Top 10 Summer Canal Boat Holidays for 2022
Travelling through the countryside 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.
Drifters offers 550 narrowboats for hire from 45 bases across England, Scotland and Wales. Our summer holiday prices for a short break (three or four nights) on a boat for four people start at £979, and at £1,530 for a week.
Tuition is included as part of all our holiday packages.
All our narrowboats have heating, well-equipped kitchens, quality furnishings, flushing toilets, hot water, showers, TVs and DVD players, and many now have WiFi on board too.
Here are our top 10 summer destinations for 2022:
- Visit Skipton and its medieval castle
On a short break from our Barnoldswick boatyard, narrow boat holiday-makers can head east along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal to Skipton and back. The journey travels a total of 26 miles, passes through 30 locks (15 each way) and takes around 20 hours. This breath-taking route winds along the contours of the side of Airedale, with extensive views of sheep country – farmhouses, barns, stone walls and the occasional village or town. Once in Skipton, you can moor in the centre of the town, visit shops and restaurants and explore Skipton Castle, one of the most complete and best preserved medieval castles in England.
- Glide through the Usk Valley to Brecon and back
From our base at Goytre Wharf near Abergavenny, on a week’s break you can navigate through the wooded Usk Valley to the pretty market town of Brecon, in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Brecon offers theatre, cinema, cafes and restaurants and east access to the National Park, with walking routes, cycle hire and pony trekking. Along the way, you can stop off at Llanfoist to take the old tramway into the Black Mountains, visit the 13th century caste at Crickhowell and walk to the Blaen y Glyn waterfalls at Talybont-on-Usk. The total journey there and back travels 51 miles, passing through 12 locks (six each way) and takes around 25 hours.
- Cruise along the River Thames to Oxford
On a short break from our canal boat hire base on the River Thames at Eynsham near Witney, you can reach the beautiful City of Oxford in just three hours. Most of the locks on the Thames are manned so it’s a nice easy journey for beginners. Once in Oxford, you can moor up a short walk from the City Centre, and take time to explore some of the historic attractions. Climb the Carfax Tower for views across the City of Dreaming Spires, visit the Bodleian Library with its stunning 17th century Schools Quadrangle, and explore the University of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology.
- Travel the Warwickshire Ring
On a two-week holiday from our Napton base on the Grand Union Canal, you can navigate the popular Warwickshire Ring. The route follows 104 miles of urban and rural waterways, passes through 120 locks and takes around 54 cruising hours. Highlights include: the awesome Flight of 21 locks at Hatton; Warwick Castle; Cadbury World; and Birmingham’s Brindleyplace, home to the Sea Life Centre.
- Glide across the awesome Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
Passing through stunning North Wales landscapes, the Llangollen Canal is one of the most popular waterways on the network. On a short break from our base at Chirk, you can travel to the pretty Eisteddfod town of Llangollen and back. Along the way, you’ll cruise the 11 miles of the Llangollen Canal that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, including the awesome Chirk and Pontcysyllte aqueducts.
- Travel along the peaceful Ashby Canal to Shakerstone
On a week’s holiday from our Braunston base on the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire, you can explore the beautiful Ashby Canal. With no locks, and mile-upon-mile of countryside to enjoy, this peaceful 22-mile long waterway passes the pretty town of Market Bosworth and the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field. The journey to Shakerstone and back, travels 95 miles, passes through eight locks (four each way) and takes around 37 hours.
- Navigate through the Scottish Lowlands to Edinburgh
From our base at Falkirk, Edinburgh Quay is an 11-hour, 32-mile journey along the Union Canal, perfect for a mid-week break. The journey starts with a trip through the world’s first rotating boat lift, the Falkirk Wheel. You’ll then pass through two tunnels and soon after across the magnificent Avon Aqueduct. Then it’s on through the lovely lowland villages of Linlithgow, Broxburn and Ratho. Visitor moorings are available at Edinburgh Quay, just a five-minute walk from Princes Street and many of the City’s top attractions.
- Cruise to the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port
On a week’s holiday from our base at Bunbury on the Shropshire Union Canal, you can reach the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port. The museum brings together a unique fleet of historic boats, docks, warehouses, forge, stables and workers cottages, collections and archives, to tell the story of Britain’s canals. It takes around 11 hours to cruise to the National Waterways Museum from our boat yard on the Shropshire Union Canal at Bunbury. The journey there and back travels 22 miles and passes through 32 locks (16 each way).
- Visit Georgian Bath afloat
On a short break from our canal boat hire base at Devizes, you can navigate to the beautiful World Heritage Status City of Bath. The journey there and back travels 39 miles of the Kennet & Avon Canal, passes through 20 locks (10 each way) and takes around 19 cruising hours. Along the way, you’ll pass a series of canalside pubs, and you’ll cross over the beautiful Bath stone Avoncliff and Dundas aqueducts. There are moorings at Sydney Wharf, a 15-minute walk from Bath City centre.
- Cruise through the Shropshire countryside to Market Drayton
On a four night break from our base at Brewood on the Shropshire Union Canal, you can reach the historic market town of Market Drayton. Along the way, you’ll pass through a series of villages with canalside pubs, including the Junction Inn at Norbury and the Royal Oak at Gnosnall. And through tunnels of trees in the deep canal cuttings. The total journey there and back travels 42 miles, passes through 12 locks and takes around 19 hours.
