The October half term holidays found us yearning for some fun, local adventure. Fortunately we were blessed with the most glorious weather. It was unexpectedly bright, and warm so we decided to try out a Go Boat.
Go Boat, Kingston offer electric, self drive boats, and it’s great for any celebration. It comfortably seats up to a group of eight people. The central table is perfect for a picnic or for cutting a cake.
The Go Boat starts from just below Kingston Bridge. After a quick 2 minute tutorial on driving the boat and navigating the river by the friendly staff, we were off. How hard could it possibly be? Steer the opposite direction to the way you want to go. It seemed quite straight forward really. Armed with a map, detailing the local area, the staff helpfully showed us the route, and wrote down our timings to turn around, in order to get back on time. Just like that, we were ready for the adventure along the River Thames, towards Hampton Court Palace.
The boat has life jackets for children and for anyone aboard who would like to wear one. Fortunately we had sunshine for our 2 hour adventure, but the boat does come complete with umbrellas.
There’s a special treasure trail for the kids to spot landmarks along the way. Our little one loved trying to spot them all. He was particularly thrilled by the opportunity to rummage through a bucket of sweets for his prizes at the end. Finding golden coins and tattoos really topped off his day.
The adventure aboard the Go Boat was fantastic. Whilst the steering takes a bit of getting used to; it’s not too tricky. Going against the current meant we were being overtaken by swans en route to Hampton. We couldn’t help but laugh, that it seemed to be a bit of a slow boat for the first stretch. However on the way back with current on our side we were able to beat the ducks. But we still couldn’t quite keep up with all the determined rowers.
We switched captain at the half way point. Whilst it’s an easy drive overall, I quickly learnt that it’s easier to eat sandwiches sitting back, soaking up the sun at the table. It turned out it was actually just as fun being a passenger.
It was all going so well. Until it was time to return. So it turns out, doing a three point turn, to reverse park a Go boat when there is a current, is not as easy as we thought. Our first captain overshot it, so they were quickly demoted. We did a quick switch of captain, and somehow ended up rather close to the arches of the bridge. Wondering how an earth we would park in the snug spot, somehow we managed it. After a quick reverse down the quiet River Thames, we pulled in, with the kind staff on hand to give us a final pull back in.
We really enjoyed the Autumnal river adventure aboard the Go Boat. We can’t wait to go again, and would highly recommend it.
Book now at https://goboat.co.uk
Prices start from £95 for the first hour.
*Disclaimer: Concierge Angel were invited as complimentary guests of Go Boat. However all photographs and opinions belong to Concierge Angel.
