You can do all your canal vacation planning and booking over the Internet. Our Canal Junction Canal Guides let you choose a canal or area first, then visit the websites of the different 'hire' (rental) firms to see the boats and the routes that they can offer. Most of the companies we list are family run and you talk and book directly with them, no 'middlemen' getting in the way and taking their cut! Britain is a fairly compact country and has efficient transport systems. The northern most English canals are no more than 3 hours by train from London and if you fly into Manchester or Birmingham airports for instance you could be at any one of dozens of canalside boatyards by taxi or bus in under an hour. When you rent a boat or book a hotelboat cruise you will get detailed information on how to reach them. You don't have to book well in advance, many of the hire companies will have last minute options. Offers will feature on our Hireboats2go websit, an online search facility for late availability canal holidays from over 50 family run hire companies. There are often hundreds of late booking boats. We've a full section in our Canal Junction website explaining everything about canal vacations.       Planning your vacation Canal Vacations promotes the wonderful leisure opportunities on UK canals. We don't offer boats or vacations of our own! Our sister site Canal Junction has links to recommended Barge Hire Firms Plan Now via Canal Junction!