Family boating holiday on Thames - advice please!

Jodles123

Jodles123

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Hi all,

I'm completely new to this forum, being used to the sea rather than rivers. (We have a 22 foot cuddy motor boat.) However, we thought we'd try something new and as a family of four (kids aged 5 & 7), we quite like the idea of taking a more leisurely pace and hiring a river cruiser for a week this summer.

We are looking at going from Benson to Hampton Court and back in a week. Firstly, is this feasible or are we going to be pushing ourselves too hard? (The kids really want to visit the maze and I love Hampton Court - the boats start at Benson.)

Secondly, does anyone know of any pubs with kids' playparks along the river? Such things are VERY important and can literally make or break a trip for us if the little ones are happy.

Anything else we can be doing along the route with kids?

Many thanks!!

Jo
 
Hi Jo,
I'm afraid to say that to get from Benson to Hampton Court and back in a week, you'd be travelling all day every day.

To be realistic about it, I reckon the best you could do is a return trip to Beale Park(which if you haven't been before, your kids will love)and a stop over at Hurley Lock. Great spot for a paddle and they have a shower block.
 
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Ah, I'm so glad I asked as the charter company said it would be no problem getting there and back....but we certainly don't want to spend all day travelling!
Beal Park looks ideal, thank you so much for the recommendation, I'd never heard of it.
So you don't think we'd make Windsor Castle then? Part of the point of the trip is that the kids adore castles so I wanted to do two in a week... hmmm. Maybe I need to look at a different charter company a lot further downstream...
Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.
 
OK - so ruling out the castles....
If we still headed downstream from Benson, are there much in the way of nice pubs on the route that we could moor at? We don't want to be cooking all the time, much prefer to eat out.
 
Windsor is doable from Benson if you crack on a bit.
We did that trip some years ago when the kids were smaller.

The thames isn't quite as family friendly as the broads most of the pubs there are on the river, with the thames, you may find yourself having to walk a little rather than being able to moor up outside the pub.
Not to say that it's not an enjoyable holiday with kids, it is....or it was when my kids were that age ;)

It might be worth investing in one of the guide books
This one is very good
http://www.amazon.co.uk/River-Thames-Book-Chris-Cove-Smith/dp/184623462X
 
Try further downstream , from Dachet you should be able to get to Hampton Court and Windsor in an easy week and even a bit of shopping in Kingston. From Godalming it would have to be Hampton Court or Windsor . I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Dachet..just below Windsor on Thames...Kris Cruisers.......(cruisers)
Godalming....river Wey.............................Farncombe Boathouse ( narrow boats)
 
I'd suggest Windsor and back for a week quite doable and loads to see, Hampton Court maze is a bit disappointing and although you could get there in three long days you will miss loads on the way.
Plenty of pubs to stop at but you need a guide or local knowledge further up so best stick to the towns, Pangbourne, Sonning, Henley, Hurley, Marlow, Cookham, Windsor all have good eateries.
 
I think you need to approach this by deciding roughly how much time each day you would want to spend travelling. There's a useful table of cruising times between locks (based on cruising at the nominal speed limit - depending on your boat you may need to keep speed a little lower to avoid creating a wash) at:
http://runnerduck.co.uk/gandalf/
of course you have to add some time for lock transits - difficult to predict but an average of 15 minutes per lock would be a good starting point.

I'd say that if you are set on Windsor AND Hampton Court you might consider hiring from Henley - still a relatively stretching trip, or I'd say Utter's suggestion of Datchet is the way to go - an easy day each way down to Hampton Court, then as far up as you feel like and back, taking in Windsor either way.

And I'd like to speak up for Hampton Court maze - your 5 and 7 year olds will love it; and what's more I feel it is an important place of pilgrimage for well-read River users!
 
Alan ashore said:
And I'd like to speak up for Hampton Court maze - your 5 and 7 year olds will love it; and what's more I feel it is an important place of pilgrimage for well-read River users!
Click to expand...

I agree with Alan about the maze, especially in the summer months and with the addition of hidden speakers.
You could spend the night on the moorings at Hampton Court, or venture 40mins downstream and spend the night at Teddington Lock. There you'll find The Anglers pub, which has a large kids play area and outdoor dining.
 
I'm not knocking the maze that much, Hampton Court Palace is well worth a visit too, but if starting from Benson it would add another 3 days from Windsor to just do Hampton court and back so a shame to rush down there and miss some of the best bits on the way. Now if you can get a one way hire that would be better, don't Le Boat do that?
 
That's the way to do it then :)

I suspect that they'll transport your car to the other end for you (obviously for a fee), we did it that way in France and Ireland, it was quite reasonable.
 
Thank you all...unfortunately le boat are way over budget... Don't think I had realised just how long the Thames really is....wondering if we might do better looking at Norfolk Broads this time and doing the Thames out of season when it's cheaper.
I really appreciate all the advice - thanks again.
 
Can you get your own boat trailered to Windsor? There's a ramp there. I met a family at Beale Park last year who'd done just that with the same sized boat as yours. They had it brought up from the Solent.
 
That's a very interesting idea. Maybe we could try that for a weekend - she's not big enough for a week's holiday with the 4 of us (just a cuddy cabin, no galley or heads - which is why we were looking at hiring something.)
Thanks for that!
 
If you put in at Windsor, you could easily make it to Hurley Lock, which is an island with an EA run campsite, BBQ facilities, showers etc. Have a good holiday whatever you do:)
 
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