Seeing London From The Water
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Recommendation added: 29/05/2006 20:43
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +816)dewberry has been thanked 3 times for this contribution
"After our trip on the London Eye last weekend, we decided to have a relaxing cruise down the River Thames on one of their super duper new(ish) cruise boats.
We bought our tickets for the 12.45pm 'voyage' and waited around the pier area until it was time to board. Both purchasing the tickets and boarding the boat were straight forward and uncomplicated – even the boarding was dead on time!
The cruise lasts for 40 minutes and will take you in a circuit past such landmarks as The Houses of Parliament, HMS Belfast and St Paul's Cathedral. The 40 minutes passes very quickly as not only in the cruse extremely relaxing, but there's so much to see that you're constantly looking from left to right and back again.
My favourite section of the cruise was as we approached Millennium Bridge, which has the Tate Modern and St Paul's Cathedral looming on either side. The bridge itself is massive, and looks much more impressive from the river than it does on any photograph. I imagined the hugeness of the surroundings would dwarf the bridge somewhat but it's such a pretty structure that it really holds its own even when viewed alongside such magnificent historical buildings.
My partner was enthralled by HMS Belfast, which is a brilliantly maintained World War 2 cruiser belonging to the Royal Navy. It's much bigger than I imagined it would be, and was a nice surprise when we saw we were heading towards it parked up in the River Thames! The ship is brilliantly maintained and definitely a point of interest among the blokes on our cruise boat.
I promised myself when I started writing this review that I wouldn't talk about every single thing you're likely to see on the cruise, so the last thing I'll mention is the Tower of London. Wow. I particularly loved seeing this from the river as we'd visited the Tower the day before and I've now seen it from every possible angle available to tourists – and as I can't afford to hire a helicopter I think the view from the Thames is the best of the lot. It's such a huge building that I literally had to crane my neck to see the top properly – the Tower is so imposing and downright beautiful that it's hard to imagine it was built (in another incarnation) nearly 1000 years ago!
The shiny white cruise boats are great. During our 40 minute trip we experienced alternating bright sun and heavy rain, but this wasn't a problem thanks to the fact that the boat had both a spacious covered area and a sundeck. It was comical in a Carry On kinda way, because as soon as the rain stopped we'd all troop onto the deck and when it started again there would be a mad bolt for the covered area. Both sections of the boat have adequate comfortable seating and there's plenty of room to move around.
There is a guide giving a commentary in English throughout the cruise, the guide was extremely professional and limited her commentary to information about the sights and history of the surrounding area. I'd definitely recommend buying a guide book/map before you board as this will tell you in which direction points of interest are, and will also give you a brief history lesson on the various buildings you're likely to see during your cruise.
The boat is fully accessible to disabled visitors, although for safety reasons only three wheelchairs are allowed on board for each cruise time. Visitors in wheelchairs can take a companion onto the cruise boat free of charge. Toilets are available onboard which were spotlessly clean and, again, disabled visitors should have no trouble using them.
You can purchase your tickets for the London Eye Cruise at the same time as your London Eye flight and save a couple of quid, but we only decided to take the cruise at the last minute so ended up paying separately. An adult ticket costs £10 and a child's ticket is £5, and although kids under 5 can board for free they must be booked in beforehand.
The cruise departs from the pier directly underneath the London Eye every hour from 11.45am to 6.45pm; cruises are available all year round, apart from in the circumstances of severe bad weather. According to the guide on our cruise, however, it really does take BAD weather for London Eye Cruises to cancel a departure and he's even guided groups when it's snowing!
The easiest way to get to both the Eye and the cruise departure point is via Waterloo tube station, simply follow the signs for the South Bank and you'll find it. If you think you're getting lost just look up and find the London Eye which towers above most of this area of London, follow this direction and you'll find it with no problem! Also, you can catch one of several buses which drop you more or less in front of the Eye and then you just need to navigate the crowds and push through to the pier.
If you go for a ride on the London Eye, or even if you don't, definitely go on one of these cruises. I promise, you've never seen London unless you've seen it from the Thames.
London Eye Cruises
Westminster Bridge Road
London
SE1 7PB
Tel – 0870 5000 600"
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