Thames River Routes: RB2

RB2 covers the inner London section of the Thames, connecting the following piers (from west to east):

• Battersea Power Station
• St. Georges Wharf
• Milbank
• Embankment
• Blackfriars
• Bankside
• London Bridge City

It runs both peak hours and weekends, unlike, (say) peak week day only RB6 which has a further reach west. It doesn't stop at Westminster & London Eye / Waterloo so you'd have to change at Embankment or simply walk (seriously not far from that pier).

There used to be a special Tate to Tate route that went from Milbank (for Tate Britain) to Bankside (for Tate Modern) but now that's part of RB2.

I went eastwards on a Saturday afternoon in peak tourist season in which the river was seriously crowded and boats delayed. The Thames Clipper cats can accelerate to some speeds and in a rush to catch up time were upsetting other slower boats. In particular, one party boat turned hard to port, blew its horn twice to reinforce the message, but the Clipper still zoomed along its port side, causing the other vessel's skipper to throw his hands up in the air.

Anyhow, it was a lovely afternoon and there are great sights to be seen. This time was sitting on the south side of the boat where can initially see the shell (as it was then) of Battersea Power Station surrounded by cranes (above).

Just along from that was the brand new American Embassy which apparently Trump doesn't like:

Further along is Vauxhall Bridge and when on the water you can see the key decoration which are statues invisible to those passing overhead:

Downriver you can see Drury's Science, Fine Arts, Local Government and Education while upriver there are Pomeroy's Agriculture, Architecture, Engineering and Pottery. Behind you can see spook central aka the offices of MI6.

Just beyond is Lambeth Bridge, with the Archbishop's Palace in the background:

Lambeth Bridge is painted red (pink) to reflect the colour of the House of Lords benches while Westminster Bridge is green as that's the colour of the benches in the House of Commons.

Central London has of course top sights like the London Eye, Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe:

The route ends at London Bridge City. If you want to go back you have to leave the boat to tap out and then tap in again, but for me I was leaving at this point, with views downstream to the HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge: