The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday Weekend (3-5 June), offers the chance to explore one of Britain’s beautiful 3,000-mile network of inland waterways by canal boat.
Over the course of her reign, Her Majesty The Queen has made a number of visits to the waterways and iconic waterside attractions.
Drifters Waterway Holidays offers over 550 boats for hire from 45 locations across England, Scotland and Wales. 2022 hire prices over the Jubilee Weekend and Half Term holiday start at £985 for a short break (three or four nights) on a boat for four, £1,365 for a week.
To celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Drifters’ has listed its Top 6 short break canal boat holidays for the Jubilee Weekend:
1. Travel through the Scottish Lowlands to Edinburgh – from Drifters’ canal boat hire base at the Falkirk Wheel, officially opened by HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, Edinburgh Quay is a sedate 11-hour journey along the lock-free Union Canal.
The journey, perfect for beginners on a four-night mid-week break, starts with a trip through the iconic Falkirk Wheel – the world’s first and only rotating boat lift. Boaters then passes through the lowland villages of Linlithgow, Broxburn and Ratho. Visitor moorings are available at Edinburgh Quay, just a five-minute walk from Princes Street.
The 62ft ‘Princess’ narrowboat for up to six people is available 1-4 June 2022 for £1,625. Price includes boat hire, damage waiver, gas, car parking, tuition, buoyancy aids, bed linen, towels and first pet.
Fuel is extra, charged on return based on use, circa £10-15 per day.
2. Visit the UNESCO World Heritage City of Bath – on a short break from Drifters’ base at Devizes in Wiltshire, boaters can travel along the Kennet & Avon Canal to Sydney Wharf, on the edge of Bath City Centre. Drifters’ Devizes canal boat hire base is at the bottom of the magnificent flight of locks at Caen Hill, officially reopened by The Queen in 1990. One of the locks is named in her honour. The journey to Bath travels 19 miles, passing through eight locks and takes around nine hours.
The 47ft ‘Darwin’s Fox’ narrowboat for up to seven people is available 30 May to 3 June for £2,145. The 50ft ‘Foxtail’ for up to four people is available 3-6 June for £939.
Price includes fuel, gas, damage waiver, parking, bedding, towels, life jackets and tuition. Pets are extra, charged at £30 each.
3. Cruise to the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port – from Drifters’ base at Bunbury on the Shropshire Union Canal in Cheshire, it takes 10 hours to reach Ellesmere Port.
In 1979, The Queen visited the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port, and boarded a historic working boat. The journey to Ellesmere Port takes 10 hours, travelling 21 miles and passing through 12 locks. The route takes boaters through the ancient City of Chester along the way.
The 62ft ‘Merlin’ narrowboat for up to four people is available 3-6 June for £940. Price includes boat hire, damage waiver, gas, car parking, tuition on arrival, buoyancy aids, bed linen towels and first pet.
Diesel is extra – a £50 deposit is taken for short breaks (three or four nights), £90 for a week. Charge based on use, circa £10-15 per day. Second pet is charged at £25 for a short break, £35 for a week.
4. Navigate to Stratford upon Avon’s Swan Theatre – from Drifters’ narrowboat rental base at on the Stratford Canal at Wootton Wawen in Warwickshire, it’s a picturesque six-hour cruise through the Warwickshire countryside to Shakespeare’s Stratford. Once there, boaters can moor up in Bancroft Basin close the town’s famous Swan Theatre, visited by Queen Elizabeth II in 1986.
The 66ft ‘Poppy’ narrowboat for up to four people is available 3-6 June for £1,350. Price includes boat hire, damage waiver, gas, car parking, tuition on arrival, buoyancy aids, bed linen towels and first pet. Diesel is extra – a £50 deposit is taken for short breaks (three or four nights), £90 for a week.
Charge based on use, circa £10-15 per day. Second pet is charged at £25 for a short break, £35 for a week.
5. See the largest pair of equine statues on the planet – at 30-metres high, the magnificent Kelpies stand at the gateway to the new extension to the Forth & Clyde Canal, opened by The Queen in 2017.
The Queen Elizabeth II Canal links the Forth & Clyde Canal with the Firth of Forth. Based on the heavy horses that one plied the canal towpaths, the Kelpies form part of a new 350-hectare Helix park at the end of the canal extension at Grangemouth. From Drifters’ narrowboat hire base at Falkirk, narrowboat holiday-makers can reach the Kelpies in around four hours, cruising four miles each way and passing through 14 locks.
The 62ft ‘Lautrec’ narrowboat for up to four people is available 3-6 June for £1,399. Price includes boat hire, damage waiver, gas, car parking, tuition, buoyancy aids, bed linen, towels and first pet. Fuel is extra, charged on return based on use, circa £10-15 per day.
6. Visit Coventry Cathedral – from Drifters’ narrowboat hire base at Braunston, it takes 12 hours to reach moorings in Coventry Basin. From there, it’s a short walk to Coventry Cathedral visited by The Queen in 1981, for a special re-dedication service to mark the Royal British Legion’s Diamond Jubilee.
Last year, The Prince of Wales visited the Coventry Canal as part of the Coventry City of Culture celebrations. Travelling 28 miles and passing through just four locks, the journey to Coventry takes boaters through a series of canalside towns and villages, including Hillmorton and Rugby.
The 41ft ‘Clee’ narrowboat for up to four people is available from Braunston 3-6 June for £877. Price includes diesel, gas, damage waiver, cancellation protection, parking, tuition and first pet. Second pet is charged at £25 per week.
For more information about Drifters boating holidays over the Jubilee Weekend call 0344 984 0322 or click here.
For more information about visiting the canals click here.
