Enjoy a Family Canal Boat Vacation in England

When was the last time your kids clamored to do a chore? You can depend on eager volunteers when the work involves cranking open a canal lock so your houseboat can climb to the next water level. Travel through new landscapes with your family and stop to meet local people at kid-friendly, canal-side pubs as you spend a week living in a cozy narrowboat on the English canals.

Our kids were never bored on our week-long trip. When the canal wasn’t climbing or descending locks (sometimes these are several in a row, known as staircases), we watched the scenery, waved at passing boats, and returned the waves of people on bridges and towpaths. Canal boaters are a friendly lot, some tourists like ourselves, others who live on their boats.

We stopped in towns along the way, tying up alongside the canal to explore, visit attractions and restock groceries for our efficient little kitchen (most boat rentals also offer the option of pre-stocking the kitchen). Rental narrow boats are available in different sizes, some as long as 72 feet, and accommodating as many as eight passengers. Boats almost always have a cabin with a double bed, while kids love to sleep in the cozy bunks.

Along with the locks, many canals have other technical features to fascinate kids. Spooky tunnels carry the canals through hills too steep to climb with locks, and some canals ride over aqueducts to cross a deep valley or a river. For a week’s adventure that includes the United Kingdom’s longest flight of locks and a chance to indulge in everybody’s favorite sweet at Cadbury World, choose Stourport Ring. We chose this circular route instead of out-and-back trips that retrace the same route back.

A good source of general information and links to boat rentals is Canal Junction, and you can find information and hire boats from Black Prince or family-owned Chaz Hardern Narrowboats.

Boat rentals usually include linear canal maps describing interesting features, canal-side restaurants and locations of trails across fields to little villages. Along with the maps, you’ll get a lesson on handling the boat, which is quite simple: The top speed is 4 mph. You’ll probably also get instructions on what to do if you fall overboard into a canal: “Close your mouth and stand up!”