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NEED HELP PLANNING YOUR ADVENTURE?
HAVE A QUESTION?
Call today on ++44 (0)1527 575 115 and a Black Prince team member will be happy to help!
If you are planning a vacation to the UK from abroad, then welcome!
Each year we welcome guests from countries such as the USA, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand, to name but a few! Here’s some top tips to help you with your travel preparations.
What are you looking for in your vacation to Britain?
You want to see Britain’s famous landmarks but keep away from the crowds? Narrowboats are an ideal way to see the sights from a relaxing and uncluttered view point. Cruise along the canals, through beautiful countryside and historic cities and moor up near well-know attractions.
Looking for a healthy holiday? Don’t be restricted in cars or coaches for your vacation – get out and about in the fresh air and keep active. All the canal routes have towpaths next to the water – ideal for walking and cycling when you feel like stretching your legs.
What is Britain famous for? The Queen, the historical sights and its pubs! You want to experience the real Britain, with all its diversity and all its charm. Choose from one of our nine bases, from Bath to Scotland, Wales to central England, each area bursting with famous sights and local history.
A taste of the real Britain – The canal routes are littered with vast numbers of pubs and inns offering a warm welcome and a taste of the local area. Canal boaters are a social lot, so you’ll soon be swapping stories with people from the local area. Plus of course the best benefit with the canal-side pubs is that you won’t have to cook on your holiday!
High quality accommodation. The Black Prince Narrowboats offer high quality and modern self-catering holiday accommodation – suitable for adults and children, with a variety of sizes that suit small or large groups. Our largest boats sleep up to 10!
An introduction to the countries and counties
England
England is Britain’s largest country and offers a real mix of contrasting sights, including the capital city of London, in the south-east of England. Black Prince offers seven bases in England where you can visit the famous cities of Cambridge, Oxford, Chester plus many more.
Bases
- Acton Bridge for Cheshire & Wales
- Stoke Prior for Worcester, Birmingham & Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespeare country!)
- Napton for Oxford, Banbury
- Lower Heyford in Oxfordshire for Oxford and the Greater London area
- The Peak District for Cheshire, Manchester, Staffordshire, Leek
- Ely for Cambridge, St Ives and St Neots
- Bradford on Avon, Bristol, Bath and Hungerford
Scotland
Scotland, located in the north of Great Britain, is everything you imagine – whisky, golf, romance of the clans and a wealth of castles and historic sites. Black Prince canal boat bases are perfectly placed to visit the two main centres, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Scotland for the world-famous Falkirk Wheel, Edinburgh and Glasgow
Wales
Wales, just 2 hours from Heathrow Airport in the west of Great Britain, offers some stunning scenery and a relaxed pace. With 400 castles, yet only one official motorway, you will see some breathtaking sights on a Black Prince holiday including the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct which spans across the Dee Valley
Chirk for Wales and Chester
The best time to visit the UK
Black Prince offers Narrowboat holidays between March and October. Early and late season tend to be the quietest on the waterways, therefore increasing your chances of making the most of the wildlife and enjoying a relaxed cruise.
Spring is popular for those wanting to make the most of the early season flowers, pathways beautifully lined with a mixture of daffodils and blossom, with the spring lambs gambolling in the fields. The tourist areas are quieter and you can really get away from the hustle and bustle of high season.
Likewise, Autumn is a stunning time to visit the waterways, with the beautiful autumnal leaves gradually changing from green to red to brown and wildlife in abundance. Don’t forget that all the narrowboats have cosy central heating so keeping warm in the evening is guaranteed.
July and August is popular with families and children. The waterways are buzzing with life and this is a very social time to be on holiday. The narrowboats turn into to mobile sunbathing areas, perfect for relaxing on your break!
Check out our canal boat holiday special offers here.
Getting to your base
If you’re travelling in from abroad, it’s likely you are flying in to one of the London airports, such as London Heathrow or London Gatwick. So how would you then get to one of our bases?
Train
There are good train links from the main London airports directly into the main train stations in London, such as London Victoria and London Euston. From these London stations you can get connecting trains to the base of your choice. Check out the base web pages to see which is the nearest town for the base. When you reach the town you have chosen, there will be taxi’s to take you to the Black Prince base.
How to book your vacation with Black Prince
You can either book online or call us on 0044 1527 575115 and we will reserve the boat for you. We require a 25% deposit to confirm the booking, with the balance due 8 weeks before your departure date.
We accept all major credit cards (except AMEX); these will incur a 2% charge. Alternatively, there is no charge for debit card payments (Switch, Sols, Delta etc) with a British bank account
Please ensure that you quote your Booking Reference Number. All relevant bank charges must be paid by you and it is the amount that we receive that will be credited to your booking.
You must pay the exact and full amount as shown on your confirmation.
For more information on booking and Frequently Asked Questions, click here
