Steaming and Sailing through Shropshire and the Welsh Borders

Local departure by coach or Home Connect service then on to Oswestry and the 4-star Lion Quays Hotel for a four-night stay.

Enjoy beautiful views along the River Severn with photo opportunities and entertaining commentary from the knowledgeable Captain. We then continue to Shrewsbury Cathedral located along the 14th-century Town Walls, where we enjoy homemade sandwiches, cakes, pastries and tea/coffee.

The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway was built in 1903 to link farming communities with the market town of Welshpool and provide them with an outlet for their produce. Operated at first by the Cambrian Railways, the line was taken over by the Great Western and then British Railways. Today the ‘Llanfair Train’ sits in the platform at Welshpool Raven Square with the resplendent engine steaming gently at the head of charming balconied carriages which promise the traveller a wonderful ride along a country by-way. The train negotiates a viaduct and river bridge, climbs the notoriously steep Golfa Bank and steams serenely through beautiful countryside. From the window, the observant passenger may spot the occasional heron, goosander, woodpecker or buzzard. As the train runs through the Powis Estate, pheasant and deer can be seen, and everywhere is a wide variety of wild flowers. The line follows a river valley, twists round a mill and runs through the middle of farms.

Here we take to the waters of the Llangollen Canal for a tranquil cruise on the horse-drawn barge. Visitors have been enjoying leisurely trips here for over 100 years and this wonderful trip takes in part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and is home to a rich variety of local flora and fauna.

Return home.