Queen's Diamond Jubilee: top 20 Thames-side hot spots to live It will be the biggest floating show in history. To mark her Diamond Jubilee, the Queen will take to the River Thames on The Spirit of Chartwell, alongside more than 1,000 other boats. They will sail seven miles, from Battersea Bridge to Tower Bridge. Though undoubtedly spectacular, the flotilla will be just one more page in the river's meandering story. From Neolithic fishermen to 21st-century oligarchs, via Julius Caesar and Henry VIII, people have congregated on the banks of the Thames. They've come for food, travel and entertainment, but above all to live. And they keep coming. In 2012, a Thameside home is one of the most desirable properties in the world. Right at the centre of one of the planet's hottest housing markets. Russian, Greek, Italian and French buyers are snapping up London homes in ever increasing numbers. They are joining Middle Eastern and American purchasers who have long regarded central London as a sound investment. Properties along the Thames are not cheap, but take a long-term view and you should reap the rewards later. Prices are up 45 per cent since the credit crisis in 2008, and 11.3 per cent in the past year alone, according to Knight Frank. London is so much more than a safe haven. The world's buyers also get great shopping, brilliant restaurants and fabulous culture," says Tracy Kellett of BDI Home Finders, the buying agency. Homeowners living beside the Thames have seen even bigger rises. Cluttons says the prices of riverfront properties have soared by 50.5 per cent in the past decade, while non-riverfront homes have risen by 39.5 per cent. It was not always this way. Many period houses are situated some streets back from the Thames. A century ago, the river was a smelly, polluted place, where ugly, noisy industry lined the banks. Now the banks are a mixture of world famous landmarks, cutting-edge architecture and charming buildings ripe for modernisation. Here are our top 20 property hot spots along the Diamond Jubilee Pageant route. 1 Chelsea Harbour, Hammersmith and Fulham Diana, Princess of Wales, used to dodge the paparazzi when she was a member of the fitness club here. Chelsea Harbour was opened in the Eighties, when the first apartments were built on old industrial sites. Today, Michael Caine, Kate Adie and Tom Stoppard all own property in this fashionable part of town, which overlooks the start of the pageant. Insider tip: This area is quiet at weekends when offices and hotels are less busy. Shops on the King's Road are just 10 minutes away. For sale: A two-storey flat with flexible layout - up to six bedrooms and two terraces. An eye-watering £7.2m, Jackson-Stops & Staff (020 7664 6644; jackson-stops.co.uk).