Caledonian Canal Self-Drive Cruising
By Robin McKelvie
Quite simply there are few waterways in the world as dramatic and grand as Scotland’s Caledonian Canal. Indeed, the term ‘canal’ doesn’t do this epic feat of engineering justice.
The Caledonian Canal is an aquatic artery connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea that also forges through Scotland’s Great Glen on rivers, a quartet of lochs (including famous Loch Ness) and two remarkable lock flights that are a photographic dream.
The canal was the brainchild of perhaps Scotland’s greatest ever engineer — Thomas Telford.
He was commissioned to build this link between Fort William and Inverness so that shipping could avoid the longer — and often tempestuous — haul around the northern fringes of Scotland and the dreaded Pentland Firth.
In 2022 the Caledonian Canal celebrated its 200th birthday with an overhaul that has ensured its survival and the future enjoyment of generations of boaters.
To cruise the 60 miles of the Caledonian Canal is a sheer joy; a greatest hits of Scottish tourism. This is the land of Braveheart and Outlander; of sweeping forest, glowering glen and majestic mountain.
VIDEO: Robin shows us the beauty of the Caledonian Canal, below.
You forge through this landscape, along aquarium-clear lochs beneath towering 3,000-foot mountains, feeling the enormity and grandeur of the Scottish Highlands, one of Europe’s last great wildernesses.
En route there are castles, distilleries and cute villages — you are cruising through a postcard of Scotland. And it’s a postcard we thoroughly enjoyed on our 7-night Le Boat Caledonian Canal cruise.
RELATED: Read more about Scotland’s canals.
RELATED: Enjoy Robin McKelvie’s review of a Spirit of Scotland cruise he took on the Caledonian Canal.
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Our “Magnifique” Canal Houseboat
Le Boat’s Magnifique houseboat is classified as the middle of Le Boat’s 3 categories. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
The comfortable Magnifique houseboat, in the middle “Comfort” level of Le Boat’s three categories of boats, was an ideal choice for our party of two families — four adults, three teenagers and one 11-year-old.
It had four cabins: two doubles fore and two twins (with two single beds) en suite aft.
The layout of the interior deck of Le Boat’s Magnifique. * Photo: Le Boat
One of the pair of twin cabins on Magnifique. * Photo: Le Boat
Theoretically you can squeeze 10 people on to Magnifique, but the conversion of the sofa area into an extra bed wouldn’t be ideal.
Our cabin was compact, with limited storage space, but a decent size double bed. We were a little jealous of our kids, who had a shower and toilet in their cabins, while the four adults shared a toilet and shower room.
One of the Magnifique’s double-bedded cabins. * Photo: Le Boat
I’d advise choosing moorings sheltered from the wind as much as possible for restful nights.
TIP: One bath towel and hand towel are provided for each person, so you may want to bring more, given it’s hard to dry things on the boat and you may enjoy wetsuit-clad dips in the lochs.
The main deck is open plan. The lower galley area has a three-ring stove, oven, microwave, cafetière (French press coffee pot), kettle and two fridges, with limited freezer space.
The lower galley area on Magnifique. * Photo: Le Boat
Magnifique’s interior dining saloon, a few steps above the galley. * Photo: Le Boat
Dishes, glasses and crockery were clean. Cooking and BBQ utensils are all provided as are dishcloths. One omission was a cheese grater.
There was also a small TV, as well as USB ports and electricity sockets located throughout the boat. The main steering position is located on the Main Deck with an auxiliary position on the upper sundeck, which we preferred to use as the views were better.
We were advised to use the upper position as the canal is also used by working boats, small cruise ships and canoes on the Great Glen Canoe Trail.
TIP: Pack hand soap, paper towels and spices since they are not provided.
Our group spent most of our days on the upper outdoor deck, with its small fridge, large table (with waterproof cushions) and seating.
Enjoying drinks and snacks on the upper open deck, while moored in Urquhart Bay Harbour. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
We preferred to drive the boat from the steering position as it gives a much better range of view.
No rain cover/sun shelter was provided, meaning the person at the helm was often left alone when raining.
There are plastic chairs for sunnier days.
TIP: It’s essential to bring Smidge, a locally available spray, if you’re cruising in the summer months. That is when the — impervious-to-DEET and most bug sprays — Highland midge bites in spirit-sapping swarms.
No Boat Driving Experience Needed
No previous boating experience is required to captain a Le Boat Magnifique houseboat.
Even so, being solely in charge of a 14.5m x 4.10m vessel is initially unnerving if you’ve no experience.
Saying that, full tuition is given and Le Boat stress you don’t need any experience at all.
Our instructor had us off and running well within an hour given our experience. But he said it often takes two hours.
Reassuringly he stressed they won’t let people out until they’re comfortable and on occasion they will offer extra tuition en route.
Our friendly instructor, Brian, showed us how to read the information gauges and operate the stove and electricals etc. He took us for a spin around Ceann Loch at Laggan and also made sure we could berth again safely, and then we were off.
I recommend all adults make themselves at least familiar with basic rope work, which comes in handy if you suddenly have to tie up at a transit mooring after a swing bridge operator changes his mind to accommodate an ambulance, as happened to us.
The steering is simple, with a wheel similar to what you find on a car. Handily if you head west you have a two-hour loch traverse to begin with, which allows everyone to get a feel for steering and how response time is very different to a car.
Think slow, gradual movements for a straight course, rather than jerking the wheel and zig-zagging around.
The boat had “fenders” and speed is limited to 5mph in the canal sections to cut down wash. The charts provided by Le Boat were excellent and handily waterproof. They clearly mark the channels to be used entering and leaving lochs.
Driving the Magnifique on the Caledonian Canal requires no previous experience. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
TIP: If you are a novice, spend a little time beforehand learning about basic navigation. Make sure you have a data plan on your phone. Google Maps was very helpful as a supplement to the maps and navigation guides on board, as you can see just how far down the lochs you are. As Loch Ness is basically an inland sea it’s especially useful here.
Our 7-night Caledonian Canal Route
On our first day most Le Boat guests went east so…we sailed west.
This gave us a clear run towards Fort William. From there we turned tail for the 60-mile haul to Inverness.
Be mindful that if you want to ‘complete’ the whole journey you need to plan for the long sail across Loch Ness (at least four hours) and to get through the lock flight at Fort Augustus, or you risk not making it back to base in time.
The Caledonian Canal & Le Boat route. * Map: Le Boat
Day 1 – Laggan Locks to Gairlochy Locks
Easing away from Laggan we set sail along Loch Lochy, down the barrel of the Great Glen, mountains rising up on either flank. Cruising Loch Lochy and Loch Ness is easy as they are wide with plenty of room for maneuver.
There was time too for coffee and biscuits as we eased along scanning the shoreline for otters, the land for red deer, and the sky for soaring eagles.
Just a couple of hours later we spotted the white tower that heralds the entrance back into the canal itself.
As the lock-keeper had clocked off for the day (they normally work 8am-6pm) we moored at one of the pontoons.
Moored for the evening at the Laggan Locks base, with other Le Boat vessels. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
The Le Boat Navigational Chart outlined all the pontoons you can overnight at. Ropes tightened, we moored up and plunged off for a swim in the loch. We swam every day of our trip — or used the paddle boards we’d brought with us.
We were glad we brought wet suits as the loch waters were still very chilly, even in summer.
Wild swimming the first night. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
I’d recommend a buoyancy aid unless you’re a very strong swimmer.
We dined on the upper deck enjoying the sun refusing to really set, a real treat in a Scottish summer. And then, of course, enjoyed a wee first night dram, a single malt from the nearby Ben Nevis Distillery.
The canal tow paths are ideal for walking, cycling and jogging — we did a spot of the latter before a traditional porridge breakfast, without the optional dram in it.
VIDEO: Robin shows us the scenic tow paths along the Caledonian Canal.
Our vessel was low enough to slip under the Gairlochy swing bridge. And after navigating our first lock, we were on our way for a short sail to Banavie, the end of the cruising area.
The industrial-size locks are all manned by professional lock-keepers and they keep you right with the ropes.
Do bring gloves as it can hurt naked flesh when letting ropes in and out. The main thing to remember is to keep your ropes tidy and ready for use at all times, plus make sure they are not snagged around anything on deck.
Don’t worry if you struggle to tie even your shoelaces, as they can teach you basic tie-up at the Laggan base.
It’s a spectacular denouement to the Caledonian Canal as you approach in the shadow of Ben Nevis, at 1,345 metres the highest mountain in the British Isles.
Then you moor at the top of Neptune’s Staircase, a jaw-dropping lock flight that leads down to the Atlantic.
Neptune’s Staircase, an aerial view. * Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neptune%27s_Staircase_2017_left.jpg
As it was a dreich (the onomatopoeic Scots word for inclement weather) day, we spent it in Fort William, a $15 USD cab ride away.
The new Highland Cinema does superb Neapolitan-style pizzas, and shows Hollywood blockbusters, as well as films on the local scenery. If you’re after a gift shop this is the place too.
We retreated for a cozy night of card games as the rain pattered on the windows and roof, with Ben Nevis looming in and out of the scudding clouds.
Turning back east we gunned along Loch Lochy, propelled by a tailwind in plenty of time to take on the locks at Laggan and enter Laggan Avenue, one of the most picturesque sections.
Huge trees veer up on either side of the channel as you ease along.
The super scenic Laggan Avenue portion of the Caledonian Canal. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
After this bucolic interlude it was time to stop the traffic on the main road from Fort William to Inverness at the Laggan Swing Bridge. Easing through we were in Loch Oich, a comparatively small and shallow loch where you need to keep your wits about you.
The Laggan Swing Bridge. * Photo: Jo Turner at https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Laggan,_Great_Glen
Red and green markers (green to your right heading east, green to your left heading west) guide the way, but we had to pay special attention to dogleg around into our overnight mooring at Invergarry.
Get it wrong and you end up run aground by an island.
The green and red markers. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
Invergarry proved our favorite mooring. There are minimal facilities (not even electricity or water), but what do you really need when you’ve got a craggy castle ruin hovering above, a wee beach and a shipwreck to paddle board out to, to investigate?
Invergarry proved our favorite mooring. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
We spent longer than intended here, overnighting with a delicious meal at Rokeby Manor, a half hour walk away by a gushing river. I recommend the spicy rich fish dish kedgeree, which dates from the days when Scots served in India during the British Empire.
Invergarry Castle may be closed on health and safety grounds, but it’s fun to ramble around as it’s every bit the storybook Scottish castle.
Day 4 — Invergarry to Fort Augustus
If you want to sail all of the Caledonian Canal you have to keep moving, but we decided to slow our trip and enjoy more time with the kids.
A morning splashing around in Loch Oich was followed by Scottish beef burgers and cheese from the island of Orkney cooked over a driftwood open fire.
Pushing on further east we had to be careful as we navigated a couple of dozen canoeists, who were slowly working their way along the Caledonian Canal.
Again, we stopped the road traffic as the Aberchalder Swing Bridge swung open for us to allow us back into the canal, where we negotiated two locks — passing through them had become second nature by now — to reach the top pontoons at Fort Augustus.
Don’t assume you’ll be able to get down the Fort Augustus flight if you arrive in the afternoon as there is a flight of five locks and a swing bridge to get through. We arrived late so moored up for a takeaway overlooking those locks.
We were advised locally that the restaurant Monster did the best fish ‘n’ chips and it proved a great tip.
Fort Augustus Locks. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
Day 5 – Fort Augustus to Urquhart Castle
That it attracts crowds of tourists tells you how dramatic the quintet of locks are at Fort Augustus. Unusually you switch off your engine and then step off the boat to walk your boat through.
It proved a really social experience as we chatted to our fellow boaters, many who we’d already waved at during the trip.
We looked like some strange cult, a dozen of us bedecked in the same bright orange lifejackets.
Fort Augustus boasts plenty of cafés, bars and wee shops if you want to hang around, but Loch Ness is the big draw. After another traffic-stopping swing bridge we were out into spectacular Loch Ness.
To give you an idea how unique Loch Ness is, all the water in all the lakes in England and Wales put together would not even fill this vast loch.
It’s got a decent fetch too and can be tough to tackle in strong winds, so plan your traverse well.
Moorings are very limited on Loch Ness, so we headed early to Urquhart Bay. It was a spectacular approach, coming around the rugged ruins of loch-side Urquhart Castle, said to have been the inspiration for the castle in Disney’s ‘Brave’.
VIDEO: Approaching Urquhart Castle on the Magnifique houseboat.
You can visit the castle half an hour walk away or catch a bus for the half an hour trip into Inverness.
As we weren’t sailing all the way to Inverness, we chose the later to visit the Highland capital.
Beautiful Urquhart Castle. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
Day 6 – Urquhart to Invergarry
This day was our laziest as we sailed up Loch Ness back to Fort Augustus. After negotiating the lock flight and swing bridge we pushed on to Loch Oich for another overnight at our favorite mooring.
Cue more campfires, barbecues and loch swimming.
One of the beauties of hiring a houseboat is that you decide the pace of the day.
Cooking burgers over the cast iron grill Robin brought along (barbecue grills can also be rented from Le Boat). * Photo: Robin McKelvie
Day 7 – Fort Augustus to Laggan Locks
Our last day was a relaxed breeze too as we’d already made it up the Fort Augustus locks. After a chilled morning in and out the water, we pushed back through the canals, locks, swing bridges and Loch Oich in search of our base at Laggan Locks.
You need to hand your boat back at 9am, so it makes sense to be in position the night before.
Our last night brought a barbecue down on Loch Lochy.
We toasted to Thomas Telford, his remarkable Caledonian Canal and our well-equipped houseboat, which had quickly become a welcome second home, as well as a brilliant way of exploring some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet.
A great time on the Caledonian Canal. * Photo: Robin McKevlie
Why Go on Caledonian Canal Le Boat Cruise?
- For a luxury boating experience with many of the comforts of home
- To enjoy a cruising experience where you decide the destination and pace each day
- For a unique perspective of Scotland’s longest glen and the remarkable Caledonian Canal
- For an opportunity to learn to captain your own boat without having previous boating experience
- Cooking is a pleasure with a decent kitchen and the chance to cook over the campfire ashore
Caveats of a Le Boat Caledonian Canal Cruise
- The weather can be unpredictable so you’ll need to bring rain gear.
- While cellular phone service was usually available, the internet speeds varied, so streaming and email service was patchy.
- Be sure to make reservations ahead of time for meals on shore, especially in summer as places can be booked up days in advance.
Planning a Caledonian Canal Houseboat Trip — What to Keep in Mind
- Boats range in size and level of comfort.
- There are 4 Magnifique houseboats on the Caledonian Canal, which are in the “Comfort” category.
- In total, Le Boat offers 27 self-drive boats on Scotland’s Caledonian Canal — 13 Budget, 13 Comfort & 1 Premier.
- There’s a 3-night minimum for rentals.
- The boats come with a fully equipped eat-in kitchen.
- There are two driving positions (indoor and outdoor).
- Each boat has a top deck with seat and a table.
- Le Boat has been operating in Europe since 1969 with boating holidays in France, Belgium, Scotland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Italy and Germany. They also operate in other parts of the world including Canada.
Caledonian Canal Le Boat Houseboat Cost
Le Boat prices include:
- Rental of the boat and its onboard equipment
- Boat damage waiver
- A fully-equipped kitchen
- Towels and linen for all passengers
- A boat handling demonstration prior to departure
- Telephone support
- On-board maps and visitor information
- Passage through locks manned by lock-keepers
- A compulsory moorings fee is included in the price quoted
Not included in the price:
- Food and drink
- Fuel
- Travel to and from the embarkation point
- Electricity at moorings – GDP£4, payable in cash to lock-keeper
- Cancellation plan and any travel/personal insurance
Extras you can purchase or rent from Le Boat:
- Bicycles
- Paddleboards
- Grocery packages
- Barbecues
Getting There
If you are arriving by plane, the closest major international airport is Edinburgh, Scotland — you can rent a car for the three-hour drive to the Le Boat Base at Laggan Locks.
Note to set your sat nav to Le Boat Laggan Locks to end up on the correct side of Laggan Locks.
Weather on the Caledonian Canal
Caledonian Canal houseboating season is May through October.
High season: Scottish Highlands weather is warmest in the summer months of June, July and August with highs of 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit) and lows of 6 degrees (43 Fahrenheit).
Low season: May and October are cooler months with highs of 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit) and lows of 2 degrees (36 Fahrenheit).
With the changing of the leaves in the fall, September and October are ideal months for leaf-peeping.
Pack rain gear and dress in layers that can be adjusted throughout the day as temperatures and the winds vary loch to loch, and lock to lock.
A spectacular June Le Boat cruise along the Caledonian Canal. * Photo: Robin McKelvie
Interested in this Cruise?
Cost for a self-drive Le Boat vessel like our Magnifique, starts at approximately $4,600 USD for a 7-night rental based on high season (fuel extra).
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HEIDI SARNA
