Who could visit – or live in – Oxford without trying their hand at punting? And who can predict whether they will be sublimely competent and capable of effortlessly propelling their craft past all obstacles, or gloriously inept and prone to falling in every third push and incapable of keeping up with the speed of the stream? The following establishments will provide you with punts, advice if requested, and in some cases chauffeurs too:

• Magdalen Bridge Boathouse (beside Magdalen Bridge, in the shadow of Magdalen tower, opposite the Botanic Gardens)
• Punts (self-drive and chauffeured), rowing boats and pedalos. Float along the Cherwell past the Botanic Gardens, around Magdalen College School playing fields and Angel & Greyhound meadows, past St Hilda's, and up the recently cleared byways past Christ Church meadow to the Isis if you feel so inspired! Daily, March-October, 10am to dusk. Contact: 01865 202643.
  Cost: £14/hour; chauffeur is £20/half-hour. Deposit: £30 (cash only) with identification.
• Cherwell Boathouse (off Bardwell Road, just past Dragon School playing fields)
• Punting, rowing, or Canadian canoes (also refreshments & restaurant). Float along the Cherwell past University Parks and Parson's Pleasure (downstream), or past Wolfson College and Marston meadows to the Victoria Arms pub (upstream). Daily, mid-March to mid-October, 10am-dusk. Contact: 01865 515978.
  Cost: £12/hour weekdays, £14/hour weekends & public holidays. Deposit: £60 (£70 at weekends & public holidays) or credit card. Cheques and major credit cards accepted including Switch.
• Salter's Steamers Boat Hire Station (opposite the Head of the River pub, Folly Bridge, bottom of St Aldates)
• Self-drive punts, rowing boats and electric motor boats. Meander along the Isis (Thames) past the college boat houses (avoiding college boaties), explore the byways past Christ Church Meadow, or downstream towards the Isis Tavern. Non-motorised craft can also explore the Cherwell towards Magdalen bridge. Open Easter - early October (weather permitting), 10am-6pm weekdays, 10am-7pm weekends. Salters also do scheduled cruises from the same location. 40 minute round trips leave hourly from 11am-5pm (on the same seasonal, weather and availability-related basis as the other vessels). Oxford-Abingdon service leaves at 9.15am and 2.30pm (late May - late Sept), taking 2 hrs one way and leaving Abingdon at 11.15am and 4.45pm for the respective return journeys. This costs £6 for adults, £3 kids. Private charter of the big boats for parties is also possible, along with the hire of self-drive diesel day boats.
  For all of these, contact: 01865 243421.
  Cost: Punts / Rowing Boats: £15/ hour, deposit £20, ID required. Electric Motor Boats: £30/hour, deposit £50, ID required. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

Note that many colleges have their own punts (sometimes on hire), normally moored at Magdalen Bridge or Cherwell boathouse. These are are typically available at very low rates to members of the college and their friends. If you are a student or have any collegiate affiliation, this is definitely an avenue worth investigating.

How to punt:

DO:

• Punt from the Oxford end (the shallow decked bit, rather than the obvious smooth raised platform). It’s much less slippery that way and (more importantly) it’s the Done Thing around here. We punt from the sloping end, while Cambridge falls off the flat bit.
• Make sure you get a pole that floats. Wood is traditional but can be splintery, hollow aluminium is much better. Oxford tends to use aluminium, Cambridge wood.
• Wear clothes that won't suffer if they get a bit damp and skanky, and footwear with grip.
• Take account of the current when calculating your journey time to and from the boathouse.
• Take suncream and/or umbrellas, and, vitally, a rubbish bag for the remains of your picnic.
• Watch out for low bridges and branches. They can come upon you very suddenly and with horrible inexorability.
• Make yourself comfortable by bringing extra cushions and, if you're going out towards the end of the day, some insect repellent and a blanket or jumper (blankets are better than jumpers because they provide a legitimate reason for snuggling up to attractive seatmates).
• Feed the ducks if you believe that ducks are messengers from another civilisation and that you will understand their speech if you listen just a little longer.
• If you have a choice, hang onto the punt and not the pole. You can always paddle back to it. That thing that happens in every punting movie since Mary Poppins DOES actually happen. It could happen to you.
• Read the authoritative guide to technique at http://thames.me.uk/s01675.htm
• Keep your centre of gravity low when you're moving around the punt.
• If you are about to have a head-on collision, steer to the RIGHT.

DON'T:

• Take delicate glass glasses. Plastic or paper cups or sturdy mugs are good. Imagine holding a small, energetic party in a bathtub for a few hours and you'll get an idea of the dangers.
• Drink the river water. There's a certain amount of pollution and agricultural runoff in the Thames and Cherwell, as well as water rats who may or may not have Weils disease. The chances of your actually catching it, unless you get very intimate with an infected rat, are vanishingly small, but here’s why it’s worth avoiding: www.caveinfo.org.uk/nca/weils.htm
• Dive in off the side of the punt. This can upset people and punts. There are also a lot of places along established punting routes in Oxford where the current is unexpectedly strong, and there have been fatalities of recent years, especially at high water.
• Go down rollers between rivers with people in the punt. Results are likely to be expensive if not tragic.
• Feed the ducks. Unless you want to be followed by ducks. And other waterfowl rising to swans. This is only delightful for the first hour.
• Bring your mobile phone. Or if you must, stash it in a plastic bag somewhere out of the way.
• Assume that anyone in any other vessel knows what on earth they're doing.

For more like this, see index of Potter Pouri...

When punting through the University Parks it is usual for ladies to alight and walk round that part of the river known as Parson's Pleasure (see H1 on Daily Info's Oxford map). This was traditionally reserved for nude bathing by male academics. There is a much-told story of a group of dons being startled by a puntload of ladies. They all rushed to cover the less acceptable parts of their anatomy with their hands - except one, who covered his face instead. In reply to the remonstrations of the others he said "I cannot answer for the rest of you, but I felt it important to cover that part of me by which I am most easily recognised."

See also:

• Oxford riverside walks
• Oxford's Open Spaces
• http://thames.me.uk - A punter's guide to the Thames and Isis, the River Cherwell, and the Bullstake Stream, with history, pictures and poetry

Last updated 24/04/08