It outlines the story of three men – Jerome and his two friends, Harris and George and their dog, a fox terrier called Montmorency on their holiday on the River Thames in Oxford, England as the three men suffer from some weird ailment. So they set themselves off on a trip to cure themselves – a boating trip. Apparently, that was quite common in those times, which is around 1889 when the book was published. The travelogue portion is quite apparent as along the trip, Jerome mentions all the villages and landmarks they pass, such as Hampton Court Palace, Hampton Church, Monkey Island, Magna Carta Island, Marlow etc and the few titbits about the culture in those places.