4-Day Narrowboat Adventure from Manchester to the Peak District

Manchester, United Kingdom

Spend four days on a narrowboat adventure from the urban canals of Manchester to the rolling hills of the Peak District! While exploring the region’s little-used network of canals, help the boat’s hosts and get involved with all aspects of narrowboat cruising, such as navigating locks, moving gates and more. Boating experience isn’t necessary; all that’s required is an adventurous spirit and a good standard of fitness to cope with the physical demands of narrowboat cruising. Boat-cooked meals are included, as well as free time to visit the bars of Manchester and enjoy a walk to historic mill ruins in Torrs Riverside Park.

Meet your fellow group members and your form of transport: a narrowboat, just outside Manchester After hopping on board, you will be shown around the homely accommodation. The tour is about working together with your fellow guests and getting involved. You will be helping out with anything from lifting moveable bridges to guiding your boat through the locks. Evenings are spent socializing in the cozy lounge around the on-board honesty bar, playing games or visiting local pubs close to where you moor. Nights are spent in the comfortable bunk beds back on the boat.

The route on your adventure tour takes in 43 locks in total, each of which have three gates that individually weigh up to 4,410 lbs (2 tonnes) and require opening and closing by hand. It’s estimated that between 2 and 5 hours a day are spent working the locks, you can help with as many of the locks as you wish, so roll up your sleeves and get stuck in to the action!

Your 4-day tour takes in vibrant areas of Manchester such as Deansgate Locks and the Gay Village, while cutting under roads and even beneath a hotel; it’s a route that few visitors—and even locals—will not have experienced! Alongside the slicker city sights, the tour also takes in some of the unused industrial sights to remind you why the canals were built in the first place: for industry. See derelict mills and old factories, and experience some of the uglier sides of urban boating, such as fishing the odd shopping trolley out of the canals!

After exploring the city, head out along the Pennine Waterways towards the Peak District National Park, and spend your final two days enjoying some of England’s finest countryside. Your tour then finishes in Whaley Bridge (roughly 40-minutes from Manchester by train).