Napton Base – Oxford and return

If you’re looking for a unqiue boating holiday on the Thames, our Oxford canal boat holiday, lets you access the beautiful Oxford Canal from our base at Napton in Warwickshire.

A cruise from here takes you on a relatively busy week down the meandering Oxford Canal, which is one of the oldest in the country and beautifully follows the contours of the land.

The only town you’ll pass on your luxury canal boat holiday to Oxford is Banbury, a market town on the lovely River Cherwell. Stop off to see Banbury Cross, which was erected in 1859 in the town centre after Puritans destroyed the crosses that previously adorned the town in 1600, and Tooley’s Boatyard, the oldest continuous working dry dock in Britain. Banbury Museum provides a wealth of information about the Victorian market town and Banbury’s role during the English Civil War.

After cruising your narrowboat through Banbury, you will reach a series of wonderfully named villages including Thrupp, Lower Heyford and Shipton-on-Cherwell. Look out for the stone-built houses, cosy pubs, ancient churches and village greens. The canal waterways are a lovely way to view a different angle of these beautiful villages, and especially when you get closer to the bigger cities, canal boat holidays in Oxford give you a really unique perspective.

Thrupp is a hamlet close to the River Cherwell. Its biggest attraction is the remains of a 15th century cross, carved from Jurassic limestone. Lower Heyford is an ancient village recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Shipton-on-Cherwell is a village most noted for the Holy Cross Parish Church, which overlooks the Oxford Canal, and Shipton Manor House, which dates from the 16th or 17th century.

Oxford

The destination on your canal boat holiday is Oxford, which often feels familiar because it is used as the backdrop for so many films and TV programmes, most famously Inspector More and Harry Potter. The city is small and packed together so the main sites are easy to get around, which is ideal when you’re enjoying only short breaks in Oxford.

The world-famous University buildings include Christ Church College, Wadham College and Magdalene College. Other interesting sights are the Ashmolean Museum, Carfax Tower, Botanic Gardens – the oldest in Britain – and Sheldonian Theatre. You can even swap boat styles and try a spot of punting in a flat-bottomed boat on the River Cherwell.

This Oxfordshire narrow boat holiday is a lovely mix of laid-back cruising and beautiful scenery. If you’re looking for narrowboats to rent in Oxford, this route is an ideal way to explore both the lovely countryside that surrounds the city as well as exploring the city itself.

All routes from this base