River Thames Film Locations Weekend

Christopher Dean Chaperon, aged 44 tells us about his fantastic weekend away at a variety of locations on the Thames.

Your reason for going to the river.

I was lucky enough to win a weekend away for two with Tourism South East.

What did you do on your trip to the river?

We arrived in Windsor at 10am on a lovely sunny Saturday and decided to have a walk around this historic town before lunch. The time spent in Windsor passed far too quickly, and most of our time was spent looking in the numerous antique shops, stopping to sit outside one of the cafes where we were able to drink coffee and enjoy the sunshine.

We then drove to the The Oakley Court where we enjoyed a delicious lunch on the outside terrace overlooking the River Thames. After lunch we went on a 2 hour cruise along the Thames with French Bros Ltd. This was a perfect way to relax, digest lunch and cool down on a hot summer’s day.

We then spent the night at The Runnymede on Thames, overlooking the Thames and really enjoyed eating our evening meal while listening to an excellent singer. The staff were very polite and friendly and made us feel really welcome. The Sunday morning, after a sauna and a swim in the pool, we set off for Wallingford, stopping off for lunch at Basildon Park along the way.

On arrival at the The George Hotel in Wallingford we were greeted with a well chilled bottle of English sparkling wine from a local vineyard. Then after a brief period relaxing in our comfortable hotel room, we decided to take a walk around the town. It was very relaxing to spend a Sunday afternoon walking around a town where the shops were shut. As we both enjoy watching Midsummer Night Murders it was also very enjoyable to walk around the town where, a lot of it is filmed (Causton). In the evening we went for a very enjoyable meal at La Vina, a Spanish restaurant and bar, before going to watch the latest Indiana Jones film in the town theatre, The Corn Exchange.

On the Monday morning we were lucky enough to have our photographs taken by local photographer Kevin Harvey and also received 4 portrait photographs’ that are now on our mantelpiece. We then met with Elaine Hornsby who represented the local businesses so that we could take part in a promotional film for the town.

Then we headed for Oxford on our way back home to Leicester. Oxford was pleasant to walk around, although a little crowded and as we were a little tired from a full weekend it wasn’t long before we headed home.

What did you like best about it, did everything go to plan? Especially include anything that was really memorable or quirky.

We enjoyed the whole of the weekend away and especially with how friendly the staff at the Runnymede Hotel & Spa were when they found out it was our first wedding anniversary.

What could have been improved or done differently? Did anything go wrong or was not as you'd expected?

The only thing that could have improved the weekend, would to have been able to spend more time on our trip.