Can anyone tell me about canal holidays?

Saver-upper

I got the idea last week that it might be nice to try a few days/week of canal holiday.
But I know nothing about it!
We are a family of 2 adults,4 children age 7-14,and I just thought it might be something different to try.
But what actually happens?You go to the canal,maybe get some instruction on steering the barge,then you are let go for a few days,stopping to disembark wherever you feel like it?
Any thoughts/idea of experiences/whether it is worth trying,would be appreciated.
We are in Bristol,not even sure where to look.Maybe Wales?Bradford -upon Avon??
Thank you.

daveyjp

Thats pretty much it!

Most canals have operators which do day boat hire. It is worth having one for a day to see how you get on and how quickly the novelty of operating locks wears off!

I'd also get some prices, it isn't a cheap holiday.

Alter_ego

Keep to the right in canals. Plan ahead for where to turn round to go back to base. Most narrow boats are longer than the canal is wide.

13Kent

It's not cheap! You can either hire a boat that you drive yourself or you can hire one with a skipper. They vary in length sleeping from 2 - 10 or more.

You are not allowed to travel after a certain time in the evening. You can only do 4mph. You can moor up in lots of places. The hire company will tell you how far you can go in the number of days you have available - you usually go so far and then return, you have to find a winding pool - a place wide enough to turn the boat around near your destination. The locks are fun but time consuming as sometimes you have to wait in a queue before you can go in a lock, or have to wait for someone to come through the lock in the other direction to conserve water, so if you have a few locks en route you often don't travel as far as you expect in one day.

However it's a lot of fun, and can be relaxing, and you see a completely different side to an area - even one that you think you know well. There are a lot of canalside pubs and cafes, and lots of little cottage industries along the canal often run by people that live on the canal - artists, people making hats, selling sweets/icecream/,mugs/ paintings from their boats.

You can book a day boat, we did recently, and had a really fun day with all our family, it had a toilet, full cooking facilities and a fridge, and plenty of space to sit and eat for 12 people either inside the boat or out at the front of the boat.

We were given instruction on how to drive the boat, and were told how far we could travel in the time we had available, and were left to it.

http://www.sallynarrowboats.co.uk/dayBoat.html this hire place is Bradford on Avon. There's lots of info on their website.

Saver-upper

Thank you everyone for your help.
Thank you 13Kent for your detailed response.I will have a look at the link.
Though it does all sound a bit expensive for a whim....Fun,though.

TBagpuss

It can be good fun. The more of you there are,the less hard work it is as you can take turns with the locks etc.

With a short break you need to plan ahead as, as 13Kent says, you need to be able to turn the boat around. Some friends and I did a holiday near Towcester few years ago- we had the boat for 4 days over a long weekend and were told there were two options, one leisurely, one much less so, as there were only two places where the boat could be turned road (we went for the longer, more energetic trip, but we were a group of about 10 people all under 30.

I've also done canal boat holidays with my parents and family where we have taken things more slowly. you can take your time and do a bit of sight-seeing on the way - depending on which canal and which part of it you may be able to time things so you can have a short day's boating and moor somewhere from which you can walk to a local NY property, museum or just to use a base for a walk.

Do think about how well your children get along - a canal boat is like a long thin caravan, ad although you can get out and walk along the tow path, or sit on the roof, if you need a break from your siblings it could get a bit fraught if they get on each other's nerves.

gazapc

I love it. There are a number or 'rings' you can do so you don't end up passing the same places twice. I enjoy a more energetic week but ther is not much better than cruising along on a late summer afternoon through beautiful countryside.