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 […]
Britain’s beautiful 2,000-mile network of navigable canals and rivers passes through some of our most vibrant towns and cities, with exciting world-class Museums to visit along the way. Here are our Top 10 museums to visit afloat in 2019: 1. Visit the Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker – from our canal boat hire base at […]
On Sunday 7 April 2019, we are once again offering people the chance to try canal boating for free at 19 of our boat yards across England and Wales. The taster sessions, run with support from the Canal & River Trust, will be on from 11am to 4pm and will include free short trips on […]
Cherie Thiessen of the Canadian Pacific Yachting Magazine took a week long canal boat holiday with Drifters in September, describing it as ‘…the perfect combination of relaxation and adventure’. Travelling along the Llangollen Canal from our canal boat hire base at Whitchurch (run by ABC Boat Hire), here are some of things she said about […]
Miranda Krestovnikoff, TV presenter and president of the RSPB, describes her recent Drifters canal boat holiday on the Mon & Brec Canal in South Wales: It’s been several years since we’ve ventured out on the canals. On our last trip, a few years back, we chose to go in late October as it was half […]
There are over 1,800 locks on the 2,000 miles of navigable waterways in England and Wales, all enabling boats to travel up and down hills. These structures have been around for hundreds of years but can be daunting for canal boat holiday newcomers, especially when there are lots of them in quick succession. Fortunately there’s […]