On the river boat, the morning rush hour is the cheap fare. Saturday afternoon is the expensive one. That is the opposite of every other form of transport in London.
Here is the published table for Oyster and contactless, checked on 6 October 2026:
Monday to Friday, 06:35 to 09:27: off peak.
Monday to Friday, 09:27 to 06:35: peak.
Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays: peak all day.
Read it twice, because it is genuinely inverted. The window that is peak on the Underground is the only off-peak window on the boat. Everything else, including the whole weekend, is peak.
What that costs, on the East or West zone: £6.20 off peak against £7.40 peak. Across all zones it is £19.30 against £22.90.
The logic is capacity rather than perversity. The boat is a commuter service that fills with tourists in the middle of the day and at weekends, so the fares follow the crowds rather than the clock. But nothing on a pier tells you that a 9am sailing on a Tuesday is the cheapest boat of the week.
These fares run until 31 October 2026, after which the operator says revised fares will be issued. Anything below is correct until then.
The all zones return is cheaper at the pier than online
The website says, repeatedly, “Online and via the apps always offer the best value for money.” For one ticket, that is not true, and the gap is nearly eight pounds.
From the published fare table:
All Zones return, bought at the pier: £37.50.
All Zones return, bought online or in the app: £45.40.
Buying the longest return online costs £7.90 more than buying the same ticket from the ticket office.
Work out why and it gets stranger. An All Zones single online is £22.70, so two of them come to exactly £45.40. The online “return” is simply two singles with no discount at all. At the pier, the £37.50 return undercuts two standard singles at £24.70 each by £11.90.
So on that one ticket the pier wins, decisively. On every other combination, online does save money.
The rest of the fares, where online does win
Three zones, West, Central and East, and your ticket must cover every zone you pass through. Tower to Greenwich crosses Central and East.
Adult fares, pier price first, online second:
East or West, single: £9.40 at the pier, £7.20 online.
East or West, return: £17.10 at the pier, £14.40 online.
Central, single: £16.40 at the pier, £11.70 online.
Central, return: £27.90 at the pier, £23.40 online.
Central and East, or Central and West, single: £17.70 at the pier, £13.50 online.
Central and East, or Central and West, return: £30.10 at the pier, £27.00 online.
All Zones, single: £24.70 at the pier, £22.70 online.
All Zones, return: £37.50 at the pier, £45.40 online.
The Central single is the biggest saving, £4.70 off by booking rather than queueing.
And there is a further discount on top: “Buy your Hop-on Hop-off (1 Day), Single or Return tickets at least 3 days in advance and get 15% off! Offer available online only.”
The TfL daily cap does not apply
One line, easy to miss, and it costs people money.
“TfL daily cap does not apply to River services.”
Touching in on the boat with the same contactless card you use on the tube does not count towards your daily cap, and does not benefit from it. The boat fare sits on top, in full, every time.
Two more Oyster warnings worth having before you reach a pier:
“You must have enough credit on your pay as you go Oyster card to complete your journey. We do not have top up facilities.”
No top-ups at the pier. And: each passenger needs a separate card, touched in and out with the same card including at interchanges.
Crossing the river for £2.90
The cheapest thing the operator sells, and almost nobody outside the local area knows it exists.
Three short crossings are priced as their own fare:
Barking Riverside to Woolwich (Royal Arsenal): 7 minutes.
Greenland (Surrey Quays) to Canary Wharf: 4 minutes.
Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf: 3 minutes.
A Cross River single is £4.10. But the operator’s own tip is the useful bit: “Whilst a Cross River Single ticket costs £4.10, you’ll only pay £2.90 per crossing when buying a bundle of 10x or 20 tickets!”
10 crossings for £29.00, or 20 for £58.00, available only on the Thames Clippers Tickets or Uber apps.
Two conditions. Bundled tickets must be used within 90 days, and once activated, each Cross River single is valid for 15 minutes. Activate it when you are at the pier, not on the way there.
One catch: no discounts apply to the Cross River fare. Child, concession and Travelcard reductions do not work on it, so for a discounted passenger a regular East Zone ticket is the better buy.
Who gets money off
The discount structure is more generous than most river operators, and it stacks.
Children 4 and under travel free, with a limit: a maximum of two per ticket holder, and any further under-fours need a child ticket.
Children 5 to 15: 50 per cent off adult fares, excluding returns bought at piers, multi-ticket savers and joint tickets. On Oyster pay as you go the child needs an 11 to 15 or 5 to 10 Oyster photocard, or a Visitor Oyster with the young visitor discount switched on, for the discount to apply.
A TfL-issued Travelcard gets a third off standard fares, on adult and child singles, Hop-on Hop-off and season tickets. It must be printed on paper or loaded onto an Oyster card: other formats are refused, and Zip photocards and Bus and Tram Passes do not count. Travelcards on Oyster apply the third automatically on touching in; paper ones mean buying online, in the app or at the machine with the Travelcard option selected.
A Freedom Pass or 60+ London Oyster photocard gets 50 per cent off everything except returns bought at piers, including Hop-on Hop-off and season tickets, selected as the Concession fare. The card must be physical: “Digital copies, photos, or screenshots will not be accepted.”
Children with a TfL Travelcard get a further third off the child fare, which lands at half an adult Travelcard fare.
Groups of 10 or more: 10 per cent off singles, returns and Hop-on Hop-off, booked in advance.
Hop-on Hop-off, and the commuter tickets
All-day travel across every pier:
Adult 1 day: £29.30 online, £32.60 at the pier. 2 days: £48.80, online only.
Child or concession 1 day: £14.65 online, £16.30 at the pier. 2 days: £24.40, online only.
Family, two adults and up to three children, 1 day: £58.70 online, £65.20 at the pier. 2 days: £97.60, online only.
The two-day tickets are not sold at piers at all.
For regular travel, three things worth knowing:
Commuter AM: weekdays between 05:00 and 09:30, up to 25 per cent off against touching in with a card, on the Tickets app.
Season tickets: weekly, monthly or annual, saving up to 80 per cent, which the operator puts at as little as £1.61 per journey on the annual. They also carry 15 per cent off at the onboard café bar.
Multi-Ticket Savers: up to 25 per cent cheaper per journey than contactless.
Boarding is first come, first served, and the boat can fill
Not a reserved-seat service, and the capacity limit is absolute.
“Each of our vessels has a maximum capacity which we cannot exceed under any circumstances. This means if the vessel reaches capacity, boarding will be stopped.”
The queue has an order to it: passengers with disabilities board first, then season ticket holders on weekly, monthly and annual tickets, at staffed piers while staff are present, then everyone else.
Practical instructions: arrive at least 5 minutes before your sailing. Ticket inspections happen during pre-boarding, before the boat arrives. And a specific one for contactless: “customers should only touch-in when asked to do so”, because touching in early can land you the wrong fare.
Turn up after pre-boarding has started, or after the boat is alongside, and you may be put on the next sailing.
Bikes free, dogs on a lead
Two short answers that save a lot of searching.
“You can bring your bike on board at no extra cost.”
“Dogs are allowed on board. Please keep them on a lead.”
No charge for either, which makes the boat the easiest way across the river with a bicycle in London.
How to plan it
Cheapest time to travel: weekday morning, 06:35 to 09:27. That is the only off-peak window.
Weekends are peak all day.
Buying an All Zones return: buy it at the pier, £37.50 rather than £45.40.
Every other ticket: buy online, and three days ahead for a further 15 per cent.
Do not rely on your daily cap. River fares sit outside it.
Oyster: top up before you arrive. Piers have no top-up facilities.
Crossing at Rotherhithe, Greenland or Barking Riverside: buy a 10-ticket bundle, £2.90 a crossing, and activate only at the pier.
Freedom Pass or 60+ Oyster: carry the physical card.
Arrive 5 minutes early, and touch in only when asked.
Bike or dog: both fine, both free.
Uber Boat by Thames Clippers
- Address
- River bus services across West, Central and East zones on the Thames
- Nearest
- Piers from Putney in the west to Barking Riverside in the east, including Embankment, London Bridge, Tower, Canary Wharf, Greenwich and North Greenwich
- Hours
- Daily river bus services. Oyster and contactless off peak applies Monday to Friday 06:35 to 09:27 only, with all other times and all weekends and bank holidays at peak
- Booking
- Online, on the Thames Clippers Tickets app or the Uber app, at a pier ticket office or machine, or by touching in with Oyster or contactless. Boarding is first come first served
- Price
- Adult singles from 7.20 pounds online in the East or West zone to 22.70 across all zones, and returns from 14.40 to 45.40. All Zones return is 37.50 at the pier against 45.40 online. Hop-on Hop-off 29.30 online for a day. Cross River single 4.10, or 2.90 in a bundle of 10 or 20 on the apps
- Standing
- London’s river bus network, running three zones with a cafe bar on board, free bike carriage and dogs allowed on a lead
How to get in
The peak and off peak structure is inverted against the rest of London transport: the only off peak window is Monday to Friday 06:35 to 09:27, and weekends and bank holidays are peak all day. The TfL daily cap does not apply to river services, and piers have no Oyster top up facilities. The All Zones return costs 37.50 pounds at the pier against 45.40 online, the one ticket where buying in advance costs more. Boarding is first come first served with a hard vessel capacity, and contactless users should touch in only when asked. Fares shown were published until 31 October 2026.
Where to go next
The London cable car is the other river crossing worth doing, and what the tube costs covers the fares the cap does apply to.
Greenwich and Up at The O2 are both at the eastern end, and the Travelcard guide explains the third off.
Questions we get asked
When is Uber Boat by Thames Clippers off peak?
Only Monday to Friday between 06:35 and 09:27. Every other weekday time is peak, and Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays are peak all day. That is the reverse of the Underground, so the weekday morning rush is the cheapest boat of the week. On the East or West zone the difference is £6.20 off peak against £7.40 peak.
Is it cheaper to buy Thames Clippers tickets online?
Almost always, with one exception. Online saves up to £4.70 on a Central single, and buying at least three days ahead takes a further 15 per cent off. But the All Zones return costs £37.50 at the pier against £45.40 online, because the online version is priced as two singles with no return discount. For that one ticket, buy at the ticket office.
Does the TfL daily cap cover Thames Clippers?
No. The operator states plainly that the TfL daily cap does not apply to river services, so a boat fare is charged in full on top of whatever you spend on the tube and buses. Piers also have no Oyster top-up facilities, so load enough credit before you arrive, and each passenger needs their own card.
How much is it to cross the river on Thames Clippers?
A Cross River single is £4.10, covering Barking Riverside to Woolwich, Greenland to Canary Wharf or Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf. Buying a bundle of 10 for £29 or 20 for £58 on the Tickets or Uber apps brings it down to £2.90 a crossing. Bundled tickets must be used within 90 days and each is valid for only 15 minutes once activated, so activate at the pier. No child, concession or Travelcard discounts apply to this fare.
Can you take a bike or a dog on Thames Clippers?
Both, and neither costs extra. Bikes come on board at no additional cost, and dogs are allowed provided they are kept on a lead. That makes the river bus one of the easiest ways to cross the Thames with a bicycle.
Do you get a discount on Thames Clippers with a Freedom Pass?
Yes, 50 per cent off all fares except returns bought at piers, including Hop-on Hop-off and season tickets, selected as the Concession fare. The same applies to a 60+ London Oyster photocard. The physical card must be presented when asked, as digital copies, photos and screenshots are not accepted.
Do you need to book Thames Clippers in advance?
No, but boarding is first come first served and each vessel has a capacity that cannot be exceeded, so boarding stops when a boat is full. Passengers with disabilities board first, then season ticket holders at staffed piers, then everyone else. Arrive at least five minutes before your sailing, and if using contactless, touch in only when asked so you are charged the right fare.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 373 in the guide.
Last checked 6 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
