Top 9 Autumn 2022 canal boat holiday destinations

This Autumn set sail on an adventure afloat, enjoying the beautiful colours in the trees and hedgerows that line Britain’s canals and rivers.

You’ll be self-contained on board your very own floating holiday cottage, equipped with the key comforts of home, including hot water, TV, WiFi*, well-stocked kitchens, showers, flushing toilets and central heating.

Welcome to our guide to our top Canal Boat destinations for Autumn 2022:

1. Glide across ‘The Stream in the Sky’ to Whitchurch

On a week’s break from our canal boat hire centre at Trevor in North Wales, you can travel to Whitchurch and back.  The journey along the Llangollen Canal to Whitchurch takes 22 hours and passes through two locks.  Along the way, you’ll travel across the incredible Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.  This UNESCO World Heritage structure carries the canal 126 feet high above the Dee Valley.  Next you’ll go through the Whitehouses and Chirk tunnels, then across the magnificent Chirk Aqueduct.  Then it’s on through the beautiful Shropshire countryside, passing Ellesmere and Cole Mere.  Once at Whitchurch, you can moor up to explore this pretty historic town, with independent shops and restaurants, and way-marked walks.

2. Travel round the Black Country Ring

From our narrowboat hire base at Great Haywood in Staffordshire, you can complete the Black Country Ring.  The journey takes around 43 cruising hours, and travels through 79 locks.  It navigates sections of the Birmingham & Fazeley, Birmingham Main Line, Coventry, Staffordshire & Worcestershire and Trent & Mersey canals.  Highlights include Birmingham city centre’s Gas Street Basin, the Black Country Living Museum, and the waters at Tixall Wide.

3. Cruise through the Worcestershire countryside to Lapworth

Navigating from our Tardebigge base near Bromsgrove, it’s a gentle seven-hour cruise through the countryside to the village of Lapworth.  You’ll be travelling along the Worcestershire & Birmingham Canal.  There are two tunnels to navigate through, but no locks.  Once moored up in Lapworth, you can explore the village and visit the National Trust’s Packwood House.

4. Navigate through the Airedale to Gargrave

On a short break from Silsden on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, you can cruise to Highgate Winding Hole, close to the village of Gargrave.  The route passes through Kildwick with its White Lion pub, Snaygill, home of the Bay Horse pub, and Skipton with its fascinating medieval castle.  The pretty village of Gargrave near the head of the Airedale, offers a choice of pubs, including the Masons Arms.  The journey to Highgate Winding Hole and back travels 20 miles and takes around 11 hours.

5. Float along the Kennet & Avon Canal to Devizes

From our base at Bath it takes around 10½ hours to reach Foxhangers Wharf, on the edge of Devizes.  Here you can walk up the magnificent Caen Hill flight of locks, one of the Seven Wonders of the Waterways.  Along the way, you’ll pass through eight locks, and over two dramatic Bath stone aqueducts at Dundas and Avoncliff.  You’ll also pass a series of canalside pubs, including the Cross Guns at Avoncliff and the Barge Inn at Bradford on Avon.  This route is perfect for a short break.

6. Boat through the Warwickshire countryside to Fenny Compton

On a short break from Stockton, you can reach the pretty canalside village of Fenny Compton.  The journey begins on the Grand Union Canal, transferring onto the Oxford Canal at Napton-on-the-Hill, where there’s a good choice of pubs.  From there, the route winds gently through the countryside, with a series of locks to negotiate along the way.  The journey to Fenny Compton and back takes around 20 hours, passing through 24 locks (12 each way).

7. Take a Thames boating holiday to Lechlade

From our narrowboat hire base on the River Thames at Oxford, it’s a tranquil nine-hour, journey to the pretty market town of Lechlade.  Perfect for a mid-week break, the route passes through seven locks and miles of peaceful countryside.  Places to stop off at include the village of Radcot with its 800-year old bridge across the Thames.  And Kelmscott Manor, once the Cotswold retreat of William Morris. Lechlade has a choice of pubs, cafes and restaurants, as well as independent shops.

8. Boat to the ancient City of Chester

On a short break from our Bunbury base near Tarporley in Cheshire, you can reach the historic City of Chester.  The 12-mile journey along the Shropshire Union Canal takes you through the rolling Cheshire countryside.  It takes around seven cruising hours, and passes through 18 locks.  Once in Chester, you can enjoy some of the city’s best loved attractions, including Britain’s most complete Roman and medieval walls and the Tudor open-air galleries.

9. Navigate the Avon Ring

On a 10-day or two-week break from Wootton Wawen, boaters can navigate the Avon Ring.  The 109-mile circuit travels sections of the Stratford Canal, River Avon, River Severn and Worcester & Birmingham Canal.  It passes through 131 locks and takes around 58 cruising hours. Highlights include Shakespeare’s Stratford, historic Evesham, Tewkesbury, Worcester and the 30 locks at Tardebigge.

*NB Our Silsden boats don’t have WiFi