Welcome to CanalBoatingHolidays.com for Canal Boating Holidays - Narrowboat Holidays Travel Guide

Narrowboat Holiday Hire - Canal Barge Holidays
Norfolk Broads Cruiser Boat Hire

If you've ever thought of taking an inland waterways, canal barge or river boating holiday, but wanted to know more, then you've come to the right place.

Be sure to hire your waterways holiday boat from a licensed operator as this is the only way you can be sure you are covered for support in the case of a breakdown or other emergency and have the relevant insurance cover for your holiday.

There is nothing quite like a canal boating holiday. Being restricted to cruising along at no more than 4 miles per hour with occasional enforced activity for some of your crew as you come to a lock or flight of locks.

Due to the nature of the British waterways economy we cannot be sure to have listed every feature along the navigable canals and rivers but what is listed should help you have a great holiday.

Enjoy the camaraderie when you meet other canal boaters, whether they are boat owners or other canal boating holiday makers. The welcome with friendliness when you moor up at a canalside restaurant or pub for a drink or a meal.

This canal boating holiday guide contains information but if you are making plans to visit a particular establishment it is always advisable to check in advance for availability.

Canal boating holidays are holidays full of contrasts, taken at a slow pace through a variety of cityscape, township, canalside village and fantastic countryside bursting with wildlife.

Whether it's a wide canal or narrow canal, every bend in the canal brings forth some new vista; canal bridges, aqueducts, weirs, tunnels. In fact every mile delivers some new and interesting feature.

You can never see it all, no matter how many times you take a canal boating holiday. And guess what? If you turn around and cruise back to where you started from, it all looks different and new. Even taking a cruise during a different season of the year on the same canal is noticeably different!

No worries - Canal boating holidays were made for relaxation, for unwinding from normal everyday pressures. Canal boating holidays are for doing what you like, when you like. There is no timetable!

Find your ideal canal or river boating holiday.

Never been on a canal boat holiday before? Click here.

Free advice about boating holidays, where to go and what to do.

Free advice on how to choose a suitable canal boat for a holiday.

Frequently Asked Questions - Where can we stop at night? - What's included in the price? - How far can we travel? - Do I need any kind of licence? - How do I find a suitable boating holiday? - What happens when I reserve a boat? - What types of canal boat holidays are there? - What's a canal boating holiday like? - Do I need any experience? - What should we take with us?

There are good reasons to choose to take a holiday with Hoseasons or one of the global independent operators featured on CanalBoatingHolidays.com as many are Regional Tourist Board Gold & Silver award winning companies.

If you've hired a boat in the past, and aren't sure whether you would find it fun to try again, then its is time to look at the boats on offer. Modern canal boating holidays hire boats are right up to date and very easy to use. Many of the waterways have improved for the better too. Most of the navigable waterway's towpaths are in good repair and easy to walk. Many more miles of canal have been opened up and the channels are much improved too.

There are also lots of new and exciting recreational developments and attractions accessible from the waterways.

The companies within CanalBoatingHolidays.com have great ranges of modern boats that we are proud to recommend.

We will be creating pages of information including:

Ring Cruises

Minimum 1 Week (recommend 2 weeks)

Birmingham Cruise Ring - Starting at Brewood (Shropshire Union Canal), Penkridge (Staffs and Worcs Canal), Autherley Junction (Shropshire Union Canal), Gailey (Staffs and Worcs Canal) MAP, Alvechurch or Tardebigge

Black Country Cruise Ring - Starting at Kings Bromley, Barton Under Needwood, Alvechurch, Tardebigge, Brewood, Great Haywood (Trent and Mersey/Staffs and Worcs Canals), Penkridge, Autherley Junction (Shropshire Union Canal) or Gailey (Staffs and Worcs Canal) MAP.

Cheshire Cruise Ring - Starting at Wrenbury, Ashton under Lyne, Sandbach, Macclesfield, Congleton, Anderton, Middlewich (Trent & Mersey Canal), Church Minshull, Acton Bridge, Stone, Stoke-on-Trent (Trent & Mersey Canal), Caldon Canal, Preston Brook or Bunbury (Shropshire Union Canal).

Four Counties Cruise Ring - Starting at Sandbach, Macclesfield, Congleton, Market Drayton, Middlewich (Trent & Mersey Canal), Church Minshull, Stoke-on-Trent, Caldon Canal, Stone, Bunbury, Great Haywood, Autherley Junction (Shropshire Union Canal), Gailey (Staffs and Worcs Canal) MAP, Penkridge (Staffs and Worcs Canal), Brewood, Norbury or Wrenbury

Lee Cruise Valley

London Cruise Ring

Stourport Cruise Ring - Starting at Autherley Junction (Shropshire Union Canal), Alvechurch, Tardebigge, Stoke Prior or Worcester

Warwickshire Cruise Ring - Starting at Nuneaton, Napton, Hillmorton, Rugby, Wootton Wawen, Warstock, Clifton-on-Dunsmore, Warwick, Stretton or Cathiron

2 Weeks (recommend 3/4 weeks)

Avon Cruise Ring - Starting at Bristol, Worcester, Wootton Wawen, Tardebigge, Stoke Prior or Alvechurch

Leicester Cruise Ring - Starting at Market Harborough, Nuneaton, Napton, Clifton-on-Dunsmore, Hillmorton, Rugby, Warwick, Stockton, Stretton or Cathiron

Four Counties Cruise Ring - Starting at Anderton, Whitchurch, Wrenbury, Kings Bromley, Barton Under Needwood, Sandbach, Macclesfield, Congleton, Market Drayton, Middlewich (Trent & Mersey Canal), Stoke-on-Trent, Caldon Canal, Great Haywood, Penkridge (Staffs and Worcs Canal), Autherley Junction (Shropshire Union Canal), Gailey (Staffs and Worcs Canal) MAP, Brewood or Norbury

Pennine Cruise Circuit - Starting at Barnoldswick, Burnley, Barden Mill, Macclesfield, Congleton, Great Haywood, Silsden (Leeds & Liverpool Canal), Stoke-on-Trent or Riley Green

Thames Cruise Ring - Starting at Napton, Whilton, Gayton, Oxford, Lower Heyford, Stowe Hill, Radcot on Thames or Linslade

Warwickshire Cruise Ring - Starting at Nuneaton, Napton, Hillmorton, Rugby, Wootton Wawen, Warstock, Clifton-on-Dunsmore, Warwick, Stretton or Cathiron

Spring Narrowboat Cruise, Easter Canal Boat Break UK, Whitsuntide Narrow Boat Trips in England, Summer Canal Boat Family Holidays, Autumn British Canal and River Boat Hire, School Holiday Scottish Loch and Canal Boat Rental.

Full Week Canal Boat Hire Holidays, Weekend Break Canal Boat Rental Holidays, Hire a Midweek Break Canal Boat.

Narrowboat or Motor Cruiser

Widebeam Canal Boat Hire UK

Wherry or Sailing Yacht (Broads Only)

Norfolk Broads Canal Boat Holidays - Starting at Potter Heigham, Martham, Womack, Upton Yacht Station, Hickling, Horning, Acle, Stalham, Brundall or Wroxham

Canal and Riverside Holiday Cottages

Llangollen Canal, Narrowboat Holidays, Whittington, Wales - Llangollen Canal Boat Hire

Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Narrowboat Holidays - Silsden Boats - Silsden, West Yorkshire

Shropshire Union Canal, Narrowboat Holidays - Napton Narrowboats, Autherley Junction, Near Wolverhampton, West Midlands

Trent & Mersey Canal, Narrowboat Holisays - Andersen Narrowboats, Middlewich, Cheshire

Norfolk Broads Sailing Boat

Narrow Boat on North Oxford Canal

Norfolk Sailing Wherry

Canals Thames and Norfolk Broads

Narrowboat holiday

Norfolk Motor Cruiser

Central England Canal Boat Holidays - Starting from Kings Bromley, Stowe Hill, Barton Under Needwood, North Kilworth, Market Harborough, Nuneaton, Whilton, Napton, Congleton, Hillmorton, Lower Heyford, Radcot on Thames, Linslade, Stone, Tardebigge, Clifton-on-Dunsmore, Norbury, Warwick, stockton, Great Haywood, Wootton Wawen, Warstock, Stoke Heath, Oxford, Worcester, Rugby, Stretton, Alvechurch, Gayton, Brewood, Cambridge, Stoke on Trent, Caldon Canal, Stoke Prior, Autherley, Gailey, Market Drayton or Cathiron

(Central England Canals - Ashby Canal - Coventry Canal - North Oxford Canal - Staffs & Worcs Canal - Rivers Severn & Avon - River Soar - Worcester & Birmingham Canal)

Northern England Canal Boat Holidays - Starting from Autherley Junction (Shropshire Union Canal), Foulridge, Swanley Bridge, Sowerby/Ashton, Sowerby/Burnley, Sowerby/Foulridge, Barnoldswick, Burnley, Sandbach, Barden Mill, Macclesfield, Congleton, Silsden (Leeds & Liverpool Canal), Acton bridge, Stoke-on-Trent, Stone, Sowerby Bridge, Bunbury, Ashton under Lyne, Preston Brook, Caldon Canal, Middlewich, Anderton, Acton Bridge, Riley Green or Church Minshull

(NORTHERN CANALS - Caldon Canal - Huddersfield Narrow Canal - Lancaster Canal - Leeds & Liverpool Canal - Macclesfield Canal - Rochdale Canal - Shropshire Union Canal - Trent and Mersey Canal - Yorkshire Waterways)

UK One Way Canal Boating Holidays - Starting from Stowe Hill, Sowerby/Ashton, Sowerby/Burnley, Sowerby/Foulridge or Ashton under Lyne

River Thames Boat Holidays - Starting from Windsor, Oxford, Radcot on Thames or Reading

On the London Cruise Ring and Thames Cruise Ring

Southern England Canal Boat Holidays including River Barge Holidays in the South West of England - Starting from Bradford on Avon, Lee Valley, Lower Heyford, Radcot on Thames, Linslade, Hilperton, Oxford, Windsor, River Wey, Hampshire, Monkton Combe, Bath, Sydney, Reading - Southern English canals

(Southern England Canals - Basingstoke Canal - Cambridgeshire Waterways - East Coast Rivers - Grand Union Canal - Kennet & Avon See some of the hire boats available on the Kennet and Avon Canal now here - Rivers Lee & Stort Navigations - River Nene - South Oxford Canal)

France Canal Boat Holidays - Burgundy, Vermenton, Champagne, Anjou, Canal du Midi, Meilhan, Charente, Nievre, Midi-Aquitaine, Brittany, Carmargue or Midi - French canal holidays

Ireland (Eire) Canal Boat Holidays - Starting from River Shannon - Irish canal boat holidays

Lough Erne

Scotland Canal Boat Holidays

Scottish Lochs Boating Holidays - Starting from Falkirk, Laggan Locks or Lochrin - See some of the starting points now.

Caley Cruisers, Inverness - Close to the northern end of the navigation

Le Boat Laggan (formerly known as Connoisseur Laggan) - Le Boat, Laggan, Loch Oich See available Le Boat hire craft

Scottish Lowland Canals - Scottish canal cruising one way

UK Boat Hire - Falkirk Marina, Scotland, Canals and Rivers, UK - See available UK Boat Hire narrowboats

Wales Canal Boat Holidays - Swanley Bridge, Goytre, Whittington, Pencelli, Whitchurch, Wrenbury, Chirk, Bunbury or Trevor - Welsh canal cruising

(Wales Canals - Llangollen Canal - Montgomery & Brecon Canal)

Holiday Hotel Narrowboats - Canal hotel boats are generally paired as a motorised boat and an unpowered 'butty'. They cruise together in tandem and sometimes 'breast up' at night.

Which hotel boat cruise should you choose? Hotel Boat or Charter Boat - This is the most difficult decision for a prospective guest to make as every cruise has its own special attractions; each canal and river has its own particular charm.

Boating Holidays Maps

Canal & Rivers Boating UK

Norfolk Broads
Canals and Rivers
Scotland Lochs
Forth & Clyde and Union Canals

Canal & Rivers Boating
Europe - France

Alsace - Lorraine
Burgundy - Nivernais Loire
Burgundy - Franche Comte Vosages
Brittany
Charente
Lot
Aquitaine
South of France
Somme-Picardy

Canal & Rivers Boating Europe - Other

Belgium
Germany
Holland
Ireland
Italy
Poland