Kayaking on the Thames River

There seem to be several kayak and canoe rental available on the Thames available on line. Do you have any kayak club affiliation memberships that can give you some leads on the best ones. I wouldn't recommend a kayak near Metropolitan London as there is a lot of commercial boat traffic and I don't know how many public haul outs may be available there. There are plenty of water taxi companies available for London viewing. Look up river for fellow kayakers.

The main risk is disease - the Thames is chemically much cleaner than it was but is still grotty biologically. Everything from stomach bugs to the rare but extremely nasty leptospirosis (a bacterium that usually affects rats, but can be transmitted to humans if you come into contact with a river that rats piss in). Cover any cuts or scratches with waterproof plasters, try not to swallow water, and shower asap afterwards.

You wrote:"The companies that offer this seem pricey and I was wondering if my perspective would be just as good on a boat,"

Yes, a boat ride would serve to give you a view of London landmarks from the water. I will repeat the warning given by Philip concerning the diseases you might catch from being in the water splashing around in a kayak.

The Thames Clipper boats dock at a number of piers. You can ride them by simply tapping in with your Oyster card. Tap out when you exit the boat. Not expensive at all.

The Thames Clipper boats are good for transportation, say from Westminster Abbey/Parliament eastward on the river to the Tower of London. Transportation plus a good look at London. A really good idea.
https://www.thamesclippers.com/

Hi Elaine:

I kayaked through central London in 2014. I hope that my narrative provides some information that you find useful when deciding whether or not to kayak the Thames.

When I was planning my 2012 trip to London I thought it would be interesting to take a kayak trip on the Thames. A person is not allowed to paddle the Seine through central Paris so this was the next best choice. I owned white water kayak and a sea kayak at the time.

There was at least one company that organized kayak trips on the Thames. However, their start times were never the same because they had to time their trips to flow with an outgoing tide and then return on an incoming tide (this assumes a trip from west to east). Still interested I posted a question on this forum asking if it was safe to kayak on this river. Several people responded, and all of them said that it was a bad idea. They all mentioned how dirty the Thames was. One person said that members of rowing clubs that used the Thames would get infections if they had cuts or sores on their hands and legs. One person mentioned Andy Holmes who was an Olympic gold medalist who fell into a river (not sure which one) while participating in a rowing event, caught a rare disease spread by rat urine, and died. Then there was the famous comic who swam the length of the Thames as a fund raiser just before the Olympics (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/sep/12/david-walliams-swim-million-charity). Finally, there was the warning by the Port of London about swimming in the river:

http://www.pla.co.uk/Safety/Swimming-in-the-Tidal-Thames

It was that 39 million cubic meters of raw sewage being dumped into the river each year that convinced me to drop this plan. I didn't want to get sick and ruin my trip to attend the Olympic Games. When I arrived in London and looked at the river it did look filthy.

Skip forward to 2014. I returned to London to see the sights that I had skipped two years before. By that time there was a meetup group, Curious Kat's Adventure Club, that was scheduling kayak trips on the river on a regular basis. After looking at some youtube videos recorded during small boat trips on the Thames I concluded that the river was sufficiently calm so that a kayak tip over would be unlikely and that there would not be much in the way of waves. I went for it. Here is the description of the trip that I joined:

https://www.meetup.com/Curious-Kat-Adventure-Club/events/186841082/

We went from a wharf in Chelsea all the way east to the London Eye, crossed the river to be close to the government buildings, and then paddled back. This took about two hours. Then there was an hour at the beginning of the trip for putting on the paddle attire and getting a lesson on how to handle the two person boats. We started off in daylight and when we returned it had been dark for about an hour. The bridges, such as the Albert, were beautiful with all of their lights.

Here is the link to my blog that briefly describes the trip:

http://v2.travelark.org/travel-blog-entry/georgelondon/2/1409643674

Somewhere on one of my hard drives I have a 4 minute time lapse video of the two hour paddle. If I find it I will post it on youtube and let let you know.

My recommendation to go for it. Let me know if you need any help in finding an organization that schedules group tours. Also, be sure to take a shower as soon as possible after the trip, and bring along some antibiotic salve just in case.

Geor(ge)

Wow. What great responses. Thank you so much. Until George 's post I was giving it a pass for a boat ride and probably will still do that. Thanks for the warnings and advice. I will be getting an oyster card so that sounds like great transportation plan. I may see how my touring goes. I have planned free time for myself and still may make the kayak trip. If I don't need reservations in advance i can see how it goes. I will also check out your blog. Thanks.

Incidentally you might be interested to know that in Britain the word “river” goes before the name of a river, not afterwards. So it’s the River Thames or just the Thames but never the Thames River.

Here is the link to youtube where the video of my Thames trip is hosted. The trip was two hours long - the video has shortened this to ten minutes using time lapse software. Please note that there is glitch in the video: a few minutes from the start of the video was inserted in the middle. However nothing was deleted.

https://youtu.be/FWwcHUS3vz4

Thanks Jane, for the education! River Thames.
George- I watched the video. Those boats and ships looked awfully close to you. I didn't look like you were at risk of tipping over accept by the other kayakers running into you. The scenery looks a lot better at night. I will keep it as an option but I may find another priority when I get there.

We just returned from visiting friends who live on the Thames in West London (between Kew Gardens and Hampton Court). There are many people that boat in England. There is much rowing activity around where our friend live, and they own a row boat. There are a lot of row clubs near them and many boats with people of all ages and sexes that row. You might want to check web site for for boats and boat rentals. I found one site in Windsor and West London which are each about an hour ride from downtown London. Windsor is also an interesting town to visit. https://www.visitthames.co.uk/things-to-do/london-kayak-tours-p1187621

Jim has mentioned Windsor. That would be a much more pleasant place to put a kayak into the river. Cleaner water, the Thames is not as wide there as in London, and not as busy with larger boats/ships. Richmond upon Thames would also be an interesting put-in spot.

Having been a kayaker myself in my younger days, I know that it would only be a matter of time before you rolled that thing. That means a drink of water into your mouth of river water, whether you want it or not. I wouldn't want that water from the Thames in central London to get into my mouth, nose or eyes.

There is a boathouse in Richmond. I would explore the option of renting a kayak or rowboat there, and exploring the waterway around Richmond.

Jim, thanks for that link.

The Windsor kayak tour looks perfect! I was deciding if I should make going to Windsor Castle OR Kayaking the Thames in London a priority. To do both is too good to pass up. It looks peaceful and calm plus beautiful. Thanks for the response.

You mentioned a castle tour as well as kayaking, The castle is an easy walk from the tube station and we enjoyed it several years ago. Depending on the time of year of your visit, you may want to get tickets that specify an entry time. Friends went last week (Monday) and I don't think they had advanced tickets and they had a 30 minute wait to get tickets to visit the castle (which they really enjoyed). If you book the kayaking trip you may ask that company about timing for travel from London as well as booking tickets to the caste and the timing. We used Uber while in downtown London and in West London and found it very convenient and it might work if you need to get from the tube station to the boat and from the boat to the castle.

I suggest staying a couple of nights in Windsor. It is a nice change of pace from London.

We stayed in Windsor for a couple of nights after our Rick Steves Best of England tour was over. Took the train out from London. Windsor has some great pubs and small hotels. Narrow old streets with some medieval buildings, some newer.

Check into a hotel there, see the castle, go kayaking, enjoy exploring the town. That would be my advice. Taking a break from London can be nice.