Canal Planner

Inland waterways of Great Britain · Waterways: will your boat fit? · Tube map

Canal Planner

Set your boat once. The map shows where it fits. Tap any stretch of water to see what's near that spot: water points, Elsan, pump-out, fuel, moorings, marinas, winding holes and locks. Then plan a trip: only on water your boat fits, with every lock, service and overnight stop along the way.

Your boat

ft
ftin

16.76 m × 3.05 m

We check length and beam against the size limits each navigation authority publishes: the Canal & River Trust's maximums, and the Environment Agency's lock sizes on the Great Ouse and the Nene. Draught and headroom aren't checked yet.

Where a 55ft × 10ft boat fits

Tap a colour to show or hide those waterways on the map. "Fits some sections" means the waterway is made of sections with different limits, and your boat is too big for at least one of them.

Plan a trip

Your pace:
mph
mph
min
hours

The canal speed limit is 4 mph, and most boats average less. Locks take longer when they're busy or set against you.

You can also tap the map and use "Start here" or "Finish here".

Near this spot

Ely

Example spot. Tap anywhere on the water to choose your own.

What this shows, and what it doesn't yet

  • Fit uses the published maximum length and beam for each waterway section. Where a waterway has several sections or locks of different sizes, we only say "fits" if your boat fits all of them.
  • Great Ouse and Nene limits come from the Environment Agency's lock sizes. On the Nene it publishes only a typical lock size (26 × 4.6 m), not each lock.
  • Grey dashed waterways are navigable but we don't have their size limits yet: the Middle Level, the tidal Ouse below Denver, the Broads, the Thames, the Scottish canals and others. We'll add each from its navigation authority.
  • Distances are in a straight line, not along the water. A water point 0.5 mi away may be further by boat.
  • Facilities come from OpenStreetMap, which is mapped by volunteers and has gaps. It lists only 20 pump-outs across Great Britain, for example, so a missing pump-out here doesn't mean there isn't one.
  • Always check stoppages and local notices before you set off.

Sources

  • Waterways, locks and facilities: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Great Britain extract read 31 Oct 2026.
  • Size limits: Canal & River Trust, waterway dimensions, page last edited 26 Mar 2026.
  • Great Ouse and Nene lock sizes: Environment Agency, River Great Ouse (last updated 26 Apr 2022) and River Nene (last updated 5 Oct 2026). Open Government Licence v3.0.
  • Coastline: Natural Earth, public domain.
  • Built . A prototype from Towpath Digital; nothing here is a navigation instruction.