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Best spring canal boating breaks
/in News /by DriftersBritain’s beautiful inland waterways are a great place to visit in the spring time, when the countryside is bursting with new life. As you cruise gently along on a narrowboat holiday, you’ll see blossom on the hedges and waterside trees, birds busy rearing their young, spring lambs playing in the fields and bluebells in waterside […]
Bluebell woods to see on a canal boat holiday
/in News /by Debbie LudfordCanals meander through some of Britain’s best loved countryside with bluebell woods to explore The UK is home to almost half the world’s bluebells, and they are one of the nation’s favourite wildflowers. Native bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) are an ancient woodland indicator. The Woodland Trust says, “most flowering usually happens in April, so this is […]
Guide to the Four Counties Ring
/in News /by Debbie LudfordLove Travelling’s guide to cruising round the Four Counties Ring on a narrowboat Last autumn Marion Collinson of Love Travelling travelled round the Four Counties Ring on a narrowboat holiday with her family, and has since published a Guide to the Four Counties Ring. Marion departed from Drifters’ canal boat hire base at Stoke-on-Trent aboard […]
Top 8 Easter canal boat holidays
/in News /by DriftersEaster is a great time to take a narrowboat holiday in England, Scotland and Wales We’ve published a guide to our top 8 Easter canal boat holidays in 2025. Canal boat holidays are fantastic for families, offering the chance to set off on an adventure together. Everyone can enjoy learning how to work the locks, […]
Canal boat holiday ‘bucket list’
/in News /by DriftersThe most iconic sites to experience on a canal boat holiday Our canal boat holiday ‘bucket list’ guide is based on Robert Aickman’s ‘Seven Wonders of the Waterways’ list, compiled over 70 years ago. Aickman co-founded the Inland Waterways Association. We’ve added the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland (which opened in 2002) to create the perfect […]
Canal boat holidays get top marks
/in News /by Debbie LudfordNew research by the Canal & River Trust reveals 87% of people would recommend canal boat holidays Canal boat holidays get top marks in the Canal & River Trust’s 2024 Hire Boat Survey. The research reveals 87% of people who took a quintessentially British holiday on the nation’s historic navigable canals and rivers would definitely […]
Top 6 new narrowboats for 2025
/in News /by Debbie LudfordEvery year we add dozens of new canal boats to our hire fleet Drifters offers the choice of over 500 canal boats for hire from 40 locations across England, Wales and Scotland, and every year dozens of new boats are added to our fleet. There are over 35,000 canal boats on Britain’s 3,000-mile inland waterways […]
Best narrowboat holidays on the Scottish Lowland canals
/in News /by DriftersCanal boat hire on the Scottish Lowland canals from Falkirk Drifters offers canal boat hire from Falkirk and we’ve published a guide to the best narrowboat holidays on the Scottish Lowland canals. What are the Scottish Lowland canals? The Forth & Clyde Canal links the Irish Sea with the North Sea, running from Bowling on […]
Exploring Cheshire’s waterways
/in News /by Debbie LudfordNavigating Cheshire’s waterways on an autumn narrowboat holiday Ashley Gibbin and Ann Mealor of the International Travel Writers Alliance recently reviewed their canal boat holiday exploring Cheshire’s waterways. Setting off from our canal boat hire base at Anderton on the Trent & Mersey Canal, they cruised to Lymm and back. Their journey took them along […]
Reasons to take a narrowboat holiday
/in News /by Debbie Ludford5 Star Stories have reviewed their boating holiday on the Kennet & Avon Canal Setting off from our base at Hilperton on the Kennet & Avon Canal, 5 Star Stories cruised to Bath and back and published 5 reasons to take a narrowboat holiday. From slowing down and disconnecting, to feeling part of a community […]