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The five best walks along the Thames
From its Gloucestershire source to the bustling capital, the Thames flows with living history. Here’s how best to enjoy it on foot
Rising in the Cotswolds and flowing into the capital – via castles, colleges and the Chiltern Hills – the Thames is less river, more liquid history lesson. This waterway has seen it all, from Roman incursions and Viking raids to the signing of the Magna Carta and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It’s been immortalised by figures ranging from Monet and Turner to Conan Doyle and Dickens. It is not the UK’s longest river – that’s the Severn – but it is the most significant.
It’s also a wonderful place for a walk. The entire river is traced by the Thames Path National Trail, which sticks to the banks as closely as it can for almost 200 miles. If that seems a bit far, there are plenty of options for shorter strolls – either countryside loops or linear trails that make good use of the valley’s often useful public transport (see visitthames.co.uk).
The region is blissfully bucolic in parts, busy in others, which ensures a good mix of nature and facilities. In fact, that’s the beauty of a stroll along the Thames: wherever you walk you’re guaranteed a revitalising dose of blue space, a hefty serve of history, and a good pub or two.
1. Wittenham Clumps
Best for… A bit of a climb
Start/end point: Dorchester
Distance: 4km / 2½ miles to 14.5km / 9 miles
Wittenham Clumps, Oxfordshire’s “twin peaks”, rise 120m (394ft) and 110m (361ft), providing a fine vantage over a lovely stretch of river. Start in winsome Dorchester – aka the Roman town of Doric – where the little Thame runs into the Thames; a 2½ miles loop combines the medieval village, its 12th-century abbey and Clumps views. Tacking on another 1.9 miles from Wittenham Bridge offers a yomp up the beech-wigged Clumps themselves, for a good lookout and evidence of Iron Age fortifications.
Finally, if you’re feeling fit, add on a third 5-mile circuit, via Long Wittenham. Nip into Pendon Museum, a recreation of 1930s rural life in miniature, then follow a fine curve of the Thames, back to the start.
Highlight: The plaque to the ‘“poem tree” – Joseph Tubb carved a poem about this landscape into a beech atop the Clumps in 1844, but it collapsed in 2012.
Where to stay: Atmospheric Fyfield Manor (07779 722202), parts of which date back 800 years, has B&B doubles from £120pn.
Characterful pub: Try the Camra-award-winning Plough Inn in Long Wittenham or Dorchester’s 16th-century White Hart.
Cracking restaurant: Five Little Pigs is a smart, low-waste, well-priced and delicious bistro in nearby Wallingford.
Info: The X40 bus links Oxford and Reading via Wallingford and Dorchester.
2. Henley & Hambleden
Best for… Messing about by boats
Start/end point: Henley-on-Thames
Distance: 8-12km / 5-7½ miles
Well-heeled Henley-on-Thames is synonymous with rowing: some of the sport’s most prestigious clubs are here, and the town’s Royal Regatta (July) was founded in 1839. This walk follows the event’s one-mile, 550-yard course through beautiful Chilterns countryside, past Temple Island and round to Hambleden Lock and Mill (noted in the Doomsday Book, though this one is 18th century). Looping back to Henley from here, via the lower slopes of Remenham Hill and the Flower Pot Hotel, would make a walk of 8km (5 miles).
But don’t miss the 4km (2½-mile) detour across the lock to Hambleden. This cluster of brick-and-flint houses, Jacobean-style manor and 12th-century church is pretty as a picture. Or rather, the pictures: Hambleden has appeared on screen in everything from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Midsomer Murders.
Highlight: A mood-setting visit to Henley’s River & Rowing Museum.
Where to stay: Hambleden’s laid-back, foodie-focused Stag & Huntsman (01491 571227) has country-chic B&B doubles from £125pn.
Characterful pub: Henley’s 18th-century Angel on the Bridge serves local Brakspear beers on a terrace by the river.
Cracking restaurant: Run by chef Ben Watson, who has Michelin-starred experience, the Golden Ball near Henley offers refined dining in a pretty rural spot.
Info: Henley has a train station.
3. Marlow to Windsor
Best for… Food
Start/end point: Marlow / Windsor
Distance: 23km / 14 miles
Marlow sits in a super spot, between meadows and wooded hills. It has attracted many literary types over the centuries – such as Jerome K Jerome, Mary Shelley and Kenneth Grahame, whose Wind in the Willows was set hereabouts. Now it attracts foodies. The Coach (one Michelin star) and the Hand & Flowers (two stars) are both here. Opportunities for consumption continue as you follow the Thames downstream – maybe pause at the Bounty pub, near Bourne End, only accessible on foot or by boat.
This is a more developed riverbank, but that means fine houses to ogle and interesting diversions aplenty, including Cookham’s Stanley Spencer Gallery, Tudor-style Dorney Court and enormous Windsor Castle.
Highlight: The statuary, topiary and botanical exuberance of the Cliveden Estate.
Where to stay: The Christopher (01753 852359), tucked away on Eton High Street, has B&B doubles from £130pn.
Characterful pub: The Two Brewers, a small but proper old pub by the gates of Windsor Great Park.
Cracking restaurant: Boulters Lock in Maidenhead, for sustainable dishes served in a boathouse on its own river isle.
Info: Marlow and Windsor have train stations; stations at Bourne End and Maidenhead offer options for shortening the route.
4. Lechlade to Oxford
Best for… A wonderful weekend
Start/end point: Lechlade / Oxford
Distance: 48km / 30 miles
Pretty little Lechlade is where the Thames gets into its flow; this is its navigable limit, where a statue of Old Father Thames lounges atop St John’s Lock, the first on the river. Lechlade is also a great start-point for a two-day Thames Path adventure through the river’s rural Cotswold-tickling reaches, but with a grand finale amid Oxford’s dreaming spires.
It’s a peaceful walk – there are fewer boats upstream of Oxford, so there are greater chances for spotting wildlife (look out for kingfishers). And along the way lie the charming National Trust village of Buscot, the Gothic arches of Radcot Bridge (the oldest on the Thames) and the ruins of 12th-century Godstow Abbey.
Highlight: Honey-hued Kelmscott Manor, the one-time home of William Morris, the Arts and Crafts movement pioneer, is now a museum.
Where to stay: Slap-bang midway on this walk, the Rose Revived in Newbridge has some river-view rooms; doubles from £85pn room-only.
Characterful pub: Try two Trouts: the Trout Inn at Tadpole Bridge and the Trout Inn in Godstow, both atmospheric 17th-century riverside boozers.
Cracking restaurant: Family-run Cherwell Boathouse offers upscale food by the river, served alongside the Edwardian punting station.
Info: Lechlade is accessible by bus from Swindon. Oxford is well served by public transport.
5. The whole hog
Best for… Rambling the entire river
Start/end point: Thames source / Woolwich
Distance: 298km / 185 miles
Opened in 1996, the Thames Path National Trail weaves with the river, from its source near Kemble (an often-dry patch in a field) to the Woolwich foot tunnel. To walk the whole route is a lengthy challenge – most hikers take 14-16 days – but not a tough one. The way is well signed, virtually flat, largely stile-free and well-serviced with hotels and pubs.
And it’s a journey that, like the river, builds momentum. Things start small, quiet, rural, gradually growing bigger, grander, busier. When the clamour of London is finally reached, it feels right: there’s no better way to enter the city than having walked the river from which it was born.
Highlight: Runnymede, birthplace of the Magna Carta (and modern democracy).
Where to stay: Macs Adventure (01415 303429) offers a 17-day Thames Path Complete self-guided trip from £2,520pp including B&B accommodation.
Characterful pub: Hit the Red Lion in Cricklade to toast the end of day one, and the old Mayflower in Rotherhithe to celebrate a walk almost done.
Cracking restaurant: Both in Bray, Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck and Alain Roux’s Waterside Inn have six Michelin stars between them.