Where to go

[larkshall]

Hi

 

want to take a 6 year old on a narrowboat holiday. What canal/area would have the most things to see and do?

[casper ghost]

I'll start off by suggesting the Llangollen. Great scenery, 2 large aqueducts, 2 tunnels. Allow more time than most so you can explore the lakes at Ellesmere and the town of Llangollen. My cousin came back Yesterday from doing that canal with her 6 and 3 year olds. They had a great time, helped by very good weather..

[RLWP]

For a six year old, it doesn't really matter where you go. What they will appreciate is being able to do what they want when they want. They will sit at the front and watch the ducks, visit the back to do some steering, spend time with people if they want or go inside and do some colouring or reading, and generally have a great time.

 

Boats and small children are a great holiday. I doubt they will remember much about where they have been.

 

Richard

[Rustykev]

I'll start off by suggesting the Llangollen. Great scenery, 2 large aqueducts, 2 tunnels. Allow more time than most so you can explore the lakes at Ellesmere and the town of Llangollen. My cousin came back Yesterday from doing that canal with her 6 and 3 year olds. They had a great time, helped by very good weather..

 

 

Our kids loved the Llangollen, especially the road crossings... they patiently waited with their BW key until a car approached, then operated the barriers Needless to say, they looked forward to the return.

 

They were older than 6 mind you.

[RichardH]

Some would say I am biased but there is more to do off the canal on the Leeds Liverpool than the Llangollen - we took the kids on the Llangollen last year and they were pretty bored (ours are 7 and 2).

 

With the L&L there are towns on route such as Skipton where there is the castle and a steam railway.

 

The key to this is press your hire company for what activities they recommend off the canal for children.

[magpie patrick]

bear in mind

 

1) you have to manage a boat and a six year old. I'd caution against the L and L or any canal with too many locks for this reason (the L and L locks are heavy and wide) unless you have three adults on board.

 

2) Six year olds want six year old activities, and stopping in a village to play in the local park usually goes down a treat

 

3) they won't enjoy what you expect and you will see the world through new eyes afterwards. Slightly off topic, but when I took a friends six year old to a rugby match, he was excited at seeing "the ball kicked through the big H" but what really made an imprsssion was the disembodied voice from the tannoy and the floodlights.