Boating Holidays in Britain

Messing About In Boats: All aboard for a watery British vacation

Daniel Allen

Boating Holidays in Britain. — Boating Holidays in Britain

"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats," declared Ratty to Mole in Kenneth Grahame's famous classic The Wind in the Willows. Once you've taken a boating holiday in Britain, it's impossible to disagree with the sentiment.

Whether you're navigating Scotland's majestic Caledonian Canal, cruising the picturesque River Shannon in Ireland, or getting lost on the Norfolk Broads, boating around Britain is a great way to see countryside you simply can't access by car. Many attractions sit next to rivers and canals, from tiny village churches and mills through to great cathedrals, castles and stately homes.

Enjoy the peace and quiet of a walk along one of the many canals in the UK. — Enjoy the peace and quiet of one of the many canals in the UK

Britain's 2,000-mile canal network offers a huge variety of canal boat holiday routes, from no-fuss short breaks through to epic journeys around cruising rings, which can take weeks and involve a lot of locks. While the odd scrape or gunwale-grabbing moment is almost inevitable if you take your kids on a boating holiday - and waterborne safety is obviously of utmost importance - there's no denying the simple pleasures or sense of adventure that accompanies a journey by narrowboat or cruiser.

Life definitely switches down a gear on a canal holiday. The laid-back pace makes it one of the best opportunities busy friends and families will ever get to chill out, get into a good book or simply chew the fat. And with most boats fitted out with kitchens, bathrooms and lounges, as well as mod-cons like wifi and flat-screen televisions, a life aquatic doesn't have to mean skimping on the creature comforts either.

For those inspired to take to the water, here's a selection of some of Britain's best boating routes.

Kennet & Avon Canal

One of Britain's most beautiful and well-loved waterways, the 87-mile Kennet and Avon Canal links London and the Bristol Channel, offering boaters a bit of everything: the rolling Cotswolds, open plains, quaint villages, vibrant market towns and the historic Georgian city of Bath.

Highlights of the canal include the Crofton and Claverton Pumping Stations, Caen Hill Flight, Avoncliff Aqueduct, Aldermaston Wharf, Dundas Aqueduct and the lovely town of Bradford-on-Avon.

wiltshire-narrowboats.co.uk
kennetandavoncanalboathire.co.uk
lazydazecruises.co.uk

Kennet & Avon Canal, UK. — Kennet & Avon Canal

Caledonian Canal

Cutting straight through Scotland's Great Glen, the Caledonian Canal is one of the great waterways of the world. Connecting the towns of Fort William and Inverness, the Caledonian Canal is 60 miles long, of which 22 miles are man-made, linking the natural lakes of Loch Lochy, Loch Oich, the famous Loch Ness and Loch Dochfour. First opened in 1822, it remains an amazing feat of engineering.

The Caledonian Canal takes around three days of non-stop cruising to traverse, making it the ideal place to spend a week's relaxed boating. There are 12 mechanised locks and 6 bridges along the cruising route, all of which are manned by bridge and lock keepers. Today's canal traffic is mostly cruisers, interspersed with the occasional ocean-going yacht, fishing boat and naval vessel.

caleycruisers.com
westhighlandsailing.com

Caledonian Canal, Scotland, UK — Caledonian Canal, Scotland

River Shannon-Lough Erne

From Limerick in the south to Belleek in the north, the 300-mile long River Shannon-Lough Erne system - created when an old Victorian canal linking the Shannon to the Erne system (the Shannon-Erne Waterway) re-opened in 1994 - offers waterborne travellers a remarkable view of the heart of Ireland: its landscapes and wildlife, towns, abbeys and ancient monastic sites, and waterside pubs and inns. The system is unique in that it includes stretches of still-water canal, canalised river and a series of scenic lakes.

The Shannon-Erne Waterway is a unique canal on Ireland's inland waterways, boasting a user-friendly electro-hydraulic lock system operated by smart card.

manormarine.com/lough-erne-shannon
silverlinecruisers.com

River Shannon-Lough Erne, Ireland — River Shannon-Lough Erne

Norfolk Broads

Created by the flooding of peat workings, The Broads are a network of rivers and lakes running through the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, to the east of the city of Norwich in East Anglia. The Broads cover 120 square miles and boast 125 miles of loch-free waterways, extending from the market town of Beccles in the south, through to the village of Dilham in the north, and touching the coast at the towns of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

Most of the waterways in the Broads are navigable, making it one of Britain's most popular destinations for boating. With numerous mooring locations along every waterway, visitors can easily stop off to enjoy fishing, bird watching, walking and cycling, as well as wining and dining at the numerous pubs, cafes and restaurants along the way.

Dotted throughout the Broads are a variety of picturesque villages and towns, of which the town of Wroxham is often considered the unofficial capital of the area. A vibrant place, many people start their boating holiday here, with numerous places to hire boats. Other popular Broads' destinations include Horning, Woodbastwick, Potter Heigham, Ranworth, Stalham and Acle.

broadstours.co.uk
barnesbrinkcraft.co.uk

Leeds & Liverpool Canal

Linking the great British cities of Liverpool and Leeds, the 127-mile long Leeds & Liverpool Canal is the longest canal in Britain built as a single waterway. Navigating the canal means negotiating some or all of its 91 locks and swing bridges - working these is all part of the fun of the holiday.

The Leeds & Liverpool Canal is Britain's most dramatic and diverse artificial waterway, boasting Pennine views, market towns and spectacular canal architecture, from multi-tiered locks through to quaint, canalside cottages. The most popular part of the canal stretches from the town of Silsden through the Yorkshire Dales National Park to Skipton, and then on to East Lancashire mill towns such as Nelson and Burnley.