Any of you fine photographers been canal boating in Europe?

I thought this would be a nice way to go about Europe, especially since you

can sleep on board and don't have to worry about finding a room when you

just want to roam around with a moped on board. My first thoughts of boating

were of going thru France, but I am sure there are many more possibilites

available for this sort of excursion. Does anyone have any experiences and

insights they can relate about doing such a trip.

Only in England - it's worth bearing in mind that you are often very low down n the landscape - but very very relaxing and some photo opportunities that would be hard come by in any other way. A lot of wildlife ignores boats but would retreat hastily from a single human - strange but true.

Well, I am not a fine photographer but I have been on a number of canal boat trips in the UK.

 

Depending where you travel, there is a variety of scenery; small towns, post-industrial areas, flat open countryside, dramatic aqueducts 100s of feet high, castle walls. Some canals even reach fairly hilly areas where you get better views.

 

The pace of advance is slow, 3-5 miles per hour, not including the time taken to get through locks. All the hire companies have recommended routes and you can buy map books showing the locks and expect transit time, so you can plan your trip. Circular trips are possible on some systems, given enough time.

 

Here is the Anglo-Welsh web site address, www.anglowelsh.co.uk. A quick Google should find you some of the other companies.

 

I've heard that France is also good. The canals and locks are wider so you do not have the 'narrow boat' experience. I don't know anything about the rest of Europe for this kind of holiday.

 

Given the small space available on a narrow boat, good weather is definitely recommended as you will want to spend a lot of time ourside. Modern boats have all the home comforts, TV, microwave, central heating and so on, but if you use the shower a lot you need to make sure your water is filled up regularly.

I don't know if you'll be spending the night on board your vessel...but I have a friend who took a boat through some of England.

The cabins are not air conditioned (not that I would expect them to be) and he said the heat was very bad (his trip was in summer). He only had a small fan for next to no relief.

Well, I would say Brugges in Belgium is very photogenic and great for boating. Also Amsterdam.

You should also consider the Caledonian Canal which runs from the east coast of Scotland at Inverness out to Loch Linnhe/Loch Eil on the west coast, via Loch Ness, Loch Oich, Loch Lochy, etc; you won't find scenery much better than that anywhere in the world. Yes, canals are fairly flat, but the landscape around the Caledonian Canal is anything but flat.