Life is a bit stressful at the moment., We've had health and car issues and I really really needed a break from all the stuff making me anxious. Turns out a chill afternoon on the River Thames with an eco-friendly electric "drive yourself" picnic boat from GoBoat was just the tonic I needed! (GIFTED)
I wrote some information about how and where to hire a boat with GoBoat who have bases in Kingston upon Thames, Paddington and Camden a few weeks ago. Due to some exceptionally bad weather which forecasters issued "danger to life" warnings for, we had to cancel our planned trip on my husband's birthday.
We rebooked and on a thankfully sunny Sunday boarded our boat for a two hour trip up to Hampton Court loaded down with a serious picnic. We did enjoy a glass of Prosecco but note - the Captain must not drink at all and passengers are limited in the amount they can drink to avoid drunken accidents on the boat!
I won't bore you with the details of our two hour meander as the ever-changing riverscape means no-one will ever have the same trip but we saw a dog being rescued, an impressive water hoverboard thing and beautiful views of the palace along the way. There was lots of waterfowl to admire and even a statuesque heron standing silently on the bank.
It was a wonderful day and I cannot commend it enough to you. The boats are dog and child friendly and are perfect for some water-based relaxing fun for groups of families or friends.
If you are worried about "driving" the boat-dont be. You are given clear instructions plus a map with route, direction and areas to avoid on the way. Steering the boat is easy and it's slow enough that you can't accidentally crash into someone easily! You are also given an emergency number to call if you have any issues.
Going from the Kingston base we discovered that although the river is busy it is wide there and we didn't have any problems navigating our way along that stretch.
Check out the GoBoat website for availability, booking, prices and venues.