canal boat holidays

[Seeline]

Thinking of maybe doing one of these next summer. Has anyone been on one - if so where did you go, how did you find the boat, how old were the kids and would you recommend it? Looking forward to hearing all your holiday tales

Done this a few times - no time to give any details at the moment but it is FAB! Started when dcs were 3 and 5 years. TBH would probably recommend it for slightly older children as we were constantly on pins that the 3 yr old would jump in. Now they're 7 and 9 and we can totally relax. More later!

Thanks Titchy - mine will be 7 and almost 5 so hopefully that bit will be OK! Looking forward to hearing more. Anyone else?

Our parents took us on these when we were same age as yours - perfect age. We used to hire boat from Blakes or Hoseasons. Yes, recommend 100%.

We took ours last autumn when ds was 9 months and dd 2 - also good fun though we had a third adult which is v helpful when they're that age.

OK a bit more time now. Google canal boat hire, or go to Hoeseason website. There is absolutely no need to go far afield (unless you don't live anywhere near a cana of course...). We've done our local canal a few times, and it feels like a million miles away because it's such a slow pace, and you'll see a part of your world you don't normally see. We always go with friends and basically it ends up as one long pub crawl (pub drive...), but even if it's just a family holiday aim towards pubs anyway cos the fridges on board are pretty crap, small and don;t really keep stuff cold so you'll eat in pubs mostly. Also bear in mind although there will probably be places nearby en-route that you might want to visit you won't have a car so will need to walk or get taxis if you want to visit somewhere.

Locks are easy, but a bit daunting at first cos you usually end up sharing the lock wioth someone else who is an expert! The kids may be bored - tv recpetion will be crap, so take lots of books/games consoles/board games etc.

Any other questions feel free!