Road House Narrowboats

The Mon and Brec is a beautiful and peaceful canal and we had a wonderfully chilled time on it for two weeks this autumn on the Gilwern Duchess. The boat was in tiptop shape, behaved beautifully and was really cozy and well designed. The canal can be somewhat narrow and shallow in places so we were really happy to have gone for a company (the oldest on the canal) that uses traditionally designed boats and we had no troubles. Nigel gave us a comprehensive handover and left us in good shape chuggin down the canal on our first day. Sally (Nigel assured us) was responsible for the lovely interior decor, furnishings and really well kitted out little kitchen and it was spotless when we picked it up. Two of the most relaxed weeks ever and Nigel and Sally couldn’t have been more helpful or professional. 100 % recommended.

Sally and Nigel who own Road House Narrow boats are two of the loveliest people you will meet. You won't be disappointed with a holiday on one of their boats. The perfect way to slow life down a bit and take in amazing scenery and enjoy all the local villages have along the way.

In 2022 we hired for the third time Gilwern Duchess from Road House Narrowboats, a small family run business on the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. And again all was very well arranged. You notice that the heart of the owners is in the boats. The boats are well maintained and have an inventory which is more extensive than with the other hire companies we hired from. You get extensive tuition on how to handle the boat. The boats are designed especially for this canal and manoeuvre well.

Fantastic holiday aboard Princess from Gilwern up to Brecon and down to Goytre before returning to Gilwern. Was great to see some of the southern end of the canal, which has a very different character than the north. The shorter-than-usual length boat was perfect for this canal which is very narrow & shallow - we had lots of compliments on the design. Plenty of space & very comfortable for two. Nigel & Sally gave loads of advance info and were perfect hosts. We would definitely use them again and cannot recommend them highly enough. Thank you!

Perfect short break. Nigel and Sally being great hosts, showing you the ropes in person before you set off on your voyage. 4 days/3 nights was perfect for me and my Mrs, Kim. Good standard of equipment and the boats are well looked after. Highly recommend.

We had a wonderful first time barging holiday in the Gilwern Princess, the barge and its owners were first class. The canal is charming. Highly recommended.

Had a fantastic week aboard Gilwern Countess. The boat had everything we needed and as a pair of novices we were given excellent instruction on how to drive. Thanks for a great holiday experience.

We hired Gilwern Queen for seven days and it was the best week we've had for a long time. The boat was a perfect size for us and was easy to manoeuvre around the bends and bridges with none of the problems observed of the bigger hire boats. Everything we needed was on board and we had great tuition at the start of the hire that explained everything well. We travelled up to Brecon stopping at Llangattock, Llangynidr and Talybont with plenty of time for a few walks and evenings relaxing over a glass of wine. We will definitely be hiring again from Nigel and Sally as we had a fantastic holiday and enjoyed every moment.