....anyone with an enjoyable experience leading to recommendation? ( never done it but seems to be the fewer locks the better). ta.
The Llangollen Canal is very nice - particularly the Pontyscylytle (sp??!) Aqueduct is well worth doing. You can hire a boat from Chirk Marina for a few days if you want to check it out. I know this isn't the Midlands, but it is accessible and there aren't many locks. My late father in law used to manage a hire fleet some time ago so know it well.
I'm after 3 nights in Feb with a few pub stops and nice countryside and tbh would like a route that means going in a loop rather than there and back, plus minimal lock effort but I can't find one!
Bear in mind the 3mph you'll be doing. No chance of finding a loop to do in three days. If you want a charming little canal then the Stratford on Avon canal is really lovely. The river Avon itself down to Tewksbury is also very nice.
You can also do alvechurch straight into gas steet basin. Without actually touching a lock at all. It does however have a massive long tunnel that takes about an hour to get through
https://canalplan.eu/ Check this site out. Just about everything you might need to know about hiring, planning a route, safety, the lot.
You could try Jannel Cruisers at Shobnall Marina in Burton. The Trent & Mersey is lovely through Staffordshire including the Cannock Chase area.
You do not want to hire a BARGE, you want to hire a narrowboat ! They are not the same thing and the names are not interchangable. This is a barge
I won a week on a narrowboat holiday in a competition in the Sheffield Telegraph in 1984 , I was on strike at the time & used to enter free entry comps as a bit of a pastime , we went the following year & to be honest I did not know what to expect . We had two young kids & it was a holiday I would never have tried if I hadn"t got lucky , but it was fantastic. We picked up the boat at Nantwich in Cheshire & trundled up & down the Grand Union canal & we found the whole experience very enjoyable , I would definitely recommend it
Canal holidays are terrific but don’t over estimate the distance you can travel, especially in winter when the days are short. General rule is allow 20 minutes per mile and 30 minutes per lock. Canals will be quiet. Watch out for ice on the towpath and on your boat in the morning.