Narrowboat hire - Grand Union Canal
Hire a boat on the Grand Union Canal and you have a lot of choice of boats, places to go and things to see - as you would expect from the longest canal in the UK! The main line of the Grand Union leaves the River Thames at Brentford and climbs over fifty locks up into the Chiltern hills. It descends then climbs again to a new summit in Birmingham, 137 miles and 166 locks.
- Boatmen used to claim to do London to Birmingham in five days but allow well over a week if you want to get any sleep!
- The canal towns of Braunston and Stoke Bruerne with its Canal Museum are well worth exploring.
- The Leicester Section 66 miles long with 59 locks and 2 tunnels was built as a broad canal but there are flights of narrow locks at Foxton and Watford.
- The River Lee and the River Stort open up some surprisingly fine countryside to Bishops Stortford and Hertford.
- The flight of 21 wide locks at Hatton was built during modernisation in the 1930s with distinctive hydraulic paddle gear which is usually easy to wind but slow to work the paddles.
- Most hire boats are narrowboats. There are increasing numbers of wide beam boats but many are static. There are width restrictions at a number of bridges and wide beam boats must arrange passage through the tunnels to avoid meeting narrowboats coming the other way.
Hire boat family firms on the Grand Union Canal

Grand Union Narrowboats. Small family run company. 2,4 & 6 berth four star graded narrowboats for weekly hire on the Grand Union and Oxford canals. Experience the Northamptonshire countryside at its finest.

Kate Boats, a family run business, with quality narrowboats from two bases on the Grand Union Canal, ideally situated on the Warwickshire ring.
Beginners welcome, full instruction given.

The Wyvern Shipping Co. have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 berth luxury narrow boats on the Grand Union Canal. Weekend and short breaks a speciality.
Transport arranged from all London airports.

Blue
Riband Club comprises two owner operated companies who guarantee to give
you the highest standards of both comfort and service.
All boats are Tourist
Board annually inspected.
Canal Rings
The Grand Union mainline forms part of the
Thames Ring, with the
River Thames &
Oxford Canal.
The Warwickshire Ring includes the
Birmingham & Fazeley,
Coventry and sections of the Grand Union and
Oxford Canals.
The Leicester Section forms part of the
Leicester Ring, with the
Trent & Mersey,
Coventry & North
Oxford Canals.
More Information
Cruising Guide
and map
for the Grand Union Canal.
More Southern hire firms or
narrowboat hire firms in other canal areas.
Day hire boats to cruise with a few friends for just a few hours.
Help to choose the right canal boat for your holiday.
Plus lots more advice and tips in our Canal Holiday Advice section.

Other Grand Union Canal Hire Companies
We provide contact telephone and email details free of charge for canal based companies, click for details.
Please note: We provide all contact details as an information service. We rely on traders to keep us informed for these listings so we can't guarantee that details are accurate or up to date. It is sensible to check all businesses you wish to deal with. When you are hiring a boat you should check that the hire company and its boats meet all required safety, insurance and legal standards. Please see our Terms of Use.
Other Hire Companies |
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Foxton Boat Services | Foxton, Grand Union | 01162 792285 | ||
Grebe Canal Cruises | Pitstone, Grand Union Canal | 01296 661920 | enquiries@grebecanalcruises.co.uk | |
Gunthorpe Leisure Boats Ltd | Nottinghamshire | 07854 004333 |
gunthorpeleisureboats@aol.com www.gunthorpeleisureboats.co.uk |
|
Inland Navigators (Skippered camping boat) | Weedon, Grand Union | 07774 711817 | boat@inlandnavigators.co.uk | |
Kerrnal Cruisers Ltd | Grand Union | 01296 668139 | Office@sunseekerr.co.uk | |
LNBP (schools & youth groups) | Braunston, Northamptonshire | 0870 2406724 | gh.lnbp@virgin.net | |
Pilling's Lock Boat Hire | Loughborough River Soar | 01509 620990 | pillingslock@btinternet.com | |
River Tove Narrow Boats | Stoke Bruerne | 09768 29087 | rivertove@aol.com | |
Union Canal Carriers Ltd | Braunston, Grand Union Canal | 01788 890784 | bo@unioncanalcarriers.co.uk | |
Union Wharf Narrowboats Ltd | Market Harborough | 01858 432123 | unionwharfboats@gmail.com | |
William Piper Boats | Blisworth | 01604 858300 | info@williampipernarrowboats.co.uk |