Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song! To this day, the refrain from Edmund Spenser's Prothalamion reflects the peaceful nature of England's most famous river, which meanders between the Cotswolds and Kew, taking in typical English landscapes of rolling hills, woodland, prairies, manor houses, charming villages. Since no road runs alongside the river, you will have to explore it on foot or, better still, by boat.