Waterways Experiences
We are an all-volunteer charity operating three canal boats from a beautifully landscaped boat base on the Grand Union Canal near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. We enable everyone, regardless of age, physical ability or social disadvantage to experience the fun and the beauty of our waterways.
*** Booking Availability Update ***
We hope we can find you a date for your trip but we are extremely busy this year.
Sheldrake 3, which takes up to 35 passengers, is now fully booked through to the end of the year.
Our smaller boats, which take up to 12 passengers, Sheldrake 2 and Close Shave, have availability from the second week of October.
Note: You need to book at least one month before the date of your trip.
Bookings for 2025 opened on 1/8/24
Ways to give
Will you provide funding to help share our passion for the waterways with those who are disadvantaged or disabled? Whether you are an individual, company, or local authority, we can provide you with a solution to your local charitable giving. As a supporter you can see for yourself the difference your support is making.
Latest news from Waterways Experiences
Facebook Reviews
Thankyou to everyoneread more
Even tho we broke down by some naughty person who through there shorts in... the canal at a previous time, only to get caught in our propeller! Then around the corner was a barge astray unhooked and across the canal so had to wait for that to be made safe.
All in all we had an adventurous time and the residents from St Matthews thoroughly enjoyed the adventure.read more
The very helpful and lovely lady Sue helped... immensely with the initial booking, and was there to greet us yesterday morning. The Skipper and Crew were an absolutely fantastic, friendly bunch of people and seemed to take a lot of pride in what they were doing. This could be said for how the boat looked when we got on … so clean! The 7 hours we were on board flew by which rings true with the saying ‘Time Flies When You’re Having Fun’!!!
It was all Thumbs Up 👍🏻 to the Waterways Experience!!!read more
Volunteer Staff were a... great help all thorough.
Really enjoyable day and we will definitely do it againread more
They were able to help with my Mum's wheelchair as well which was amazing 😊read more
The children loved being involved, steering the barge and opening/closing the locks.
Highly recommend for all ages!read more
We will definitely return again ! Big thanks from the Warner Familyread more
The guys who took us out were all volunteers and looked after us fantastically.read more
From the moment we arrived to board ‘Close Shave’ the volunteers... could not have been more accommodating.
They helped us carry on the mountain of food and drink that we brought with us, and cheerfully explained what we needed to know before setting off.
The boat is well equipped, comfortable with plenty of seating and table space, plus lots of windows so you don’t miss the passing scenery.
You can help with the locks, or steer the boat, with guidance. We went as far as the Winkwell Pub, before turning round and making our way back to base. Our next trip (we’ve decided to make it a new Christmas tradition now!), we’ll hopefully go in the other direction.
We were lucky enough to have a lovely, bright, chilly day, so some of us spent quite a bit of time outside on deck, whilst others were happy to stay cosy inside.
I really can’t say enough how much we all enjoyed this day out - something a bit different for all of us.
The volunteers are amazing!read more
Thanks for arranging the weather !!!
Clean, spacious and lovely crew made the trip a wonderful... experience.read more
As a plus we did enjoy our fish and chips 😋.
Would definitely recommend
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️read more