Canal Plus

Forget those traffic-clogged motorways: if you really want to see into Britain's soul, hire a narrow boat and putter gently along some of the country's 3,200 km of languorous waterways. Britain's 200-year-old canal system, once the country's most important method of freight transport, fell into disrepair by the 1960s as roads and rail transport took traffic away. But over the past 15 years, more than $935 million has been invested in canal restoration, so today visitors can rediscover the joys of a bygone pace of life in city and countryside alike. Canal building requires tricky engineering over obstacles like hills; the typical solution is a lock, which fills or empties to adjust water height.

On Britain's southernmost canal — the 140-km Kennet and Avon, linking the town of Reading on the Thames to the seaport of Bristol — travelers will encounter dozens of locks, often close together, as in the impressive flight of 16 built in 1810 to climb Caen Hill near Devizes, Wiltshire (pictured). In traditional canal boats that rent from $1,160 a week, you can chug merrily along, do some lazy fishing and nature watching, moor at waterside pubs and enjoy the delights of great small cities such as Bath and Bristol. Check out www.sallyboats.ltd.uk.