If you have not visited north Shropshire before you may like some help in planning your holiday as to where to go on the Lass. Remember, you can choose how much or how little you do – canal boats travel at approximately 3mph, and this is a holiday not an endurance trial.
Relax and enjoy yourself, choose a route to suit the amount of activity you want to do. You should consider this as a leisure trip. The further you choose to cruise, the less time you will have to stop off and visit places of interest.
But in the end it depends on how long you plan to travel each day, how many people you have working the locks, how busy the canal is (and the locks in particular), how long you stop for lunch, the weather (a strong wind is difficult) etc etc. There is one very general rule that can cover the “average” situation – if you add the distance in miles to the number of locks and divide by 3, that’ll give you the time taken in hours.
Use the links below to compile your itinerary.
Click here for Get to know the Llangollen Canal
Use the Canal and River Trust’s webpage to get to know the Llangollen Canal. It will also give you updates on any emergency works and restrictions.
Click here for Boaters’ guides
The Canal and River Trust’s boaters’ guides can help you plan your journey. The boaters’ guides allow you to select a waterway and then download a PDF listing the information the Trust has on our facilities and stoppages. Please note that some of the data may not be the most up-to-date and you should cross reference with the other guides that are commercially available.
Should you wish to access the Montgomery Canal, the locks are only open midday to 2pm each day. A maximum of 12 boats per day are allowed through the locks so it is advisable to book in advance. Contact the Canal and River Trust on 0303 040 4040 or 01606 786777.
Llangollen and Return
Approximate 6 nights, cruising time per day approximate 4 hours, total locks 4 and route time approximate 17 hours.
The Llangollen Cana has some beautiful scenery and breath taking engineering and is one of the most popular canals in Britain. It combines the gentle countryside of Shropshire with magnificent Wales. It boasts one of the most striking features on the UK network, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (see our page on the Aqueduct’s history), which you will have to travel across before you get to Llangollen. Unusually, this canal has a flow of 2mph as it feeds other canals, so the outbound journey will always be slower than on the other way back. Visitor mooring in Llangollen are now available but charges do apply and you need to arrive by 4.30pm. You holiday could be a leisurely cruise and spend time enjoying the activities around Llangollen (www.llangollen.org.uk) or you could decide to return and either go down the Montgomery Canal or up to Whitchurch. You must pre-book your passage if you plan to travel down the Montgomery Canal.
For further details about where to go on the Lass just get in touch