The National Trail along the River Thames, from its source at Thames Head in the Cotswolds to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel in east London, in its fifteen sections: the upper river's meadows, Oxford, the Goring Gap, Henley, Windsor and the tidal river through London.
Best season: Spring to autumn. The best months are spring to the end of autumn, National Trails says: in winter the Thames floods easily, above all upstream of Oxford. Some stays close for the winter: the Bridge House campsite at Lechlade is closed until 25 March 2027. Before you go
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Checking the seasons, closures and current conditions for today…
Fifteen sections, the National Trail's own, of about 14 to 27 km on flat ground; National Trails suggests about 24 km a day. Three section ends have no stay we could confirm: Tilehurst, on the edge of Reading; Shepperton, where the section ends at the ferry landing; and Teddington, whose nearest listed stays are in Kingston, 2 to 3 km before. Streatley, Aston, Chertsey, Kingston and the Greenwich Peninsula have listed stays on the way. Choose a plan, or pick your own start, finish and nights below.
Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.
Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.
Stage 1: From the stone at Trewsbury Mead, the source of the Thames near Kemble, to Cricklade: 12.3 miles (19.7 km), National Trails says; 19.8 km on our line. The first kilometres are often dry in summer.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A small town on the river; the trail list names the Old Bear Inn and the White Hart Hotel.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 2: Across the meadows to Lechlade: 11 miles (17.5 km); 17.3 km on our line. The meadows flood easily in winter.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
A small town with few listed stays: three on the National Trails map, and its campsite is closed until 25 March 2027.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 3: To Newbridge: 16.4 miles (26.2 km), the longest section on the upper river, with few villages; 25.6 km on our line. The Cradle Bridge near Radcot is closed as unsafe (National Trails' notice of September 2026, read 13 October 2026), with no repair date while the county council seeks funding: follow the short signed diversion over the landowner's land.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The Rose Revived inn is the only listed stay at Newbridge, and few villages on the way here have beds.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 4: By the Trout at Godstow and Port Meadow into Oxford: 14 miles (22.4 km); 22.5 km on our line, ending by the river near Oxford station. National Trails still lists the access ramp to the path at Osney Bridge, from Botley Road, as closed for water works (a notice of July 2025): a short signed diversion goes along Abbey Road.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hostel or bunkhouse
Pick a date to check the season.
The section ends by the river near Oxford station; the city has far more beds than the two on the trail list.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 5: From Oxford to Abingdon-on-Thames: 9.9 miles (15.8 km); 15.5 km on our line. Between Oxpens Meadow and Grandpont Nature Park, about 1 km in, the path is closed while a new footbridge is built, from 24 July 2026 to 31 August 2027. Our line still crosses it: follow the signed diversion through Grandpont Nature Reserve. Farther on, the towpath from Donnington Bridge to Isis Farmhouse is being repaired until late October 2026, with signed diversions and a narrower path.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Kingfisher Barn, about 0.6 km from the town centre, is the listed stay with its own website.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 6: To Wallingford: 13.5 miles (21.6 km) between two towns 8 miles apart as the crow flies; 22.7 km on our line. Between Culham Lock and the weir north-west of Long Wittenham, early in the section, the path has been closed since the August Bank Holiday weekend of 2026, for about 18 months, while a new viaduct is built. Heading downstream, the diversion goes north up Tollgate Road, east along the busy A415 and south down the High Street, then by a footpath back to the river; the number 45 bus is another way round.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
The only listed stay with its own website is the Bridge Villa campsite, about 1.3 km from the town centre.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 7: Through the Goring Gap, by Streatley and Pangbourne, to Tilehurst on the Reading side: 14.8 miles (23.7 km); 23.4 km on our line. At Streatley the narrow riverbank path south of the bridge (Footpath Stre/24/1) is closed until it is repaired, hoped for next summer if funds allow: the diversion takes Footpath 227 east to Manor Road and back to the river. The section ends on the river path about 0.4 km from Tilehurst station, with no stay we could confirm: the Swan and the Bull at Streatley, about 10 km in, are the nearest listed stays.
Tilehurst Town or village
The section ends on the river path about 0.4 km from Tilehurst station, below the Reading suburb of Tilehurst, not in a village. National Trails lists one B&B in Tilehurst, with no website, and we could not confirm another stay here: the Swan and the Bull at Streatley, about 13 km back, are the nearest listed stays; Reading, on the next section, is the nearest large town.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
km 19.8–25.5: Joined by our routing here; the waymarked route may differ.
Stage 8: Through Reading and by Shiplake to Henley-on-Thames: 12.3 miles (19.7 km), National Trails says, but 26.9 km on our line. The Marsh Lock footbridge between Shiplake and Henley is closed on safety grounds by the Environment Agency, and OpenStreetMap maps no way over the river there. Our line runs up the river to the closed bridge (about 19.7 km) and our own routing then takes it back down the same bank and round by Shiplake, 5.7 km labelled "Joined by our routing here": about 3.4 km of that is the walk to the bridge and back, and none of it is the official diversion, so the 26.9 km overstates the day. National Trails signs about 3 miles (4.8 km, about 1 h 30) along the pavements of the A4155, with red "Pedestrians" signs, and shows it only on a PDF map. Trains and buses run between Shiplake and Henley if you would rather skip it. The order closing the bridge ran to 31 January 2026 and could be extended; the bridge was still marked closed on the National Trails map on 13 October 2026.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
A riverside town with a station. The trail list shows only the Swiss Farm campsite, on the next section about 0.8 km out; the town has more hotels than the list shows.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 9: By Aston and Hurley to Marlow: 8.7 miles (13.9 km), the shortest section; 14.8 km on our line. Temple Bridge, between Hurley and Marlow, has been closed by the Environment Agency since 15 May 2023, for the foreseeable future: follow the signed diversion between Hurley and Marlow (the notice gives both directions). The Flower Pot at Aston, about 5 km in, has rooms.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The Old Vicarage at Bisham is about 1.2 km from Marlow, across the river.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 10: By Cookham and Maidenhead to Windsor: 14.3 miles (22.3 km); 23.0 km on our line.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The section ends by the river in Windsor, about 0.2 km from Windsor & Eton Riverside station. The Christopher Hotel is in Eton, about 1 km away; Windsor has many hotels beyond the trail list.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 11: Past Runnymede and Staines to Shepperton: 13.7 miles (21.9 km); 23.0 km on our line. Just south of Runnymede Bridge (the M25), the path is closed between the Runnymede Hotel and just north of Staines after floods damaged a footbridge (notice updated 28 September 2026); the bridge is to be removed this autumn and replaced in spring or summer 2027. The diversion follows the A308 by the Runnymede Hotel to the pedestrian crossing on the A30, passes under the M25 and follows the Causeway (A308) for 0.6 miles. The section ends at the ferry landing, about 1.3 km south of Shepperton village, with no stay we could confirm: the Chertsey campsite, about 3.4 km before, is the nearest listed.
Shepperton Town or village
The section ends at the ferry landing on the river, about 1.3 km south of Shepperton village, not in it. We could not confirm a stay here: the trail list has no hotel within 4 km. The Chertsey campsite is on the trail about 3.4 km before; Walton-on-Thames is on the next section, about 2.5 km on.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
By bus, train or ferry: 0.1 km with no walking route (see the stage's notes), not in the walking distance or time.
km 0.0–0.1: No walking route here: the official route crosses by bus, train or ferry. See the operator's description.
Stage 12: The section starts on the small pedestrian ferry across the river from Shepperton to Weybridge, drawn dashed on the map and left out of our walking distance. We could not confirm its season or hours from an official source: check before you rely on it. Then by Walton-on-Thames, Hampton Court and Kingston upon Thames to Teddington, where London begins: 10.9 miles (17.4 km); 17.6 km on our line. Teddington has no listed stay; the nearest are in Kingston, 2 to 3 km before.
Teddington Town or village
The section ends by the river at Teddington, about 1 km from Teddington station. No stay is listed in Teddington itself: the nearest, the White Hart and the Queen's Head, are in Kingston, on this section 2 to 3 km before.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 13: From Teddington, where the river becomes tidal, to Putney: National Trails gives 11.6 miles (18.6 km) by the south bank and 14.1 miles (22.6 km) by the north; 18.3 km on our line.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
By Putney Bridge. The trail list names the Premier Inn about 0.8 km from the bridge, and two more hotels within 4 km.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 14: From Putney to Tower Bridge: 10.5 miles (16.8 km) by the south bank, 10.3 miles (16.5 km) by the north; 15.5 km on our line. On the Fulham side by Putney Bridge, the footbridge over Swan Draw Dock is closed by the council and is likely to stay closed while the flood wall is worked on: on that side, take the Willow Bank shared path to Ranelagh Gardens, then the alley beside the railway.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The trail list has six stays within 1.2 km of the bridge, several of them Premier Inns; the Chamberlain Hotel at Tower Hill is about 0.8 km away.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 15: From Tower Bridge to the Thames Barrier and the Woolwich Foot Tunnel: 11.2 miles (18 km) by the south bank (the north-bank route ends at Island Gardens after 5.5 miles, 8.8 km); 18.2 km on our line. On the Greenwich Peninsula the Morden Wharf works divert the path, from June 2026 until 2027, by Telcon Way, Tunnel Avenue and beside the A102 towards the Millennium Dome. From the Thames Barrier towards Woolwich the route through the industrial park is closed from 9 pm to 6 am: at night go by Barrier Park, Woolwich Road and Warspite Road. The trail ends at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel; the England Coast Path goes on to Grain.
Longest day: day 8, 6 h 37.
Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are measured on each stage's mapped line by our route analysis (terrain heights and our hiking-time model, moving time only): no time is published for these stages.Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.
Where each stage ends, the 2026 and 2027 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 13 October 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.
| Stage | Night at | 2026 | 2027 | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Thames Head to Cricklade | Old Bear Inn | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 2. Cricklade to Lechlade | The Riverside, Lechlade | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 3. Lechlade to Newbridge | Rose Revived | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 4. Newbridge to Oxford | River Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 5. Oxford to Abingdon-on-Thames | Kingfisher Barn | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 6. Abingdon-on-Thames to Wallingford | Bridge Villa Camping and Caravan Park | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 7. Wallingford to Tilehurst | Tilehurst · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 8. Tilehurst to Henley-on-Thames | Swiss Farm Touring and Camping | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 9. Henley-on-Thames to Marlow | The Old Vicarage, Bisham | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 10. Marlow to Windsor | The Christopher Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 11. Windsor to Shepperton | Shepperton · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 12. Shepperton to Teddington | Teddington · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 13. Teddington to Putney | Premier Inn London Putney Bridge | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 14. Putney to Tower Bridge | The Chamberlain Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 15. Tower Bridge to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel | Woolwich Foot Tunnel · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
Loading the forecast for on the trail (57 m)…
Typical weather on this trail, around 0–113 m. Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Stages rated good on typical weather | 7/15 | 14/15 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 12/15 |
| Day / night | 7°/2° | 8°/2° | 10°/3° | 14°/5° | 17°/8° | 20°/10° | 22°/12° | 21°/12° | 19°/10° | 14°/7° | 11°/4° | 8°/2° |
| Rain, mm | 69 | 55 | 54 | 53 | 54 | 63 | 62 | 70 | 63 | 81 | 83 | 84 |
| Snow at high point | Frost | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daylight | 8 h 18 | 9 h 57 | 11 h 46 | 13 h 48 | 15 h 34 | 16 h 37 | 16 h 14 | 14 h 42 | 12 h 45 | 10 h 47 | 8 h 55 | 7 h 52 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
There is no booking for the whole trail: each stay is booked with its owner, and National Trails lists companies that carry your bags and book walking holidays. Campsites are plentiful, but there is no right to wild camp: use the campsites, or ask the landowner. The trail's accommodation list is thin at some section ends: Lechlade has three listings and its campsite is closed until 25 March 2027, Newbridge has one inn, and Tilehurst, Shepperton and Woolwich have none we could confirm. Oxford, Windsor and London have many more hotels than the list shows.
On 13 October 2026 the National Trails map listed twelve closures and diversions on the trail: Radcot (section 3), the Osney Bridge ramp in Oxford (4), Grandpont and the towpath from Donnington Bridge in Oxford (5), Culham (6), Streatley (7), the Marsh Lock footbridge (8), Temple Bridge at Hurley (9), Runnymede (11), Swan Draw Dock in Fulham (14), and Morden Wharf and the night route by the Thames Barrier (15). Each section note says where and how to go round. Our line does not follow the signed diversions: follow the signs on the ground, and check the map before you set off (National Trails map, read 13 October 2026).
National Trails: Thames Path trail information and mapBetween Oxpens Meadow and Grandpont Nature Park, about 1 km into section 5, the path is closed while a new footbridge is built, from 24 July 2026 to 31 August 2027 (notice read 13 October 2026). Our line still crosses it: follow the signed diversion through Grandpont Nature Reserve. Farther on, the towpath from Donnington Bridge to Isis Farmhouse is being repaired until late October 2026, with signed diversions on site.
National Trails: Grandpont closure, OxfordThe Marsh Lock footbridge between Shiplake and Henley, near the end of section 8, is closed on safety grounds by the Environment Agency; it was still marked closed on the National Trails map read 13 October 2026. The official diversion is about 3 miles (4.8 km, about 1 h 30) along the pavements of the A4155, with red "Pedestrians" signs; National Trails shows it only on a PDF map. Our line does not follow it: it joins the gap with our own routing via Shiplake, 5.7 km, labelled "Joined by our routing here", so the section is 26.9 km on our line against National Trails' 19.7 km. Trains and buses link Shiplake and Henley if you would rather skip it.
National Trails: Marsh Lock footbridge closure and diversionSection 12 starts on the small pedestrian ferry across the river from Shepperton to Weybridge. It is drawn dashed on our map and left out of our walking distance and times. We could not confirm its season or hours from an official source (checked 13 October 2026): check them before you rely on it.
National Trails: route descriptionThe best months are spring to the end of autumn, National Trails says: in winter the Thames floods easily, above all upstream of Oxford, and the meadows on the upper river are prone to it. Check the Environment Agency's flood warnings before you set off (trail information, read 13 October 2026).
National Trails: trail informationClosures and notices last checked 13 October 2026: National Trails: Thames Barrier night route · National Trails: Culham closure · National Trails: Grandpont closure, Oxford · National Trails: Thames Path closures and diversions · National Trails: Marsh Lock footbridge · National Trails: Morden Wharf diversion · National Trails: Oxford towpath repairs · National Trails: Radcot Cradle Bridge · National Trails: Runnymede diversion · National Trails: Streatley diversion · National Trails: Swan Draw Dock, Fulham · National Trails: Temple Bridge, Hurley. Check them again before you set out.
Getting there
Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Kemble station, managed by Great Western Railway, is the nearest to the source, about 2 km away in a straight line; National Trails gives no walking route from it. It names Bristol as the nearest airport.
National Rail: Kemble stationOxford, Pangbourne and Henley-on-Thames are Great Western Railway stations, and the same line as Pangbourne serves Goring & Streatley; Windsor & Eton Riverside and Teddington are South Western Railway's. Above Oxford buses reach the path in many places with some planning; below Oxford there is good access by train, bus and even boat, National Trails says. In London, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers runs river boats; we have not read its piers or times.
National Rail: Oxford stationThe trail ends at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel. Woolwich Arsenal station, managed by Southeastern, is about 0.8 km away in a straight line, and the Elizabeth line also serves Woolwich.
National Rail: Woolwich Arsenal stationTake your trip with you
Prepare each section while you still have a connection: on the upper river, between villages, the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
National Trails gives 185.2 miles (298 km) from the source at Thames Head to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, in fifteen sections; it suggests about 15 miles (24 km) a day, or about 14 days with a couple of rest days, in 15 sections on our map. The guide's day planner offers a 15-day plan on the overnight stops, and you can choose your own nights.
Spring to autumn. The best months are spring to the end of autumn, National Trails says: in winter the Thames floods easily, above all upstream of Oxford.
Kemble station, managed by Great Western Railway, is the nearest to the source, about 2 km away in a straight line; National Trails gives no walking route from it. The "Connect your journey" section has the travel details, with 2 more travel notes.
There is no booking for the whole trail: each stay is booked with its owner, and National Trails lists companies that carry your bags and book walking holidays.
Yes: the whole route and every section, free, for a GPS watch or a phone. The guide also saves your plan for offline use in the app.
Closures we know of are shown on the days and sections they affect, in the day planner and on the stage pages. We watch 12 official notice pages (National Trails: Thames Barrier night route; National Trails: Culham closure; National Trails: Grandpont closure, Oxford; National Trails: Thames Path closures and diversions; National Trails: Marsh Lock footbridge; National Trails: Morden Wharf diversion; National Trails: Oxford towpath repairs; National Trails: Radcot Cradle Bridge; National Trails: Runnymede diversion; National Trails: Streatley diversion; National Trails: Swan Draw Dock, Fulham; National Trails: Temple Bridge, Hurley); the date we last read them is shown with the notices on this page. Check them again before you set off.
Route & sources
National Trails describes the Thames Path in fifteen sections, 185.2 miles (298 km) from the source of the Thames at Thames Head, near Kemble, to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel in east London, where the trail has ended since January 2022 and the England Coast Path goes on to Grain. Its sections add up to 295.5 km, with the south-bank figures where it gives both banks in London. It publishes no stage times, only each section's distance, so the times here are ours, measured on our line. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 14519665, from the planet of 11 October 2026), from Thames Head to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel: 304 km, cut at the fifteen section ends. Every section is within 1.3 km of National Trails' figure except Tilehurst to Henley: 26.9 km on our line against 19.7 km. There the Marsh Lock footbridge is closed and OpenStreetMap maps no way over the river, so our line joins the gap with our own routing via Shiplake, 5.7 km, labelled "Joined by our routing here". That is not the official diversion, about 3 miles along the A4155. At Shepperton the trail crosses the river by a small ferry, drawn dashed and left out of our walking distance. Our line still crosses the closures National Trails lists: by Grandpont Nature Park in Oxford (section 5) for certain, and very likely at Culham (section 6), Temple Bridge and Runnymede, whose diversion lines run beside ours. At each, follow the signed diversion, not our line. From Teddington down, National Trails gives a route on each bank; we have not checked which bank our line takes at each point. The path is flat: our climb is measured on terrain heights.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
National Trails: Thames PathMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation
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