London Water Bus?

Hi All,

I am getting lost in these websites and not gaining a lot of knowledge running a search here.

I will be taking the Princess Shuttle from Southampton to my Hotel The Grange Tower Bridge. I really have no clue what time I will be getting to my hotel and want to just be able to take a sightseeing water cruise/boat from Tower Pier to Westminster Pier and get off. then be able to take the water bus back. Is it something that I can just go to the pier and purchase a ticket then - some of the websites say boats leave every 30 minutes. Are these really like hop on hop off type tickets?

Or do I have to buy the tickets in advance? Anyone ever do this on the Thames? If so - what company did you use? It seems like every time I am in one of these big city's I can never figure out how to get on the water?

Thanks,

Tammy

Hi Tammy,

No requirement to buy tickets in advance, though you can buy either a single ticket or an unlimited day ticket on-line for a discount. If you're travelling on it twice in the day, the unlimited ticket is cheaper than two singles.

http://visitlondon.gttix.com/productlist.aspx?categoryid=33

Most folk will already have tickets. If you choose not to buy until you arrive, be sure to buy a ticket at the booth - don't just follow the herd past the booth & down to the landing pier or you'll be sent back after you've waited in line to board. :rolleyes:

A large proportion of passengers will be folk whose ho-ho bus ticket (from either of the two main no-ho bus operators) includes unlimited cruises between Westminster Bridge & the Tower of London during the validity of their tickets. If you have time to use a ho-ho bus during that 24 hours, the bus + cruises ticket will only cost you about £10 more than just the all-day cruise ticket.

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/

and

http://eng.bigbustours.com/london/home.html

Boats depart from near Traitors Gate at the Tower of London (just walk down to the waterfront from the Tower).

At the Westminster Bridge end you can board at either The Embankment on the north (Big Ben) bank or by the London Eye on the south bank - you're likely to get a better seat if you board at the Embankment because lots of folk will get off the boat just a couple of minutes later on the other bank.

(with a ho-ho bus + cruise ticket, the first time you board the boat they'll take your cruise ticket, but you can board subsequently by just showing your ho-ho bus ticket)

JB :)

There are ticket offices at each pier, but some boats will sell you a ticket on board. Discounts are available and the ubiquitous Oyster Card is generally the best way to pay.

See here for water Bus info - http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/riverboat

See here for Oyster Card info http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/oyster

It is a five minute walk from your hotel to the Tower Bridge Pier

I always recommend people to use the river. It is a more relaxing way to travel and you get to see the sights. many boats also offer a commentary, but the quality varies. Don't forget that you can go East as well as West. Greenwich and the Cutty Sark is well worth your time.

Also have a look at http://www.citycruises.com as this has lots of info. It's all very easy, walk to the little pier behind the Tower, buy your ticket and jump on the next available boat. As has been said, there are special offers and combinations available but you can just buy a standard ticket if you prefer.

Thanks for all the info. Looking through some of these links I think the River Red Rover pass for City Cruises would be good. I think this would be nice to see a few things in a relaxing way after disembarking in Southampton that morning and then having an 11 hour bus tour the following day and ending up close to my hotel.

Two more questions, can I expect the operating times to run a little later on a Saturday in May then they are showing now? Also, how long does it take one direction to get between Tower Pier to Greenwich Pier?

Thanks again,

Tammy

Also, how long does it take one direction to get between Tower Pier to Greenwich Pier?

The latter can be fast and is viable for pure transport, although it is slower above Tower Pier (ie through the middle of town) because of the speed limit there. It should be just over 20 minutes from Greenwich to Tower Pier.

However, at a guess the tourist boat will probably take about twice that time to get between Greenwich and Tower Pier.

The other thing to be careful about, if you intend to use both in the same day, is to check whether you can get a ticket that will cover both. I have a suspicion that a City Cruises ticket won't be valid on Thames Clippers and vice versa. And Thames Clippers do not call at Westminster Pier.