Lady Teal Ltd

Where is the best place to go on a barge holiday in the UK?  Discover the top spots to navigate tranquil waterways and explore charming villages. Lady Teal Ltd offer luxury canal boat cruises in Yorkshire Dales and Lancashire. Start planning your ideal UK barge getaway today and create lasting memories amidst stunning surroundings.

Beautiful British Canal and Waterway Trips

Experience the serene escape of a canal boat holiday in England. Meander through the picturesque landscapes on a narrowboat, exploring historic canals and modern routes. Embrace the freedom of boating holidays, from short breaks to grand adventures.

Discover the charm of river moorings and the joy of life on the canals. Whether you're a seasoned boater or a first-time adventurer, these enchanting waterways offer diverse options to enjoy. Check the locks, choose your route, and embark on a captivating journey amidst tranquil waters. Unfold the secrets of the canals and relish the beauty of the countryside at a leisurely pace.

Choosing your Canal Holiday Route

Embarking on a canal boat holiday in England is an enchanting adventure that promises a delightful journey through picturesque waterways and captivating destinations.

The UK's extensive network of canals and watercourses offers a myriad of options, each with its own unique charm and attractions. Whether you crave serene rural landscapes or vibrant urban experiences, there's a canal ring to suit every type of explorer. Let's delve into the details of some of the most popular canal rings, presenting you with ample choices for a boating adventure of a lifetime.

Four Counties Ring

The Four Counties Ring offers a scenic cruise through Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire, and the West Midlands. Covering 110 miles with 94 locks, this route provides a perfect week-long holiday.

Highlights include the awe-inspiring 3000-yard-long Harecastle Tunnel, a marvel of canal engineering, and charming small towns along the way. The journey through the heart of the Potteries district adds a touch of industrial heritage to the serene beauty, offering a well-rounded experience for canal boat enthusiasts.

Stourport Ring

The Stourport Ring blends canals and rivers, covering 83 miles with 118 locks. This energetic week-long cruise includes the redeveloped canalside area in Birmingham, offering a unique perspective on the city's vibrant history and modern transformation.

For those seeking shorter breaks or out-and-back trips, a mini-Ring introduced in 2011, offering a condensed route through the picturesque Droitwich area, allows visitors to experience the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and a restored section of the canal in a shorter timeframe.

Avon Ring

The Avon Ring takes you through the heart of England, offering a symphony of picturesque countryside and iconic sights along canals and rivers. Covering a distance of 109 miles with 129 locks, this ring promises a leisurely 10 to 11 days of cruising to enjoy all the attractions along the way fully.

As you cruise the River Avon from Stratford-upon-Avon, you'll be surrounded by the splendour of the Malvern Hills and the Cotswolds, passing through quintessential English villages. Be prepared to purchase a license (approximately £50) on entering the River Avon, as this portion of the journey offers some of the prettiest countryside and famous sights in England.

Cheshire Ring

The Cheshire Ring traverses five counties - Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Shropshire. Covering 97 miles with 93 locks, it offers a captivating blend of nature and urban life. From the highest waterways in England on the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals to the vibrant cityscape of Manchester and its historic canal engineering, the Cheshire Ring caters to diverse interests.

Exploring the wide and deep Bridgewater Canal, the first British canal provides an enriching historical perspective. A highlight of this route is the bustling city of Manchester, where you can explore its shops, museums, and art galleries before continuing your journey through the tranquil countryside.

Warwickshire Ring

A favourite among canal enthusiasts, the Warwickshire Ring offers a delightful blend of scenic rural areas and some urban sections, passing famous landmarks like Warwick Castle and Coventry Cathedral. Covering 103 miles with 94 to 107 locks, this route typically takes an energetic week to complete, depending on your chosen route through Birmingham.

For a more leisurely exploration, consider extending your trip to two weeks to fully immerse yourself in the sights and attractions along the way. Alternatively, out-and-back cruises from bases in the Rugby area toward Oxford or Stoke Bruerne offer shorter breaks for those with limited time.

Leicester Ring

For a leisurely two-week cruise through the East Midlands, the Leicester Ring offers a picturesque route through four counties: Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire. Covering 157 miles with 102 locks, this ring showcases some of the most charming aspects of England's waterways.

As you navigate through the Grand Union Canal, you'll encounter tranquil stretches, five tunnels, several aqueducts, and flights of staircase locks, making the journey rich in variety. This ring offers plenty of options for shorter trips, with various out-and-back routes perfect for one-week or short break getaways.

Popular Out and Back Routes

For canal enthusiasts seeking captivating holiday routes that offer a perfect blend of scenic beauty and serene waterways, out-and-back journeys on some of the UK's most renowned canals are a top choice.

Whether you're an experienced boater or a first-time adventurer, these popular routes promise an unforgettable canal boat holiday experience. Let's explore some of the most beloved out-and-back routes, each offering its own unique charm and attractions.

Llangollen Canal

Often considered the most beautiful waterway in the country, the Llangollen Canal is a must-visit for canal boat holiday enthusiasts. This 90-mile route offers a delightful week-long cruise full of contrasts, from the impressive staircase locks at Grindley Brook to the mini lakes around Ellesmere in Shropshire.

Cruising through the rolling plains of Cheshire to the hills and mountain scenery around Llangollen, this canal journey offers breathtaking views and memorable experiences. Notable highlights include the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a marvel of canal engineering, and the abundance of lift bridges that add to the charm of this picturesque route.

Kennet and Avon Canal

Meandering 86 miles between Bristol and Reading, the Kennet and Avon Canal is revered as one of the loveliest waterways in Britain. This route takes you through the historic city of Bath and includes the fully restored Caen Hill flight of 29 locks at Devizes, a true engineering marvel.

Covering 170 miles with 226 locks, a complete journey on this canal and back typically takes 2 to 3 weeks. However, several parts of the canal form suitable out-and-back routes for one or two-week trips, especially in the Bristol/Bath area or the central section around Devizes. This canal boasts unspoilt scenery, bustling market towns, picturesque villages, and inviting canal-side pubs that promise a delightful cruising experience.

Leeds-Liverpool Canal

The longest single canal in Britain, the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, offers a 68-mile route known for its Yorkshire Dales scenery and famous landmarks like the Bingley Five Rise locks. This one-week holiday route covers the best rural parts of the canal across the Pennines.

Cruising west from bases in the Skipton area, you'll encounter the dramatic Dales countryside with its rugged moorland, limestone caves, and gorges. The journey takes you through the Bronte country around Keighley and the staircase of locks at Bingley Five Rise, where the canal ascends 60 feet from the Aire Valley.

For a more energetic week, you may explore as far as the thriving city of Leeds, where you can moor outside the new Royal Armouries attraction.

Oxford Canal

Regarded as one of the prettiest waterways in England, the Oxford Canal links the Thames to the Midlands, offering superb cruising through a typical English countryside of stone villages. The North Oxford Canal from Rugby joins the South Oxford Canal at Napton Junction, leading through charming Cotswold villages like Cropredy, Banbury, and Lower Heyford to Oxford.

This one-week return trip covers 100 miles with 78 locks and allows you to explore the historic University city of Oxford, with its 'dreaming spires' and Inspector Morse locations. Short breaks can be taken on sections of the route, and you can extend your journey to the River Thames towards Lechlade or London for a more extended break.

Grand Union Canal

The renowned Grand Union Canal opened in 1806, provides a direct route between the River Thames and the Oxford Canal at Braunston. Covering 96 miles with 54 locks, this route offers many outstanding engineering features, scenic stone villages, and excellent canal-side pubs.

The canal passes through Weedon village, known for its antique shops, to Gayton Junction. This very rural route has two tunnels, including Blisworth Tunnel (3056 yards, the longest in England) en route to the canal village of Stoke Bruerne with its Waterways Museum.

From Stoke Bruerne, the canal winds its way through delightful countryside, crossing the iron trough aqueduct at Cosgrove to Milton Keynes, a new town with canalside parks and a floodlit church.

Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal

For a relaxing holiday at a sedate pace, the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal is an idyllic choice. Spanning 35 miles, this canal offers outstanding scenery and tranquillity, making it one of the most beautiful canals in Britain. With just six locks, five lift bridges, a tunnel, and several aqueducts, this route is perfect for a leisurely week's cruising.

The canal runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park, an area of such outstanding scenery that it is often tricky to keep your eyes on the 'road'. From the canal basin in Brecon, the canal follows the River Usk along its valley through a true contour-following route, through just six locks (five of them in the award-winning flight at Llangynidr) to the end of navigation at Pontymoile. This makes for the most relaxed cruising imaginable.

These out-and-back routes on the UK's beloved canals present the perfect opportunity to explore the country's waterways, immerse yourself in captivating landscapes, and create cherished memories on your canal boat holiday.