Canal Narrowboat Trip (2005)
 

In planning a trip online to Europe for myself, mother and daughters (15 & 17) I discovered the narrowboats and canals. This sounds like the perfect activity for my entire family, including my husband and father. Figure the 6 of us would enjoy this together...well, for 7 days. The timeframe we are looking at is late June. Have to be home by July 9th.

I did have some questions if anyone can answer them.
1. If we fly to London, what's the best/cheapest way to reach some of the outer boat hires? or is it easier to stay closeby?
2. Any recommendations for hires?
3. Recommended canals for newbies on a 7 day run? Figure we would only do up to 6 hours a day. Would like to stop and sight see, etc.

Thanks!
LeAnn

It's a long time since I did any canal boating, but this site looks as though it might give you some ideas:

http://www.canaljunction.com

Hi board,

A few hints:

Do you all get along very well in cramped quarters?

Will you be happy being with each other 24/7 in a verrrry sloooooow boat.

Do any of you have experience at piloting a boat, entering and leaving locks, tieing up.

Who will do the cooking and washing up?

((I)) a former boater

Another useful link:www.waterscape.com.

Perhpas you would be interested in these series of articles"On a slow boat to the heart of England" about someone took 3 months traveling through England waterways by narrowboat, the articles talked about the sceneries,merits and difficulties of different canals. http://travel.guardian.co.uk/countri...677670,00.html.

For easy public transport (by bus(cheaper) or train from London), beautiful countryside and interesting sites to visit, Oxford Canal would be a possibility.

I enjoy any kind of boating, and walking besides canal/river pathes is lovely. But I am not so sure for teenagers for 7 days if the weather wasn't very nice.

Thanks for the replys.
I've checked out Canal Junction and the Waterscape link but I'll read the article too. I've been trying to find everything I can about the canal trips online. Wanted to see if I can find some "first hand" info too.

In answering Ira -
Yes, we all do get along really well. We've traveled & stayed with my folks before in tight quarters. We are all pretty close.

Both my oldest daughter and husband sail and my youngest also has experience. I just go along for the ride last time I attemped I "turtled" my daughters smaller sail boat. I imagine it would be my husband & dad at the tiller most of the trip. While we all know how to tie a boat we've never taken one into locks before but I'm sure we can learn.

Cooking - that would probably be me and my mom. Washing, thats what kids are for ;o) but we would take turns.

Weather would not be an issue. We live in Washington State (near Seattle) we are use to the rain and mild summers.

I liked the ideas of Oxford canal, parts of Grand Union, Kennet & Avon and then Llagollen. Seemed like after a quick look online with some of the hires many of the ones closer to London are already booked for the days we would be there. I imagine we'll have to check out the train or bus.

LeAnn

LeAnn,

I took my family of four on a five-day "Short Break" on the Llandgollen Canal on the English-Welsh border south of Chester, England. It was a spectacular and memorable trip. "Short Breaks" as well as week-long trips (point-to-point one-way or round trip) are offered by a handful of boating companies along this canal.

We used Anglo-Welsh Waterway Holidays (http://www.anglowelsh.co.uk/) and were entirely satisfied.

For information on boating on British waterways in general, browse to Waterscape.com (http://www.waterscape.com/index.html).
Information on the Llandgollen Canal is provided on this website.

We drove a rental car from Heathrow to Trevor, Wales (with a stop at Warwick Castle along the way) in about 8 hours. Trevor is the Anglo-Welsh Waterway Holidays base on the Llandgollen Canal. On the stretch we did between Llandgollen and Ellesmere, the canal features two spectacular aqueducts, two tunnels, two locks, and beautiful rural scenery. There is another tunnel and a set of staircase locks as you continue east past Ellesmere. Our short break was round-trip -- we started and ended at Trevor.

We were all canal boat newbies, and my 16-year-old teenage son took the helm with great enthusiasm (and skill) for most of the trip. Our boat had one double bed and two singles, a small kitchen (with tiny fridge), a small bathroom (with shower). We picked up food every day from towns along the way (Llandgollen, Chirk, and Ellesmere being the largest villages with the best choice of fresh foods).

Our trip was very leisurely -- we stopped often to explore small towns, scenic spots, and historic sites along the way.

Hi LeAnn,

Looks like you are ready for a canal trip.

Enjoy.

((I))

My friends and I barged through Burgundy. Its not the piloting so much that it is the procedure in the locks...
not easy when you're going "up hill" and someone has to scramble up the lock wall with the ropes to tie-up.

I should add though, I'd do it again in a heart beat!

The Llangollen Canal is wonderful but beware - they have just had a major leak and British Waterways say it could be well into the Spring before the canal is reopened.
There are some hires to be had on The Grand Union Canal, a train ride from Euston to somewhere like Berkhamstead, Leighton Buzzard or Tring, about 30 or 40 miles north west of London. Check www.canalboats.com or type canal boat hire on google. Good Luck

LeAnn,

I've not done narrowboating along British canals, but I did get a report from a 17 year old (boy) about his experience on a week-long family narrowboat trip in the UK. It was, to him, far to slow. The novelty of being aboard wore off for he and his brother in a matter of hours.

Now, not every teenager is alike (any more than all adults are), but I post this just as a "heads-up" that some teens may find the narrowboat experience a bit, er, boring.

>...some teens may find the narrowboat experience a bit, er, boring.<

But you can let them off at one of the locks and let them walk on ahead and catch up to them that evening. :)

I haven't narrow boated but I have taken a six berth cabin cruiser down the Thames from Wallingford to Bray and back over five days. The locks were not a serious challenge, but then, a cabin cruiser is a LOT shorter than a narrow boat so I can't tell you aboutt that.

A few suggestions:

be sure to rent bicycles to take on board w/ you. You can moor lots of places but if you want to explore nearby villages, castles, stately homes, etc you'll need transport and bikes are great. Plus getting off the boat for a few hours at a time may do wonders for too much togetherness or possible boredom.

second - I'd probably recommend a 5-day trip over a 7-dayer. Not because you would enjoy 7 days - but because you will be travelling very slow and not see too awfully much (other than some great canalside scenery, which is a good thing). If you use 5 days on the river/canal for a relaxing idyll, you can then do a driving tour of some other area that interests you.

I haven't been on the Llandgollen Canal, but do know the area pretty well and it is really lovely.

Some of the links provided are good resources. Another idea -- if by any chance you (or a friend or relative) have access to a timeshare, there are several canal boat companies that you can trade for a week's cruising. Check out RCI's web page (www.rci.com)

Thought I would give an update on our upcoming trip.

Well it's just going to be "the girls" going. My husband and dad have other plans with various hunting trips this year.

I asked my girls (15 & 17) and they did not want to cut the canal trip to a five day. They love boats and are mature enough to bring or find things to keep them occupied. We will be on the Llangollan and have a boat reserved through Mid-Wales. We are really looking forward to our trip in late June.

Now I just need to figure out where we are going afterwards. We'll have a car and our plan is to head back South to stay for four nights in one location and make day trips out. We are not interested in London. Right now the top picks for site seeing are Bath, Stonehenge and/or Avebury; & Canterbury. Any recommendations for a B&B or Guest House in a quite central area? Hoping to find something that is no more than £80 per room double or twin.

thanks again
LeAnn

B&B's: If we don't have a personal reference we look on www.smoothhound.co.uk We never go below the ones that have online brochures. A picture is worth a thousand words, particularly if they aren't cropped and overly selective. Have had good luck in other areas with Smoothhound and we'll be using at least two of their listings in May in Kent and Sussex.

Final update on our trip - it was a blast!
We would all hire a canal boat again. My daughter Beth did an excellent job at the tiller and was spelled mostly by me.
If anyone is interested check out our trip report:
http://www.boardmanweb.com/trip/

LeAnn

Boardlr,

I am so glad you all enjoyed your narrowboat trip so much. I hope you have caught the canal bug, and will do it again. I would suggest the next time you go you try the European canals for comparison.

I have done both the English and French canals with children and, though both are wonderful experiences, we MUCH preferred the French. Just too much work cranking the paddles on the British locks --- even with the kids doing most of the cranking. The rain, cold and mediocre food are also factors that recommend French over English ditch crawling, IMHO.

The array of pasteries in your very first canal-side boulangerie will make converts out of most kids.

:-)