Waterways Holidays in Shakespeare Country, Warwickshire & the Chilterns
 Click on the trip name for full details:
Banbury & return
Oxford & return
Stoke Bruerne & return
Warwickshire Ring
Market Harborough & return
Leicester ( East Midlands) Ring
The Grand Ring
Aylesbury & return
Coventry or Snarestone & return
Warwick & return
Cropredy & return
From Rugby
(7 nights,
5 hours per day, 50 locks)
From Gayton
(7 nights,
7 hours per day, 70 locks)
 Maps and Guides for sale
Grand Union Canal
North Oxford Canal
South Oxford Canal
A relatively gentle cruise
through pretty Cotswold countryside first takes
you down the North Oxford Canal via Braunston
and Napton Junctions and onto the South Oxford
Canal, renowned for its meandering route to
the Thames.
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Oxford & return
From Rugby
(10/11 nights,
6 hours per day, 82 locks)
From Gayton
(10/11 nights,
6.5 hours per day, 104 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Grand Union Canal
South Oxford Canal
North Oxford Canal
Continuing on past Banbury to Oxford.
The “City
of Dreaming Spires” needs little introduction and is
an extremely popular choice for those who can stretch
their holiday to more than a week.
Oxford Tourist Information 01865 726871
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 Stoke Bruerne & return
From Rugby
(7 nights, 4+ hours per day, 30 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Grand Union Canal
North Oxford Canal
This is essentially a rural route that incorporates several very
impressive tunnels including Blisworth Tunnel which is over 3,000 yards
long!
The village of Stoke Bruerne awaits you as you emerge from
Blisworth and we recommend that you visit the excellent canal Museum
here. Milton Keynes is the next point of interest with its wealth of attractions.
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Warwickshire Ring
 From Rugby
(7 nights, 8+ hours per day, 107 locks)
From Gayton
(10/11 nights, 7 hours per day, 120 locks)
From Gailey
(10/11 7 nights, 7 hours per day, 122 locks)
From Alvechurch
(14 nights or (10/11 nights, 6 hours per day), 128 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Ashby Canal
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
Coventry Canal
Grand Union Canal
Stratford upon Avon Canal
North Oxford Canal
Trent and Mersey Canal
Another route with the option to moor at the heart of Birmingham , this cruise includes the spectacular Hatton locks and some fine stretches of the Grand Union Canal .
Once at Coventry , it is a short walk to the war-torn cathedral and its striking 1962 replacement.
Drayton Manor Park & Zoo 08708 725252
Snow Dome at Tamworth 08705 000011
Warwick Castle is possibly the finest medieval castle in the country.
Warwick Tourist Information Centre 01926 492212
On a two week cruise, include a trip along the Ashby Canal .
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 Market Harborough & return
From Rugby
(7 nights, 5 hours per day, 50 locks)
From Gayton
(7 nights, 6 hours per day, 48 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal (Leicester Section)
North Oxford Canal
Popular with those seeking something different – if you don’t mind a bit of
exercise.
This route involves cruising down the North Oxford Canal to
Braunston, then up the Grand Union Canal towards Leicester.
On the way to
Market Harborough you will encounter no fewer than four tunnels, two sets of staircase
locks and mile after mile of open countryside.
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 Leicester or East Midlands Ring
From Rugby
(14 nights, 5 hours per day, 100 locks)
From Gayton
(14 nights, 6.5 hours per day, 115 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Ashby Canal
Coventry Canal
Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal (Leicester Section)
North Oxford Canal
River Soar
River Trent
Trent and Mersey Canal
A pleasant two week cruise through parts of
Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and
Derbyshire which involves cruising on rivers as well as canals.
This route takes you up the Grand Union Canal to the Foxton flight
of locks, then on to Leicester itself where you join the River Soar.
You
continue along the Soar to Trent Junction, where you briefly join the
River Trent which takes you up to Sawley. At this point you rejoin the
canal system and complete the ring.
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 The Grand Ring
From Gayton
(14/21 nights, 6-9 hours per day, 175 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Grand Union Canal
South Oxford Canal
North Oxford Canal
For more information, see the Wessex route page.
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 Aylesbury & return
From Gayton
(7/10 nights, 5–7.5 hours per day, 82 locks)
From Rugby
(7/10 nights, 8 hours per day, 96 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Grand Union Canal
North Oxford Canal
A good route for the first timer, through delightful countryside, taking in the
Great Ouse Aqueduct at Cosgrove.
Next up is Milton Keynes then arriving at Aylesbury,
with the attractive old town centre just a short walk from the canal basin.
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Coventry or Snarestone & return
From Gayton to Coventry
(7 nights, 6 hours per day, 34 locks)
From Gayton to Snareston
(7 nights, 8 hours per day, 34 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Coventry Canal
Grand Union Canal
North Oxford Canal
River Soar
With only 17 locks each way between Gayton and Coventry,
this is one of the easiest one-week routes.
Continuing up the
remote and rural Ashby Canal for Snarestone. Offers 23 miles
of lock free cruising after Marston.
Moor at Shenton for Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre. 01455 290429
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 Warwick & return
From Gayton
(7 nights, 6 hours per day, 72 locks)
From Rugby
(7 nights, 6 hours per day, 56 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Grand Union Canal
South Oxford Canal
North Oxford Canal
A very popular week cruise with the opportunity to visit Warwick Castle
Tourist Information Centre 01926 492212
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Cropredy & return
 From Gayton
(7 nights, 6 hours per day, 62 locks)
From Rugby
(7 nights, 6 hours per day, 40 locks)
Maps and Guides for sale
Grand Union Canal
South Oxford Canal
North Oxford Canal
Home of the annual August Folk Festival, Cropredy is a quaint
canal-side village with two pubs, a church and a village store.
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anbury& return
