Hotels for Henley Royal Regatta 2027

The Henley Royal Regatta — held on the Thames since 1839 — is the most celebrated rowing regatta in the world: six days of head-to-head racing down a straight mile-and-a-half course at Henley-on-Thames, provisionally 29 June to 4 July 2027. Crews from Oxford and Cambridge colleges, national clubs and international programmes battle down the Henley Reach to the roar of the enclosures, while spectators in blazers and boaters pack the riverside with champagne and strawberries.

The social occasion rivals the sport, and Henley is small — its hotels fill quickly for Regatta week. Book early and stay in the town itself for the full atmosphere, or look to nearby Marlow and Reading for wider choice, with easy road access along the Thames valley.

Henley Royal Regatta began in 1839 as a single day's racing, staged by the town to draw visitors to Henley-on-Thames with a fair and other amusements alongside it. Competitive rowing quickly became the point rather than the sideshow, the racing was extended to two days from 1840, and Prince Albert's patronage in 1851 turned it into a royal occasion.

The Stewards' Enclosure, the regatta's most exclusive vantage point on the towpath, was created in 1919 and has enforced a strict dress code ever since — originally jackets and ties for men and knee-length skirts for women, updated in 2021 to allow women trouser suits after a petition by an Oxford rower. Getting the dress code wrong still means being turned away at the gate, whoever you are.