Relax on a Narrowboat holiday
Just remember, when choosing which narrowboat holiday route to go for, the most important rule is to enjoy yourself. After all it’s your holiday, so you need the freedom to choose what to do, and at what pace.
Wind down, relax, and enjoy the delights of cruising at a leisurely pace of 3 miles or 3 locks per hour. Remember, most people won’t want to cruise for more than 8 hours a day, so allow time for sightseeing towns and villages, and exploring the beautiful landscapes!
CANAL ROUTES FROM HERITAGE NARROW BOATS
Suggested one week cruises
To Whaley Bridge and the Head of the Peak Forest Canal
32 miles / 24 locks
The Caldon Canal
Cruise to Froghall Wharf. There is also a 2 mile diversion to explore the lock free Leek Branch.
33 miles / 16 locks each way
Cruise down to the Trent and Mersey to Great Haywood.
52 Miles / 38 locks
Down the Macclesfield to the Trent and Mersey, to Stoke on Trent, to the Staffs and Worcester, and up the Shropshire Union to Market Drayton and Nantwich, along the Middlewich Branch back to the Trent and Mersey and back
109 miles / 96 locks
Wind your way through old stone bridges and past green forested areas, open fields and immense mill buildings such as Goyt Mill at Marple and Clarence Mill at Bollington and the Hovis Mill at Macclesfield.
50 miles / 28 locks each way
Down the Trent and Mersey Canal, along the Bridgwater Canal, through Manchester on the Rochdale and Ashton Canals in Manchester and back down the Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canals
97 miles / 92 locks
Suggested two week cruises
The Four Counties & Cheshire Rings
Can be easily achieved over two weeks, with extensions to Chester, Llangollen or the Caldon Canal on the Four Counties Ring, and Chester or Llangollen and either Wigan Pier or the Peak Forest Canal on the Cheshire Ring.
109 miles / 96 locks
The Llangollen (or Welsh Canal)
This canal winds serenely through Cheshire and Shropshire to its terminus at Llangollen (home to the Eisteddfod) in the Welsh Mountains having crossed the spectacular aqueducts at Chirk and Pontcysyllte.
123 miles / 106 locks
To Wigan Pier
From Manchester it is possible to cruise the famous Barton Swing Aqueduct over the Manchester Ship Canal. Here is not much further to Wigan Pier, the butt of many a Music Hall joke, now home to the award winning living museum “The Way We Were”.
133 Miles / 96 locks