Barge Holidays UK
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A barge holiday on Britain’s Inland Waterways is a civilised adventure; civilised because you carry all your home comforts with you; and an adventure because around every bend there is something new and surprising to discover and enjoy with your family and friends. First time boaters are given a friendly welcome by everybody on the canal.
But you won’t be inexperienced for very long, for within a short time you will be gliding serenely around the first bend into a whole new and different world.
The specially designed boats (barges & canal boats) are easy to handle and of course, everything happens at a relaxed pace. You will be given all the instruction you need by the holiday company and will soon head off on your very own adventure like a seasoned boater.
Your boat will be fully equipped with every modern amenity, so self-catering becomes a pleasure. However, there are also many canalside pubs, once essential ‘staging posts’ for the working boats of the last century, which are now popular watering holes for holiday boaters; and most offer great food at reasonable prices.
Britain Afloat’s Barge holidays
Most of Britain’s canals were built with locks just 7 ft wide and 70 ft long. This meant that a particular style of boat was developed to navigate along them. These boats are known as narrowboats & canal boats, however over the years they have also been variously incorrectly described as barges and longboats. (Barges are generally wider and therefore cannot cruise on the narrow canals.)
Just to confuse things, the engineers worked out that wider canals (and boats) were more desirable and so some of the major canals were later widened to allow 14 ft wide boats (or two 7 ft boats) to navigate along them.
During the last twenty years the system has been revitalised by the development of the leisure industry. So what was a freight transport system in the 19th century, is now a unique holiday experience that allows you to cruise along these forgotten highways and see the countryside at its very best.
In tandem with this growth has been the development of new boats, specially designed and constructed to provide superbly comfortable holiday hire craft. Given only the restrictions of width (7 ft) and length (70 ft max) the standard of the accommodation in these modern craft is staggering. They have all the comforts of the modern home including central heating and are powered by quiet and smooth running diesel engines.
We can offer you holidays with the best of the country’s barge holiday operators on these specially constructed holiday boats.
For full information about our barge holidays in England, Wales and Scotland, simply visit our home page by using the link below.