Fun on the water in London, York & Poole with City Cruises

My younger daughter has finished primary school and as a treat to mark this milestone we enjoyed a mum/daughter day out in London with some shopping, a nice lunch and as a special treat, we decided to take a trip down the Thames with City Cruises.

City Cruises boat at Westminster pier


It was pouring with rain (hence my droplet splashed photos!) but luckily the boats have plenty of space inside with spacious windows so you can sty dry and still see the sights.

We travelled from Westminster Pier to the Tower of London with what felt like a million happy chatty tourists- some of whom took advantage of the large canteen style layout of the boat to enjoy a picnic on the trip.

Tower of London as seen from City Cruises River Rover boat

If you're not as organised a the family who bought a ginormous tub of spaghetti bolognaise, plates and a ladle to serve the food with  (yes really!) you can get drinks and snacks on board.

It was quite noisy with a large group of excitable French exchange students on our trip but we could still hear the on board commentary delivered in typical laid back London style with some local tips and anecdotes thrown in.

City Cruises offer a range of river experiences on their fleet of boats ranging from the river-bus style hop on hop off River Rover trip we took to more formal dining cruises with the option to book afternoon tea, lunch and dinner cruises and evening and jazz cruises.

Adrenalin junkies can opt for a faster ride on the exciting 50-minute Thamesjet trip with quick turns, sudden stops and aquabatics.

City Cruises are not just available in London - you can join sightseeing cruises in York and enjoy harbour and sea cruises in Poole too.

The Houses of Parliament as seen from the Thames

Disclaimer: I was gifted free tickets for a River Rover trip for two for the purpose of this honest review.