CANAL & RIVER TRUST tell there are over 1,000 boats available for hire on the waterways.
With canals running through the UK’s most stunning landscapes, numerous pretty towns and villages, and into the heart of major cities, there’s a wide range of options for families, friends and couples.
A tonic for mind and body
Matthew Symonds, head of boating & customer service at Canal & River Trust, explains:
“Our unique British canals are still navigated by boats just as they were hundreds of years ago. Today, people recognise that spending time on the water is a tonic for mind and body. Boating holidays are a way people can step back in time and connect with nature and our nation’s living heritage.
“Nine out of ten people who responded to our Hire Boat Survey last year said they would recommend canal boat holidays to others and nearly one in five had travelled from overseas to experience boating on our peaceful inland waterways.”
The fastest way to slow down
Haley Hadley, of Drifters Waterway Holidays, which is made up of nine hire boat companies, remarks:
“Travelling at less than four miles per hour through peaceful countryside, past canalside pubs and sleepy villages, canal boat holidays are often described as ‘the fastest way to slow down’.