London & The River Thames Cruise

From Rochester to Weybridge

"Serene yet strong, majestic yet sedate”, the Thames has for centuries borne witness to England’s rich history and that of its capital, London, one of the world’s great cities. Our voyage will trace a compelling story of politics, power and patronage.

We shall give special attention to Winston Churchill’s extraordinary life, with visits to his birthplace at Blenheim Palace, Chartwell, Churchill’s beloved family home, the Churchill Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms. We explore Havengore, the Port of London flagship which carried him on his last journey, and pay tribute to his final resting place at Bladon.

From elegant Marble Hill to magnificent Hampton Court, from the imposing Tilbury Fort to royal Greenwich, our six day cruise will encompass some of the finest landmarks on the Thames. We will enjoy a luxury dinner cruise with Tower Bridge and the lights of London as our glittering backdrop and throughout there will be talks and interpretations by an accompanying historian.

Journalist and author Martin Bell OBE will join us for dinner one evening to provide his own tales of the city drawn from his long and distinguished career.

There is perhaps no better place to begin our voyage than the cathedral city of Rochester. From the Norman castle, built astride the London Road in 1127, to its thousand year history of military shipbuilding, the city has been of strategic importance to the defence and growth of London.

Thanks to the unique design of the Spirit of Chartwell we are able to journey, as in times past, out to sea and back through the mouth of the Thames to Tilbury, where good Queen Bess rallied her makeshift forces to defend England from the Spanish Armada. Construction of the current fort began in 1670 and the mighty bastion was charged with defence of London and the Thames, a role it maintained admirably until 1950, since when it has fallen under the care of English Heritage.

There is no more appropriate place to arrive in London from the water than Greenwich. It is here that Viking raiders anchored their ships before harassing Ethelred the Unready and it is here, too, that the monarchs Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were born. The Queen’s House, built for Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, by Inigo Jones, was a revolutionary building that introduced classical architecture to Britain. The majestic facade of neighbouring Greenwich Hospital, designed to a grand scheme by Sir Christopher Wren and completed by Sir John Vanbrugh, is testament to Britain’s great naval history.

Returning to the Thames and the comforts of the Spirit of Chartwell we glide up river, drawn inevitably, like so many before us, to the bright lights of the city. We visit Canary Wharf, where the Dockland Museum traces the history of a once great port, from Roman settlement to post-industrial regeneration before sailing on and mooring at Tower Bridge.

Only a short distance from the Thames lies Blenheim Palace, an extraordinary monumental house designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in an English Baroque style for John and Sarah Churchill, the first Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Sir Winston Churchill’s earliest days were spent at Blenheim and it was to the ancestral home he returned to propose to Clementine Hozier, his future wife.