There's a version of the Thames that most people know — South Bank, skateboarders, the Eye in the distance — and then there's this one. This is the Thames that still looks a bit like a Turner painting: low banks, cow parsley, the occasional rower cutting past. Eight kilometres, start to finish, and I'd argue it's the quietest walk inside the M25.
Start at Richmond Station and go downhill towards the river. You'll hit Petersham Meadows inside fifteen minutes. The cows are not a gimmick; they genuinely graze here, and have done on and off for centuries. This is the moment where London stops feeling like London. It's also the last moment you'll reliably get a flat white, so plan accordingly.
From the meadows, the path takes you past Ham House — the grounds are free, the cafe is in an old dairy, and the whole thing feels at least a hundred miles from central London. Cross through the gate and you're back on the towpath, which you'll follow for the next hour or so. Teddington Lock is the waypoint that tells you you're past halfway. It's also where the tidal Thames officially ends, which is one of those facts that sounds boring until you actually stand on the footbridge and watch the water change its mind.
Kingston comes next, and I won't pretend it's a beauty spot, but it's the right place for the mid-walk pint. Cross the bridge, wander the old market square, and then pick the path back up on the far side.
The last stretch, Kingston to Hampton Court, is the payoff. It's wide, it's slow, and the palace arrives gradually over your shoulder like it's in no hurry to be seen. Finish with the gardens — the formal ones on the river side, not the full palace ticket — and catch the train home feeling like you've been away for the weekend.
Best done on a Sunday morning in autumn, when the low sun is doing its work on the water. Worst done on a hot Saturday in August, when half of Kingston is also doing it.
