Hi all.
I have owned boats of one sort of another since the early 70's & have extensive experience of both the tidal & non-tidal Thames & the Medway. We sold our last Thames based cruiser in 2006 but we have also hired cruisers on the Norfolk Broads where we now live. We have considerable boating experience, including lock operation & sea passages. Although I have never skippered a canal boat before, I am pretty confident I'l get the hang of it pretty quickly & so we are thinking of taking an initial, 4 days autumn canal boat break on the Grand Union Canal. Our time will obviously be limited & we don't really want to be cruising more than around 4 hours a day. I know the canal stretches from the Thames up into Birmingham & so is quiet extensive so, bearing in mind our short hire, can anyone advise the best location for us to start our cruise to appreciate & experience some of the best/most interesting parts of the canal?