Did you know canal and river boats can be specially adapted for people in a wheelchair or with reduced mobility? There are a number of organisations across our waterways offering this service.
Wheelchair users enjoy the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
Everyone deserves to enjoy our canals and rivers and the unique experiences they have to offer.
For people in wheelchairs, or those who find moving around difficult, a specially adapted boat may open up new opportunities.
If you run a boating business and would like to advertise your services to a wider audience, please look at creating a listing within our directory.
Accessible boat trips
You'll find two of our own trip boats are accessible for manual wheelchairs. One is at our National Waterways Museum in Gloucester and the other is at our Anderton Boat Lift.
The following organisations also tell us they offer accessible boat trips, but please contact them for confirmation and up-to-date information. Please also be aware that this list is not exhaustive.
- Robert Munday operating 'Litania', 07450 423975. Offers trips for families and groups with additional needs. Also offers boat handling and canal skills training on the Kennet & Avon Canal
- CanalAbility on the River Stort
- Lee & Stort Boat Company
- The Lyneal Trust on the Llangollen Canal
- Peter Le Marchant Trust on the River Soar
- Wirral Community Narrowboat
- Vale of Llangollen Canal Boat Trust
- Heulwen Trust on the Montgomery Canal
- New Horizons on the Peak Forest Canal
- Hargreaves Narrowboat Trust on the Coventry, Ashby and Oxford canals
- Willow Trust on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal
- Skipton & Craven Action for Disability on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
- Baldwin Trust on the River Soar
- Mary Sunley Narrowboat Trust on the Macclesfield Canal
- Ethel Trust Community Barge on the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigations
- Nottingham Narrow Boat Project
- Earnest Thomas narrowboat offer trips from Wolverhampton
- Truman Enterprise Narrowboat Trust offer trips on the Staffordshire & Worcester Canal
- Wildside Activity Centre offer trip on the Staffordshire & Worcester Canal
- Chesterfield Canal Trust have trip boats in four locations on the Chesterfield Canal
- Somerset Boat Centre run accessible boats on the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal
Accessible boat hire on our network
The following companies have self-drive hire boats available for holidays, from a weekend break to several weeks.
Again, please contact the organisation directly for up-to-date details and confirmation. This list is not exhaustive.
- Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People has one wide-beam boat based near Berkhampsted on the Grand Union Canal with access to London and as far north as Warwick
- The Bruce Wake Charitable Trust has one wide-beam and one narrowboat based at Upton on Severn on the River Severn
- Bruce Boats - Kennet & Avon Canal Trust (no connection with the Bruce Wake Trust above) is the contact for four wide-beam boats at Great Bedwyn, near Marlborough on the Kennet & Avon Canal
- CanalAbility has wide-beam boats at Harlow on the Lee & Stort navigations with access to the Regents Canal, Paddington Arm and Grand Union Canal
- The Peter le Marchant Trust has one narrowboat for hire on the River Soar at Loughborough
- The Lyneal Trust has one narrowboat based at Lyneal, near Ellesmere, on the Llangollen Canal with access to the Montgomery and Shropshire Union canals
- Swinton Lock Activity Centre has an accessible boat for hire on the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation
- Wirral Community Narrowboat Trust have boats for hire on the Llangollen, Shropshire Union and Trent & Mersey canals
- Nottingham Narrow Boat Project offer hire on the River Trent from Nottingham
- Canal Breaks, based on the North Oxford Canal in the Midlands, offer an accessible boat (Beatrice) for holiday hire
Accessible boat hire outside our network
- Canal & River Tours boat trips on the Warwickshire River Avon
- Accessible Boating trips and boat hire on the Basingstoke Canal
- The Seagull Trust on the Scottish canals
- All Aboard Manchester on the Bridgewater Canal
Further information
Other websites offer information about accessible hire boat operators, such as Waterways Holidays and Narrow Boating Holidays.
Please note that this information is given in good faith. We cannot take responsibility for content on third-party sites.
Last date edited: 8 September 2020