The UK’s canal network offers an ever-changing backdrop for families looking for a getaway that has more action than a beach break and more variety than camping.
Discover incredible attractions, interactive museums, rare wildlife and remote countryside with these holidays from narrowboat specialist Black Prince Holidays.
FALKIRK – SHORT ROUTE
Kids riding the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland can claim bragging rights when they get back to school, as this incredible engineering feat is the world’s only rotating boat lift. There is plenty for families to enjoy here, including a play park, visitor centre and guided tours, before they set out from Black Prince’s base on a short 22-mile out-and-back route to Linlithgow. The journey includes the dark and mysterious Falkirk Tunnel, and Scotland’s longest and tallest aqueduct, named after the River Avon below. The final stop before heading back to base is Linlithgow, where visitors can explore the gardens of the castle ruins, a favourite home of Stewart royalty including Mary Queen of Scots. Half-term short breaks are from £1,316 (saving £233) departing Black Prince’s Falkirk base on May 31. https://www.black-prince.com, 01527 575 115.
KENNET & AVON – BATH TO DEVIZES
The short stretch of the Kennet & Avon canal between Bath and Devizes is blessed with glorious countryside and two aqueducts that will leave kids in awe of the sky-high views. There’s an even more impressive ‘wow’ moment to come with the spectacular Caen Hill Locks, which stretch out for more than two miles. They are one of the seven wonders of the UK canal network and a great place to spot wildlife that can include herons and kingfishers hunting for fish, dragonflies, damselflies and a colourful selection of butterflies. Half-term short breaks are from £1,212 (saving £213) departing Black Prince’s Bradford on Avon base on May 27. https://www.black-prince.com, 01527 575 115.
ELY – WICKEN FEN, CAMBRIDGE RETURN
Take a slow cruise from the Black Prince base at Ely towards Cambridge and glide through Wicken Fen, a wetland nature reserve that is one of just four wild fens left in the Great Fen Basin of East Anglia. Narrowboats can moor up for family walks through fenland, farmland, marsh and reed beds, and kids can spot otters and water voles swimming in the waters, and dragonflies, bitterns, warblers and marsh harriers fluttering through the skies. Short breaks are from £1,425 departing Black Prince’s Ely base on July 31. https://www.black-prince.com, 01527 575 115.
Black Prince Holidays offers canal holidays from nine bases across the UK. The company has a fleet of modern narrow boats with two to 10 berths available and its team are British Marine Federation accredited for hire boat instruction and handover procedures.
