narrow boats

We loved the boats. The Thames, Norfolk Broads, and our favourite was The Midi Canal, in France. We have loved every hol on the boats. Many others, I would love to try, and the selection seems endless. But the holiday itself holds unique timeless fun. A few have 'spats', when something goes wrong, but generally a jolly good adventure. I think you get time to appreciate the surroundings and the peace, and the little hostelries along the way. If your relationship is basically fractious, then a boating holiday will either end it, once and for ever, or restore your sense of humour. Win-Win-Win.

On one of my holidays we had a well balanced party of four: one cisman, one ciswoman, one transman and one transwoman. Fine until we had to decide who shared a cabin. I bet that's not a question most of you have had!

On one of my holidays we had a well balanced party of four: one cisman, one ciswoman, one transman and one transwoman. Fine until we had to decide who shared a cabin. I bet that's not a question most of you have had!

Lived and worked on canals for nearly 20 years, and raised the children abroad. Happy days. However, I would only recommend it as a holiday if at least one of you, and preferably two, are reasonably fit and active.Of course, you don't have to go far if you don't want - there's nothing to stop you just doing a short distance each day then mooring up in a lovely place to enjoy the countryside, but it's best to plan ahead so that you know where shops, pubs etcetera are, and know where you will be able to turn the boat round if you are not doing a circular route.

Think carefully about who you go with if you are going with friends! I remember my DM telling me about a holiday on a cabin cruiser that she and my DD went on about a year after getting married,before my 2 brothers and I came along (this must have been around 1951/52). They went with another couple that they had been friends with for several years. Due to the cramped conditions on the boat,and not really being able to have any private space,they weren't speaking to each other by the time the week was over!

We have a narrow boat and love our boating holidays. Our boat is designed with just enough room for the two of us. Recently family and friends came over from the States and joined us. They hired a boat from Wyvern in Leighton Buzzard and we went from Leighton to Stoke Bruerne along the Grand Union canal. The boat was beautifully well equipped and had two bedrooms and two bathrooms and enough social space for six of us in the evenings. They all absolutely fell in love with canals and boating! You need to be prepared for the wonderful British weather and you need to love being outdoors and then it can be a wonderful experience!

Yes they do go in reverse, jingl and three/five point turns is exactly how you get the thing facing the other way.

Some rivers and canals have been widened a bit near locks for boats queueing up so that's often a good place to turn round providing you don't do a 'Timothy West' and bash into everything in sight.

Norfolk Broads for me every time! No locks to contend with, easy to manouver boats, lovely countryside, beautiful walks, great pubs. Been 4 times, once with DH, DD (8), MIL (80) and dog, they all enjoyed it. MIL said it was a 'great experience'!
We did also go, DH & me, with another couple and got on very well, depends on the friends, as with any holiday.

been on the canals twice but only once in a narrow boat with friends. we stayed friends with them for years until we moved away and lost touch.
we've also been on the broads twice - once with friends and once as a family. enjoyed all of them.
we had loads of fun on all the boating holidays and would recommend them totally.

I've been on dozens of Narrowboat holidays over the years. I absolutely love them, and for me opening and closing locks is the best part. Drawbacks are the cold nights and mornings, and the cold damp isn't great for those of us with arthritis! Also you are cramped together all day and night with little privacy, so think hard about who you might go with! I have had times when I've been glad to get home and be away from certain people ;-)

I have a timeshare on a narrowboat. It's a very relaxing holiday as everything is so slow, but it is an open-air holiday whatever the weather. Locks are also quite physical, so at least two really fit people are needed.

We owned two narrow boats, having been on a holiday with another family we were totally hooked so bought our own . We carried on boating until our eighties. If your steerer knows her stuff she should be able to moor the boat so no jumping is needed. I just love boating along in the rain so no problem there.Do give it a go. The Southern Oxford is very pretty and has single width locks. Let us know how you get on.

Lived on one for 4.5 years. Llangollen arm of the Shropshire union is fabulous, Birmingham is fab when you get in but can be horrible in the suburbs and many many locks to get up there. Don't do the Rochdale past hebden bridge, the Aston, the Huddersfield, they are either through some very dodgy areas or seriously short of water at times and it's no fun being stuck! Also if you want to take it slow then beware of the 'ring' routes sold by a lot of the hire companies unless you are prepared to put in some longish hours on the tiller rather than in the pub! It's a lovely way to travel slow, get the biggest practical length boat you can afford and try for sleeping accom at both ends of the boat if possible in case you need to have a bit of a moan as the walls are only ply wood and no barrier to sound (or smells!). Take a camera as the boat is a floating hide as far as wildlife is concerned. Boaters are generally helpful people and love to have their boats admired so talk to as many as possible and locks are excellent places for chatting, they will give you heads up on all sorts of info. Have a lovely time!

We used to live on a narrow boat and thoroughly enjoyed it, only leaving for the birth of our first child (the midwife would not deliver on boats).

Birmingham has more canals than Venice and an American visitor commented that 'Birmingham is a very pretty city' when he was visiting Gas Street Basin in summer. As we remembered it from the late '60s it made us stop and realise that it was true.

merlot I meant the boat! Do they go in reverse? Can they do five point turns? Canals aren't wide.

Are there any circular routes that would remove the need for fancy driving?

Hired one for 2 weeks when the children were younger....it rained non stop for 2 days. We took it back to the boatyard, got money back for the fuel but not for the boat( which was fine, we would have paid more just to get off the thing, even though the weather forecast was promising for the 2nd week, the children could not wait to get back home)Fast forward 35 years...we ride along the canal towpaths on our bikes and thought it might be better now, hired one for 5 days just the 2 of us ( Mon to Fri).....wrong...weather was lovely , we hated it, chugged along to a pub , had a meal, 1 night on the boat was more than enough....took it back and have vowed......never, ever again!!!

We went on a holiday with one of our dogs and hired a boat up near Reading somewhere on the Kennet and Avon canal. They were excellent in showing us both what to do and making sure we were comfortable before letting us go! It was a lovely week and there are usually lots of walks around canals. We then bought our own which we had for several years. It's a lovely life. Take some games, books to read but, above all, be prepared to chat to all the other boaters and passers-by!

jingl is right about the outdoor space. Cabin cruisers are better if you want to laze in the sun with a book. You can climb up on the roof of a narrow boat but I wouldn't fancy it these days.

I think J52 means turning the boat around....not people trying to face the other way in a cramped cabin

Did anyone see the 2 hr long narrow boat cruise in tv? I loved it and have been hankering after a holiday since. But quite honestly not sure it is terribly sensible, it does seem hard work and as we've never done it I am afraid we might crash or something equally 'horrible.

Turn round?!!!!

They don't have enough outdoor space. Not a lot of room for lying in the sun (if you are lucky enough to get sun). They were really meant for living on, of course.

Boats go very slowly.

Haven't been on a narrow boat holiday, but we did do a river holiday on a wide bottomed boat, on Great fun, but we were a LOT younger. Make sure you all get on well. We had too many captains, DS2 and DH, and not enough crew, me and the dog. Would love to do it again, but the old knees couldn't cope these days. Go ahead and do it.

As an addition to J52's post, as well as making sure that you all have enough space, do make sure that once the sleeping arrangements are set up that you all have access to the loo without having to go through one of the other cabins!

Make sure whoever is in charge of mooring has a sturdy pair of legs - no hip or knee problems as there may be quite a bit of jumping on and off.

It's a great way to have a holiday. Very slow, laid back and lots of fun.

Ooh, yes, do it. We owned one for a while and had some lovely cruises. As J52 suggests, you may want to choose a stretch without too many locks, especially if you are not very strong or very active as locks can be quite hard work. Your hire boat company will probably advise on routes, locks and places deep enough to turn. Make sure you keep your speed down to 4mph as speeding on canals can seriously damage the banks. If you are interested in wildlife take some binoculars and a bird/wildflower book with you as you will see lots. Enjoy!