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 […]
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 […]
The ‘Seven Wonders of the Waterways’ was compiled over 60 years ago by Robert Aickman, co-founder of the Inland Waterways Association, and published in his book ‘Know Your Waterways’. Here at Drifters, we’ve added the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland (which opened in 2002) to make the perfect Canal Boat Holidays Bucket List: 1. The Pontcysyllte […]
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 […]
With Britain’s inland waterways in better shape than ever and the health benefits of spending time by the water proven, narrowboat holidays are becoming increasingly popular. You don’t need a licence to steer a canal boat and all Drifters’ operators provide hirers with boat steering tuition as part of their holiday packages. Today’s narrowboats are […]
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 […]
Narrowboat holidays are fantastic for families, offering the chance to set off on an adventure together, learning how to navigate the waterways and speak the boating lingo, as well as spotting wildlife, exploring traffic-free towpaths and visiting waterside pubs and attractions along the way. So if you are thinking of packing up and shipping out […]
With ghosts galore, bats, toads, moths, spiders and frogs aplenty – as well as creepy tunnels, spooky locks and misty towpaths – Britain’s 2,000-mile, 200-year old canal network provides the perfect backdrop for a haunting Halloween. Here’s a guide to our spookiest destinations for Halloween 2018: 1. Look out for the ghost of the lusty […]
A canal boat holiday is a great way to enjoy the vibrant colours of autumn in the hedgerows and trees that line our waterways – dramatically mirrored in the water. There’s plenty of wildlife to spot along the way during the autumn months, including flocks of fieldfare and redwing searching for hawthorn berries, and wood […]
Travelling through the countryside and waterside towns and villages at just four-miles-an-hour, canal boat holidays are the fastest way to slow down. You don’t need a licence and it’s easy to learn how to steer a narrowboat. Tuition is included as part of all our holiday packages. All our narrowboats have heating, well-equipped kitchens, quality […]