1-hour Public Cruise

A very good leisurely cruise along the Liverpool to Leeds canal in a comfortable vintage canal boat. As mentioned on previous reviews the commentary was informative and humorous. Once out of Skipton town the countryside was impressive. A good ‘chill out’ hour with good views.

Great your on the river in york, uk! Very comforters to see and learn about the city!

Brill hour. Info was great and funny. Staff were great. Nice boat!

An amazing one hour trip, well worth booking.

Really enjoyed our hour afloat despite the fact we were staying at The Skipton Hotel so had walked the route a few times! The commentary was hilarious. We thought it might be a free for all getting on but it was very well organised and our reserved seats were on the front row so we had a great view. We had hoped to book the afternoon tea cruise but it was fully booked. We would definitely go again.

Really fun way to spend an hour. Fun from start till finish.

A nice little trip on a lovely afternoon spoiled by the commentary by Dave Spikey trying to be funny.

Wish it was only half an hour. Too boring for an hour. The boat was too low couldn't really see anything , recorded commentary which you couldn't always hear. Some history factors were good but half an our would of been enough. Couldn't wait to get off!

Great experience, very professionally run with allocated seats. Commentary on the boat was very fitting and very funny in parts. Enjoyable experience.

we left and arrived back on time. The commentary was mainly amusing and informative, especially if you are a fan of Dave Spikey. The staff were all firendly and welcoming. A very pleasant hour/

This was a lovely little boat trip , in the countryside, commentary was funny and informative , such a nice way to spend an hour .staff were helpful. Many thanks.

A nice way to spend an hour on a sunny day,the running commentary was informative and quite funny.You can get a drink if you want to onboard.

Very pleasant way to spend an hour on the water.

Arrived late due to traffic. I spoke to the guy welcome people on to another boat, I explained or situation, I knew it was the last boat of the day. His reaction was, without actually saying it, ‘tuff’, so a round trip of over 120 mile plus 2 ticket, for a ‘we don’t care attitude’ , thanks for the great day out. If this is what Yorkshire hospitality has become, I’m so glad I moved to Lincolnshire.

I was given a gift voucher as a present. Booked a lovely hour trip along the canal. Very friendly staff, good commentary. Very relaxed . It does get booked up a lot by excursions so if you want to go on a particular day book well ahead. The seats are quite tight for leg room but it was a very nice trip.

While in Skipton walked on canal lucky to see a boat was leaving at 11.30am had an hour cruising down the canal, great value £10.00 per person, very clean barge and well kept you could have coffee/tea also a toilet on board. Excellent value and a great leisurely trip, saw lots of wildlife would definitely recommend this if visiting Skipton.

One hour boat trip with commentary by Dave Spikey, very humorous talking about the area,canal etc, unfortunately lots of people were talking over the tape which was very annoying, but not the boat companies fault just ignorant people.

For a small additional fee we booked a one hour river cruise when booking steam train tickets from nearby Bolton Abbey. This made it a full day out and a very enjoyable relaxing experience. The tours are well run with allocated seating, onboard bar and toilet. We were fortunate to have a glorious day but this would actually be an excellent rainy day activity too. Plenty of parking available in the pay & display car park in Coach Street which is a very short walk away.

A lovely way to spend an hour floating down the river…

Delightful cruise on the cut. Excellent commentry by Dave starkly

Pleasant hour out on the boat on a Friday afternoon, the recorded commentary added something even if the jokes were a little cheesy. Can't fault the value for money but would have preferred to choose our own seats as the front ones were small and you are very close your neighbour. Overall though an enjoyable time

We did the Skipton boat trip on Easter Sunday with our family of 5 (2 adults & 3 children). The one hour trip was much enjoyed by the adults although the kids were starting to get a bit restless towards the end but this would not put us off booking again. Thank you.

I was very surprised about the host. Very cool and made funny moments. Plenty jokes to remember and a very nice way of storytelling.

Really lovely way to spend an hour. The boat was a fine vessel, the young chaps were helpful and courteous, the audio commentary by Dave Spiky was hilarious and informative. It was a great way to learn about some of Skipton history in a calm, relaxed, fun way.

We enjoyed the boat trip, the commentator was very funny at the start of the trip but we couldn’t hear him telling us the rest of the tour because of everyone on board talking, I know that’s not his fault but I would of like to here what he was saying, overall we enjoyed it.

Couldn't wait to get off. Cramped seating. The whole cruise was spoilt by a group of loud and noisy people, who drowned out the commentary, despite the volume being turn up. Polite intervention by the crew sholud have taken place but didn't happen.

All in all a really good trip, set off on time, docked back in on time. The commentary with Dave is very funny and informative about the local area, just needs updating now and again, for locals that know. For the trip I was out in my support role but the young man enjoyed the scenery on the water as opposed to walking the paths. The added bonus of a bar on board is great, so all in all a great trip. Just worth bearing in mind,bookingdirect was going to cost just over £26 but on the site I used, it cost £20 great for us, but if there's a few if you worth bearing in mind.

Perfect day, with interesting information during the tour.

Lovely little canal trip. Great commentary by Dave Spikey, informative, but funny & entertaining. Great learning about the history of the canal. A very enjoyable hour. We enjoyed a drink at the Boathouse pub right by where the boats are before our trip.

We had an enjoyable cruise along the canal with a very witty commentary. The staff were very welcoming and friendly. A very reasonable price too

I took my dog who was very well behaved and thanks for accepting dogs. It’s a good trip and the commentary (when you could hear it) was humorous while being informative; it’s just a pity people talk over the top of commentaries which I find frustrating and am left wondering why they bother to do trips like this. The length of trip is about right. The only downside was having to queue to get into a tiny office to pick up a boarding pass; this despite most people having booked and paid on-line which surely should be all you need to show at the boat. I raise this as there is no under cover shelter when queuing to collect the boarding pass which would see passengers soaked through in heavy rain. I think that needs to change or a shelter built.

Had a trip on the Leeds Liverpool canal with pennine cruisers. 1 hour journey cost £10 each and you could have refreshments on board. Very relaxing.

Fabulous little trip would highly recommend.. very knowledgeable and humorous guide. A different view of skipton. Beautiful architecture and a history worth knowing.

A good value trip that gives a good taster of this part of Skipton. Just a few things to add: luckily it was not raining as where you queue there is no shelter. Most people would have had their confirmation on their phone as you book in advance so why you then have to be squeezed into a tiny office for a boarding pass is a mystery and this part of the trip could be streamlined especially with weather changes in mind! The commentary on board was both informative and very funny though as is usually the case people talked over the top of it which I always find frustrating and inconsiderate of the guide and others

Hello, we booked and arrived but the tour was cut short due to a problem with one of the gates - we were given the option to get our money back or re-book. I was told I could call later and let them know, mainly because I wanted to rebook but didn't have our schedule so I wanted to check it first. Anyway, my husband went back to the office and advised them that we wanted a refund as we would not be able to take the trip. The girl at the desk said she would let someone know. We have yet to receive our refund (this was in August 2025). Can you please respond? Dickinson is the last name.

Excellent trip. Everyone is assigned a seat, so no pushing to be first on. The crew were all friendly and helpful, the boat trip was really relaxing and the recorded commentary from Dave Spikey was very amusing and informative. We had a hot chocolate each, very reasonably priced. Snacks and alcohol were available too. Would definitely recommend it!

We all enjoyed the trip. Friendly staff, answered children's questions without loosing patience as can happen. Will do this again.

Despite awful weather we still enjoyed our hour's journey. The crew were very friendly and helpful. We would go again, hopefully when the sun was shining.

Nice, relaxing boat trip, with pleasant views and very comfortable seats. The boat was covered, and there was a toilet onboard, and a bar to buy snacks and drinks - and little trays on the seats like you get on trains. The commentary they played along the way was full of jokes, to an extent that I might have found it annoying, but there were intervals. Seats were allocated, which I was happy about because I was on my own and worried about not getting a window seat - as it was, I had a double to myself. And dogs are allowed on; the ones near me were perfectly well behaved, but maybe not everyone would like that. We passed by a couple of swing bridges, which the team were very efficient at opening with no wait for the boat. Overall, it was definitely worth the £10 I paid, and is making me consider one of their longer trips.

Excellent fun commentary with local information while cruising along the canal. Boat crew well organised & full safety information given. Really pleasant trip. Other passengers were of all ages from young children to older people. Onboard toilet & bar. Highly recommended!

Enjoyable hour cruise on canal. Commentary with entertaining and the drinks on board were a reasonable price. Booked online and did find it a little difficult to find correct boat company whoever everyone with friendly and helpful 😁

Lovely relaxing boat ride with a funny but informative commentary throughout the trip. They also provided snacks and drinks onboard if required at a very reasonable price.

Well spent hour slowly cruising on the barge up the Leeds Canal. Drinks bar (alcohol and soft) for those that wanted it, comic audio commentary provided interspersed with music. Funny, relaxing trip

It was a lovely peaceful ride with a bit of comedy added by the team. The staff were brilliant, friendly, easy to approach and happy to help. It was something different that we had not done before. Not a lot to see for kids though, some may get bored fairly quickly.

This was a pleasant experience - it was very relaxing watching the scenery. The only downside was that the commentary was impossible to hear.

A really relaxing hour and the commentary was very informative and witty. Booking was extremely easy and didn’t have to wait long as seats were allocated at time of booking. We had our disabled son with us and the staff were extremely helpful with us. The weather helped as a beautiful sunny day so a lovely way to spend an hour.

Great way to enjoy and learn more about the canal on this guided one hour cruise Helpful booking arrangements. Great commentary from Spikey Only downside was a family with one very noisy and out of control child

Great experience with very funny guide. Just a chilling re;axing cruise along the Leeds/Liverpool canal. Well worth it.

The staff were brilliant, the pre recorded commentary was hilarious, views amazing. We definitely will be booking one of the other trips available in the future.