Where To Go Boating In London? - Rowing Boat and Pedalo Hire

Last updated 29 July 2019

Note: The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of RetoxMagazine.com

Rowing Boat and Pedalo Hire in London

Rowing Boats and Pedal Boating

Now that the weather is warm and the sun made its appearance, you can't beat a day out in London. Whether you’re a local and have a day off from work, or you’re visiting London on a short break, a boating experience in one of London's gorgeous parks will do the trick. Hire a row boat in London and incorporate sightseeing into your adventure, a bit of extra healthy physical activity, spend some time relaxing on a gorgeous body of water, snap stunning photos of landscapes and birds and take some striking selfies. Boating, an adventure simple in nature, can be a whole lot of fun.

Best London Spots for Pedalo or Rowboating

Regent's Park Boating Lake

Regent’s Park is huge, 166 hectares to be precise. Previously a hunting ground for King Henry VIII, today Regent’s Park continues to offer wildlife and plant diversity and it certainly is one of the finest spots to connect with nature in Central London.

The park consists of the Inner and Outer Circle. The Inner Circle offers beautiful gardens and landscaping – the heavily TLC’d Queen Mary’s Gardens that are particularly gorgeous to explore during spring time, as well as the Open Air Theatre. Outer Circle has a mix of gardens, play areas, sports grounds, boating lake, London Zoo and more. There are multiple places in the park to buy drinks, meals, snacks or use the amenities, please see our Regent's Park guide for more information.

The park is popular with tourists and locals alike and renting a row boat or an adult pedalo in the park’s picturesque setting can be a really fun thing to do.

Despite the discovery of a dead man's body in the boating lake in the winter of 2018, this remains one of my personal favourite places to hire a rowing boat in London - it's a great central location, stunning views, but not as crowded as Hyde Park by comparison.

Getting to Regent's Park is easy by London Underground, with Baker Street and Great Portland Street stations just minutes away from the park.

Boating Lake Opening Times

Open daily 10.30am-6pm from late March until the end of October.

Boat Hire Prices

The hourly rates for adult - £10.50, child - £7.50. The early bird hire rate for rentals before noon is reduced, for adult - £7.00 and child - £5.50.

Half an hour rates for adult - £8.50, child - £6.00, with an early bird reduction for adult - £5.50 and child - £4.50.

Family hire is also available at £30 per hour that includes two adults and up to three children.

A £5.00 deposit is required for bookings.

You can get more information on the opening times and prices on the Regent's Park website.

Regent’s Park Boating Lake looking oh-so-pretty this afternoon. #Travel #England #London pic.twitter.com/VY3rNABdGN

— Girl in London (@wanderbliss) May 31, 2014

Battersea Park Boating Lake

Battersea Park boating lake has a fleet of rowing and pedal boats. You can row your boat or pedal your pedalo around the central island in the lake and take in the nature around you. The surroundings are beautiful. You can easily lose yourself in many shades of green and become one with nature.

The nearest train station to the park is Battersea Park. An easy way to get there is to take a train from Victoria train station to Battersea Park station.

Boating Lake Opening Times

Battersea Park pedalos are open during school holidays, public holidays and weekends between Easter and the end of September.

Boat Hire Prices

The hourly rates for adult - £8, child - £4.

Half an hour rates for adult - £6, child - £3.

Family hire is available at £20 per hour and £15 per half an hour that includes two adults and two children.

Here are the prices, rules and contact details where you can get more information on Battersea Park boats.

.@old_london_mush Battersea Park-Boating Lake-got chased by a swarm of bees-when i was a kid-#DordyChavyjellOnMunja! pic.twitter.com/UF6gtp2drj

— Wayne Whittle (@RydeAbide) May 1, 2014

Alexandra Palace Boating Lake, London

Lakeside Boats at Ally Pally offer pedalos as well as the classic rowing boats. While the pedalos are a tiny bit more expensive to rent, they do offer fancy and possibly irresistible designs - you have a choice of paddling a dragon, a swan or a WV Beetle, and they come in a variety of bright colours. Attracted by the choice of fancy pedalo designs I would say this is my favourite place to hire a pedalo in London.

Alexandra Palace train station is the nearest station to the park.

Boating Lake Opening Times

Open 11am-6pm from March to October.

Boat Hire Prices

Adult - £6.95, child - £5.95, group that includes the minimum of one child - £18.95. Prices are per half an hour. The minimum fee is £8.95. You can get a feel for the boats and check out the prices here.

Crystal Palace Park Boating Lake

Crystal Palace Park Boating Lake brings a more thrilling boating experience with the views of over a century-old dinosaurs. Here you can float past dinosaurs and enjoy the views.

To get to the boating lake by train the stations to get off at are Crystal Palace and Penge West.

Boating Lake Opening Times

The boating lake is open 10.30am-5pm on weekends, bank holidays and school holidays from Easter until October.

Boat Hire Prices

Adult - £5, child - £3. There is also a good family value offer at £13 inclusive of two adults and two children. Prices are per half an hour, and this is a cash only service. For more information and prices please visit the Park Boats London website.

Hollow Ponds Boating Lake

Hollow Pond is part of Epping Forest lying between Upper Leytonstone and Snaresbrook. This is a very 'raw' and a natural park, with natural grasslands, where you can enjoy a good forest trail, a picnic, lake views, cycling, boating and other activities. The pond covers quite a large area so hiring a rowing boat at the Boat House to enjoy some time on the water seems like a perfect thing to do on a nice day.

FYI: a body was found wrapped in Ikea bag at the popular boating lake in 2015. However, this is an unusual event, so don't let that put you off.

By tube you have somewhat of a choice between Snaresbrook, Leytonstone or Wanstead stations, although expect a good walk from either of the stations. There is also the option of Wood Street railway station.

Boating Lake Opening Times

Hollow Pond boating lake is open on weekends 10am-8pm from March to September.

Boat Hire Prices

Boat hire is at £15 per boat per hour or £10 for half an hour. The rowing boats can have a maximum of 5 people. See here for the latest information.

Boating on the Serpentine in Hyde Park

The famous Serpentine in Hyde Park operates a fleet of rowing and pedal boats as well as the UK’s first Solarshuttle – a silent solar-powered shuttle service that can carry up to 40 passengers.

Today, the Hyde Park pedalo and rowing boats feature in many tourist pictures, and it has become somewhat of a tourist attraction within its own right. Much the same, the rowing boat and pedalo hire in Hyde Park remains popular among some of the locals.

Ahhh relaxing ☀ #hydepark #boat #river #sundays pic.twitter.com/l80967bPRX

— Danielle Davern (@DanielleDavern) June 2, 2013

The Serpantine, created in 1730 at the behest of Queen Caroline, is rich in history. In 1730 Queen Caroline, wife of George II, ordered the damming of the River Westbourne in Hyde Park as part of a general redevelopment of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The Serpentine was originally fed by the River Westbourne and the Tyburn Brook. Royal Gardener Charles Bridgeman carried out the redevelopment that included damming the Westbourne to create the artificial lake, and digging a large pond in the centre of Kensington Gardens.

Fast forward to 2011 The Royal Park embarked on the restoration of the Serpentine. In 2012 the lake proved to be a popular venue for the swimming portion of the London 2012 Triathlon, and the Marathon Swim events in August 2012.

Located bang in Central London, the nearest tube stations are Knightsbridge and Hyde Park Corner.

Today it turns out the Serpentine Lake, along with several other water bodies in London, is found hosting traces of antibiotic-resistant DNA. Scientists say they spread in treated sewage water.

Boating Lake Opening Times

Boating on the Serpentine is open daily from 10am until sunset. It is open from the month of April until the end of October.

Boat Hire Prices

Adults - £12 for 1 hour or £10 for 30 minutes.
Child under the age of 15 - £5 for 1 hour or £4 for 30 minutes.
Family ticket that includes two adults and two children - £29 for 1 hour or £24 for 30 minutes.

For more information on times and prices please visit The Royal Parks website page.

Victoria Park Boating Lake

Victoria Park has a fleet of 40 boats that includes rowing boats and pedalos available for hire seven days a week throughout the summer months.

The lake is huge with a fountain in the middle and some islands making it a scenic boat experience.

But of course, Victoria Park is probably best remembered by some for the relatively recent incident where the police drained a pond to recover 150 bags of cocaine and heroin. Don’t drink from the pond, just saying.

The nearest London Underground stations are Mile End and Bethnal Green. The nearest Overground station is Cambridge Heath.

Boating Lake Opening Times

Monday to Friday 12-5pm.Saturdays and Sundays 12-6pm.Boats available for hire from Easter until late October.

Boat Hire Prices

£10 per boat for 30 minutes. Max persons in pedalos: 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 small children.Max persons in row boats: 4 adults or 3 adults and 2 small children. For more info visit Regal Boathire.

Finsbury Park Boating Lake

The park was originally a part of Hornsey Wood. The woodlands were cut back to provide grazing land during the middle ages. In the 18th century a tearoom had opened where Finsbury Park is situated and Londoners would travel north to escape the pollution in the capital and to enjoy whatever was left of the old Hornsey Wood.

In or around the 1800s the tearoom was expanded and became known as Hornsey Rood Tavern. A lake was also built that provided boating activities for visitors. Later, as the area was redesigned as a park, the tavern was destroyed in the process and the lake was expanded.

Today the body of water in Finsbury Park continues to be popular for boating during the summer months. At the lake you can hire rowing boats and also buy swan and duck feed if you want to enjoy feeding the birds on your rowing trip.

The nearest London Underground stations are Manor House and Finsbury Park. You can also connect with Finsbury Park station by the Overground, Great Northern and Thameslink trains. Other stations you could use are Harringay served by Great Northern train line and Harringay Green Lanes station served by the Overground.

Boating Lake Opening Times

The boat hire on Finsbury Park boating lake is open 7 days a week from noon until 6pm. It is at 5:30pm that you can take the last boat. The service is available from Easter until early October 7 days a week, then weekends only in autumn.

Boat Hire Prices

£8 per boat for 30 minutes. One boat holds up to four people.

On Saturdays between 12 noon and 3pm rowers dressed as pirates and princesses can get a discount and pay £5 instead. Here’s more information on boat hire at Finsbury Park.

Greenwich Park Boating Lake

There is a boating pond situated in Finsbury Park. The body of water here is small but it might be convenient if you are going to see the Greenwich observatory and the Martime museum.

Boating Lake Opening Times

The boating lake is open from 10am to 5pm during school holidays, public holidays and weekends from Easter until the end of September.

Boat Hire Prices

Adult - £4, child - £2. The family value offer is £9.50 that includes two adults and two children. Here you can find more information on boat hire at Greenwich Park.

Have a Question About Boating in London?

Rowing Boat vs Paddling Boat, Which One to Pick?

If you’re well up for a boating day out here in London but end up with a dilemma of whether to rent a rowing boat or a pedalo, here is something to consider.

The immediate and noticeable difference between a rowing boat and a paddling boat is in the mechanism it uses to propel the boat. A rowing boat is a small boat propelled by the use of oars, and the rowers travel backwards (see the video on how to row a boat below). A pedalo is a small boat operated by pedals and travel forwards. So do you want to go backwards or do you want to go forwards?

Video on how to row a boat