Set sail for a romantic cruise through the heart of Oxford on this 1.5-hour sightseeing cruise, including afternoon tea served on-board. Tuck into traditional English teatime treats like finger sandwiches and scones with jam and clotted cream, as you glide downstream. Following a scenic route along the University Regatta Course, you’ll discover Oxford’s surprising greenery and enjoy marvelous views of the University Boat Houses, Christ Church Meadows and Iffley lock.

1.5-hour Thames River cruise in Oxford with afternoon tea
Marvel at Oxford’s green banks, locks and boathouses from the water
Enjoy a decadent afternoon tea on-board, including finger sandwiches, cakes and cream scones
Live commentary on-board ensures you don’t miss anything!
Romantic experience, perfect for couples
Great introduction to Oxford for first-time visitors
This small-group tour ensures a personalised experience

What's Included

Local taxes
Afternoon tea
Driver/guide
Live commentary on board

Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

The Folly Restaurant
1 Folly Bridge, Oxford OX1 4JU, UK
Please 'check-in' at The Folly restaurant reception.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Infant meals not included
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Any allergies or dietary requirements should contact us directly, as early as possible
Most travelers can participate
Not recommended for travellers with severe food allergies
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travelers

Cancellation Policy

This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Sarah_J

Had such a lovely time catching up with am old friend enjoying afternoon tea in the beautiful weather. Our guide was lovely and was very friendly, and handled the unmanned locks like a pro. I would recommend this to everyone!

Reviews

5.0

273 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 273 reviews

Great afternoon

Sara_A, Jun 2023

Great afternoon, nice way to enjoy the river without the busy tourists. Very friendly and helpful staff. Nice solo or with company

A delightful experience!

Shannon_M, May 2023

A delightful experience! The guide was very informative and told stories with wonderful humor. The tea was delicious--terrific sandwiches and scones. Highly recommend!

Daughters 21st Birthday

Susan_B, May 2023

A lovely time on the River Cruise, host was very knowledgeable and informative. The Cream tea presentation was lovely apart from the sandwich bread being dry and stale.

Relaxing way to finish a trip to England

Lorrie_I, May 2023

Listening to our pilot explain how the locks along the river work. Seeing the barge/houseboats on the rivers edge. Seeing families of geese with babies float by our boat.

Mother’s Day Tea Cruise

MaryEllen_H, May 2023

Spent a beautiful Sunny day on the Thames in Oxford with friends enjoying a delicious High Tea, Sandwiches, Scones and Pastry. Paul, our skipper, & the Staff at The Folly Restaurant made our cruise very enjoyable! And, the BEST Scones Ever!!!

Highly Recommended A Delicious Tea and a River Cruise

Eugenia_F, May 2023

A great way to see Oxford by boat, enjoying a delicious cream tea and the idyllic scenes along the river. It would be good if there was a little commentary, nothing too heavy, just to point out a few of the sights.

Oxford Rivery Cruise

Hubert_A, Apr 2023

Although it was pretty cold and very rainy, we had a great time. The food was decent, and the sights from the boat did meet my expectations.

Great time!

Mary_M, Apr 2023

Skipper Nick was very knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating. The food and tea were very good and the quantity was more than we expected!

Excellent way to spend the afternoon

Mary_W, Apr 2023

Had a great time celebrating my sisters birthday the cream tea was great and capitan Evie was excellent thank you.

This was an amazing...

Elina_M, Mar 2023

This was an amazing experience and the staff were so helpful. We where running late and they arranged for us to have our afternoon tea at the restaurant with the river view. And the guide on the cruise was extremely entertaining we had alot of fun. Thank for helping us experience Oxford the way we did.

Great river boat experience

Margaret_G, Mar 2023

Seeing the wild life along the trip, despite the very cold weather, it was still very enjoyable, our tour guide was very friendly and made our trip a one to one experience.

Great cruise!

Pamela_K, Nov 2022

Beautiful day! Knowledgeable and friendly captain. I enjoyed a lovely tea service while my husband enjoyed the cruise!

Relaxing afternoon on the river

Amanda_H, Oct 2022

Beautiful weather for a trip on the river, well looked after, generous afternoon tea, great guide. Saw a kingfisher, couldn’t ask for more.

Very enjoyable cruise,...

james_g, Sep 2022

Very enjoyable cruise, relaxing, afternoon tea and treats were delicious!Captain Nick was a great guide and told interesting and humorous stories about the buildings, boats and landmarks along the river.

A wonderful relaxing afternoon

Sarah_J, Sep 2022

Lovely lunch cruise!

Patricia_B, Aug 2022

Food and tea was very good and our lovely driver/guide was delightful! Quite knowledgeable! It was lightly raining but we were kept warm and dry!

Such an enjoyable...

Lesley_F, Aug 2022

Such an enjoyable experience. Lovely afternoon tea, trip was very well organised by staff. Highly recommend.

A relaxing afternoon tea

Bobby_S, Aug 2022

A really nice experience on the river and lovely food and friendly staff would highly recommend this trip

Not worth the Money

SenD_L, Jul 2022

The disorganisation of the boarding & provisioning of boat was irritating. Having one tea bag per person was mean. There was no choice of white/brown bread. We had all white, others had a mix; hate white bread! Skipper/ guide had very limited knowledge to impart.

River cruise 🚢

Parveen_S, Jul 2022

We had a great experience on the boat and the tea was very nice and tasty 😀 Children really enjoyed it 😀

Good value for money .

Angela_K, Jul 2022

We enjoyed the whole experience, from the booking through to the efficiency of all the staff before the trip during and after , would recommend this trip to anyone . Thank you to Jake the tour guide , excellent.

Fun, great food and history of Oxford

Scott_S, Jul 2022

A great tour of Oxford with great food and a fantastic guide (George) who knew the history of the school, crews and city inside and out! Lovely way to spend the afternoon!

Experience was good overall, but less than expected

Ray_S, Jul 2022

Boat was nice; tea, scones and sandwiches were fine; but seared in bow - very hard to hear the woman “driving” the boat and explaining the features we were seeing.

Oxford on the water from Folly restaurant

Kim_J, Jul 2022

We really enjoyed our cruise, great afternoon tea good company, a good way to see a different part of Oxford especially on a bright sunny day. The pilot was very informative and made our day.

Pleasant way to spend an afternoon!

Leanne_A, Jul 2022

Afternoon tea was nice- sandwiches need to be covered in cling film to ensure don’t dry out. Scones were lovely. Boat trip was relaxing- great way to spend a sunny afternoon!

Awesome

JamesW_S, Jul 2022

A MUST for visiting Oxford! Our guide Joe was great. Relaxing, good food & romantic. Well organized.

Don’t miss it!

Kristin_W, Jun 2022

Folly Restaurant provided the food and they are fantastic. Boat was clean and comfy and tea and food wonderful. The captain was informative and the River view just beautiful. Unforgettable! Truly recommend!

Birthday celebrations in Oxford

Joyce_O, Jun 2022

I booked this for my husband's birthday as part of a weekend away in Oxford with the family and it was brilliant! The afternoon tea was delicious, the guide tour shared lots of local knowledge and was very funny! And the gorgeous sunny weather helped too. It was great value for money and the children enjoyed it as well! ( 14 and 10 years old).

Afternoon Tea

Julie_W, Jun 2022

A really good trip great host and a good afternoon tea. Very relaxing Would recommend this trip down the river

A very relaxed trip along...

Karin_F, Jun 2022

A very relaxed trip along a beautiful stretch of river. Food was yummy and the guide/captain was great.