Walking The River Thames Path
January 27, 2017 5:02 PM
This article is more than seven years old and was last updated in March 2020.
I'm an obsessive walker, so a few years back I decided to try to walk all of the River Thames, I've been joined on my journey at times by a couple of friends, Toby and Tom.
The River Thames which flows from Thames Head, Gloucestershire, through the English countryside and opens up into the Thames Estuary in the South-East, past London.
Obviously we can't walk the whole 214 miles in one go, so we've having to break the river up in to walkable chunks, which is easier said than done as we're dependent on there being a train station near the start and end of each chunk of the walk. This was easier around London but as we've walked further into Surrey and Berkshire it's become more difficult.
On later walks we've driven to the start of the walk and got a taxi back to the car from our end point. We've currently walked as far as Henley-On-Thames and we could quite easily get to Reading.
I've now moved away from London and am living in Bristol but this shouldn't affect the walk, as it should be fairly easy to drive to walks along the river and even easier to tackle the walk along the Thames from its source in Gloucestershire.
Our Progress
Completed (109.7 miles):
North Grenwich => Vauxhall (9 miles)
Vauxhall => Kew (10.5 miles)
Kew => Surbiton (8.8 miles)
Surbiton => Staines (13.7 miles)
Staines => Windsor (8 miles)
Windsor => Maidenhead (6.4 miles)
Maidenhead => Marlow (7.6 miles)
Marlow => Henley-On-Thames (8 miles)
Henley-On-Thames => Reading (9.6 miles)
Reading => Goring (10.1 miles)
Goring => Culham (18 miles)
Goring => Culham (18 miles)
Total River: 214 miles
Below are some of the interesting, beautiful and odd sights we've seen along the way...
Urban Knitting
This was one of my first odd encounters along the banks of the Thames, not far from Greenwich.
Old Royal Naval College
The Thames path then takes you right past Old Royal Naval College.
Rotherhite
Looking West towards the sunset over Tower Bridge from Rotherhite.
City of London
Looking over at the city from the South of the river.
Butlers Wharf
Just East of Tower Bridge is Butlers Wharf, a lovely little stretch of the river packed with riverside restaurants.
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge looking impressive on a winter's night.
Southbank
London's Southbank, city hall and the iconic London Eye.
Westminster
Looking back down the river to the East past Westminster, this photo is taken from Lambeth Bridge near Vauxhall.
The Tamesis Dock
The Tamesis Dock is a great little pub boat in Vauxhall that I highly recommend. On a sunny day, sit on the top deck for amazing views of Westminster.
Vauxhall
St. George Wharf on the South of the river with the home of MI6 in the distance behind Vauxhall Bridge.
Battersea Power Station
The iconic Battersea Power Station, taken from the North of the river.
Kingston-Upon-Thames
Looking East along the river from Kingston just before sunset on a spring evening.
High Street, Staines
Welcome to Staines, booyakasha!
Gateway To The Hampton Court Palace Estate
Continuing my walk along the Thames past Gateway Hampton Court Palace on the stretch between Kingston and Weybridge.
Maidenhead
The clocktower in Maidenhead, the end of one walk and the start the next leg
Cock Marsh near Maidenhead
When you're walking along Southbank in Central London, you'd never imagine that just a few miles up river there could be cows cooling down in the water on a summer's day.
The Olde Bell Inn
The perfect place to stop for lunch mid-walk between Maidenhead and Marlow.
Whitchurch-on-Thames
It was a beautiful autumnal day with a perfectly blue sky when we walked through Whitchurch-on-Thames on the leg of our walk from Reading to Goring.
Taken from Benson Lock while crossing the Thames between Goring and Culham.
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