Punting Terms & Conditions

Prices and offers on our pricing page or offline may update from time to time. If the tour or ticket you have booked goes up or down in price, your booking will be unaffected. There will be no refunds or partial refunds, equally you will not be asked to pay any additional charges.

Your tickets and bookings are transferrable to another person. For all bookings, please advise us of the name change for the booking. Give us a call at 01223 322200 or email [email protected].

Your booking or ticket price includes the full chauffeured tour experience as described on the website page and within your communications with the Rutherford’s Team. Please read the information on your chosen tour and get in touch with any questions on 01223 322200 or by email at [email protected].

Our boats seat a maximum of 12 people and larger parties will tour on separate punts. Each of our upgraded traditional punts have raised seats and unique tables. They’ll be dressed with plush cushions and warm blankets for your comfort. Our punts also have umbrellas on hand should the weather change.

We are open all year from 1st January till the 31st December from 9:30am till dusk, weather and river conditions allowing. We are closed on Christmas Day (25th December) each year.

Very occasionally, we will need to close if we assess a risk from extreme river conditions to either customers or our team. If this should happen, we will let all bookings know at the soonest opportunity. Bookings will have the opportunity to rebook or to claim a full refund.

Our boats are well armed against light showers with supersized umbrellas on hand. We very rarely have to close due to extreme weather or river conditions but rest assured, we will refund you fully if this happens and you do not wish to rebook for a better day.

On the day, you must follow the directions of your guide. Our team have been trained and will provide you with safety advice on the day. Punts are built to be stable and are extremely unlikely to capsize. On request, lifejackets can be provided.

We operate a no smoking establishment. It is not permissible to smoke on the moorings or in the punts.

We do not take intoxicated people on our tours. This is for your safety, our team’s safety and also the safety of our other customers. Should you arrive intoxicated, the tour will need to be moved to a future date for a reschedule fee, per our Terms.

Punts are not suitable for wheelchair access. There are steps to the pontoon that must be negotiated and punts are of a traditional flat-bottomed boat style. Our team can assist passengers with limited mobility to board and disembark. For more information, please view our Accessibility Statement.

Children must be accompanied at all times. Please ensure that children with you keep their hands inside the boat to prevent injuries. Babies and children of all ages count towards the boat maximum capacity of 12 persons.

We allow dogs on our tours, and it’s a wonderful way to spend the day with your closest companion. If you want to join a shared tour, we’ll have to check with the other guests first. We recommend private dog day out tours as the best way to travel with your best friend.

In the unlikely situation that we have to withdraw a service that you have booked (for example, a partner closes down), we will contact you directly with alternative choices or offer you a full refund.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of our tour or service, please let a member of our team know at the time so that we have the opportunity to resolve the issue and turn your day around. Alternatively, please get in touch on 01223 322200 or by email at [email protected].

We hold all required insurances for our business activities. Please note that to the extent permitted by law, our team shall not be liable for any claims, losses, damages or injuries, sustained or incurred during the experience including on the boardwalk, pontoon or moorings.

Your punting tour is reserved under your name for the booked time and date. Online bookings have an order number and the team will be able to look up your booking with this or using your name if you have lost or misplaced your booking details.

Private Punting Tours, Experiences & Events

We will hold your punt for you for 5 minutes, after this point it wouldn’t be possible to go on the tour as this would mean missing our later bookings. Your private tour may be shortened so that you arrive back at the moorings at the arranged time. Call us on 01223 322200 if you’re going to be late and we’ll try to reorganise for you. Bookings can be changed to another day with less than 48 hours’ notice for a £50 per booking rescheduling fee.

Shared Punting Tours

Please aim to arrive in good time. These tickets are for seats on shared punting tours, and as such we are not able to hold the tour for late arrivals as this would affect other guest experiences. Please call our Bookings Team on 01223 322200 the moment you know of any delay to your arrival. We can reschedule your tour (availability depending), but for those with less than 48 hours’ notice, you will need to make a payment of a £15 per booking reschedule fee.

If you do not show up or you arrive later than the allocated 5 minutes on private tours without prior notice we will count your tour as a ‘no show’ forfeit. We do not offer full or partial refunds in this situation.

Bookings for our private tour experiences must be cancelled with more than 48 hours’ notice for a 70% refund. There is no refund or partial refund available for cancellations with less than 48 hours’ notice, you may reorganise your tour for a later date – see rescheduling.

Changes, additions, and rescheduling are all possible (availability depending). This includes the time and dates for your private bookings, which can be made up to 48 hours in advance by calling 01223 322200. Rescheduling to peak from off peak may result in additional costs. If you need to reschedule your appointment less than 48 hours in advance, you must pay a £50 per booking rescheduling charge for private tours, experiences and events. For shared punting tours there will be a £15 per booking rescheduling charge.

If you’re not keen to continue with your booking on a day that we are open, our standard cancellations or rescheduling policy applies.