Suitable for more experienced paddlers, confident around water.
With your 2.5 hour Self Guided ‘Ride with the Tide’ Adventure, you can go further and faster, with a little help from the daily tide.

Suggested itinerary

You’ll receive a (re)introduction to paddling, along with some guidance on where to paddle, and we’ll provide you with a dry bag that you can use to take a towel, food, phone and wallet with you.

Once on the river, you’ll find yourself taking in your surroundings as the tide gently pushes you along past Marble Hill House and Hammertons Ferry. Before long you’ll be at Eel Pie Island home to several artists and one of the oldest rowing clubs on the Thames - Twickenham Rowing Club. As the tide helps to keep you moving you’ll see Radnor House School, with its clock tower and beyond is Swan Island, home to Jawbone Brewery. If you can find it, the high tide means there is enough water to quietly paddle in behind the island. Many people cross the river at Swan Island and paddle back along the right hand side of the river towards Eel Pie Island and the beautiful White Swan pub for a a well deserved break, but, if you’ve made good time so far, you may decide to push on towards Teddington Harbour, where you’ll find the Flying Cloud Cafe serving tea, coffee and homemade cakes.

Suitably refreshed, you’ll return to the Thames to paddle down stream with a little help from the outgoing tide. Remember to allow 45 minutes to an hour to get back from Teddington and about 20 to 30 minutes to get back from Twickenham.

Once back at River Lane, you’ll hand back your buoyancy aids, paddles and dry bags and could walk in to Richmond with an icecream, or head the other way and take the ferry across to Marble Hill.

Suggested itinerary

As part of your micro-adventure, you’ll receive a (re)introduction to paddling, along with some guidance on where to paddle, and we’ll provide you with a dry bag that you can use to pack a towel, spare clothes, phone and wallet to take with you.

Having explored our picturesque section of the River Thames, just 20 minutes from Central London, you can paddle back down river and land at the slipway of the beautiful and historic White Swan pub for a well deserved lunch and chat with friends and family. The pub will take bookings for tables inside the pub, unless it is a rugby or event day, and, if starting at 11:30am, we’d recommend booking for 1:15pm and ordering food on arrival. Tables in the garden are available on a first come, first serve basis overlooking the water and the infamous Eel Pie Island.

Suitably fed and watered, you will return to your boats or boards for a post lunch paddle back to River Lane, where you’ll hand back your dry bag, buoyancy aids, paddles and craft, before heading off to explore Richmond Park (if you’ve got more energy to expend), or perhaps simply head back to your hotel to freshen up before getting married… yes, you read that correctly - it’s happened a few times now!!

Suggested itinerary

As part of your active picnic adventure, you’ll receive a (re)introduction to paddling, along with some guidance on where to paddle, and we’ll provide you with a dry bag that you can use to pack a towel, spare clothes, phone, wallet and (more importantly) food to take with you.

Pack your hamper into your craft (some people also decorate their canoes as well, but we’ll leave that to you to decide) before launching onto the Thames to journey along the river between Richmond’s iconic bridge and riverside and Teddington Harbour. Having paddled upstream you can raft up, or moor up for a swim, and then enjoy your picnic.

Once you’ve eaten all of the ‘quintessentially English’ cucumber sandwiches you possibly can and have enjoyed a refreshing elderflower pressé (!) you can paddle downstream past the islands and backwaters to Petersham Meadow from where you can wander along the riverside or walk up to Richmond Hill to enjoy the view that Turner so loved!