Narrowboat holidays
Discussion
Hi,
Just about to tick off one of my "things to do" list which is a holiday on a narrowboat next summer.
4 adults and 2 children so it will have to be a decent size, if anybody can give me the pro's and cons of such a holiday and any companies to recommend and more importantly what canal. We are based in the Midlands and don't mind a little travelling to our departure point.
Needs to be scenic with a few locks to master, nice place to stop each night,
Do the routes generally start and stop at the same place or if not how do you get back to your car ?
Where do you stock up on food en route, is it a case of take a bicycle and trek into village ?
And probably a million more questions i can't think off at the moment,
Regards,
Martyn.....
Just about to tick off one of my "things to do" list which is a holiday on a narrowboat next summer.
4 adults and 2 children so it will have to be a decent size, if anybody can give me the pro's and cons of such a holiday and any companies to recommend and more importantly what canal. We are based in the Midlands and don't mind a little travelling to our departure point.
Needs to be scenic with a few locks to master, nice place to stop each night,
Do the routes generally start and stop at the same place or if not how do you get back to your car ?
Where do you stock up on food en route, is it a case of take a bicycle and trek into village ?
And probably a million more questions i can't think off at the moment,
Regards,
Martyn.....
A canal holiday is what you make it, just remember the weather can make or break it, and nobody can forsee that from day to day...It's a matter of luck really. Nothing better than cruising along on an idylic summer's day.
Also, going through locks can be great fun at first but gets tiresome if you have to negotiate too many in a day.
Good luck.
Also, going through locks can be great fun at first but gets tiresome if you have to negotiate too many in a day.
Good luck.
My personal recommendation for a beginner would be to pick up a nicely fitted out boat from Black Prince at Chirk, http://www.black-prince.com/chirk-base.html head West, over the Pontcysyllte aqueduct and on to Llangollen. Then retrace your steps and head straight past Chirk and keep going until half your remaining time is left, then head back again.
You can do Chirk - Llangollen - Wrenbury - Chirk in a week, but err on the side of caution as the Llangollen canal actually has a flow from west to east and it will be slower on the journey back westbound to Chirk. There are enough locks to enjoy but not too many, including a 3-lock staircase at Grindley Brook (which is operated by a lock keeper so not as daunting as it sounds).
Lots of places to stop off. There's loads in Llangollen itself including a steam railway, and loads of nice villages and small towns as you go east from Chirk. Wrenbury is also a nice 2-pub village, and today's random trivia is that my Mother's house is named Wrenbury because my Dad knocked himself out on the liftbridge there many, many years ago.
Some pics from our trip a couple of years ago. We hired from Anglo Welsh, but the boats from Black Prince looked nicer and the boats from both (c)anal time and Mastermyn looked nasty.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/binaryimage/sets/7215...
You can do Chirk - Llangollen - Wrenbury - Chirk in a week, but err on the side of caution as the Llangollen canal actually has a flow from west to east and it will be slower on the journey back westbound to Chirk. There are enough locks to enjoy but not too many, including a 3-lock staircase at Grindley Brook (which is operated by a lock keeper so not as daunting as it sounds).
Lots of places to stop off. There's loads in Llangollen itself including a steam railway, and loads of nice villages and small towns as you go east from Chirk. Wrenbury is also a nice 2-pub village, and today's random trivia is that my Mother's house is named Wrenbury because my Dad knocked himself out on the liftbridge there many, many years ago.
Some pics from our trip a couple of years ago. We hired from Anglo Welsh, but the boats from Black Prince looked nicer and the boats from both (c)anal time and Mastermyn looked nasty.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/binaryimage/sets/7215...
Some people like to do ring routes so they don't cover the same route twice.
However in my opinion they can be daunting for a beginner as a lot of cruising is needed in a day and you can't set your own pace, eg if you feel like a late start or a long lunch and an afternoon kip, or a day doing something else at a tourist attraction you have the demon of the need to do 6/8 hours per day sitting on your shoulder.
Then you only need a problem, eg mechanical on boat, stoppage due to issue on canal, or a bit of flood water if the route takes in a river, eg Avon ring / Stourport ring and you are screwed.
Most of the hire craft which meander down our river are from Viking Afloat and seem OK.
However in my opinion they can be daunting for a beginner as a lot of cruising is needed in a day and you can't set your own pace, eg if you feel like a late start or a long lunch and an afternoon kip, or a day doing something else at a tourist attraction you have the demon of the need to do 6/8 hours per day sitting on your shoulder.
Then you only need a problem, eg mechanical on boat, stoppage due to issue on canal, or a bit of flood water if the route takes in a river, eg Avon ring / Stourport ring and you are screwed.
Most of the hire craft which meander down our river are from Viking Afloat and seem OK.
I used to take canal trips with my grandparents every summer for years. Great fun and wish I could get out more nowadays!
The only thing I'd add is to avoid doing rings/set routes as suggested by the hire places. They often sound like fun, but end up being long days, hard work and you miss the real attraction of boating which is to go at a slow pace, stop wherever you want and get away from 'normal' life for a few days
The only thing I'd add is to avoid doing rings/set routes as suggested by the hire places. They often sound like fun, but end up being long days, hard work and you miss the real attraction of boating which is to go at a slow pace, stop wherever you want and get away from 'normal' life for a few days
v15ben said:
the real attraction of boating which is to go at a slow pace, stop wherever you want and get away from 'normal' life for a few days
and dont forget that a lot of pubs by the canals are great watering holes and quite a few do good food! I'm off to look at canal boat holidays again now...
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