Saffer

We hired from Foxhangers in September 2007 and were more than satisfied with our boat which was very clean and well appointed. As an aside Bradford on Avon was my favourite spot on the K & A, we really enjoyed wandering around the town with its delightful old architecture.

In addition to the places already mentioned think about Warwick, there seems to be lots to do there, and I loved the castle when we went there (although that is a few years ago now). Depending on what you are interested in there may be some places in the Milton Keynes area too - for example, the peace gardens near Willen Lake Hi Catrin Thanks for your reply. We start our trip on Sat 25th April and will be cruising for 2 weeks. We know Milton Keynes quite well as our daughter lives there and have done a lot of sightseeing in that immediate area. We had been gongoozelers at Willen Lake, Stoke Bruerne and Soulbury Locks and eventually in 2007 decided it was time to take to the water ourselves. The main reason for choosing Leighton Buzzard as a starting point was so that we could spend some time with our daughter on weekends and, where possible, after she finishes work. You'll like the Wyvern boats - they are well presented, and they have been doing it long enough they get most things right. Hi Alan Thanks for the encouragement with regards to Wyvern.

Hi Jake, thanks for your reply and advice. Certainly did not want to start up the owner/hirer debate again, just an observation that we found most folk on the K & A very friendly. We start on on Sat 25th April for two weeks and as much as we enjoy being on the water we would also like to do some sightseeing away from immediate canal vicinity but preferably within easy walking distance. Gardens and pleasant /historic villages would be of most interest to us.

Hello all We have just booked our second narrow boat holiday, the first being 10 days on the K & A from Foxhangers to Bristol and back in early September 2007. We had a fabulous trip, exceptionally good weather and returned our temporary floating home to base determined to hire again as soon as it was financially possible. This time we have chosen the Grand Union setting off from Leighton Buzzard and heading north and back over two weeks and would welcome any tips and information that other forum users could offer. We plan to cruise on average no more than 5 hours per day to leave time for sightseeing and since it will be Spring would really like to visit gardens of interest along our route. We are not sure yet how far north we will go as we would like to take in the leg to Leamington Spa as well. I have just finished reading the forum on miserable boat owners and the owner/hirer and north/south debate. Phew some people have pretty strong views. Whilst certainly not experienced narrow boaters we do have fairly extensive motor boat and sailing experience and this probably helped us get the hang of things pretty quickly - no mishaps or collisions at all and with one exception (boat owner) all the folk we met were friendly. Could not help noticing however that in every instance that we came across a boat moored at a bridge or lock approach it was a boat owner and not a hirer. We were a bit concerned to see some weekend hirers drinking non-stop whilst cruising and wondered if there were any rules or guidelines regarding cruising whilst drinking. Whilst we certainly enjoy a drink or two we never drank whilst underway, only once safely moored up for the night.