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Nantwich Canal Centre to Llangollen by narrowboat

It is 46 miles and 21 locks from Nantwich Canal Centre to Llangollen, about 18 hours 31 minutes of cruising, comfortably done in 4 days at 6 hours a day. The route is checked against live closure notices - 9 active stoppages currently affect its waterways, and the plan below works around or waits out what it can (last checked 28 Aug 2026).

46 miles
21 locks
18 h 31 min cruising
4 days at 6 h/day

Recalculated 6 Aug 2026 against live closures.

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The most popular hire cruise in Britain, for good reason. From the Nantwich Canal Centre the route runs briefly along the Shropshire Union before turning at Hurleston Junction onto the Llangollen Canal, climbing through Wrenbury and the Grindley Brook staircase into the meres and mosses around Ellesmere. The reward at the far end is Chirk Aqueduct and then Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, carrying the canal 126 feet above the River Dee on Telford’s World Heritage masterpiece, before the narrow final miles into Llangollen itself.

The route in words

Waterways on this route, in order:

  • Ellesmere Tunnel (tunnel, 26.77 miles in)
  • Chirk Tunnel (tunnel, 38.34 miles in)
  • Whitehouses Tunnel (tunnel, 40.04 miles in)
  • Barbridge flight (lock flight, 4 locks)
  • Wrenbury Heath flight (lock flight, 3 locks)
  • Grindley Brook flight (lock flight, 6 locks)
  • Grindley Brook Staircase (staircase locks)

The route works 4 movable (swing or lift) bridges.

Day by day

  1. Day 1
    11.83 mi 10 locks 5 h 53 min arrive ~13:53
  2. Day 2
    13.11 mi 9 locks 6 h 0 min arrive ~14:00
  3. Day 3
    19.2 mi 2 locks 5 h 59 min arrive ~13:59
  4. Day 4
    2.27 mi 0 locks 39 min arrive ~08:39

Live closures on this route

Most planners list stoppages and leave you to plot around them. Canal Nav checks every live notice and plans this route around anything blocking - automatically, each time it is recalculated.

17 live notices on this route's waterways (last checked 28 Aug 2026, 06:29). The live map routes around anything blocking.

Coming back the other way

The return from Llangollen to Nantwich Canal Centre covers the same water, the same 46 miles and 21 locks, again over about 4 days - only the overnight moorings shift.

Reverse day-by-day plan
  1. Day 1: 19.25 mi, 2 locks - overnight Blackwater Meadow Marina
  2. Day 2: 14.63 mi, 6 locks
  3. Day 3: 10.53 mi, 11 locks - overnight Barbridge Marina
  4. Day 4: 2 mi, 1 lock
Plan the return on the live map

Start and finish

Nantwich Canal Centre

Where this cruise sets off.

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Llangollen

Journey's end.

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More routes to plan

More routes to Llangollen

Routes sharing this water

Cruising rings touching this route

  • Four Counties Ring 110 miles, 94 locks - a signposted circuit you can join from this route

Plan it properly

Distances and times are planning estimates (last computed 6 Aug 2026). Always check live closures on the map before setting off.

Cruising Nantwich Canal Centre way? Plan it in minutes.

Turn-by-turn routing with live closures, lock counts and day planning - free.

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