Narrowboat Holidays - Hiring A Canal Boat In The UK | Quest Vlog #24

Ever wanted to hire a canal boat and take a leisurely cruise through the UK countryside? We asked Anglo Welsh, our favourite holiday hire boat company, to answer some questions for us about the hiring process.

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[michaelyarwood]

Anglo Welsh Great Haywood has an open day on the Sun 7th April 2019 11am till 4pm

[ronnielloyd]

I hired my first boat from Anglo Welsh in 1974 and they have been a good company to deal with ever since. It depends what you want, but I can certainly recommend for anyone not that confident that they try the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal (Mon & Brec). It's only 35 miles long and has 6 locks, so you can do the whole length and back in a week relatively easily. It is also beautiful, and because it isn't connected to the rest of the network, it is never too busy. I have had two holidays on the canal and both times hired from Castle Narrowboats who were excellent. You can even hire electric drive boats from them and the canal has charge points along the canal to recharge. Hope this helps someone :)

[stevemusgrave]

As you, and I, and many, many others have done, it is by far the easiest way to introduce yourselves to narrowboating, with your "I'd like to buy one/I wonder what it would be like to live on/could I put up with a tube for a year or more" head on. Top vid guys. If that doesn't allay newbies fears, I don't know what will. I do have to say, that not all hire companies have the time to take you through a lock, but most do have a wooden tactile, display model to use, or in house video.

[mxh]

Our first hire was from an outfit in Datchet on the Thames opposite Windsor. I well remember it. We'd flown in from Vancouver so jetlagged all to heck. They took us out onto the Thames to make sure we could turn around and then sweetly said Have a nice holiday. We headed up the Thames a couple of hundred yards came around the corner into the first lock and it was jammed with expensive fibreglass cruisers and the lock keeper was happily waving us in. My god, tired, unsure of my ability to steer a steel narrowboat, fear of nailing one of those expensive ones. Ugh! We made it successfully thanks to the lock keeper (it was on the Thames). We moored up right outside the lock on Eton Common (or whatever they called it) and collapsed. We went on to have two of the most enjoyable weeks holidays we've ever had. Everything got easier once we'd slept a bit. And we moored right outside both Windsor Castle and Hampton Court not to mention sundry pubs :) .

[sallyu]

We hired from Great Haywood in 2017 and 2018. They are very helpful. This year we will be hiring from Anglo Welsh's Bunbury base for one month.

[edwardthejust]

Adorable couple. This Yank is inspired to go on a solo canal boat holiday.

[glassflower]

I'd like to do this but somebody would have to drive it for us

[JCDiamond]

Great vlog! What a great idea to address rental. When we are not gongoozlers we are renters. Living abroad, that's how we've been doing it - and we've had great experiences with Oxfordshire Narrowboats. Are next trip is with Napton Narrowboats. Anglo Welsh is on our radar as well.

[vjordan]

Thank you for the information! My wife and I have always wanted to travel and this seems like the perfect mode to do so!

[johnkelley]

The genlemen that answered the questions was sincear and honest bassed on thst alone i would do business with him and his co.

[iandavis]

Thanks for this video and the heads-up on Anglo Welsh. My wife, another couple, and I are planning a 3 week trip to the UK in mid September 2020. We are very keen to hire a narrowboat in week 2. We are all comfortable on the water with variety of experiences though not with a narrowboat. We are looking for a nice, one week tour cruising for 30-35 hours in total...at least that is the plan now. We are Canadians and very used to spending time in transit. As long as there is a nice pub at the end of the day. We are still very much in the planning stage. Cheers.

[meekeykamira]

Omg Anglo Welsh guy had me at the beginning..🤦‍♀️..actually ummm...yumm🥰...oh & the information he gave was clear, polite and his smile..😅🤣😂😆 yea nice one Pixels' parents🤣🤣🤣

[glennwatson]

Every question asked and answered except cost.

[wsatnutter]

great vlog and looks like company who cares about the customers and the boats look immaculate

[michaelburroughs]

Interesting. Wish I lived in Great Britain so I could try it. Love your videos.

[cazw]

We're hiring in a couple of weeks. Going on the Lancaster (no locks 😉)

[beckyholmes]

Great info I would love to do that thanks

[TairnKA]

Unfortunately but understandably, looking at the Anglo Welsh site the minimal amount of people is two.
Other then rushing around the locks to get a boat through (especially multi-locks), I felt I could have handled a Narrow-boat solo. ;-)

[ilox]

Nice work giving us a look at a Hire base. Now that it is Lockdown, are the Hire Bases all shuttered as hire travel would be non-essential?

[ColorZebra]

Thanks so much. I was curious about costs and the website answered my questions. My parents have had cruisers and pontoon boats but I have never set foot on a narrow boat. We sailed on creeks, rivers and two oceans.

Can you recommend any hotel narrow boats?