<- scroll   Prinsendam July 23 2010   scroll ->

Docking is now in Tilbury rather than Greenwich

Firstly, you will not miss sailing under Tower Bridge or past the Houses of Parliament for Big Ben, as these are up river from Greenwich, and were never on the itineray (except by excursion).   It is true that you will miss out on the trip from Greenwich to Tilbury, which is perhaps the more interesting part of the river.   There is only one bridge between Tower Bridge and the mouth of the Thames which is the QE II bridge carrying the M25 motorway (the London ring).   In fact the QE II bridge is the only part missing in the motorway ring around London.   It is not classified as a motorway, so that traffic banned from motorways can cross the river.   So strictly it doesn't carry the M25 (file for trivia quiz).   You will also miss sailing through the Thames barrier (flood defense).

However, the trip from Tilbury to the pilot station is three and a half hours, and although there are probably speed restrictions to conserve the river banks, we should be able to make that speed as the river is wider and not so congested.   The upper part of the river is narrow, congested with pleasure craft and there is at least one ferry crossing, so I reckon that is probably another three and half hours.   So we do have the advantage of a quick getaway and there are still some sights along the way; Southend Pier (once famous as the longest pier in the world), the estuary forts (World War II), the wreck of the Montgomery (I hope it doesn't go off).

The big downside is that Greenwich is a more interesting place than Tilbury.   What does Tilbury have to offer? Click to find out.