A Thames cruise is one of the easiest ways to see central London, and you have three main choices: the Uber Boat river bus, which works like public transport and takes contactless; a sightseeing boat with live commentary between Westminster, the Tower and Greenwich; or a longer trip upriver to Kew, Richmond and Hampton Court. Dinner and afternoon tea cruises are a fourth, more expensive option for a special evening.
The stretch of river between Westminster and Greenwich passes many of London's best-known sights: the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the old docks. From the water you see them in the order the city grew, and you avoid the traffic and crowds on the streets above.
The hard part is choosing. Several companies sell very similar trips from the same piers, and prices, commentary and comfort vary more than the route does. This guide compares the options honestly, with the fares that applied in September 2026, so you can pick the boat that fits your budget and your day.
River trips compared in a sentence each
- Cheapest way on the water
- Uber Boat by Thames Clippers: pay with contactless or Oyster; Central to East zones £11.40 or £13.70 for an adult, depending on the time
- Best for commentary
- Sightseeing boats from Westminster Pier to the Tower and Greenwich, about an hour to Greenwich
- Longest and most scenic
- Westminster to Kew (1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes) or Hampton Court (3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes)
- For a special occasion
- Lunch, afternoon tea and dinner cruises, booked in advance
- Children
- Under-5s travel free on most boats; ages 5-15 usually pay a child fare
Uber Boat: the river bus that doubles as a cruise
The Uber Boat by Thames Clippers is London's commuter boat service, and it is the best value for most visitors. Its fast catamarans stop at 24 piers between Putney and Barking Riverside. The main route, RB1, runs every day between Battersea Power Station or the London Eye and Barking Riverside, calling at Westminster, the London Eye, Tower and Greenwich on the way.
You do not need to book. Touch your contactless card, phone or Oyster card on the reader at the pier, let the staff see you do it, and touch out at the end. Pay as you go and app tickets are cheaper than paper tickets bought at the pier. There is no live commentary, but the boats have large windows and a cashless bar, and every boat is wheelchair accessible. Boarding is first come, first served, so arrive at the pier a few minutes early.
| Zones travelled (adult, contactless or Oyster) | Lower fare | Higher fare |
|---|---|---|
| Central only (for example Westminster to Tower) | £9.90 | £11.90 |
| Central and East (for example Westminster to Greenwich) | £11.40 | £13.70 |
| East only or West only | £6.20 | £7.40 |
| All zones | £19.30 | £22.90 |
These fares are valid until 31 October 2026, after which revised fares will be issued. According to Thames Clippers, the higher fares apply when the boats are busy, based on when you touch in. Its published peak times are confusing, so check the official ticket information page for the time you plan to travel. For a couple going from Westminster to Greenwich and back, expect to pay roughly £45 to £55 in total.
Boat fares do not count towards the daily cap on the Tube and buses, so a river trip is always an extra cost on top of your normal travel. A Travelcard gives a discount, but on the Uber Boat it is small. Our full guide to the Uber Boat and its routes covers the other lines, the Canary Wharf ferry and season tickets.
Sightseeing cruises with commentary between Westminster and Greenwich
If you want someone to tell you what you are looking at, a sightseeing boat is the better choice. These are slower, older-style boats with open upper decks and indoor saloons, and the crew or captain gives a running commentary in English. Several operators sail from Westminster Pier, next to Westminster Bridge and opposite the London Eye.
- City Cruises sells hop-on hop-off river passes with stops at Westminster, London Eye, Tower and Greenwich piers. Its captains give live commentary, and some circular trips need a change of boat at Tower Pier.
- Thames River Sightseeing sails between Westminster, Tower Bridge (Butler's Wharf Pier) and Greenwich. It gives the journey time from Westminster to Greenwich as one hour, and in September 2026 it advertised one-way online tickets to Greenwich from £11.30 and a two-day hop-on hop-off pass. Under-5s travel free.
Both are reasonable. Compare the price for your exact trip on the day, check whether the price shown is an online-only offer, and ask when the last boat back leaves. The honest difference between them is the piers they use and the style of commentary, not the view, which is the same from every boat.
A Travelcard on paper or on Oyster gives one-third off most sightseeing river tours, according to TfL. Many visitors now use contactless instead of a Travelcard, so this only helps if you already hold one. Our page on Travelcards and railcard discounts explains whether one is worth buying.
Neither side of a sightseeing boat wins, so head upstairs. Going east from Westminster, the London Eye and the South Bank are on your right, while St Paul's and the Tower of London are on your left. The open upper deck lets you see both banks, so if the weather allows, go up top and move from side to side.
What you see between Westminster and Greenwich
As the boat pulls away from Westminster Pier, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben are behind you and the London Eye is across the water on the south bank. The river then bends past the Embankment, Somerset House and the National Theatre before St Paul's Cathedral appears above Blackfriars. Beyond Southwark Bridge and London Bridge come HMS Belfast, the Shard and, finally, the Tower of London on the north bank.
Passing under Tower Bridge is the highlight for most people. If you would like to see the bascules raised for a tall ship, the bridge publishes its lift times in advance on its official website. East of the bridge, the boat passes old warehouses turned into flats, Canary Wharf's towers and the river bends before the Old Royal Naval College comes into view at Greenwich.
Greenwich is a good place to get off and spend the afternoon. The Cutty Sark is next to the pier, and the park climbs to the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian, although the Observatory closes after 2 November 2026 for major works, with the Meridian Courtyard due to reopen in summer 2027. The park and its view stay open, and the National Maritime Museum is free. More ideas are in our guide to Greenwich as a neighbourhood. If you would rather see the river on foot another day, our walking guide to the bridges of central London is a good place to start.
Upriver to Kew, Richmond and Hampton Court
West of Westminster the river changes character. The buildings fall away, the water narrows, and after Putney it becomes green and almost rural. Thames River Boats (the Westminster Passenger Services Association) runs boats from Westminster Pier to Chiswick, Kew, Richmond and Hampton Court. It is a slow, relaxing trip rather than a quick transfer.
| From Westminster to | Journey time | Adult single / return | Child 5-15 single / return | Family (2+2) single / return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kew Pier | 1 h 15 min - 1 h 45 min | £20.00 / £27.00 | £10.00 / £14.00 | £50.00 / £71.00 |
| Richmond | 1 h 45 min - 2 h 30 min | £22.00 / £33.00 | £11.00 / £16.50 | £55.00 / £83.50 |
| Hampton Court | 3 h 15 min - 3 h 30 min | £27.00 / £36.00 | £13.50 / £18.00 | £67.50 / £90.00 |
Seniors aged 60 and over pay a reduced fare. Sailing times depend on the tides, so they change from day to day, and in September 2026 there was typically one departure a day from Westminster, in the late morning. The operator also warned that low river levels meant the Environment Agency was restricting lock transits, which could delay boats between Richmond and Hampton Court. Check the upcoming sailings page before you plan the day.
Kew is the best-balanced trip: long enough to enjoy the river, short enough to leave most of the day for Kew Gardens, which is within walking distance of the pier. Richmond has a lovely riverside and pubs, and our guide to Richmond covers the town and the park. The full run to Hampton Court is a half-day journey in itself.
Take the boat one way to Hampton Court and the train back. Three and a half hours on the water is lovely once, but twice is too much for most people, and the return boat leaves Hampton Court in the afternoon, often before you have finished the palace. Hampton Court station has trains to Waterloo every 30 minutes and accepts Oyster and contactless, so buy a single and keep your afternoon free.
Before you go, check the palace itself: in the week we checked, Hampton Court Palace was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and adult tickets cost £29.00 on weekdays and £32.00 at weekends. At Kew, Kew Palace and the other Historic Royal Palaces buildings close from 28 September 2026 until spring 2027, although the gardens stay open.
Lunch, afternoon tea and dinner cruises
Dining cruises are a different product. You book a table for a fixed departure from a central pier, and the boat makes a slow loop through central London while you eat. City Cruises, for example, sells lunch, afternoon tea and dinner cruises, plus themed evenings such as jazz and murder-mystery dinners. Other boats offer party and event cruises on set dates.
Is it worth it? The view of the lit-up bridges and the Tower at night is superb, and for a birthday or anniversary the setting is hard to beat. But you pay for the setting as much as the food. Before booking, check what the price includes (drinks, service charge, number of courses), how long the cruise lasts, whether there is live music, and whether your table is guaranteed by a window. Read the dress code: some evening cruises ask for smart clothes.
If the main aim is to see London lit up, a cheaper option is to take an evening Uber Boat from Westminster to the Tower and eat on land afterwards. Our guide to London at night has more ideas for evenings that do not cost a dinner-cruise price.
New Year's Eve and other special sailings
On New Year's Eve, several operators sell fireworks cruises that stay on the river during the midnight display. These are expensive: one sightseeing company listed its New Year's Eve 2026 cruise at £172. They also sell out, so book well ahead if this is your plan. The alternative, a ticketed viewing area on land, is explained in our guide to the New Year's Eve fireworks.
September is also the month of Totally Thames, a river festival with events along the water, and seasonal sailings to garden festivals at Kew and Hampton Court are advertised by the upriver operator during the year.
Cruise, river bus or bus tour: which is better value?
For most visitors with a tight budget, the Uber Boat is the best value: you get the same view as a sightseeing boat, the boats are faster, and you pay with the card already in your pocket. Choose a sightseeing boat if commentary matters to you, or if you have young children who will enjoy a slower trip with an open deck. Choose the upriver boat for a relaxed day out rather than as transport.
Some hop-on hop-off bus tickets include a one-way or 24-hour river cruise. That can make sense if you want both, but compare the price with buying each separately; our guide to hop-on hop-off bus tours works through the numbers. For a short, cheap river crossing with a view, the IFS Cloud Cable Car at North Greenwich costs £7.00 one way for an adult and climbs up to 90 metres above the Thames.
Reasons to take a river trip
- You see a string of major sights in an hour without walking
- Children usually love the open deck
- No traffic, and piers are next to the main attractions
- The Uber Boat takes contactless, so no booking is needed
Reasons to think twice
- Boat fares are not included in the daily transport cap
- Cold and windy on deck outside summer
- Commentary quality varies between boats and crews
- Upriver trips depend on the tide and can be slow
Tips for families and wheelchair users
On the Uber Boat, children aged 4 and under travel free (up to two per paying adult), and children aged 5 to 15 pay half fare. To get the child rate with pay as you go, a child needs a Zip Oyster card or an Oyster card with the Young Visitor discount, and each passenger needs their own card. Our page on children's fares explains how to get these.
All Uber Boats are wheelchair accessible, and all their piers are step-free except Cadogan, Wandsworth Riverside Quarter and London Bridge City. Older sightseeing boats vary: some have steps down to the saloon or up to the open deck, and the tide changes the slope of the gangway. Ask the operator before you book, and see our guide to step-free transport in London for getting to the piers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest Thames river cruise?
The Uber Boat by Thames Clippers is usually the cheapest. You pay with contactless or Oyster, and an adult trip from Westminster to Greenwich costs £11.40 or £13.70 depending on the time (fares valid until 31 October 2026). There is no commentary, but the view is the same.
How long does a boat take from Westminster to Greenwich?
Thames River Sightseeing gives the journey from Westminster Pier to Greenwich Pier as about one hour. Times vary a little with the tide, the boat and the number of stops, so allow extra time if you have a timed ticket in Greenwich.
Can you take a boat from London to Hampton Court?
Yes. Thames River Boats sails from Westminster Pier to Hampton Court, calling at Kew and Richmond. The trip takes about 3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes, and an adult single cost £27.00 in September 2026. Departure times depend on the tides.
Do I need to book a Thames cruise in advance?
Not for the Uber Boat, where you simply touch in at the pier. Sightseeing boats often have cheaper online prices, and dining, fireworks and special cruises should always be booked ahead because they have fixed departures and limited seats.
Is a Thames dinner cruise worth the money?
It can be for a special occasion, because the night views of the bridges and the Tower are excellent. If you mainly want the view, an evening river bus followed by dinner on land costs far less. Check what drinks and service are included before you book.
Sources
- Uber Boat by Thames Clippers - Ticket information (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - About the River Bus (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Travelcards and group tickets (checked September 2026)
- Thames River Boats - Fares (checked September 2026)
- Thames River Boats - Approximate journey times (checked September 2026)
- Thames River Sightseeing - Westminster to Greenwich (checked September 2026)
- City Cruises - 24 hour hop-on hop-off river pass (checked September 2026)
- Tower Bridge - Bridge lift times (checked September 2026)