Guides: P7, N1, L17
From Rugby, 7 nights, 5 hours per day, 50 locks
From Gayton 7 nights, 7 hours per day, 70 locks
From Union Wharf 10 nights,5.75 hours per day, 90 locks
A relatively gentle cruise through pretty Cotswold countryside first takes you down the North Oxford Canal via Braunston and Napton Junctions and onto the South Oxford Canal, renowned for its meandering route to the Thames.
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P7, N1, L18
From Rugby, 10/11 nights, 6 hours per day, 82 locks
From Gayton, 10/11 nights, 6.5 hours per day, 104 locks
From Union Wharf, 14 nights, 5.75 hours per day, 126 locks
Continuing on past Banbury to Oxford. The “City of Dreaming Spires” needs little introduction and is an extremely popular choice for those who can stretchtheir holiday to more than a week.
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Guides: P7, N1, L17 & 18
From Rugby, 7 nights, 4+ hours per day, 30 locks
From Union Wharf, 7 nights 5.75 hours per day, 48 locks
This is essentially a rural route that incorporates several very impressive tunnels including Blisworth Tunnel which is over 3,000 yards long!
The village of Stoke Bruerne awaits you as you emerge from Blisworth and we recommend that you visit the excellent canal Museum here. Milton Keynes is the next point of interest with its wealth of attractions.
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Guides: P1, N3, L13
From Rugby 7 nights, 8+ hours per day, 107 locks
rom Gayton 10/11 nights, 7 hours per day, 120 locks
From Gailey 10/11 7 nights, 7 hours per day, 122 locks
From Alvechurch 14 nights or (10/11 nights, 6 hours per day), 128 locks
Another route with the option to moor at the heart of Birmingham , this cruise includes the spectacular Hatton locks and some fine stretches of the Grand Union Canal . Once at Coventry , it is a short walk to the war-torn cathedral and its striking 1962 replacement. Drayton Manor Park & Zoo 08708 725252
Another route with the option to moor at the heart of Birmingham , this cruise includes the spectacular Hatton locks and some fine stretches of the Grand Union Canal . Once at Coventry , it is a short walk to the war-torn cathedral and its striking 1962 replacement. Drayton Manor Park & Zoo 08708 725252 www.draytonmanor.co.uk
Snow Dome at Tamworth 08705 000011 www.snowdome.co.uk offer activities for all the family.
Warwick Castle is possibly the finest medieval castle in the country. Warwick Tourist Information Centre 01926 492212 www.warwick-uk.co.uk
On a two week cruise, include a trip along the Ashby Canal .
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Guides: P7, N1, L14
From Rugby, 7 nights, 5 hours per day, 50 locks
From Gayton, 7 nights, 6 hours per day, 48 locks
Popular with those seeking something different – if you don’t mind a bit of exercise. This route involves cruising down the North Oxford Canal to Braunston, then up the Grand Union Canal towards Leicester. On the way to Market Harborough you will encounter no fewer than four tunnels, two sets of staircase locks and mile after mile of open countryside.
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Guides: P7, N1 & N3, L14 & L18
From Rugby 14 nights, 5 hours per day, 100 locks
From Gayton 14 nights, 6.5 hours per day, 115 locks
From Union Wharf 14 nights, 6 hours per day, 101 locks
A pleasant two week cruise through parts of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire which involves cruising on rivers as well as canals.
This route takes you up the Grand Union Canal to the Foxton flight of locks, then on to Leicester itself where you join the River Soar.
You continue along the Soar to Trent Junction, where you briefly join the River Trent which takes you up to Sawley. At this point you rejoin the canal system and complete the ring.
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Guides: The Geo Thames Ring Atlas (29) covers the entire route, or Nicholson’s Guides 1 & 7
From Gayton 14/21 nights, 6-9 hours per day, 175 locks
This is a comfortable one week cruise to Stourport and back, along what is almost certainly one of England’s prettiest waterways. Throughout its length, this historic canal follows the local land contours as it winds its way south towards its junction with the River Severn at the unique inland port of Stourport. Along the way you pass the entrance to the Shropshire Union Canal, which heads northwards through Shropshire towards the Cheshire Plains.
As you continue south you soon reach Bratch Locks, which is a distinctive and unusual flight of three locks, together with an octagonal toll office. From here the canal adopts an even more rural aspect: secluded woodlands with rocky cliffs of red sandstone, give way to an area of quiet water meadows as you approach the outskirts of the carpet-manufacturing town of Kidderminster.
This ultimate ring takes two weeks to complete, or includes plenty to see and do over a three week cruise.
An extra licence required when joining the Thames at either Oxford or London. (Please talk to your marina about this at the start of your holiday.)
The river cruising on the Thames is superb, with all locks manned during the daytime.
Visit places such as Hampton Court Palace www.hrp.org.uk, Windsor, Eton and Henley. Three weeks gives time to explore The Paddington Arm which goes right up to Venice and Camden Market as well as London Zoo. www.zsl.org/london-zoo
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Guides: P7, N1, L18
From Gayton 7/10 nights, 5–7.5 hours per day, 82 locks
From Rugby 7/10 nights, 8 hours per day, 96 locks
From Union Wharf, 14 nights, 6 hours per day, 130 locks
A good route for the first timer, through delightful countryside, taking in the Great Ouse Aqueduct at Cosgrove, Milton Keynes then arriving at Aylesbury, with the attractive old town centre just a short walk from the canal basin.
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Guides: P7, N1, L8, L14, L18
From Gayton to Coventry 7 nights, 6 hours per day, 34 locks
From Gayton to Snareston 7 nights, 8 hours per day, 34 locks
With only 17 locks each way between Gayton and Coventry, this is one of the easiest one-week routes. Continuing up the remote and rural Ashby Canal for Snarestone. Offers 23 miles of lock free cruising after Marston.
Moor at Shenton for Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre. 01455 290429
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Guides: P6, N3, L14
From Gayton 7 nights, 6 hours per day, 72 locks
From Rugby 7 nights, 6 hours per day, 56 locks
From Union Wharf, 10 nights, 5 hours per day, 92 locks
A very popular week cruise with the opportunity to visit Warwick Castle Tourist Information Centre 01926 492212
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Guides: P7, N1, L17
From Gayton 7 nights, 6 hours per day, 62 locks
From Rugby 7 nights, 6 hours per day, 40 locks
Home of the annual August Folk Festival, Cropredy is a quaint canal-side village with two pubs, a church and a village store.
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Suggested routes and timings are approximate and will be affected by available cruising hours, weather conditions and amount of traffic on the waterway.
More detailed advice will be given when the boat is collected.
When planning any river cruising within your route, do bear in mind that in some weather conditions river navigation may be restricted, so it is worth having an alternative plan.