Canal Holiday Eating and Drinking

• Your hire boat will come with full onboard cooking facilities and fridge.
• Canalside towns and villages will have shops or supermarkets for daily supplies.
• Fresh local produce is often available in local markets.
• Eat out in canalside pubs and local restaurants or a barbecue by the boat.

What About Eating In?

Your hireboat will have all the cooking facilities you’ll need, including a fridge, often a microwave. Bring food from your local supermarket but also enjoy local produce from shops and markets along the route, there will be plenty of towns, villages and shops within walking distance of the canal.

Where Can We Shop For Food Along The Way?

If you think you’ll need to trudge the towpaths for miles and miles with overflowing supermarket bags, think again, your options are many and inviting! Often the smallest of villages in England and Wales have their own sources of local produce. In towns and cities, there’s always a wide range of places to buy produce or eat out. And some supermarkets are surprisingly waterside!

Can We Have Food delivered to the boat?

Some hire companies can arrange for local shops to deliver supplies to your boat before you leave the hire base. Takeaways may deliver if the courier can find you!

Can We Have Barbecues?

If you are keeping the food budget low, or would like to like to eat on a peaceful mooring, barbecues are a fantastic way to combine good food with the great outdoors. Nothing beats the smell of food cooking over charcoal in peaceful surrounds on a summer’s eve after a long day’s cruise! Don’t erect your barbecue on the towpath though, where it can obstruct walkers and cyclists. Some canals have barbecue stands, benches and tables near moorings. And do make sure the barbecue is well doused before you go to bed and pack up all your rubbish and take it with you to the next disposal point.

Eating Out in canalside pubs and restaurants

Canal-side pubs are among the finest treasures of the canal network and on average you’ll come across one in every 5 miles you cruise. They offer anything from a traditional pint and a packet of crisps to the finest gastronomic delights. What could be better than cruising the canals all day and rewarding yourself with a hearty pub-meal and a refreshing and well-earned drink in a canal-side beer garden on a beautiful summers evening? And there are many more village, town and city pubs, inns and hotels which are often well worth a short walk. We list canalside pubs and restaurants.