GoBoat Birmingham *Review*

Did you know there are more miles of canals in Birmingham than in Venice?!  I know, who would have thought!  The canals in Birmingham are bustling with nature, culture, restaurants and bars and makes for a beautiful fun family (or couples) day out!

GoBoat is the new way to explore Birmingham canals, launching this year.  The experience is aimed at all to enjoy either on a 1 hour, 2 hour or 3 hour self steered boat ride up and down the canals to take all that Birmingham has to offer!  We were super thrilled to have been asked to try the experience out for ourselves and report back – so here goes!

Where is GoBoat Birmingham

GoBoat is located in Brindley Place, just down from the main steps next to Perios.  The GoBoat booking system couldn’t be easier and whilst you can book here at their kiosk just underneath the bridge, I would recommend pre booking though their website to guarantee your desired day and time slot.

How long does the Goboat experience last?

Your experience can last up to 3 hours with prices starting from just £85 (for 1 hour).  The experience can be for up to 8 people (so more people the more better value for money the Goboat experience is).

GoBoat Experience

As I mentioned, this is a self drive experience and there is no captain – well you are!  Making it all the more fun!  When you check in, children will be given life vests and you allocate one person in your party to drive your boat.  The Goboat staff will show you how to drive the boat, give you blankets and explain the routes that you can take along the Birmingham canals. Once you are all on board, you are off to go!  But a member of the team will travel with you a short distance to make sure you are A-OK!

On board, you’ll find a table and decked seating that goes all the way around.  On the table there is a board with the rules to follow for when you are on the boat, as well as a map highlighting the two routes you can take along the canal, highlighting points and places of interest to look out for.  We found this map really useful as it also shares with you an estimated time of how long it will take to reach the end of the route.

We decided to take the route down the canal and past The Mail Box first, towards Birmingham University.  This route was the most scenic route and was lovely, quiet and chilled.  We had decided to take an afternoon tea on board so we all enjoyed a cup of tea, juice and scones with clotted cream and jam whilst enjoying the boat ride.

After about 30 minutes, (which is the time the Goboat team said it would take to reach the end of the route) we turned around and made our way back to base before going past up stream onto route 2.  This route was less scenic in my opinion but it had more things to look at such as people passing by, buildings and whatnot.  I also found that this route was more popular as we saw other Goboats passing us by which was fun.

Our thoughts on Goboat Experience

Overall we thought this was a great experience.  Whether you live in the city or are visiting, it’s a great way to get out in the fresh air and do something different.  We really enjoyed the fact the boat had a table to sit round meaning you could eat a picnic and play games too! I was satisfied and confident that the kids were given life vests and the instructions on how to drive the Goboat were super easy to follow.  The kids also loved going through the tunnel on route one! Spooky!

I would recommend the 2 hour experience which is what we did.  The first hour went really fast and I think for you to enjoy and get the most from this experience, 2 hours is plenty of time to take in the sights, smells and tastes of the Birmingham canals.

If you are local or visiting London, there are now three London Goboat locations to choose from; Kingston, Canary Wharf and Paddington!

A fabulous experience I would highly recommend!

Thanks for reading xxx