UK Canal Maps & Cruising Guides

Our canal route maps cover the most popular English, Welsh and Scottish cruising canals and navigations. Click on the canal name or any any route on the map opposite to see the cruising guide & route map. If you can't see the map (it uses Flash which you may not have) please click here for a list of canals.

Choosing your holiday route can be difficult, so much choice! So our canal guide pages give you the 'flavour' of each canal, and we also have a page to help you choose your route. We have a full section of Canal Holiday Frequently Asked Questions to give you lots more canal holiday information and advice .

British inland waterways are a network of over 2000 miles (3000km) of man made waterways which were built over 200 years ago.  The canals made the Industrial Revolution possible by moving goods and raw materials between the new ‘factories’ and the new ‘consumers’. When the railways took over that role, about 100 years ago, British inland waterways went into slow decline, made much worse in the 20th century by road transport. They now carry very little commercial cargo. However there are more boats afloat than ever before because canal cruising is such a popular leisure activity.

Canal maps & canal holiday cruising guides for popular UK canals and other navigable inland waterways.