Thames Path walking packages
As an alternative to developing your own itinerary, we have created a series of suggested itineraries: easy and moderate.
Each series covers the Thames Path from source to the Thames Barrier but broken into sections that are 3-5 days long. The sections can, if you wish, be combined. The prices are exactly what you would be charged if using the route planner.
If you wish to vary any of these itineraries, just contact us. We are a phone call, email or chat away!
Thames Path packages
The easy series has been designed with convenience in mind. The daily distances average at 10 miles. The hotels have been chosen to reflect nearness from route rather than budget. Except for the source and the Thames Barrier, the start and end points have been chosen because of their ease of access: Oxford, Reading and Staines. And, as the walking is relatively short, we have made a special effort to make sure the itinerary leaves you at places of interest: Dorchester, The Leander Club at Henley, Windsor, Hampton Court, Kew, Tower Bridge and Greenwich.
The moderate series uses the same start and end points as the easy series but condenses the time spent by one day resulting in distances of 12-15 miles per day. The overnight stops are therefore usually different. As the distance is longer, it is anticipated that less time will be spent visiting sites. Therefore, unlike the easy series, the itinerary has not been built to stay overnight in tourist spots.
Prices quoted below are per person, inclusive of bed and breakfast accommodation, baggage transfer, map and guide book, and either sharing a room, or occupying a room on a single occupancy basis.
We also have an itinerary specifically designed for the solo walker. The cost of this itinerary is below what you will find in the route planner as we have hand picked hotels that offer the best price for single rooms. For more information, click here.
And, finally, we have a special itinerary between Oxford and Windsor. This 78 mile walk takes 7 days with a short walk on the last day allowing a half-day of sightseeing in Windsor. For more information, click here.
The itinerary takes in the remotest part of the Thames starting at the source in Gloucestershire. After a brief visit through the Cotswold Water Park, the trail works its way through arable and pasture lands. There are few towns and villages along the way so it’s wise to plan your lunch stops ahead of time. Your itinerary will include suggestions. Your overnight stays will be in ancient coaching inns.
There will be bird-watching opportunities and there are many wild meadows that you will pass through.
This itinerary covers the most scenic part of the Thames Path where the river works its way between the Chilterns and the Berkshire Downs. You will have the chance to spend time in Oxford as well as the historic towns of Abingdon, Wallingford and Dorchester on Thames, once the capital of Wessex and with its Abbey still intact. The walk passes some impressive country homes including Hardwick and Mapledurham Houses, both believed by some to be the inspiration for Toad Hall, as well as Basildon Park.
The Thames between Reading and Staines is both picturesque and famous for the places along the way. The first overnight stop on the Easy Package is at the Leander Club in Henley where rowing crews from around the world come every year to battle for honours. The Path passes some of the grandest houses in the south-east including Cliveden, home of the Astor family for so many years. Day 3 of the Easy package overnights in Windsor with enough time to explore this wonderful town, home to the longest serving Royal residence in Europe. And, on the final day, you walk through Runnymede, where Magna Carta was signed.
This is the grand finale as the Thames makes its glorious procession through London. The itinerary starts more humbly in Staines, a town with good transport connections. After a relatively rural day’s walk, which includes a short ferry crossing, you stay at Hampton Court with an opportunity to visit the Palace. Day 2 is a shorter day taking in Kew with its famous gardens. You will feel London getting closer on Day 3 as you pass Hammersmith, Fulham and Putney, overnighting in fashionable Battersea with stunning views across the river (walkers on the Moderate Package carry on to Westminster). Day 4 is the walk’s highlight as the river passes London’s iconic buildings: Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Those on the Easy Package will rest here. The tour concludes by walking through some of London’s industrial past – the docklands- much of which has now been redeveloped. The walk ends at Woolwich, just past the Thames Barrier, until recently the end of the Thames Path. You return to Greenwich, which you will have walked through earlier in the day, for your hotel and the chance for some further sightseeing.
Here we have more or less wrapped all the above sections together into a single package of 17 days and 18 nights. The total distance includes walking to and from your accommodation – which is generally never far. It averages out at an easy 11 miles per day. We’ve selected accommodation mostly from the middle of our budget range (silver).
This is a walk of a lifetime; a journey through England.
