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Olympic Moorings

Bring your boat to London in 2012

The London 2012 Olympic Games offer a once-in-a-lifetime array of spectacular sporting events, combined with a rich and diverse cultural Olympiad, showcasing the best in arts and music. Bring your boat, with your friends and family, to the capital and be a part of this special Olympic atmosphere next year.

Book a berth for the Olympic summer

From 19th April 2011 you can book a visitor mooring at one of 10 London locations. Mooring locations include serviced berths in London Docklands, which can be accessed direct from the River Thames and are suitable for motor cruisers and larger wide beamed craft such as Dutch barges as well as narrowboats and wide beam boats, whilst there are more traditional towpath moorings on the Regent's Canal and River Lee Navigation, some of which are within walking distance of the Olympic Park. There are also more sites along the Grand Union Canal south of Tring, within an easy commute to London.

All mooring locations are close to public transport links, enabling easy access to the Olympic Park and other Olympic venues across London and Hertfordshire. To get your bearings, check our maps of Olympic visitor mooring locations in London and the Grand Union Canal , along with Games venues in relation to London's waterways.

Berths are being offered between 12th July and 23rd August 2012, for a minimum of one week and the price will vary according to location and date.

Please be aware that London's waterways will be subject to some cruising and mooring restrictions during summer 2012. Around 15-miles of the canals and rivers in central London will make up a controlled zone where a pre-booked mooring will be required. Click here for more information about boating in London during summer 2012.

London's waterways at the heart of the action

London's canals, rivers and docks are well placed for you to moor up and enjoy the best the capital has to offer. With Olympic venues, as well as live sites (with big screens broadcasting the events as they happen), arts and music events and much more planned to be happening throughout the Olympic summer, and remember not all Olympic events will need a ticket. Bringing your boat will be a great way to experience the Olympic atmosphere. Any boating event has a special feel, and we hope to work with the Inland Waterways Association National Festival Team to make sure that boaters visiting London enjoy their stay.

Find out more about what's happening in summer 2012 by visiting:

Plan your journey to London

Once you've booked your mooring in London, you will want to start planning your journey to the capital. Use the boaters' guides to find out what's on offer en-route. We recommend you sign up for navigation restriction notices and check this site regularly for up to date information. Special navigation arrangements will apply in London and boat licences valid during July and August 2012 will be subject to some additional conditions.

Boating on the River Thames

Only boats with a confirmed booking will be able to proceed into London via the River Thames, so you must bring your booking confirmation with you.  The Port of London Authority (PLA) is responsible for the management of navigation on the tidal Thames and will need to be assured that you have a safe berth to go to. As a result, PLA harbour service or in some cases UK Border Agency or police patrols may ask you to produce proof of your booking.  The PLA website for boaters is www.boatingonthethames.co.uk.

More detail about the controlled zone

To view the controlled zone that British Waterways plans to implement during summer 2012, look at this map. These are exceptional circumstances and further details will be given in the year ahead. Please keep checking these pages to keep up to date with London boating information.

  1. Given the likelihood of exceptionally high volumes of boats travelling southwards along the Grand Union Canal and Paddington Arm into London, we envisage the need for a form of controlled zone for at least all or part of the period mentioned above. This is likely to run from Little Venice through the Regent's and Hertford Union Canals and for some distance up the River Lee Navigation, probably to around the Lea Bridge Road area. At the entry points to this zone, boaters wishing to enter will need to show proof that they have a pre-arranged mooring for the duration of their stay, either with BW or another mooring provider.
  2. Casual mooring will not be permitted along the towpaths within the controlled zone. This is to keep space available for operational, patrol and police boats, and obviously to facilitate boat movement or to keep the stretch clear for safety and security reasons. An exception will be designated one-night ‘transit' moorings for boaters heading for a booked mooring more than one day's cruise from the check point, which will need to be reserved with BW nearer the time.
  3. People with home moorings within the controlled zone should remain on their mooring as far as possible, unless of course they wish to book an Olympic visitor mooring. We will be appealing to boaters to limit cruising in order to reduce the risk of traffic congestion at busy times. Boat movements at particular locations may need to be booked in advance.
  4. Outside of the controlled zone, normal casual mooring rules will apply, with the exception of short stretches of towpath designated for pre-booking. Because of expected high visitor traffic, our enforcement team will be particularly vigilant in respect of overstaying and in some places; we may introduce daily charges for extended stays. However we recognise that the imposition of a controlled zone will affect the ability of boaters who are registered as continuous cruisers, and who regularly cruise in the London area, to comply with the cruising requirements and we will be talking to boaters in this position in the coming months to find a practical method of accommodating their mooring and boating movements.
  5. There may have to be some restrictions on casual mooring prior to the implementation of the controlled zone / 12th July – the precise timing and details will depend upon the number and locations of booked berths and upon the demands of the security authorities, so we will communicate them nearer the time.
  6. The Olympic security authorities advise us that cruising along the River Lee Navigation in the immediate vicinity of the Olympic Stadium will be heavily restricted from mid-June 2012, with the possible need for complete closure at short notice. We are working with the relevant authorities to enable possible navigational access times, which would only be allowed on a pre-booked basis. Effectively this means that cruising between the top end of the Hertford Union Canal onto the Lee in either direction or through Old Ford Lock will be severely limited or not possible. At this stage, it is probably safest to assume in your plans that access will not be available. Also, the Bow Back Rivers will remain closed to cruising before, during and after the Games period.
  7. We anticipate that some boat owners with a home mooring in London may wish to take their boat out of London for the period of the Games and perhaps rent the berth out to another boater. We advise people with a BW mooring permit that this is permissible, providing that details of the visiting boat and the dates of the sub-letting agreement are supplied to us in advance. For BW moorers there will be a charge for the necessary documentation; without which the visiting boat will not be permitted into the controlled zone.
  8. The renting of the boat itself to members of the public is not permitted under the licence terms, even if the boat does not move. This is because of the higher safety standards required by the Marine and Coastguard Agency for boats let out for hire. If you wish to do this, you will need to apply for the appropriate consent. Please see this advice note (pdf).

Boating Trade

If you are a commercial boat operator (e.g. hire, hotel, passenger boat) from the UK or Europe and are interested in bringing your boat(s) to London during summer 2012 for trading, please contact: Susie.mercer@britishwaterways.co.uk.

For trading in Docklands contact gareth.stephens@britishwaterways.co.uk.

For trading on the Tidal Thames contact the Port of London Authority www.pla.co.uk, and for trading on the non-tidal Thames refer to the contact pages on www.visitthames.co.uk or contact the Environment Agency www.environment-agency.gov.uk.