Thames Barrier Information Centre


The Thames Barrier looks best when it’s raised, and the only guaranteed time this happens is when the mechanisms are checked once a month. For exact dates and times, ring or check the website of the Thames Barrier Information Centre. Each of the 10 steel gates is 20m high and weighs 3300 tonnes.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Emirates Air Line

1.33 MILES

This cable car makes quick work of the journey from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Docks. Although it's mostly patronised by tourists for the views…

2. The Crystal

1.35 MILES

Although at times it does come over like an expensive advertisement for technology firm Siemens – whose groundbreaking sustainable building it inhabits –…

3. Trinity Buoy Wharf

1.66 MILES

As the site of London’s only lighthouse, its smallest museum and the world’s longest-running song, Trinity Buoy Wharf is an enclave of quirky superlatives…

4. Greenwich Park

2.02 MILES

Greenwich Park is one of London’s loveliest expanses of green, with a rose garden, impressive playground, a 6th-century Anglo-Saxon burial ground and…

5. Chapel of St Peter & St Paul

2.05 MILES

With its mix of Greek revival and naval motifs, the beautiful Chapel of St Peter & St Paul, built in 1742, is decorated in an elaborate rococo style…

6. Queen’s House

2.06 MILES

Designed by architect Inigo Jones, Queen's House was the UK's first classical building, and it's as enticing for its form as for its art collection. Many…

7. Statue of General Wolfe

2.06 MILES

This statue in Greenwich Park memorialises General James Wolfe, celebrated for his victory over the French at the Battle of Quebec in Canada in 1759.

8. Old Royal Naval College

2.08 MILES

Home to the University of Greenwich and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, the Christopher Wren–designed Old Royal Naval College is a…