turn-up-and-pay basis, including Greenwich, Battersea, Hyde Park and Regent's Park. The self-drive electric boats on the canals and the Thames are the exception and should be booked in advance, because slots sell out at weekends.
How much does a pedalo cost in London?
In September 2026 a 20-minute pedalo ride in Greenwich Park cost £4.90 for an adult and £3.45 for a child, with a family ticket at £14.50. An hour on the Serpentine in Hyde Park cost £13.95 for an adult at the peak rate. Prices change each season, so check the operator's page on the day.
Can children hire a boat on their own?
No. Every operator requires an adult in the boat, usually meaning that under-16s must be accompanied. Children under 12 have to wear the life jacket that is handed out free at the hut, and some lakes refuse babies under a year old altogether.
When does boat hire stop for the year?
Most London park boathouses run from around late March or April to the end of September or October, with weekend-only opening at the start and end of the season. Greenwich runs to October, Battersea to 30 September. Only the self-drive electric boats on the canals operate through the winter.
Is there anywhere to hire a canoe or kayak in central London?
Paddlesport on the Regent's Canal and the River Lee is run by independent clubs and hire companies rather than by the parks, and the available operators change from season to season. Check the Canal and River Trust's boating pages for current licence and safety rules before booking with anyone.
Sources
- The Royal Parks - Boating in Greenwich Park (checked September 2026)
- Battersea Boats - Frequently asked questions (checked September 2026)
- Tower Hamlets Council - Victoria Park leisure facilities (checked September 2026)
- Crystal Palace Park - Explore the park (checked September 2026)
- Alexandra Palace - Boating Lake (checked September 2026)
- GoBoat London - Locations and prices (checked September 2026)
- The Royal Parks - Boating in Hyde Park (checked September 2026)