Choosing your canal boat holiday hire route.

Which canal to choose, least locks, most peaceful canal, most scenic canal etc.

So much choice! So how do you choose the canal to cruise?

All canal holidays have some things in common; the fresh air, seeing the countryside from a new angle, enjoying friendships old and new, and probably above all, the relaxing pace and sense of freedom. Most have fine scenery, at least along part of their route, interesting things to see and do, and many historic and engineering features.

So, like all good things, there is a dilemma about how to decide which is the best route for you. We've looked at a number of features and given our opinion, but they are only opinions and we'd be delighted to hear your opinions too!

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Least Locks	The Lancaster Canal (42 miles without locks), the Ashby Canal (no locks) and the Bridgewater / Northern Trent & Mersey (almost none!).
Peaceful	The Mon & Brec and Lancaster are isolated from the rest of the system and can be very peaceful, the Leeds & Liverpool and most canals can be very quiet except at peak times.
Scenery	The Llangollen, the Caldon (off the Trent & Mersey), the Shropshire Union, the Oxford, Kennet & Avon, Leeds & Liverpool, Mon & Brec, Staffs & Worcs and lots more. It does depend how you like your scenery!
Hustle and bustle	The Llangollen, Grand Union around London (Regents Canal) and Braunston, the Birmingham Canal Navigations especially around Gas Street, the Thames, the River Severn and the Avon and Stratford Canal in Stratford.
Historic Cities	Chester on the Shropshire Union, Warwick on the Grand Union, Worcester on the Worcester & Birmingham, Bath on the Kennet and Avon, Gloucester on the River Severn.
Interesting Villages	The Oxford Canal especially the South Oxford, Shropshire Union Canal, Stratford on Avon Canal, Kennet & Avon, River Avon.
Canal Features	Staffs & Worcs Canal (Stourport etc), Worcester & Birmingham (lots of locks and tunnels), Coventry Canal (Hawkesbury Junction), Trent & Mersey (Anderton Lift, tunnels, Shardlow), Grand Union (Braunston, Stoke Bruerne), Birmingham Canal Navigations.
Industrial History	Birmingham Canal Navigations, Trent & Mersey, Mon & Brec, Shropshire Union (Boat Museum), River Severn (National Waterways Museum at Gloucester), Grand Union (Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum).
Pubs	Shropshire Union Canal, Caldon Canal, Kennet & Avon, Oxford, Rivers Thames, Severn & Avon, in fact most canals we can think of!
Literary Connections	We're not much good at this, but obviously the River Avon and Stratford on Avon Canal for 'Shakespeare Country', Thames for 'Three Men in a boat' etc. etc. Oxford Canal for Inspector Morse (although the real murder happened on the Trent & Mersey ), Arnold Bennett for the Five Towns area of the Trent & Mersey. Help please!
Circular Routes	'Ring Routes' are recommended for more experienced hirers! Timings can vary considerably. Four Counties Ring - Trent & Mersey, Staffs & Worcs, Shropshire Union - 1 week. Warwickshire Ring - Coventry, Grand Union, Birmingham & Fazely - 1 week for enthusiast. Black Country - various BCN plus Stourbridge canal etc - 1 week for enthusiasts. Severn Ring - Staffs & Worcs Canal, Severn, Worcester & Birmingham, BCN - 1 week, lots of locks! Cheshire Ring - Trent & Mersey, Bridgewater, (Rochdale), Ashton, Peak Forest, Macclesfield - 1 week with care. South Pennine Ring - Rochdale Canal, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, (Ashton) - 2 weeks. Leicester Ring - Coventry Canal, Trent & Mersey, Grand Union - 2 weeks. Avon Ring - Rivers Severn & Avon, Worcester & Birmingham, Stratford Canal - 2 weeks. Grand Ring - Grand Union, Thames, Oxford Canal - 3 weeks. Pennine Ring - Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Rochdale or Huddersfield Narrow Canal, (Ashton) - 3 weeks.
Accessibility	From London - Thames, Grand Union, Kennet and Avon (West), Oxford Canal. From Birmingham - BCN, Staffs & Worcs, Worcester & Birmingham, Coventry Canal, Stratford on Avon Canal, Grand Union (north), Oxford Canal (north), Shropshire Union (south). From Manchester - Lancaster Canal, Leeds Liverpool Canal, Trent & Mersey (north), Llangollen Canal, Shropshire Union Canal (north).

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CANAL GUIDES Ashton Canal, Basingstoke Canal, BCN, Bridgewater Canal, Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, Coventry Canal, Grand Union Canal, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Kennet & Avon Canal, Lancaster Canal, Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Llangollen Canal, Macclesfield Canal, Mon. & Brec Canal, Montgomery Canal, Oxford Canal, Peak Forest Canal, Staffs & Worcs Canal, Stratford Canal, Shropshire Union Canal, Trent & Mersey Canal, Worcester & Birmingham Canal, Rochdale Canal, Scottish Lowland Canals, Forth & Clyde Canal, Union Canals, River Severn, River Avon, River Nene, River Great Ouse, River Thames, River Trent, The Fens, The Broads.