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The Kennet & Avon canal is 86 miles long and runs between Bath and Newbury. Along its length you’ll find 106 locks and one tunnel and it would take you at least a week to cruise. The canal was built to accommodate wide beam boats, so all of the locks can take vessels of up to 73 feet long by 13 feet 10 inches wide. Linking with the Thames at one end and the Avon at the other the canal provides the link between the two and winds though the most beautiful English countryside across 4 counties. It was once the main industrial transport route from West to East of the country, and fell into disrepair as the faster railways took over the transportation of trade to London. It was only reopened in 1990 after decades of dereliction.

From the West, the Avon Navigation cuts through wooded hills and the picturesque Avon Gorge on its way to Bristol and then onto the canal, meandering up to Bath. The canal then climbs through the World Heritage City of Bath and onto the pretty historic towns and villages of Bathampton, Avoncliffe and Bradford on Avon, running parallel to the river and past its famous Tythe barn. The impressive engineering of the Caen flight of locks to Devizes follows and runs amidst rolling hillsides along the Vale of Pewsey towards Hungerford to descend through fields, woods and water meadows on to Reading and the junction with the River Thames.