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Spend two nights skirting England's Peak District National Park by canal on a private narrowboat tour that starts from Manchester and ends in Congleton! Take in the serene scenery of the Pennines while cruising by day, and spend two nights sleeping aboard your narrowboat - in a back-to-basics (yet comfortable) bunk-room bed.
No boating experience is necessary, but you're welcome to help out as much or as little as you like. Have a go at steering, help out with the locks, or simply relax and enjoy the scenery.
The Peak District National Park stretches over North Derbyshire and Cheshire - two northern counties that are typified by green moorland and the rolling hills of the Pennines, a low-rising mountain range. With pretty limestone villages, sheep and very little else, the area is popular with ramblers and countryside lovers who come to escape the nearby cities.
A network of little-known canals run alongside the Peak District valleys, forming part of the Pennine Waterways; while they were once important trade routes, today they're a hidden gem for visitors and locals alike, allowing you to see the Peak District from a totally different angle on your 2-night tour.
Leave Manchester and travel southeast by minibus to Bugsworth Basin on the edge of the Peak District. Board your narrowboat and cruise north back toward the pretty towns of New Mills or Disley, along a 15-mile (24-km) waterway called the Peak Forest Canal. Switch to the Macclesfield Canal, cutting along the foothills of the Pennines, and work your way southwest to the picturesque town of Congleton - roughly half an hour by train from central Manchester - where your tour ends.
Your narrowboat is driven by your hosts Mark and Ruth - a friendly couple who own the boat and have years of experience travelling the world and managing hostels. Throughout your tour an emphasis is put on 'pitching in'- helping with anything from lifting moveable bridges to steering your boat through the locks. Meals consist of hearty 'boat-cooked' fare and are eaten on board. Evenings are spent socializing around the onboard ale pump or visiting local pubs close to where you dock. Nights are spent in the comfortable bunk beds back on the boat. Back to basics this may be, but as a fun and unique way to see the North West of England, it's sure not to disappoint!
Please note: If traveling on Friday October 18th 2013, the tour operates the schedule in reverse. On Day 1 the tour departs from Congleton train station, and finishes at Bugsworth Basin on Day 3. You will be required to make your own way to the start point of the tour, and at the end your hosts can direct you back to Congleton train station or help you to arrange a taxi (own expense).
