Our verdict
Best overall
London: River Thames Speedboat Tour at Up to 30 Knots
Thames Rockets’ 50-minute speedboat from London Eye Pier is the nearest thing to the duck tour’s splash — live comedy commentary, then full speed past Tower Bridge. 4.9★ from 1,000+ reviews.
4.9★ · 1,043from £52 GetYourGuide →
Best value
London: River Thames Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Cruise
City Cruises’ hop-on hop-off sightseeing boat between Westminster, the London Eye, the Tower and Greenwich, from about £25 — the gentle, family version of a river tour.
4.4★ · 3,308from £25 GetYourGuide →
Best with kids
Hop-on hop-off bus with a river cruise
Several hop-on hop-off bus tickets include a Thames cruise on their higher tiers — road and river in one ticket, which is what the duck tour was.
Skip it if
You're set on an amphibious vehicle
Until Big Duck Tours confirms dates and opens bookings, there’s no road-and-river tour in central London. Check its operator, Big Bus Tours, before you plan around it.
Are London Duck Tours still running?
No. London Duck Tours closed on 18 September 2017, and we found nothing that has replaced it since. If you’ve found an old booking page, a photo or a review, that’s what it refers to: road-and-river vehicles that toured the streets and then drove down a slipway into the Thames.
The company didn’t fail. In August 2017 its managing director said the business was going from strength to strength, and it had carried about 1.8 million passengers. What it lost was its way into the river. The vehicles launched from Lacks Dock, a slipway on Albert Embankment beside the MI6 building, owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Thames Water and Thames Tideway exercised statutory rights to take over the lease because the site was needed for the Thames Tideway “super sewer”, and the company couldn’t find another slipway in central London. Time Out marked it as the end of 15 years in the city.
Is a new duck tour coming?
Announced, but not running as far as we could confirm. In November 2025 London Amphibious Tours won a 15-year lease on the same Lack’s Dock slipway from the Duchy of Cornwall, after a competitive tender. Big Bus Tours is to operate the trips under the Big Duck Tours name, using new fully electric amphibious vehicles built by its sister company Seahorse Amphibious Vehicles — British Marine gives their limits as 30 mph on the road and 8 knots on the water. Time Out reported a 2026 launch without a date.
What to do instead
| Alternative | Time | From | Commentary | Why it’s the nearest thing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thames Rockets speedboat | 50 min | ~£52 pp | Live comedian-guide | The splash and the fun, from London Eye Pier |
| City Cruises hop-on hop-off boat | your choice | ~£25 pp | Live or recorded, plus audio guide in 8 languages | Westminster, London Eye, Tower, Greenwich |
| City Cruises one-day river pass | all day | £10 (own site) | As above | Cheapest guided view of the river |
| Uber Boat river bus | 23 min Tower–Greenwich | £6.20 contactless | None | Fast, runs all day, no booking |
| Hop-on hop-off bus with cruise | 24 h+ | varies | Live or recorded | Road and river on one ticket, on tiers that include it |
Platform prices and ratings are from our partner feed today; operator prices from their own sites.
River trips to book instead of a duck tour
London: River Thames Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Cruise
from £25
See on GetYourGuide
London: River Thames Speedboat Tour at Up to 30 Knots
from £52
See on GetYourGuidePrices and ratings checked 21 Oct 2026; they change daily.
For children, the speedboat is the obvious replacement: lifejackets on, a guide cracking jokes, and then real speed through Docklands. Children 14 and under pay less on Thames Rockets, though it isn’t suitable in pregnancy and has no wheelchair space — see our Thames speedboat guide.
For a relaxed sightseeing trip, a City Cruises boat covers Westminster to Greenwich in about 70 minutes, with commentary. Our Thames river cruises page compares it with the alternatives.
For road and river together, check which hop-on hop-off bus tickets include a river cruise — not in the same vehicle, but the same day out.
Questions people ask
Are London Duck Tours still running?
Why did London Duck Tours close?
Are duck tours coming back to London?
What is the best alternative to London Duck Tours?
How many people went on London Duck Tours?
Sources
- London SE1 — London Duck Tours to close (22 Aug 2017) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Time Out London — London Duck Tours are coming to an end this month (31 Aug 2017) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- British Marine — London Amphibious Tours secures exclusive Thames licence with Big Bus Tours (Nov 2025) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Time Out London — Amphibious duck bus tours are officially returning to London (13 Nov 2025) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Thames Rockets — trips and terms (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- City Cruises — River Thames sightseeing (checked 21 Oct 2026)
Written and checked by the Private Tours London desk