Canoeing the Thames

The White Swan, Twickenham

Over a few weekends and weekdays, my friend Bill and I canoed the River Thames from the Cotswolds to London. The river runs for 170 miles (275km) from its source near Kemble to our destination at the Greenwich Meridian

It was a great adventure, we saw some lovely countryside along the way plus small towns and villages that I would otherwise probably never have visited. The river also passes through the large towns/cities of Oxford, Windsor and London. We met lots of friendly boaters, walkers, lock keepers and inn keepers along the way!

I am posting all the information we used which might be helpful to anyone else planning a similar trip. The links on the right of this page sets out our individual legs, and detailed information including a spreadsheet and GPS waypoints to download can be found at the bottom of this page.

We didn’t do the legs in order, but I have listed them in sequence from source to Greenwich to make it easy to follow. We took a fairly leisurely journey but it would definitely be possible to combine some of the legs, particularly in a faster canoe and with earlier starts; we were usually only on the water by 11am.

Our basic gear:

Canoe: We used a Gumotex Palava inflatable touring canoe (nicknamed ‘Gorgeous George’). It packs down into a backpack weighing about 25kg so it was easy to break our trip into legs and use public transport and taxis. It is hard wearing and has survived having a fishing hook in it and being dragged along stony river beds. I wish I had £1 for each time we were asked 'Is that inflatable?'!

Buoyancy Vests: The upper reaches of the river are fairly leisurely, but there were parts where the entire width of the river was blocked by fallen trees ("strainers"). Further downstream there are strong tides, boat traffic and locks to contend with, so a buoyancy vest is recommended.

Thames Licence: A licence is needed for paddling on the Thames above Teddington Lock. It is available from the Environment Agency, can be purchased from lock keepers or is included in British Canoeing membership. The Port of London Authority (PLA) is responsible for the Thames after Teddington Lock and no licence is required.

GPS: I loaded GPS waypoints onto a Garmin 60 so we knew our speed and the distance to the next geographical feature and our destination for the day (see the 'Detailed Information' section below to download my GPS waypoints). These can also be used in Google Maps on a smartphone.

Food & drink: There are some stretches with limited amenities, so for some legs we had to be self sufficient. Our preferred provisioner was Marks & Spencer, particularly their highly calorific 'Chocolate Refrigerator Squares'! 

Camping gear: We camped on a few occasions, so either took all of our gear with us (which made for a very heavy canoe – not ideal for carrying through portages) or parked our car at the campsite early in the day and left our camping gear there before taking a taxi to our starting point and returning by canoe that evening.

Detailed Information:

I have put together the following information which you can download for free from this link:

Download Link 

1) an Excel spreadsheet which sets out the bridges, locks, points of interest, pubs, campsites etc from the source all the way to Greenwich, including mileage distances between these features to help you plan your journey.

2) GPS waypoints from the source to Windsor, showing bridges, locks, points of interest etc. This is in KMZ format for use in Google Maps on a smartphone or on a handheld GPS for you to track your progress as you go.

3) GPS waypoints for all London Riverside Pubs from Walton right into central London. This is also in KMZ format for use in Google Maps on a smartphone or on a handheld GPS.

If you have found all this information useful and would like to buy me a coffee to say thanks please click on this link:

Further Reading/Viewing:

Port of London Authority Information:
There is useful safety information and guidance for canoeists on the PLA website 

General Thames Information:
There is information on places to eat and stay on the Visit Thames website

General Canoeing Information:
There is lots of information on canoeing, rivers and licences on the Go Paddling website

The classic 1889 book "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K Jerome. A story of a trip up the Thames from Kingston to Oxford

The BBC TV series "Three Men in a Boat" featuring Dara O'Briain, Rory McGrath and Griff Rhys Jones which followed Jerome K Jerome's trip

The book "Pub Paddles" by Peter Knowles with ideas for canoe pub trips in the south of England, including on the Thames

"The River Thames Book" by Chris-Cove Smith, which has detailed information on travelling on the non-tidal Thames (plus the River Wey which is another lovely paddle)

We used extracts from Ordnance Survey maps but the Imray publication "Map of The River Thames" might be a good alternative