Does anyone have experience to share about hiring a crewed narrow boat in the U.K. or France? Not sure we'll do it but if we do we don't want to do the driving ourselves. Just starting to do some research.
Posted by
205 posts
I have never heard of a crewed narrow boat trip in the UK except for short excursions for the elderly. The point is you do it yourself,
Posted by
Ozarks of Arkansas
286 posts
My wife and I hired a narrowboat in 2016. We are doing it again this year. Operating one is not difficult. However what you are looking for is called a “hotel” narrowboat. Try googling that and you will get a lot of hits.
Posted by
Moncton NB
1127 posts
I've spent two weeks on narrowboats in two separate parts of England. I would strongly recommend you do it yourselves as that is exactly the pleasure of a narrowboat holiday! They are extremely easy to drive, they only go 3 mph, and you can moor almost anywhere on the side banks. Navigation is a breeze as there are only two directions, and at the rare junctions, you will see adequate signage and you will have a map.
You can stop wherever you want, at a pleasant meadow, or cute village or inviting pub. You see back parts of England that 99% of tourists never see. You see the real England.
Managing the locks is a bit more challenging but still very doable even for newbies. You will need one person to drive the boat and one to operate the lock. Your rental company will give you instructions on how to do this.
Narrowboats are... well... narrow. Extremely tight quarters even for married couples -- I couldn't imagine sharing the space with a hired hand.
And frankly, I've just never heard of a crewed narrowboat (except for short rides on the Regent Canal in London).
Posted by
OP
Atlanta
5236 posts
Thanks all for the info. Will google hotel narrow boats and see what turns up.