On Saturday 22nd of June we made our way to Greenwich Pier to go on a Thames Cruise with Discount London.
It was a beautiful sunny day so we walked to our nearest station, Buckhurst Hill on the central line, changed at Stratford for the Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf and then a DLR to Cutty Sark.
If you are a wheel chair user or going there with a buggy, there is step-free access on all 4 stations that I have mentioned in this post.
Why Choose Greenwich Pier?
There are 4 piers that you can choose to board from but the reason why we chose Greenwich Pier is because the other 3 piers, namely, Westminster Pier, Tower Bridge Pier and London Eye Pier are all extremely crowded in the tourist season. So choose Greenwich Pier which is still very very less crowded, but make sure you’re there well before time so you can be first in the queue and easily get a place to sit on the top deck.
Take all the photos you want to before you get to Tower Bridge aka London Bridge because after people board from the next pier, you won’t have any room to take photos.
Food
Although there are food and drinks available on the boat but its best to save some money and get your food before hand. We bought some sandwiches and bakery products from the Marks & Spencers near Cutty Sark Station.
Keep extra clothes, milk bottles, food, water and everything else as it might be a while before you can hop off.
Going With Kids
As I said, there are lifts Cutty Sark station (just double check as there was some construction going on), it is super easy to travel with kids if you’re using a buggy. Food available on the boat might not always be kids friendly (espeiclaly if they’re fussy eaters) so keep food with you beforehand.
You are not allowed to take the buggy on the upper deck, so there is a space provided to park on the lower deck. Make sure you don’t leave anything valuable in the buggy.
Keep them entertained with the buildings around and your knowledge of history however less it might be, otherwise they will easily get bored and you might have no choice but to keep up with their tantrums.
Take lots of photos.
Here I am quite evidently very happy on the boat. Getting my instagram husband to take photos of me. We came across many nice places like Canary Wharf.
This was my second time being on a boat in River Thames. My first time was in Sumer 2009, a boat party organised by the company I worked for.
Here’s my husband all happily posing with Canary Wharf in the background.
