What to See & Do along the Canal

Most people enjoy the tranquil, slow pace of narrowboating, enjoying the scenery and seeing a different aspect of the villages and countryside as you cruise along visiting the various pubs and restaurants.
However, if you want to, there is a whole array of things to do depending on the route you are taking.

our boats

Canal Heritage

There are so many amazing structures along and around the canal purely built for the development of the canals.
Bridges, Locks, Tunnels, Wharves and many others as well as old working boats.

Interesting Canal Structures

Villages

The canals meander through many tiny villages all with their own character traits including churches and shops.

Oxford Canal & Stretton History

Wildlife

Spotting wildlife from your boat as you are cruising along is a great pastime. There are lots of animals and birds to see. The more common Mallards (Ducks), Moorhens and Swans but watch out for the quick flash of blue from the Kingfisher, Herons catching their breakfast, Water Voles gathering nesting material with foxes and deer walking through the fields.

Pubs and Restaurants

These are always popular, besides, who wants to cook when you are on holiday and as the canal system was the motorway network of its day a whole host of pubs and restaurants built up around the system. Not all pubs are still open but the ones that are usually offer very good food and some even have entertainment in the way of local music or large TV’s to display the sport programmes for the fans.

routes

Walks

One of the best walks on the canalside is walking down the tow path itself whilst some of the crew continue to cruise with your boat and depending who goes the quickest there are always numerous places to wait for the others to catch up.
There are also many walks along public rights of way so you could cruise for a while each day then moor up and do a short or long walk ending back at your boat sometimes picking up a refreshing drink at a local pub en-route.

Visitor Attractions

Warwick Castle, Sea Life Centre, Cadbury’s World and Drayton Manor Theme Park are just some of the places you can visit depending on the route you take for your holiday. Most are either directly alongside the canal or just a short walk away which means just a short walk back to your accommodation without the queues of traffic to get back home again.

Activities

If you are feeling energetic you could take part in organised Paintballing, Clay-pigeon Shooting or Golfing activities at the various enterprises along the canal or just take in a newly released film at the local cinemas.