Bankside put-in (Greater London)

Southwark Bridge stands about 220 metres upstream and London Bridge about 300 metres downstream, the two bridges bracketing this stretch of foreshore. The pedestrian Millennium Bridge is a further 300 metres upstream of Southwark Bridge; its deck runs 325 metres end to end at only 4 metres wide, with the supporting cables kept below deck level to preserve the view of St Paul's Cathedral from the south bank.

The water here is fully tidal, with a range reaching up to seven metres at London Bridge. The Port of London Authority describes the flow as running at around five miles an hour, with eddies and undertows around bridges, piers and moored vessels. The foreshore, mud-flats and shingle exposed on the ebb, forms part of the River Thames and tidal tributaries Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, of Metropolitan importance; the citation records over 100 fish species in the tidal Thames and names its river walls, this stretch included, as feeding grounds for the nationally rare black redstart.

Erosion from boat wash has exposed peat layers containing prehistoric wood on the Bankside foreshore, and the Thames Discovery Programme has recorded a brick culvert here from the era when Southwark's sewage drained straight into the river. Tate Modern, in the former Bankside Power Station, and Shakespeare's Globe both stand on the bank behind the launch. The RNLI's Tower Lifeboat Station, now based at Waterloo Bridge, is the busiest of the charity's 238 stations, reaching 10,000 launches in June 2023 and logging 734 in its busiest year, 2022.