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The other day we went on a super fun family boat trip with GoBoat Kingston. The twiglets had never been on a boat before so we were all really excited. I thought I’d write a little review of our experience with GoBoat Kingston, in case you might fancy taking a trip yourself 🙂
About GoBoat
GoBoat are a company who hire out eco-friendly, self-drive boats. The boats are easy to operate and have a large picnic table in the centre. GoBoat has two locations: Kingston and Paddington.
Booking a GoBoat
Pre-booking is essential and you pay online beforehand. Weekends tend to get booked up very fast. GoBoat operates 7 days a week from 9am until sunset.
Prices
For GoBoat Kingston, the prices are as follows:
1-hour trip: £79 | 2-hour trip: £119 | 3-hour trip: £159
Our experience
We were gifted a 2-hour boat trip as part of a collaboration between GoBoat and the Surrey Blogger Collective, which I’m a member of. The Surrey Blogger Collective was founded by Sarah Parker, who blogs at Cold Coffee Style. It’s a great resource for brands to find local influencers and bloggers to work with 🙂
Location of GoBoat Kingston
The jetty is located on the Riverside Walk in Kingston, just opposite the Bishop pub. There are various car parks nearby – we opted for the Rose Car Park then had a short walk along by the river. Alternatively, it’s an 8-minute walk from Kingston Station. You can use the postcode KT1 1QN to find the location on Google Maps.
When you arrive
The process was SO simple when we arrived. There’s a little check-in kiosk where you give your names. Then whoever is going to be the ‘Captain’ (in our case, the other half!) fills in a few safety/consent forms. The staff then fetched some buoyancy aids for the twiglets, and we were ready to board our GoBoat!
Once on board the boat, we were given a little safety chat about the rules of the river and keeping safe. We were also shown how to operate the boat, which was pretty simple. The boats are electric and steered using a rudder at the back. The hubby seemed to get to grips with it pretty much immediately!
Then we were off! 🙂
Covid-19 measures
Hygiene/cleaning
Hand sanitiser is available at the check-in desk, and the member of staff we saw was careful to use it before giving the twigs their buoyancy aids. The boats are cleaned and disinfected thoroughly between each trip.
Number of people allowed on board
At the moment, in accordance with government guidelines, you can have up to two households/bubbles per boat (maximum 8 people).
OR 4 individuals from different households (but must maintain at least 1m distance while on board).
Our trip with GoBoat Kingston
We went from Kingston Bridge up to Hampton Court and back, which is the suggested route for a 2-hour trip. You get given a little clipboard with a map to follow. It was beautiful and we enjoyed spotting different houses and places we knew!
The twiglets absolutely loved being on the boat, and enjoyed waving at everyone we passed. As it was a warm day, there were loads of people out – kayakers, people fishing, even lots of swimmers! And everyone was so friendly 🙂
Under 18s aren’t allowed to actually steer the boats, but the twiglets loved sitting with Daddy and giving him a little hand 🙂
I found the whole experience surprisingly relaxing! The twigs were really enjoying it so behaved sensibly, apart from the odd occasion when H leaned over a bit further than I’d have liked and gave me a minor heart attack! It was very peaceful though. And being electric, the boat was so quiet! I couldn’t believe how little noise it made – it really helped make the experience extra chilled.
The boats don’t have a cover, but umbrellas are provided if you need some shade, which I thought was a nice touch. There are also adult life jackets on board if you should choose to wear them.
We didn’t bring a picnic as I’d booked a 2pm slot. I think if we did it again, I’d book a slot over lunchtime as it would have been lovely having a picnic on board. Of course, the twigs did have snacks though – I mean, as if they’d have survived without haha! 😉
Conclusion – our thoughts on our GoBoat Kingston experience
I would thoroughly recommend a trip with GoBoat Kingston. It was the perfect family activity for a sunny afternoon and we all had a brilliant time! It would also be a lovely thing to do for a date night – a sunset trip with Prosecco would be so romantic 🙂
Thanks so much for reading my review of our GoBoat Kingston trip! I really hope it was useful 🙂
Til next time,
Hannah xx
Disclosure: We were gifted a two-hour boat trip in exchange for social media promotion 🙂
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Check out some of my other reviews:
- Chalkola chalk markers
- VIP Pet toys
- Balmonds natural skincare
- Bopster children’s luggage
- Ecoegg laundry egg
24 Comments
This looks awesome summer fun X #mmbc
It really was! 🙂 x
That looks so fun!!
It was really good fun, such a nice way to spend a sunny afternoon! 🙂 xx
What a great experience which looks and sounds like a lot of fun. x
It was so much fun 🙂 xx
This is fantastic!!! #Dreamteam
Thanks lovely 🙂 xx
That looks like a lovely way to spend the afternoon. You certainly had the weather for it too! x
Yes we were very lucky with the sunshine! 🙂
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This looks brilliant, what a lovely way to spend an afternoon and I agree a lunchtime trip with a picnic would be fab. I love your skirt and sandal combo!
Katrina x
#KCACOLS
Ah thank you! It was really lovely 🙂
What a perfect day you had for it too! #kcacols
I know, we were lucky! 🙂
My husband keeps saying we should do a boat trip with the kids. Looks like you had a nice time. #KCACOLS
It was a really lovely afternoon 🙂
Oh this looks like a fabulous day out with the family. It’s been a while since I have been on something like this. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time
It was lots of fun 🙂 x
What a lovely way to spend a nice sunny day! #KCACOLS
It was really a lovely day 🙂
I’d love to do this one day but perhaps when the kids are older – I’d need eyes in the back of my head! #KCACOLS
Oh gosh yes, you would haha! 😀
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