Top 8 narrowboat holidays for 2025
Britain’s 3,000-mile network of canals and river provides the perfect destination for a staycation afloat in 2025
Pottering slowly through the countryside at just four miles per hour, watching out for wildlife, is a great way to relax.
Our canal boats are like floating holiday cottages, with everything you need for a self-catering break. It’s free to moor up almost anywhere, so you can stop off at canalside pubs, villages and waterside destinations along the way.
Our holidays are pet friendly and tuition is included in our canal boat hire.
To help plan your next waterway-getaway, here’s a guide to our top 8 narrowboat holidays for 2025:
1. Visit Georgian Bath afloat
From our canal boat hire base at Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire, you can cruise along the Kennet & Avon to Bath and back. The journey will take you through the Bath Valley and across the magnificent Bath stone aqueducts at Avoncliff and Dundas. You can moor up close to Sydney Gardens and take a 20-minute walk into Bath City Centre to explore all that this World Heritage City has to offer. The journey to Bath and back takes around seven hours and passes through one lock each way.
2. Cruise across the Pennines
On a week’s break from Silsden on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in West Yorkshire, you can cruise across the Pennines to Barnoldswick and back. The journey takes around 11 hours and passes through 15 locks. Along the way you’ll pass through Skipton, ‘the Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales’, with its medieval stone castle. And a series of villages with places to eat, including The Abbots Harbour restaurant at East Marton.
3. Spot an otter on the Montgomery Canal
On a week’s break from Whixall, you can cruise a section of the Montgomery Canal. This beautiful canal, which runs for 38 miles between England and Wales, is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on both sides of the border. You can cruise a seven-mile section to Gronwyn Wharf and back, looking out for otters and water voles. From Whixall, the journey to Gronwyn Wharf and back takes around 20 hours, travelling through 34 miles of beautiful countryside and passing through 16 locks (eight each way).
4. Cruise to Caen Hill at Devizes
On a short break from Bath on the Kennet & Avon Canal it takes around nine hours to reach the Caen Hill Flight of Locks. One of the Seven Wonders of the Waterways, this dramatic flight of locks at Devizes is one of the most iconic sights on the waterways. You’ll pass through eight locks each way. You can enjoy stops at Bradford on Avon, with its magnificent medieval Tithe Barn, and Avoncliff Aqueduct with its popular Cross Guns pub.
5. Head to ‘The Cathedral of the Canals’
From Bunbury on the Shropshire Union Canal in Cheshire, it takes around nine hours to reach the iconic Anderton Boat Lift. This Wonder of the Waterways lifts boats 15 metres between the River Weaver and the Trent & Mersey Canal in two giant tanks of water. On the way to Anderton, you’ll navigate through beautiful Cheshire countryside along the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. And you’ll pass through the historic Roman town of Middlewich.
6. Glide across ‘The Stream in the Sky’
From Trevor on the Llangollen Canal in North Wales, you’ll soon encounter the incredible Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. One of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Waterways’, this UNESCO World Heritage structure carries canal boats 38 metres high across the Dee Valley. On a short break from Trevor, you can travel cross the aqueduct and on to Ellesmere, in the heart of the Shropshire Lake District. The journey to Ellesmere and back takes around 14 hours, passing through two locks each way.
7. Cruise into the Peak District
On a week’s break from Great Haywood near Stafford, you can travel into the Peak District. It takes around 20 hours to reach Froghall Basin, passing through 35 locks. The route will take you along the Trent & Mersey Canal to Stoke on Trent. Here you can transfer onto the Caldon Canal. You’ll then travel through beautiful stretches of unspoilt countryside, with moorlands, woodlands and an abundance of wildlife.
8. Visit Shakespeare’s Stratford
From Wootton Wawen on the Stratford Canal, it takes around six hours to reach Bancroft Basin in the centre of Shakespeare’s Stratford. Along the way, you’ll pass through 17 locks and miles of peaceful Warwickshire countryside. You can moor up in the basin and use it as a base to explore Stratford-upon-Avon. This world-famous market town has a great choice of shops, restaurants, museums and theatres.
