We love Doolallyally‘s gorgeous painterly picture of boats moored near Vauxhall Bridge. Spring is a perfect time for taking a boat trip down the river in London.

Share your lovely photos of London with the Visit London Flickr group.

These huge Olympic Rings are floating along London’s river Thames today, to mark 150 days to go until the start of the Games. If you’re near the river, look out for the rings between London Bridge and Tower Bridge until 1.30pm.

You can also try and spot the rings on our live Tower Bridge cam!

just.being shared these romantic twinkly London lights with the Visit London Flickr group.

You can explore London’s riverside with our guide to planning a day out along the Thames.

See London’s landmarks like never before as you jet along the Thames at a speed of 35 knots!

Enter our competition to win a private charter for the ultimate London adventure, an exhilarating speedboat experience for you and your friends with London RIB Voyages.

The one-hour guided trip takes you through the heart of the capital towards Canary Wharf. Remember to hold on tight as you “pull G” past some of the greatest sights of the city!

And don’t worry – waterproof clothing is provided for all ages and sizes. You will need it!

Enter now to win a London RIB Voyages Speedboat Adventure on the Thames

The Football Fan
The fantastic Wembley Stadium Tour will satisfy any football fan, regardless of team loyalty. Highlights include the crossbar from the 1966 World Cup and a replica of the World Cup Jules Rimet Trophy. (The original was stolen in 1966 and later found under a hedge by a dog named Pickles). Prices start at £15.

If you’re after something a bit more tangible, then why not buy a piece of Wembley Way? Etch your words in stone to be cemented into the ground surrounding the national stadium, from £50.

The History Buff
In the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, give a loved one the royal treatment, with a day visiting the State Rooms, the Royal Mews and The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace next summer, from £19.50.

The visit to the State Rooms includes the highly-anticipated exhibition Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration.

Or if they don’t mind travelling further afield, they can visit all three of the Queen’s official residences, with a Queen’s Palaces gift ticket. This includes Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, from £26.95.

The Thrill Seeker
See the city from a new angle and at high speed! London RIB Voyages and the Thames RIB Experience run daily speedboat trips down the Thames. Suitable for all ages, weatherproof clothing is provided. From £32 per adult, £19.50 under 14s.

Or if the Thames is just too tame, then head east to The Lee Valley for some white water rafting, from £49. You could even challenge the whole family! (Participants must be at least 14 years old).

The Budding Zookeeper
Go behind the scenes at one of London’ s most loved attractions, London Zoo, and buy an Attenborough in the making the chance to be a zookeeper for the day, from £16.

If their interests are more marine-based, they can join the aquarists behind the scenes at the SEA LIFE London Aquarium. The new 40-minute behind-the-scenes tour shows the aquarium’s inner workings and takes guests “behind the glass”. £7.50 for adults and £5 for children.

Good luck with the rest of your Christmas shopping, and let us know if you’ve had any London gift brainwaves this Christmas!

The Spirit of Chartwell will take centre stage at next year’s Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant, carrying The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the royal family.

Celebrating The Queen’s 60-year reign, the pageant will be the largest flotilla on the river Thames in modern times, with 1,000 boats taking to the water.

The Spirit of Chartwell was inspired by the Rene Lalique 1929 Pullman railway carriage Cote d’Azur. Some original pieces of the railway carriage can be found on board.

The cruiser will be decorated in the style of the royal barges of the 17th and 18th centuries, using the royal colours, red, gold and purple, and flowers from The Queen’s gardens.

Peter Denton shared this lovely photo of the Thames at Richmond, taken last weekend which was the warmest October weekend on record.

Richmond is a beautiful part of London, and perfect for pottering about by the river. Check out our romantic Richmond guide for a perfect day out.

What are you going to do in London this weekend? Don’t forget to add your photos to the Visit London Flickr pool.

I was fortunate to dine at the newly refurbished OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie on London’s South Bank this weekend. The restaurant’s sweeping views over the city, excellent food, cocktail menu and live music made it an evening to remember.

Taking over the eighth floor of the iconic OXO Tower building, the OXO Tower Restaurant occupies one half of the floor with the other occupied by the OXO Bar and Brasserie. This popular venue first opened in the 1990s and recently underwent a refurbishment which added the striking curved white Corian bar designed by Shaun Clarkson ID.

We began our evening with pre-dinner drinks in the bar. Spoilt for choice, the Swinging Dixie was delicious and we especially loved the bar’s tiki-style cocktail, Pleasure Boat.

There are two choices for dinner, either the OXO Tower Restaurant or the OXO Brasserie. We ate in the latter. Seated by the huge windows overlooking the most spectacular views of the River Thames, I enjoyed the scenic skyline with St Paul’s Cathedral standing out. The restaurant was buzzing with people, live music and an open kitchen meant we could see the chefs at work. The atmosphere was perfect for a Saturday night.

The pan-Asian menu had so much choice that we needed some help with our selection. For starters, we had slow braised lamb shank gnocchi and the grilled Saudi prawns with Israeli couscous salad which were both delicious. For our main courses, we enjoyed the roasted pink duck breast with puy lentils and grilled Toulouse sausage and the roasted venison.

Because the cocktails were so incredible, we decided to have another one instead of dessert without any judgement from our waiter! The service we received throughout the evening was wonderful and we had the pleasure of meeting Armi, an Assistant Manager at the Brasserie who looked after us and made sure we had a fabulous evening.

The OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie

London 2012 has announced a new route for the Olympic road cycling races.

The world’s leading cyclists will race through six London boroughs, passing attractions including:

• The Mall (the race’s start and finish point)
• Westminster
• Richmond Park
• Bushy Park
• The river Thames
• Hampton Court Palace

The road cycling race is one of the first major events of London 2012.

Seb Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said, “Following our success in Beijing, the road cycling events really will bring the magic of the Games to life for many thousands of spectators.”

The races are provisionally scheduled to take place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July. The men’s race on Saturday will be 250km (156 miles) long and the women’s race on Sunday will be 140km (87 miles).

See a map of the new route here: http://www.london2012.com/documents/venue-documents/cycling-road-race-route.pdf

Read our previous blog entry on the Olympic Cycle Route

Treat yourself and your family to a lovely London day out with this smashing prize. First up, you get a family ticket to the Tower Bridge Exhibition, which introduces you to London’s most iconic bridge. Your ticket includes an audio-visual guide, a visit to the Victorian engine rooms and a stroll across the bridge’s top walkway – 140 feet above the Thames!

After that dose of culture, feed the family with a PizzaExpress meal voucher worth £100. The closest PizzaExpress restaurant is on Shad Thames, a three-minute walk from Tower Bridge.

To win this great Tower Bridge and Pizza Express prize, enter here.