Top 5 August Bank Holiday Canal Boat Breaks

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 furnishings, flushing toilets, hot water, showers, TVs and DVD players, and many now have WiFi on board too.

Many of our operators are offering some fantastic late deals over the August Bank Holiday. To celebrate and inspire, here are our top 5 August Bank Holiday breaks for 2018:

1. Glide across the awesome Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – passing through stunning North Wales landscapes, the Llangollen Canal is one of the most popular on the network. On a short break from our canal boat hire base at Chirk, boaters can travel to the pretty Eisteddfod town of Llangollen and back, with just four locks to go through and the magnificent World Heritage status Pontcysyllte Aqueduct to glide across.

2. Cruise to Lymm and back on the River Weaver – on a short break from our narrowboat hire base at Anderton in Cheshire, boaters can cruise along the Rive Weaver to the pretty canal village of Lymm, travelling 17½ miles and passing through just one lock, enjoying views of the distant Pennines along the way. The journey begins at the incredible Anderton Boat Lift, one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Waterways’. This incredible edifice, also known as ‘The Cathedral of the canals’, was the world’s first hydraulic canal boat lift, transporting boats 50 feet between the River Weaver and the Trent & Mersey canal in two giant water tanks.

3. Visit Georgian Bath afloat – from Drifters’ canal boat hire base at Hilperton on the Kennet & Avon Canal in Wiltshire, it takes seven hours, travelling 13 miles and passing through three locks to reach moorings at Sydney Wharf, just outside Bath City Centre. Along the way, the route takes boaters past the pretty town of Bradford on Avon with its magnificent 14th century Tithe Barn, and across the stunning Avoncliff and Dundas Aqueducts.

4. Cruise through the Shropshire countryside to Market Drayton – from our canal boat hire base at Brewood on the Shropshire Union Canal in Shropshire, it takes around ten hours, cruising 11 miles and passing through six locks, to reach the historic market town of Market Drayton, home of the gingerbread man. Along the way, boaters pass through a series of villages with canalside pubs, including the Junction Inn at Norbury and the Royal Oak at Gnosnall.

5. Visit Shakespeare’s Stratford afloat – on a short break from our narrowboat rental base at Wootton Wawen on the Stratford Canal near Henley-in-Arden, it takes six hours, passing through 17 locks, to reach Bancroft Basin in Stratford-upon-Avon. From there, it’s a short walk to the town’s theatres, shops, restaurants and museums, including the Stratford-upon-Avon Butterfly Farm, where hundreds of the world’s most beautiful butterflies fly in a tropic environment, with splashing waterfalls and fish-filled pools.