This canal boat holiday route offers a leisurely one week cruise through Bath and Keynsham to Bristol and return.

The beautiful city of Bath plays host to the meeting of the Avon Navigation and the Kennet and Avon Canal. Arguably only York and Chester on the inland waterways can muster such an appealing backdrop. The Avon is actually navigable by narrowboat for a short distance upstream of the junction of the canal with the river at the tail of Bath Bottom Lock. It’s a detour well worth making. Spring tides occasionally lick their salty tongues up as far as Keynsham.

Scenically the landscape pivots on Hanham : to the east, the valley is wide and water-meadowy; to the west wooded and gorgelike.

Bristol, hometown of such disparate characters as John Cabot, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Cary Grant. If you’re looking for boat hire in Bristol, this could be a unique way of reaching and discovering this lively city. Bristol is full of atmospheric passages and corners, alleyways and stairways as befits a former sea-trading port.

All routes from this base