Take a lovely boat ride in Kingston-upon-Thames, a town colloquially known as Kingston, in southwest London, and you’ll be in a bubble of peace. Here you'll find some of the most beautiful stretches of the Thames that many refer to as the river's finest, and forget that you’re so close away from the heart of the busy city. There's plenty of history in Kingston, which was the coronation site of as many as seven Saxon kings, and regarded as the birthplace of England. The name Kingston literally means the king's manor or estate, derived from old English.