Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Fat Tire Bike Tours
Daily bike tours cover the highlights of downtown London, on two different itineraries
(ask about discount with this topic):
Royal London
(£20, daily March-Nov at 11:00, mid-
May-mid-Sept also at 15:30, 7 miles, 4 hours, meet at Queensway Tube station; includes
Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and Trafalgar Square) and
River Thames
(£30, March-Nov Thu-Sat at 10:30, nearly daily in summer, 5 hours, meet at Waterloo
Tube station—exit 2; includes London Eye, St. Paul's, Tower of London, Trafalgar Square,
Covent Garden, and boat trip on the Thames). The spiel is light and irreverent rather
than scholarly, but the price is right. Reservations are easy online, and required for River
Thames tours and kids' bikes (off-season tours can be arranged, mobile 078-8233-8779,
www.fattirebiketourslondon.com
)
. Confirm the schedule online or by phone.
Andy Steves (my son) runs
Weekend Student Adventures
, offering active and experiential
three-day weekend tours for €199 designed for American students studying abroad (see
www.wsaeurope.com
for details on tours of London and other great European cities).
Boat tours with entertaining commentaries sail regularly from many points along the
Thames.Theoptionsareplentiful,withseveralcompaniesofferingessentially thesametrip.
Your basic options are to use the boats either for a scenic joyride cruise within the city cen-
ter, or for transportation to an outlying sight (such as Greenwich or Kew Gardens).
Boats come andgofromseveral docksinthecity center.Themostpopularplaces toem-
barkareWestminsterPier(atthebaseofWestminsterBridgeacrossthestreetfromBigBen)
and Waterloo Pier (at the London Eye, across the river).
Buy boat tickets at the kiosks on the docks. If you'd like to compare your options in one
spot, head to Westminster Pier, where all of the big outfits have ticket kiosks. While indi-
vidual Tube and bus tickets don't work on the boats, a Travelcard can snare you a 33 per-
cent discount on most cruises (just show the card when you pay for the cruise; no discount
with the pay-as-you-go Oyster card except on Thames Clippers). Because different compan-
iesvaryinthediscountstheyoffer,alwaysask.Childrenandseniorsgenerallygetdiscounts.
You can purchase drinks and scant, pricey snacks on board. Clever budget travelers pack a
picnic and munch while they cruise.
Round-tripfaresareonlyabitmorethanone-way.Still,forpleasureandefficiency,con-
sider combining a one-way cruise (to Kew, Greenwich, or wherever) with a Tube or train
ride back.
