Uberboat and Waverley Paddle Steamer among best boat trips in UK
Step aboard the world’s last ocean-going paddle steamer and a handful of other fascinating vessels plying UK waters.
Boat journeys are hardwired into Britain’s island psyche and offer a perspective of scenery that no walker can hope to see in the same way. And with thousands of kilometres of coast and beautiful lakes to discover, there are plenty of options.
Waverley Paddle Steamer, Glasgow
Since January, £168,000 ($316,000) in donations has been raised to keep the Waverley afloat, such is the public’s affection for the world’s last seagoing paddle steamer. It’s a beauty from 1946; knife-fine at the bow and jaunty of funnels. While a British tour this year will take the ship to the Solent and Bristol Channel, it’s in native waters on the Clyde, the wellspring of British shipbuilding, that it appears most majestic. From June 23 to August 27, passengers can board for a Glasgow & Clyde Coast summer sailing (adults from £30/$56, children from £1); the Friday round trip from Glasgow to the Isle of Bute is a classic.
STAY Bunk down in the former HQ of the Anchor Line Shipping Company, now the apartment hotel Native Glasgow; from about $220 a night, twin-share, with breakfast.
Uber Boat by Thames Clippers, London
It was billed as a commuter river bus when it launched with just one boat in 1999, but who are they kidding? In a capital built around its river, this is the best sightseeing journey going, and the fleet is now 20-strong, which means less waiting time. Embark at naval Greenwich and watch the history of the city unfurl on a route that zigzags upriver between 15 piers, from the financial hub of Canary Wharf to the Tower of London and on to Westminster and Battersea Power Station (adults £9.40 one-way, children half-price, under-4s free). Limited services continue to Putney, where you’ll find the “finest pies in the land”, served with salad, mash or fries and gravy.
STAY Sea Containers on Bankside, close to Blackfriars Bridge, makes a good base for pier-hopping; from about $415 a night, twin-share.
Rib ride, Anglesey
The smaller the boat, the greater the sense of adventure. That’s why you’ll be swapping the usual cruiser from Anglesey to Ynys Seiriol (Puffin Island) for a 90-minute round trip in a high-powered rigid inflatable boat (RIB). It’s quite a ride. From Menai Bridge you pass the pastel-coloured town of Beaumaris, from where the cloud-cloaked peaks of Snowdonia are visible in the distance. Then jet out of the Menai Strait into the Irish Sea towards the seabird sanctuary. That’s where the other benefit of a small boat becomes apparent; a RIB can nose into gulleys and edge into sea caves (£42 a person). Go before the end of August if you want to see puffins.
STAYBook a room at the grade II-listed Bull’s Head Inn; from about $170 a night, twin-share, with breakfast.
Sailing Trawler, Brixham, Devon
There may be debates about the best cruise in the southwest. There’s sealife (dolphins, seals and puffins) from Padstow and dreamy sails up the Helford and Dart rivers. For scenery and salty romance, however, it has to be Pilgrim. Having sailed the bosky south Devon coast when Queen Victoria was on the throne, the charity-owned 74ft sailing trawler now offers day and half-day sails from Brixham from April to October. Hoist sails, take the helm or simply experience time unspooling on a traditional vessel. Either way you’re helping to preserve a piece of maritime heritage (from £69 a person).
STAYThe Cary Arms is a 45-minute drive around the bay, or 30-minute ferry ride across it; from about $430 a night, twin-share, with breakfast.
Ullswater Steamer, Cumbria
Slog up mountains if you want to. I’d rather enjoy the Lake District from a vintage Ulls-water steamer. They’re splendid craft from a more genteel age. Not that you’ll necessarily notice given the scenery from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding. As you float south for more than an hour, comely hills give way to stacked mountains and the razor edge of Helvellyn. Some passengers use the trip as transport to a trailhead. But after an ice cream and a wander, the return passage might look equally appealing (adults £13 one-way, children £9, under-2s free).
STAY Another Place for sharp lakeside style; from about $450 a night, twin-share, with breakfast.
Seal Boats, Blakeney, Norfolk
Wildlife cruises generally sail with the caveat that sightings aren’t guaranteed. That’s because most aren’t in north Norfolk. The wooden craft of Bishop’s Boats (from Blakeney) and Beans Boats (from Morston Quay) deliver Britain’s most consistent nature cruises, chugging through the salt marsh beneath huge, billowing skies. Ahead is Blakeney Point, England’s largest seal colony, where about 4000 pups (common seals from June to August; greys from November to January) are born each year. Round trips last about an hour. Outside the pupping season Beans allows passengers to disembark (adults £20, children £10, under-2s free). This is Norfolk at its traditional, understated best.
STAY The lovely Blakeney Hotel; from about $325 a night, twin-share, with breakfast.
SS Shieldhall, Southampton, Hampshire
There is no doubting Southampton’s seafaring heritage, with ships from the Titanic to Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 having set off from these docks. Smaller in scale but also historically important is SS Shieldhall, a working steamship. Built in the 1950s as a sludge boat on the River Clyde, Shieldhall has been restored by volunteers and now makes regular excursions around the Solent from June to September. Special events include sailings to see ships at Cowes Week as well as full-day trips along the New Forest’s coastline (adults from £40, children from £14).
STAY Ennios boutique hotel is in a former luggage warehouse and over the road from the docks; from about $235 a night, twin-share.
THE TIMES
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