Kennet & Avon Canal, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
This 87 mile long stretch of water links London with the Bristol Channel, passing through some very picturesque countryside on it’s route, including some peaceful Wiltshire villages and market towns where you can have a stroll along the banks and then go for a bite to eat in the local pub. Perhaps one of the highlights along it's course is the wharf at Bradford on Avon; it was once the busiest on the Kennet & Avon, or the K&A as they call it, and it certainly pulls the crowds in the summer, with people coming to hire boats and bikes, or just to stroll along the towpath to the medieval Tithe Barn. There are a few places to eat including two inns and the fabulous Lock Inn Café with its floating boat restaurant, or you can hop on board a narrow boat for an unhurried trip along the waterway to Dundas or Avoncliff Aqueducts.
Other hot spots on the K&A are Devizes Wharf, Caen Hill and Seend Locks where there's a pub, The Barge Inn, right on the waterside. What's really nice though is to just find a quiet spot for a picnic and if you’re lucky you’ll see some of the resident wildlife – ducks, swans and moorhens, and maybe even the blue-green flash of a kingfisher.