The Boat Floats

Guide

Canal Trip Boats

Canal Trip Boats

3 min read · Updated 2026-01-31

Canal Trip Boats

What's in this hub

Trip boats are skippered, scheduled-departure passenger boats — the easiest possible way to experience the canal network. No driving, no licence, no kit. You buy a ticket (usually 45 minutes to two hours), step on, and someone else does the work. Most trip boats have a commentary on the canal's history, wildlife and engineering.

What to expect

  • Length: 45 minutes (short town tour) to half-day (4 hours, sometimes including a lunch stop).
  • Capacity: 12-passenger trip-boats are typical on narrow canals; broad-canal and river trip-boats run to 50 or 100 seats.
  • Toilets: most trip boats over 60 minutes have a small marine toilet on board; many shorter trips do not.
  • Refreshments: tea/coffee and basic snacks are common; some boats run lunch and dinner cruises.
  • Wheelchair access: many heritage trip-boats are step-aboard only — check the individual operator.

Trip-boat operators by region

Northern England and Scotland

  • Skipton Boat Trips (Leeds & Liverpool, Yorkshire Dales gateway).
  • Ripon Scenic Cruises (River Ure).
  • Lancaster Canal Cruises — "Jungle Queen" (Lancaster).
  • Lancashire Canal Cruises (Leeds & Liverpool).
  • Foulridge — short trips by the Foulridge Tunnel.
  • Seagull Trust Cruises (Falkirk, Kirkintilloch, Highlands) — accessible cruises run by a charity.
  • Lochrin Belle Canal Boat (Edinburgh, Union Canal).
  • Linlithgow Canal Centre — short trips on the Union Canal.
  • Forth and Clyde Canal Society — heritage and trip cruises.
  • Re-Union Canal Boats (Edinburgh).

North West and North Wales

  • Llangollen Wharf — horse-drawn trip boats, the original Llangollen experience.
  • Tiverton Canal Co — horse-drawn trip on the Grand Western (Devon — listed here for the horse-drawn theme).
  • Lyneal Trust Canal Trips (Llangollen Canal) — accessible trips.
  • Bridgewater Cruises (Bridgewater Canal).
  • Brindley Cruises (Anderton area).
  • Manchester River Cruises and City Centre Cruises — Bridgewater and the Irwell.
  • Anderton Boat Lift trip boat — short trip including a Lift passage.

Midlands

  • Stoke Bruerne Boat Company (Grand Union, alongside the canal museum).
  • Foxton Boat Services (Grand Union, Foxton Locks).
  • Saltisford Canal Centre (Warwick — short Grand Union trips).
  • Sherborne Wharf (Birmingham city-centre tours).
  • Dudley Canal Trust (Dudley tunnels — a unique underground trip).
  • Cromford Wharf trip boat NB Birdswood (Cromford Canal).
  • Chesterfield Canal Trust — John Varley (Chesterfield Canal restored sections).
  • Birmingham city-centre operators run scheduled BCN tours.

Southern and South East

  • London The Copper Quay (Kings Cross, Angel, Camden and Little Venice) 47 Passenger Private Hire Party Boat.
  • London Waterbus Company (Camden Town and Little Venice) — the classic Regent's Canal passenger run.
  • Jason's Trips (Little Venice) — Regent's Canal heritage trips.
  • Kennet Horse Boat Company (Kingsbury, K&A) — horse-drawn.
  • Kennet & Avon Trust trip boats (Devizes, Hungerford, Bradford-on-Avon, Newbury).
  • Thames Clippers and Thames River Cruises (Thames passenger services).
  • French Brothers (Windsor and Runnymede area).
  • Hobbs of Henley (Thames).
  • Oxford River Cruises and Salters (Thames).
  • Wey & Arun Canal Trust trip-boat (restoration sections).
  • Tiverton Canal Co (horse-drawn — the only remaining UK horse-drawn trip on a sustained route).

Norfolk Broads and East Anglia

  • Broads Tours (Wroxham).
  • Norfolk Wherry Trust — heritage wherry trips.
  • River Stour Trust (Sudbury area).
  • Lee & Stort Boat Co.

Charities and accessible-trip operators worth knowing

  • The Bruce Trust (Kennet & Avon) — wheelchair-accessible self-drive holiday and trip boats.
  • BMK Waterway Trust (John Bunyan, Electra) — accessible cruises around Bedford.
  • Peter Le Marchant Trust — accessible trips, Loughborough area.
  • Crusader Community Boating, Angel Community Canalboat Trust, Stockport Canal Boat Trust, Tameside Canal Boat Trust — community trip and group hire.
  • Waterways Experiences (Wey area) — accessible day trips.