Day boat hire on the canals offers the chance to enjoy a fun day out on the water, nourished by a pint and a pub lunch along the way. We offer day boat hire from 16 our boat yards across England, Scotland and Wales, with prices starting at less than £10 per person. Full tuition […]
Britain’s beautiful inland waterways are a great place to visit at Spring time, when the countryside is bursting into new life, with blossom on the hedges and waterside trees, birds busy rearing their young, spring lambs playing in the fields and bluebells in waterside woodlands. To celebrate the arrival of Spring next month, here are […]
Britain’s canals and rivers host hundreds of exciting events each year, bringing people to the waterways and celebrating the things that make them special. These events make great destinations for canal boat holiday-makers, so we’ve put together our Top 10 events for 2019, along with information on our nearest canal boat hire bases: Easter Boat […]
As part of our preparations for the new boating season, Drifters is adding dozens of new canal boats to its fleets across the network. To celebrate, here’s our Top 9 new narrowboats for 2019: ‘Gemini’ gets going at Whixall – from 5 April 2019 the new luxury 69ft narrowboat ‘Gemini’, with accommodation for up to […]
From 5 April 2019, Drifters member Anglo Welsh Waterway Holidays will begin offering narrowboat hire from Whixall Marina, on the Prees Branch of the Llangollen Canal in Shropshire. From Whixall Marina, deep in the Shropshire countryside, it takes just 30 minutes to reach the main line of the Llangollen Canal – one of the most […]
This year Mothering Sunday coincides with the start of British Summer Time (Sunday 31 March 2019), so what better way to celebrate than by taking to the water for a relaxing day afloat on a canal boat, stopping off at a pub for lunch along the way. Drifters offers day boat hire from 16 boat […]
Britain’s 2,000-mile long and 200-year old canal network is a treasure trove of historic structures, a haven for wildlife and is steeped in folklore and mystery. To celebrate the rich tapestry of canal history and habitat, here at Drifters we’ve put together our Top 6 Canal Mysteries for visitors and holiday-makers to explore: Why was […]
Canal boat holidays are fantastic for families, offering the chance to set off on an adventure together out in the open air, learning how to work the locks and speak the boating lingo, as well as spotting wildlife, exploring traffic-free towpaths and visiting waterside attractions along the way. Here are our top five destinations for […]
As we were once a great sea-faring nation, much of our everyday language is peppered with nautical references. To celebrate the new year, we’ve put together our favourite everyday phrases with nautical origins to ‘Chew the Fat’ over on your next adventure afloat: 1. Barge in (queue jump) – barge has two nautical meanings: a […]
From rural retreats to vibrant city centres, narrowboat holiday-makers can use their boat as a floating holiday home to explore hundreds of waterside destinations and enjoy taking refreshment at historic canalside pubs. Here are Drifters’ Top 10 canal boat holidays for 2019: 1. Go star gazing on the Mon & Brec – isolated from the […]