Justcanals.com ~> Booking a holiday

This page aims to be useful to people who are thinking about booking a holiday:

There are a few things that one should consider when booking a canal holiday-

~-~-~

When you wish to go:

Narrowboat companies usually have boats for hire available from early march to late october however this varies pending on the company. This is called the "cruising season" by many people and is the best time to cruise as during the winter many stoppages occur on the canals (where British Waterways close a section of the canal so that they can do maintenance).

The prices of hire boats vary between different times of the year. For example during the summer holidays when the canals are most hectic with hire boats and private boats the fees for hiring a boat will be at their highest for the whole year. During this time of the year if you are boating on the most popular canals and routes (like the Birmingham Navigation's) you need to make sure that you allow plenty of time for queues at locks and also allow time for finding moorings as they often fill up very quickly during the afternoon.

You also have to remember that the weather of the UK is not always on your side. Bearing in mind that you are on the outside of the boat when you are steering you can get very wet, cold and sometimes miserable so if you like hot weather aim maybe for the higher costy summer - if you like the cold and wet aim for the cheaper October holidays.

Where you wish to go:

Narrowboat hire companies operate all over the UK waterways network. You need to choose which area of Britain you would like to boat it for the prospective holiday. However, if you are looking for a nice, quiet, non-busy canal to cruise on we suggest that you go for one of the less known routes. When thinking about where you want to go and where you want to go to you have to remember that the standard narrowboat does about 4mph (the canal speed limit), this is roughly about the same as a fast walking pace. So if you want to go a long distance you will probably have to have long days without much stopping time. However many people do not go very far on their holidays as they just love going at a nice slow steady space with time to stop and have breaks and also so they can work through the locks at a good reasonable speed instead of rushing through them!

How many you wish to go with:

Big holiday boat companies such as Alvechurch and Black Prince have many different 'classes' of narrowboats which can accommodate different quantities of people. However smaller companies may not have that large a selection of boats for hire so you really always need to make sure that your choice of company is OK for your needs before going any further! You have to remember as well that the classic style of narrowboat which is approx. 6ft 10"wide with all the equipment in that you need can be rather cramped if there is a huge group of you - especially if there is a chance of tempers getting high. Also the type of stern that you want should be considered - some sterns offer larger areas for groups of people to 'socialise' Click Here to visit our 'types of boat' page.

Who you wish to use:

This is a big question which crosses every holiday makers mind. You can either go with the big commercial companies who have been running for a long time such as: Viking Afloat, Black Prince, Alverchurch & Anglowelsh. Or you may choose to go for a smaller company. However it is really down to you!