Short break - midlands ??

[pomkitanner]

Expect to be back in UK next June after Greek island hopping. will have only about 5 days to spare , enough to fit in another hire for a few days . I like the idea of a short trip around perhaps the Stratford canal, / Worcester & Birmingham. Will have a first time visitor to UK along so looking to find a scenic area with plenty of villages en route . Any suggestions ? Will need to locate a hire Company with good travel connections from Heathrow ( time may be tight ) There will be 1 male and 2 females 50's and 60's . I am the only one with any previous hire experience ( twice ) Many thanks Derek

[arbutus]

How about a few days on The River Thames instead?

 

A different sort of experience to the narrow canals but lots of towns to explore and places to eat.

 

It’s Fairly close to Heathrow and the locks below Oxford are all manned.

 

It’s been a few years since I was last on the Thames so no up to date information unfortunately.

[pomkitanner]

Have previously done Oxford and the L & I prefer to do a narrow canal. My two shipmates will be both green and possibly nervous. So want to steer clear of the river.

[Graham Davis]

ABC at Alvechurch would suit your description, and reasonably easy to get to from Birmingham.

[matty40s]

You could do worse than look at Valley Cruisers who operate from Birmingham Road, Stratford (and also Coventry Basin).

If the river is benign, you can drop on to the Avon and do Evesham and back easily in the time, Anne hathaways cottage is also within walking distance of the hire basin.

Otherwise you can go up the Stratford and either of 3 ways at Lapworth (Hatton, Kings Norton, Catherine De Barnes)and still have plenty of time to return.

Edited October 7, 2015 by matty40s

[David Mack]

Public transport access to any of these places from Heathrow will either be by bus or via central London, and may also involve a taxi ride, so potentially time consuming and expensive for 3 adults. I would look into hiring a car which gives you much more choice of location. Its then a tradeoff between the cost of one day one way hires at the beginning and end of the trip or a return booking from Heathrow, with the car sat unused for most of the hire period.

[Graham Davis]

Railway access is good to Birmingham from London.

ABC at Alvechurch are right by the station, on the Redditch cross-City line.

Anglo Welsh at Wootton Wawen could be reached easily from Stratford Station.

[matty40s]

Heathrow to stratford taxi about £80-100.

Heathrow to Stratford by train- via marylebone- around £18 per person, about 3.5 hours.

[OldGoat]

Have previously done Oxford and the L & I prefer to do a narrow canal. My two shipmates will be both green and possibly nervous. So want to steer clear of the river.

 

Your choice but, The Thames (on the non-tidal) bit is not at all scary in the summer (!) when the flows are low.

The advantage for you - where time is short is that there are two hire bases within a 'gnat's whisker' of Heathrow - so near that the blurry planes wake me up early in the morning. I'm thinking of Kris Cruisers at Datchet - cruisers not narrowboats, but can be more comfortable and Canal Time (?) at Penton Hook marina. I'm amazed at how many bus routes run near the above to the airport.

 

Otherwise you'll be spending -most of - one day either way in getting to your hire base.

If you've done the Oxford and don't want to do it again, then you've really got to get to the Birmingham area to find something different.

 

I plug the Thames because - apart from its nearness - the locks are civilised with good long laybyes at either end as are the better moorings along your route. No leaping off the boat at inadequate lock landings as on the Oxford canal.

[pomkitanner]

Thanks everyone for the replies . As of now I am leaning toward Valley cruisers. I really did love the Oxford canal and all that it involves , especially navigating the locks. Much easier than we found on the wide L & L . This time my wife will be with me , so I want her to experience all that I have . While the Thames suggestion has its merits, its just not canal life , as I now know it . Also the History ,and local terrain of the midlands has much appeal for me. AND .... it has to be a narrowboat , no question .

Edited October 8, 2015 by pomkitanner

[robert anthony]

Mostly canals with a short trip on the river Severn

http://www.abcboathire.com/Canal-Boat-Routes/droitwich-ring/108.aspx

You could also travel up the W&B into Birmingham in the time you have available

[robert anthony]

Mostly canals with a short trip on the river Severn

http://www.abcboathire.com/Canal-Boat-Routes/droitwich-ring/108.aspx

You could also travel up the W&B into Birmingham in the time you have available

Although you would have to put in a couple of long days doing locks to get up and down the Tardebigge flight to get to Birmingham and back.

[David Mack]

Heathrow to stratford taxi about £80-100.

Heathrow to Stratford by train- via marylebone- around £18 per person, about 3.5 hours.

The lowest single fare I could find was more like twice that, but an offpeak return would be £39.20 per head, so maybe that is the way to go. At least the base in Stratford is only a few hundred yards from the station.

 

OP - if you search online for rail fares it will probably direct you to the Heathrow Express service which is very expensive. For your trip take the Piccadilly Line and Bakerloo Line tubes to Marylebone, and then a direct Chiltern service to Stratford. Note that you can't buy this fare or collect tickets for an online booking at Heathrow, so you may need to order ahead for delivery by post.

[OldGoat]

The lowest single fare I could find was more like twice that, but an offpeak return would be £39.20 per head, so maybe that is the way to go. At least the base in Stratford is only a few hundred yards from the station.

 

OP - if you search online for rail fares it will probably direct you to the Heathrow Express service which is very expensive. For your trip take the Piccadilly Line and Bakerloo Line tubes to Marylebone, and then a direct Chiltern service to Stratford. Note that you can't buy this fare or collect tickets for an online booking at Heathrow, so you may need to order ahead for delivery by post.

Seems daft to go 'back' into London -better to go 'forward' as it were.

Some Chiltern trains stop nearer LHR and methinks a short taxi trip to that station might work out cheaper overall as well as saving time.

Chiltern do some 30 day open return tickets which save as well. Best to look directly on their website.

Either of the Ruislips, Northolt Park. Catch the stopping train and change at High Wycombe (shuffle across the platform) thence eon to the ditchy stuff.

Chiltern seem / are often much cheaper that their larger competitors...

Edited October 9, 2015 by OldGoat

[pomkitanner]

OldGoat, on 09 Oct 2015 - 10:11 PM, said:

Seems daft to go 'back' into London -better to go 'forward' as it were.

Some Chiltern trains stop nearer LHR and methinks a short taxi trip to that station might work out cheaper overall as well as saving time.

Chiltern do some 30 day open return tickets which save as well. Best to look directly on their website.

Either of the Ruislips, Northolt Park. Catch the stopping train and change at High Wycombe (shuffle across the platform) thence eon to the ditchy stuff.

Chiltern seem / are often much cheaper that their larger competitors...

Have to confess the options above are difficult for this Kiwi to translate to the Trainline website . I tried to enter dates for LONDON - Stratford upon Avon , however website accepts bookings only till April. 27 weeks away

[David Mack]

Have to confess the options above are difficult for this Kiwi to translate to the Trainline website . I tried to enter dates for LONDON - Stratford upon Avon , however website accepts bookings only till April. 27 weeks away

DON'T use The Trainline. They will charge you a fee, whereas any of the train operating companies will issue tickets for free.

 

You could start at www.nationalrail.co.uk, to select your train and fare, and it will then direct you to the appropriate train operating company website to buy.

[Graham Davis]

DON'T use The Trainline. They will charge you a fee, whereas any of the train operating companies will issue tickets for free.

 

You could start at www.nationalrail.co.uk, to select your train and fare, and it will then direct you to the appropriate train operating company website to buy.

 

Agreed!! The Trainline are well known in the trade as not being the best provider!!

RedSpottedHanky have a much better reputation.

If you know who the main Train Operator is you can use their own website to book tickets; often they will be even cheaper.

In general you can only book 26 weeks in advance.

[pomkitanner]

Wow, Thanks, Great advice. I was under the impression The Train line was a British rail sanctioned site . But then again I guess British rail died with the Doctor !!

[john6767]

Wow, Thanks, Great advice. I was under the impression The Train line was a British rail sanctioned site . But then again I guess British rail died with the Doctor !!

The generic site to use is the nationalrail.co.uk mentioned. Just to give you a clue as to what was being suggested, if you look on there the direct Chiltern trains from London Marylebone to Stratford have their first stop at Gerrards Cross, so you could investigate getting a taxi from Heathrow to there rather than going into central London to Marylebone and back out.

[Dave_P]

If you're still thinking of Valley Cruisers and wanting to travel by train, please note that Stratford is a bit awkward to get to by train. You'll probably have to go to Birmingham and then get a rather slow train down to Stratford. That might eat into your boating time. An alternative would be to go to Warwick which is on the main line up from London (I think?) and hire from there. Kate Boats have a lovely looking hire fleet (nicer than Valley Cruisers in my opinion). You could easily head up and onto the Stratford canal in the time you have.

[OldGoat]

Duh!

Try again -

• visit - http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/routes-and-destinations
• Thereon you'll find a poorly presented map (well it was for IE 11) showing there is a direct route from London Marylebone to Stratford via Birmingham
• A sample open off peak return fare was £29.
• Their timetable is a mess at the moment because they are rebuilding one of their main stations and are also expecting the dire weather conditions know as 'leaves on the line'.
• They are also opening a route to Oxford and there's some upheaval at the moment
• You can buy tickets direct from the site or most likely at the station or on the train.
• Their staff are very helpful - try emailing them for next years prices conditions

We've used them on a couple of occasions and it's a good and inexpensive service when compared with others. The trainline is not at all good at planning an obvious route. For example we wanted to go to Penkridge on one trip and Stafford on another. It was best to buy a ticket on the train to get to Birminingham new street then a separate ticket from Moor Street to High Wycombe - save d about £50...

[Graham Davis]

Duh!

Try again -

• visit - http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/routes-and-destinations
• Thereon you'll find a poorly presented map (well it was for IE 11) showing there is a direct route from London Marylebone to Stratford via Birmingham
• A sample open off peak return fare was £29.
• Their timetable is a mess at the moment because they are rebuilding one of their main stations and are also expecting the dire weather conditions know as 'leaves on the line'.
• They are also opening a route to Oxford and there's some upheaval at the moment
• You can buy tickets direct from the site or most likely at the station or on the train.
• Their staff are very helpful - try emailing them for next years prices conditions

We've used them on a couple of occasions and it's a good and inexpensive service when compared with others. The trainline is not at all good at planning an obvious route. For example we wanted to go to Penkridge on one trip and Stafford on another. It was best to buy a ticket on the train to get to Birminingham new street then a separate ticket from Moor Street to High Wycombe - save d about £50...

 

Good advice, BUT, all the train companies are clamping down, so if there is a buying opportunity at the joining station, such as a ticket office or machine, then you must buy from there. You may also not be able to buy the full range of tickets on the train if the above applies.

To get the best deals apply for tickets at least 3 months in advance.

[blackrose]

 

Your choice but, The Thames (on the non-tidal) bit is not at all scary in the summer (!) when the flows are low.

 

Usually, but not always. I think it was 2007 when there were summer floods and red boards all down the river.

[David Mack]

To get the best deals apply for tickets at least 3 months in advance.

But advance tickets are usually only valid for a specific train. If the OP is flying into Heathrow the uncertainties of arrival time, the time to clear immigration, baggage reclaim and then get to Marylebone are such that unless he plans a long wait at Marylebone, he won't know which train he going to catch. Providing he is after the morning peak (if arriving on a weekday), an offpeak return valid on most trains would be his best bet.

[pomkitanner]

Seems opinions conflict, as always . As of now I am thinking I shall take a train from Marylebone via Warwick and on to Wilmcote ( for a Taxi to Wootten Warwen ) or on to Stratford for valley cruisers . Wootten has some attractive hire boats too. The National rail website offered a low £6 single advanced purchase fare ( dirt cheep ! ) Same fare offered on Chiltern railways . Will have time on hands as flight arrives early morning.

Edited October 10, 2015 by pomkitanner