Try a city SUP Break in London

UK. LONDON. KINGSTON ON THAMES. London is one of the best and most visited cities in the world. With its bedazzling mix of culture, shopping, nightlife and iconic landmarks to behold, this is a busy cosmopolitan city.

It’s well worth seeing the sights and buzz of the city and then heading out to Kingston Upon Thames, just 25 mins by train, from central London for some relaxation and to spend some time on the river.

At Kingston Upon Thames you are a world away from the buzz of the city. Here, two ASI accredited SUP schools are located. Albany Outdoors and Blue Chip SUP School.

Albany Outdoors SUP School

Albany Outdoors is situated right on the banks of the Thames, at Kingston Upon Thames. In sight of some of London’s most iconic and historic landmarks such as Hampton Court Palace, a favourite of King Henry the VIII.

At Albany Outdoors, SUP lessons and tours are held on the river Thames where there is calm flat water with access to the shelter of an island and lots of secluded backwaters to explore by SUP with abundant fish and wildlife.  Jerry Scott-Maber and Russ Ives run the Centre. Together they bring about 40 years of Water sports centre management experience.

Jerry tells us about their popular evening SUP tours that run throughout the summer: “During the summer evenings we offer adult supervised SUP tours leaving from Hampton Court Palace. The group meets around 5pm, usually spending some time familiarising themselves with the paddleboards, paddles and safety before we head off downstream towards Kingston, approximately 5km from Hampton Court. It usually takes 3-4 hours by SUP depending on how many times we stop to see wildlife.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to see the river by night with the historic landmarks lit up. You can see night owls flying by and even the chance to see some otters, if you’re lucky. Once we saw an adult terrapin guarding a nest! The trips are for people who have Paddle boarded before and are keen to go a bit further along the calm waters of the river in this extremely scenic part of London.”

Albany Outdoors is a complete water activity centre, which offer SUP courses for adults and children, for all levels and abilities. They can provide a wide range of specially adapted activities and courses for young people and adults with a learning disability or physical disability.

Blue Chip SUP School

Blue Chip SUP School is located at two locations on the river. The Thames Sailing Club at Kingston Upon Thames and also at Hampton Court, East Molesey. The Thames Sailing Club location is right on the water and is the perfect SUP location close to the city.   Here you can enjoy stunning views of the river while wildlife spotting with water voles, swans and dragon flies all prevalent.

Blue Chip offer SUP Taster Sessions near to Hampton Court on the quite waters of the upper Thames. Here you will be paddling among the green countryside with stunning back drops and historical sites to behold.

Brian Johncey founded Blue Chip back in 1980 and it is the oldest, continuously family run Windsurfing, Surfing and Stand Up Paddleboarding centre in the UK. With over 40 years’ experience in teaching watersports Brian knows the best techniques for teaching SUP at every level.
 

Brian says: “At Blue Chip we want you to have fun while feeling completely safe so beginners are buddied up with experienced paddlers on a ratio of 2:1 for maximum guidance and fun! We aim for all new paddlers to try different boards and paddles to get an understanding of how they can affect your paddling. Not only that but with our SUP taster sessions, we will take you through every aspect of SUP. It’s a great experience.”

The Thames Sailing Club, where Blue Chip is located, is the UK's oldest river sailing club, founded in 1870. Located between Surbiton and Kingston on the Surrey bank of the River, the Victorian clubhouse overlooks one of London's most beautiful stretches of the river, bordered as by Hampton Court Grounds. It’s a wonderful location to SUP.

With two highly experienced SUP schools right on the river Thames, why not take a SUP city break to London? You can visit the sights, sounds and tastes of the city and then take the 25-minute train journey to Kingston Upon Thames where you will see a quieter and gentler side to London by water. An unforgettable experience, one which will recharge your batteries and create amazing holiday memories.