Top 5 Easter Canal Boat Holidays

Canal boat holidays are fantastic for families, offering the chance to set off on an adventure together – learning how to work the locks, navigate tunnels, speak the boating lingo, spot wildlife, explore traffic-free towpaths and visit waterside attractions along the way.

Our Easter prices start at £495 for a short break (three or four nights) on a boat for four people, and £775 for a week. Here are our top 5 destinations:

1. Boat to Birmingham & enjoy Cadbury World’s Easter Eggstravaganza…Perfect for beginners, boaters can travel lock-free to Birmingham in just five hours from Drifters’ base at Tardebigge on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, stopping off along the way to find handmade Easter eggs in the World’s biggest Cadbury shop at Cadbury World. With more canals than Venice, there’s no better way to visit Birmingham, where over-night moorings are available at Gas Street Basin, close to Brindleyplace. There’s plenty for families to see and do this Easter in Britain’s second city, including penguin feeding at the National Sea Life Centre or Mary Poppins at the Hippodrome.

2. Join the Easter Boat Gathering at the National Waterways Museum…from 25 to 28 March the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire celebrates the start of the Summer boating season with a large boat gathering and Sea Shanty Festival. From Drifters’ base at Bunbury on the Shropshire Union Canal in Cheshire, it’s a 10-hour journey to Ellesmere Port (21 miles and 12 locks), where canal boat holiday-makers can moor up and join the gathering.

3. Visit Georgian Bath and its Award-winning Egg theatre…on a short break from Drifters’ base at Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire, boaters can travel along the beautiful Kennet & Avon Canal and reach the centre of the World Heritage City of Bath in seven hours, with just seven locks to negotiate along the way. As well as stunning architecture, great shopping and restaurants, Bath has many fantastic family attractions, including the Roman Baths and the Theatre Royal’s award-winning egg theatre.

4. Enjoy an amphibian ‘Easter’ egg hunt at Fens Pool in Dudley…On Friday 25 March, senior Canal & River Trust ecologist Paul Wilkinson is running an amphibian ‘Easter’ egg hunt at Fens Pool at Brierley Hill from 10am till noon. From Drifters’ base at Alvechurch on Worcester & Birmingham Canal near Bromsgrove, Brierley Hill on the Stourbridge Canal mainline is a two-day journey away (30 miles and 12 locks), giving canal boat holiday-makers the chance to explore some of Birmingham’s extensive network of canals along the way.

5. Step back in time for a Horrible Histories Easter Adventure at Warwick Castle…Warwick Castle is launching its new Horrible Histories Maze this Easter, where visitors can muddle through time and face fun challenges to unravel history’s best kept secret. Their Horrible Histories Wicked Warwick live stage show will also be performed this Easter, plus fearsome fireballs from the trebuchet and soaring eagle displays. Narrowboat holiday-makers can reach Warwick on a short break from Drifters’ base at on the Grand Union Canal at Stockton.