Thames Path Packing List: Everything You Need For Walking the National Trail

My Thames Path Must-Haves

Down vest – I can’t imagine doing this hike without my Cotopaxi vest. I’ve had this vest for years (it’s been with me to the Azores and is a staples of my Boundary Waters wardrobe) and its deep pockets were perfect for keeping all my essentials for the walk within easy reach at all times.

Blister packs/moleskin – While the Thames Path is a very easy walk, you’re still hiking the equivalent of a half-marathon day in and day out. By the end of Day Two, both of my feet were absolute horror shows. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to avoid this experience, but I definitely used a hefty amount of blister packs and moleskin pads. A variety pack of Band-aids are also a good plan; I needed them to hold a couple toe nails in place!

Electrolytes – I’ll admit that before this walk, I mostly gave electrolytes the side-eye. The only reason I had any electrolytes was because I planned to use them as a sleep aid. However, after day one, I realize I needed more than water to stay hydrated so I started to hike with a water bottle filled with Pique Life R.E. Fountain every day and it made all the difference. Next time, I’ll probably use Pique Life B.T. Fountain instead, which is a little better suited for day use.

Selfie stick/tripod – My selfie stick/tripod made it so easy to capture content for my Instagram series about this solo walk.

Battery bank – I relied on my phone for navigation, entertainment (it felt right to listen to the full cast recording of Harry Potter), and documentation, so a power bank was critical.

Rain gear – I was blessed with glorious weather for basically this entire walk, but you’d be a fool to do a hike in the British Isles without rain gear close at hand. In addition to a rain jacket, make sure you have good fitting rain pants.

Pee Cloth – Unless you have a bladder of steel, you’ll be making fairly frequent wild wee stops. A Kula cloth really elevates the experience.

Thames Path Guidebook – My lovely booking service and luggage transfer company, Walk the Thames, provided me with a copy of the Trailblazer Thames Path guidebook. I loved reading up on the day’s section each morning over breakfast.

Thames Path Passport – Whether or not you book your walk through Walk the Thames, you’ll definitely want a copy of their Thames Path passport. As a solo walker, I found it especially lovely to pop into various businesses and points of interest to collect passport stamps.

Don’t forget

Complete your ETA application as soon as your travel dates are set so you can breeze into the U.K. (Make sure your passport is good for at least six more months after your entry date.)

Plug adapter – Keep your electronics charged with North America to UK/Ireland plug adapters.

Set up contactless pay on your phone. Whether you’re in London or the U.K.’s most rural reaches, England has basically transformed into a cash free society. While I recommend having a little cash on you just in case, you’ll find the vast majority of places from pubs to museums all accept (and expect) mobile pay.

Luggage

Important note: I used Walk the Thames to facilitate all logistics of this trip including picking up my bag each morning and moving it to my accommodations for the night. Obviously, if you’re not using a bag transfer company, you’ll need to pack very differently than I did.

Checked luggage – In theory, I had the luxury of overpacking for this trip because I was using a luggage transfer service. In practice, I opted for my carry-on sized Level8 bag for this trip because as a solo traveler I wanted to make it easy to navigate public transportation and the airport by myself.

What I didn’t consider is that most of the things I had in my backpack + my entire personal item for the flight would need to go into my suitcase during the walk. By Day 7, I was very skilled at my morning game of suitcase Tetris! Next time I will just bring a larger suitcase.

Carry-on – I wouldn’t think of using anything other than my H.A.W.G Mil Spec Backpack for this trip. It made the perfect day pack on the trail. For the flight it fit my laptop, a change of clothes, my pajamas, a water bottle, book, some toiletries, and that all important rain jacket.

Personal item– My convertible, theftproof Pacsafe Backpack is a staple in my travel luggage, but it was honestly extraneous for the first half of the Thames Path. While I did use it in the evenings when I went out to dinner and explored towns, I could have just used my pockets.

Outerwear

Fleece jacket – I brought two Cotopaxi fleece jackets (a quarter zip and a hooded full zip) and paired with my down vest, they were the perfect weight My is my go-to top layer for long plane rides because I often freeze on planes! It was great for the markets as well.

Activewear pants – I brought two pairs of activewear pants: a pair of First Lite hunting pants and the Kuhl Freeflex Dash. They both worked well, but I prefered the fit and versatility of the Kuhl pants.

Stocking Hat – While it wasn’t cold enough to need mittens or a scarf, a stocking cap was nice to have during drizzly moments.

Baseball Cap – Since I had such good weather on this walk, I spent most days in a ball cap to keep my hair out of my face and the sun out of my eyes.

Clothing Essentials

Wool Top– I brought a selection of Minus33 merino wool shirts, including lightweight long-sleeves and t-shirts. I tried wearing a sunshirt one day and let’s just say, leave those for the Caribbean and Pacific; the wool tops with their wicking power are where it’s at for a long walk!

Underwear – I’m a fan of wool underwear because it stays fresh so much longer than cotton undies.

Socks– I packed a variety of Darn Tough wool socks. I know some people swear wool socks

A nicer outfit for evenings – Although I walked 10 – 18 miles each day, I was always done with the day’s walk between 3 -4 p.m. which left me ample time to freshen up and enjoy a nice dinner each night. I failed to take this into account when I packed and really wished I’d thrown in a cashmere sweater, camisole, and pair of jeans so I didn’t have to dine in my walking attire.

Swimsuit – You won’t want to miss an opportunity to soak at the end of a long day of walking. I was so happy to have my swimsuit (this top and these shorts) for some pool and sauna time at the Thames Lido on my last day of walking.

Footwear

Hiking boots – I struggled to figure out the right footwear for this easy hike and packed my Asolo hiking boots anticipating some wet sections at the start of the walk. Despite these being truly broken in (I wore them ten years earlier while doing the Lares Trek in Peru), they were definitely overkill for the well-worn Thames Path and actually led to some nasty blisters. (Maybe because they got wet during Day One’s rain?)

Trail Running sneakers – My initial plan was to do the entire walk in my Brooks Cascadia trail running shoes, and I think my instincts were correct, especially since the entire path was very dry during my walk. Sadly, by the time I started hiking in these, my feet were already shot so I can’t 100% claim that these are the magic bullet for Thames Path footwear I think them to be.

Shower sandals – I absolutely overlooked bringing casual footwear that I could pad around my hotel room in and actually ended up buying a pair of cheap sandals during the trip. Your feet will be so grateful for a cushy change of pace each night!

Remember, whatever footwear you decide on, bring two pairs and plan to alternate pairs each day so you’re always hiking in dry shoes. I also recommend packing a large supply of silica packets to shove in your shoes each night to speed the drying process.

Essentials

Nalgene Water Bottle – I brought two Nalgene water bottles to ensure I stayed hydrated. Bonus: it can double as a foam roller if you find yourself needing some physical therapy each night.

Lacrosse Ball – Speaking of physical therapy, if there was ever a perfect opportunity to trigger any underlying musculoskeletal issues, it’s on a long distance hike. A lacrosse ball takes up basically no room in your suitcase and is a great way to release your fascia each night.

Kinetic Tape – As someone who’s been living with patellofemoral pain syndrome since her teenage years (don’t get too excited . . . its common name is “runner’s knee”), you better bet there was a bunch of kinetic tape in my suitcase.

Pharmacy bag – You won’t be in a proper village for at least a couple nights on the hike, so you definitely want to be prepared with any over-the-counter medications you anticipate needing. I brought Ex-Lax, Immodium, Emergen C, NyQuil, Advil, and cough drops and happily only need a little ibuprofen.

I also highly recommend proactively taking a Gas-x before any flight longer than four hours. Don’t forget some Kleenex travel packs.

Chia seeds – Pub food is life-giving at the end of each day on the trail, but not always #fibergoals. To keep my gut happy, I started each morning with a glass of chia seed water.

Dehydrated meals – Being able to eat a delicious hot meal at the inn you’re staying at is a huge perk of doing a long distance hike in England. However, the timing of my walk meant one of my stays fell on a night that the hotel’s restaurant was closed. A couple dehydrated camping meals saved me a taxi ride back into town to grab dinner.

Printable Thames Path Packing List

Below is a printable Thames Path packing list to help guide your packing for your own walk along the mighty Thames River.

Just let me know if you have any specific questions and I’ll update this post with my answers to make your Thames Path walk even more enjoyable.