What would you like to do?

Last updated: 25-09-2026 @ 18:48

Thames Cruising is a practical guide to navigating the tidal River Thames by narrowboat or small boat, covering the route between Teddington Lock, Brentford Lock and Limehouse Lock. Find guidance on tides, locks, safety, route planning, navigation signs, checklists and emergency procedures.

Use this site for information on tidal Thames boating particularly by narrowboat, information on Brentford, Limehouse and Teddington locks.

Click on a link below, click on the ‘what would you like to do’ button, top left to get back here

Introduction	FAQ
Information on Cruising Upstream	Information on Cruising Downstream
Tide tables	Cruising Guides for download
Useful telephone numbers	Check Lists
River Wey & Basingstoke Canal	Useful links
When things don’t go to plan	Signals, signage, sounds
Making the turn into Limehouse

The images below show the type of thing you can see when enjoying the tidal Thames (and we have one image of Coxes Mill on the Wey to encourage you to explore this wonderful waterway – one of the oldest in the country having been opened to traffic in 1653) and just a taster of some of the guides that this website can direct you to. There are five guides in the ‘marquee’ below, if you hover your mouse over the guide the ‘marquee’ will halt and you can click through to the guide.  This applies to Upstream, Downstream, Estuary, Boating on the Thames and River Wey guides.