Is the Uber Boat Worth It for Sightseeing?
The Uber Boat by Thames Clippers as a sightseeing boat: where it goes, what it costs (from £6.20, October 2026), how to pay, and when a guided cruise or speedboat is the better buy.
Yes, the Uber Boat is worth it if you want to see London from the river cheaply and do not need a guide: it is a fast, frequent river bus that passes the Tower, St Paul’s, the London Eye and Greenwich for the price of a Tube ride or a little more. It is not a tour. There is no commentary, at rush hour it fills with commuters, and you choose your own stops.
What the Uber Boat is
The Uber Boat by Thames Clippers is London’s river bus, a fleet of fast catamarans run by Thames Clippers with Uber’s name on the side. The boats have climate-controlled cabins and a covered outdoor deck, and they call at the central piers every 10 to 20 minutes. The network runs from Putney in the west, through Westminster, the London Eye, Bankside, London Bridge and Tower Pier, to Canary Wharf, Greenwich, the O2 and Barking Riverside in the east.
For a visitor, the stretch from Westminster to Greenwich is the one to ride: Parliament, the South Bank, St Paul’s, Tower Bridge, the Docklands towers and the Cutty Sark, in under an hour.
What it costs
The river is split into East, Central and West zones, and the fare depends on how many you cross. These are the adult fares on the operator’s pages in October 2026:
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Single, contactless or Oyster, off-peak | £6.20 (East or West), £9.90 (Central), £19.30 (all zones) |
| Single, bought online or in the app | £7.20 (East or West), £11.70 (Central) |
| Hop-on Hop-off, 1 day | £29.30 online, £32.60 at the pier |
| Hop-on Hop-off family (2 adults, up to 3 children) | £58.70 online |
Two things catch people out. Contactless always charges the adult fare, so families should buy child tickets in the app or online instead. And buying a single, return or Hop-on Hop-off ticket online at least three days ahead saves 15%. Children aged 4 and under ride free.
When it is worth it, and when it is not
Worth it for getting from Westminster to Greenwich with the views thrown in, for a cheap first look at the river, and on a day when you will hop on and off at several piers.
Not the best buy if you want to know what you are looking at. A sightseeing cruise such as the Westminster to Greenwich Cruise (US$23, October 2026) costs a little more and adds a commentary. And if you want the river to be the event rather than the commute, the speedboats are a different experience altogether.
GetYourGuide also sells Uber Boat tickets, such as the Uber Boat Return River Ticket (US$31) and a return ticket with the London Cable Car (US$49), both as listed in October 2026. For a plain ride, tapping in at the pier is cheaper; the bundles make sense when you want the cable car too.
What a tour adds
The river bus shows you the river. A guided boat explains it, and a speedboat turns it into a ride. The River Thames Speedboat Tour covers the same central stretch from the London Eye, slow past Parliament and under Tower Bridge, then flat out to Canary Wharf, with a guide on the microphone, in 50 minutes for US$70 (October 2026).
The price guide sets the river bus against every other boat, and the journey times guide has the times between piers.
The calendar below is for the River Thames Speedboat Tour from the London Eye Pier:
When You Want More Than a Ride
The Uber Boat gives you the views. The River Thames Speedboat Tour adds a guide, Tower Bridge at a crawl and the open river at 30 knots, in 50 minutes from the London Eye. Rated 4.9 from 1,045 reviews, from US$70 a person as of October 2026.
Check Speedboat Dates