Want to take my son on his first canal boat holiday. I went away for a week with the other half on the Staffordshire canal from Stone and had a great time, but this year we will have my son and a Jack Russel for extra company.

Can anyone here recommend a good canal route with places to visit en route that will help keep the kid amused?

Call me “PC gone mad” but that sounds a bit risky. I managed to dump myself in the canal 2 or 3 times even as a 12 year old…

Agree with konabunny….I wouldn’t find a holiday with young kids and boats very restful….

Junior Lifejacket …please say yes !!!

He’s a well behaved lad, people were born and grew up on these boats for heavens sake!

I’d have loved it at his age anyway, so am playing role of cool dad

sounds like hell

Went on one when I was about 9/10/11 – can’t really remember – was an utterly amazing holiday – got to ‘drive’, helped with the locks and did bits and pieces around the boat.

Thing is, it was so long ago, I don’t really remember the detail of it – can’t recall what we did whilst we were sailing along…I remember the exciting stuff, but the day-to-day stuff I don’t really recall.

Been watching Great Canal Journeys and really fancy going on another canal holiday…

I started going on the Caledonian Canal when I was about 4 and didn’t die. However, and standard canal would surely be boring as hell for a youngster?

That’s kind of why I’m asking if anyone knows of particular canal routes that have decent kiddie stops en route

Better drowned than duffers
If not duffers,wont drown.The Broads. Sailing options and kayaking options. I think there is a guy that does hobie pedal kayak tours.

At 6 I was sent out in a dinghy on a rope and learned to row. My nephew was operating an outboard at 3.

(aargh Bloody handwringing mountain bikers can’t even choose tyres without someone holding their willies for them!!)

we did holidays like this from when me and my bro were 7 ish. didn’t do canal boats because my dad is 6 foot 7 – but we absolutely loved it.

the best bits as a kid:

standing on the roof as it goes along
sitting on the front
doing the locks
STEERING THE BOAT!!!!11 (supervision may be advised)
looking at the engine

and then basically every lunch and every evening we’d moor up next to a field and go and play in it. If you’ve got ready access to a field, a small dog and a ball or frisbee, junior will have a whale of a time 🙂

It was down south and I think involved the Thames…we finished near Windsor Castle (I think)…I think we went from Oxford (or maybe ended in Oxford)…

Went last year as a suprise for my 40th. Something I’ve wanted to do for years. Would gladly have taken my kids at 6 yes old. As it happens they were 13 and 10 and the aggro pup was 6 months. As above pull up Moor up and play. If you have outdoor kids who are brought up on other things than TV xbox and junk food then it can be a great adventure in just what it is. I suggest ridiculous attire, swords pirate hats the works!

We have been taking our wee one on a canal boat since she was a baby. She loves it. We take plenty of games and books and make a point of stopping at as many parks as possible.

Love the Arthur Ransome quote!

The Norfolk Broads indeed, have been sailing them since I was an egg and I’m sure the buoyancy aids our parents would make me and my sister wear would have pulled us under, rather than kept us afloat. Giving kids boat sense from an early age has worked well for us.

Take binoculars, bird books, wildlife books, a ball, wellies and raincoats. And obviously, a decent buoyancy aid.

Been watching Great Canal Journeys and really fancy going on another canal holiday.

This.

Pru is a bit of a legend in the Nobeer household.

I like the sound of this

Call me “PC gone mad” but that sounds a bit risky. I managed to dump myself in the canal 2 or 3 times even as a 12 year old.

Our boats are quite safe. Now, which one would you like to take?

Lots of hire places on the Thames around Oxford, Henley, Wargrave, etc., and close to a number of cool towns and villages so you don’t have to stay on the boat to be entertained.

Henley itself has the River and Rowing museum with the Wind in the Willows collection for younger visitors, might be of interest to a 6yo.

Great idea. My daughter was always a couch potato, but she enjoyed our boating holiday on the broads. You have to get a pirate flag of course. Keep them busy coiling ropes, swabbing decks, cursing at landlubbers etc.

Good suggestions, thanks.

We are currently considering a narrow boat based in Braunston with routes ether on the Union canal to Warwick or Oxord Canal down to… Oxford.

So where’s good that’s not too far south, Avon and Kennet looks lovely, but from SW Scotland it’s a bit far. Which of the northern canals?. Nice pub stops and not too many locks for a first timer would be nice.

Why not do the canals from Manchester to Leeds.

You can keep him amused by recreating scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean as you repel heavily armed boarders

I’m looking at http://www.canaljunction.com/canal/which.htm

for me and gf toying with Brecon or Lancaster for a week (mainly as hardly any locks – these are a right slower in the dry and a right pita in the wet esp with only 2) also Glasgow canal – Falkirk wheel looks like fun, interesting object and you go next to kelpies….

Take some snorkeling gear and investigate the marine life amongst the shopping trolley reef.

Get some cheap CB’s so he can talk to the driver when he is off the boat doing the locks, hours of fun when you are 6.

Glasgow canal – Falkirk wheel looks like fun

Agreed – that looks a truly stunning stretch of canal – and the wheel, well, makes me proud to think that we are still capable of churning out engineering wonders such as this

Get some cheap CB’s so he can talk to the driver when he is off the boat doing the locks

Great idea! will do

We had a fantastic holiday with,
http://www.robinhoodboats.co.uk/location_sawley.php#topsearch

Starting at Sawley marina on the Trent Mersey. Three days cruising got us Tamworth on the Coventry. You can moor up 10mins walk from Drayton Manor, so we had a day there and cruised back. Liked it so much I gave getting my own boat some serious consideration. I might still one day 😀

Binners it’ll be a hoot, a minor suntan, lots of damp scenery and sullen looken drunken men watching you under slate grey skies. Did I mention the weather at all?

Take some snorkeling gear and investigate the marine life amongst the shopping trolley reef.

You might catch a 12 inch black ribbed nobbler?

Ulverston canal, you can cruise from the abbatoir to the glaxo efflent outfall and back again in about 20 mins and then **** off on a proper holiday.

Agreed – that looks a truly stunning stretch of canal – and the wheel, well, makes me proud to think that we are still capable of churning out engineering wonders such as this

I don’t know how it aesthetically compares to others but it is relatively unexciting as there is one canal with no locks from the top of the wheel all the way to edinburgh, and whilst there are locks going towards glasgow its pretty much one long trip there / back. Its not a particularly common thing to do on the Forth&Clyde/Union canals and so you have very limited options for boat rental- which I think will affect both price and quality. There are however reasonably child friendly MTB trails easy riding distance from the canal though if that is of interest.

Not read the thread but my opinion – having lived on a boat with kids is that they will be bored shitless after the first 45 minutes

Its slow going and its a relaxing thing for adults but I cannot see a child digging it personally

As for the danger of death rather my child fell in the canal than ran into the road but folk dont see very averse to being near cars or roads.

IMHO DO something else

I just loved stopping at pubs on the way. Worth taking supplies though as it’s very thirty work at times 😆
Reckon it’s the most relaxed I’ve ever been on a holiday.

If you want to go for a week, there are very few rings you can complete. So for out and back we did a few with our young sons. Down the Oxfordshire Canal is a cruise (as it is a contour canal). Dinosaurs and Dodo in the Natural History Museum when you get there.

If you want a ring – Severn and up Tardebigge and a trip to Cadbury’s World and an afternoon at the Black Country Museum – not an easy week though!

For canal history, pick something with a BIG piece of engineering like the Anderton Boat lift as a hilight. IF you like heights Llangollen canal is good but will get busy.

We hired a dayboat yesterday for a cruise along the River Wey. You could try that first if you really fancy a trip.

And with this comment TiRed has just come out as a canal geek 😉

Took my two girls (then 7 & 9) on the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal last year and they loved it! The bikes came along too and got used every day riding along the towpath in the rain 🙂 Many of the boat operators don’t like bikes because of the low bridges and potential damage to the paint work but Beacon Park Boats (highly recommended) didn’t mind and only a little bike shuffling was required. Take your own bike and sneak off to do some of the bigger stuff round there too 😉