Canterbury Historic River Tours
Canterbury Historic River Tours
Canterbury Historic River Tours
4.5
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Full view
About
Discover the hidden secrets of Historic Canterbury! We are the original historic boating company in our wonderful vibrant city, since 1929, offering the perfect attraction for all age groups, catering for adults, family's, school and adult groups. Our entertaining 45 minute Historic tour makes the perfect escape from the busy streets. Our boats are designed for safe comfortable seating, particularly those with mild mobility issues. Our staff undergo comprehensive training to ensure our customers fantastic experience, which has led the company to a variety of awards, including 'Best Unique tour in Europe', Visit Englands finalist 'Best Tourism Experience, twice finalists of South East Tourism 'Best Tourism Experience, and three times finalists 'Best national group River Tour provider by 'The Group Travel Guide' voted by group leaders! We are perfectly located in the centre of Canterbury's main High Street on the Kings Bridge, with stunning river views, by the Old Weavers House.
Canterbury, Kent, England
Awards
Travellers' Choice
2024
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4.5
2,445 reviews
Excellent
1,892
Very good
404
Average
78
Poor
37
Terrible
34
Peter F
Eastbourne, UK416 contributions
Sept 2021
We were in Canterbury for a couple of days and decided it would be nice to see some of the city from a different perspective, i.e. the water.
All of the staff are very helpful, friendly and informative. It's not a "hard sell" and they tell you exactly what to expect. The trip takes 45 minutes, it is a peaceful trip up and down one part of the river, with some historic information about the city, its origins, buildings, etc. There are also some jokes thrown in which makes it even more enjoyable!
You have the option of a private tour (slightly more expensive) or put your name down for one of the allocated times and you will have other passengers join you.
We booked our trip for the following morning (10.15 am) and there was just one other couple on our boat, with Dan being our oarsman. Dan was very informative, great fun and even showed us the old traditional way of getting underneath the very low bridges by lying on his back and using his feet on the bridge arch!
It was a very pleasant way to pass 45 minutes on the river, being educated whilst enjoying the lovely sunshine.
Thanks to everyone at Canterbury Historic River Tours for making our visit to Canterbury even more enjoyable.
All of the staff are very helpful, friendly and informative. It's not a "hard sell" and they tell you exactly what to expect. The trip takes 45 minutes, it is a peaceful trip up and down one part of the river, with some historic information about the city, its origins, buildings, etc. There are also some jokes thrown in which makes it even more enjoyable!
You have the option of a private tour (slightly more expensive) or put your name down for one of the allocated times and you will have other passengers join you.
We booked our trip for the following morning (10.15 am) and there was just one other couple on our boat, with Dan being our oarsman. Dan was very informative, great fun and even showed us the old traditional way of getting underneath the very low bridges by lying on his back and using his feet on the bridge arch!
It was a very pleasant way to pass 45 minutes on the river, being educated whilst enjoying the lovely sunshine.
Thanks to everyone at Canterbury Historic River Tours for making our visit to Canterbury even more enjoyable.
Written 14 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a fabulous review. Great to hear you enjoyed your tour with Captain Dan and his demonstration of 'legging' under the bridges of Canterbury, I will pass your compliments onto him.
Written 17 September 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Andy P
Bognor Regis, UK86 contributions
Sept 2020
The trip provided an alternative view of some of the old buildings in the city, in the company of our knowledgeable guide, Dan.
It was well organised, the downside being that, due to the current Covid restrictions, no mixed groups are allowed on the boats. This means that even as a couple you pay for the whole boat, making it expensive for what we saw and the duration of the trip.
This is not a circular tour, simply up and down the same stretch of river, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
It was well organised, the downside being that, due to the current Covid restrictions, no mixed groups are allowed on the boats. This means that even as a couple you pay for the whole boat, making it expensive for what we saw and the duration of the trip.
This is not a circular tour, simply up and down the same stretch of river, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
Written 29 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your review. Great to hear you enjoyed the tour.
As you sated we are not operating shared tours this year due to Covid, keeping our staff and customers is our priority.
Written 14 October 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
sunqueenBedhampton
bedhampton152 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
Myself, partner and daughter booked a boat tour whilst in Canterbury. Keiron (I think) was our guide, he was extremely pleasant, personable and knowledgeable about the local and tudor history. Due to restrictions we had the boat to ourselves so was excellent value for money and whilst the distance travelled isn't far it provides a great view of the beautiful and historic buildings on the river. Its great these small businesses have been able to adapt to continue running whilst maintaining safe operations and I would encourage anyone visiting Canterbury to support them. Although all of the staff we spoke to are quite young they are extremely professional and so friendly, keep up the great work guys, your passion for Canterbury and Its history shines through
Written 9 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for your fantastic review. We're very proud of all of our amazing staff!
Written 11 August 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
markySussexUk
sussex uk79 contributions
Oct 2020 • Couples
I cannot begin to tell you what an utter waste of time and money this trip is. After starting you go under the bridge, passing the piles of feathers and pigeon crap on either side, your guide stops the boat, just a few yards from where you began. He will then attempt to bore you to tears with his pretentiousness while you look at what could pass for the back of a Travelodge carpark. Stay there for 10 long minutes before heading back under the bridge for a few more yards past the start point. This takes you to the busy ringroad and past a small park inhabited by the local cannabis smoking fraternity. Breath deeply if you want to get your money's worth from this trip otherwise it just adds to the dirty, uninteresting and overly expensive waste of 45 of your life you'll never get back.
Written 17 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I'm sorry to hear you found your historical tour unsatisfactory.
We welcome all feedback and customers are always welcome to contact us directly if they are unhappy with their experience.
We have won multiple awards for our historical boat tours, and have had over 2000 excellent/very good reviews on Tripadvisor. Whilst our tours are not very long in terms of distance travelled, they are considerably longer than the distances you specify. The stretch of river that we operate on is rich in history and packed with a number of buildings and monuments that depict Canterbury's extraordinary heritage. We strive to provide an outstanding experience to all our customers on every tour we operate and I'm sorry that we didn't meet your expectations on this occasion.
Written 8 March 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
daisy
2 contributions
Jul 2021 • Family
The experience was amazing- I would definitely recommend going if you’re doing a city break in Canterbury. It was such good value for money being £47 for all 5 of us and it lasted around 45 minutes. Our tour guide was Roy, and despite being very new, was so lovely and made our tour so funny, he had great anecdotes about the city and gave good recommendations of other places we could go while staying here. There was so much pretty scenery to look at while on the tour too and plenty of photo opportunities. Thank you for making our very short stay in Canterbury so memorable 😁
Written 7 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What a lovely review - Thank you
So good to hear you enjoyed your tour and I will pass your compliments onto Captain Roy.
Written 13 July 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Molesy00
5 contributions
Aug 2020 • Couples
Brilliant. Due to covid restrictions we had Matthew to ourselves, and a great skipper he was too. A very knowledgeable guide , funny personable , a pleasure to be with for 45 mins. We learnt a great deal in that time and highly recommend that anyone coming to the city goes on one of these historic tours.
Written 15 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark B
Weymouth, UK108 contributions
Oct 2020
We booked this tour on-line.
Unfortunately, on the day the tour was organised for, the weather was awful and the tour was cancelled by the company. They did offer a 1 hour guided walking tour or another future booking or a full refund.
We chose the refund as we were not going to be in the area for long.
The day before the Tour, they 'phoned me to warn us that it May be cancelled due to the conditions. There was no quibble about the refund. We felt that this was an excellent service and would be more than happy to use them again.
Unfortunately, on the day the tour was organised for, the weather was awful and the tour was cancelled by the company. They did offer a 1 hour guided walking tour or another future booking or a full refund.
We chose the refund as we were not going to be in the area for long.
The day before the Tour, they 'phoned me to warn us that it May be cancelled due to the conditions. There was no quibble about the refund. We felt that this was an excellent service and would be more than happy to use them again.
Written 17 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your review - really thoughtful of you to take the time to leave us a review despite you being unable to go on the tour.
Written 20 October 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
ScottL72ish
Bristol, UK66 contributions
Sept 2021 • Couples
We booked this for something to do in Canterbury. The weather today was excellent which enhanced the trip . The tour is a 45 min experience of the river Stour in the old city. It was extremely interesting and our guides puns enhanced the experience and I genuinely learned something of Canterbury’s history that I was previously unaware of. We also saw wading birds and fish in the pristine water. We booked online so we got a private tour as a result. Purchasing tickets on site will be part of a group tour.
Written 9 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CharingX
12 contributions
Oct 2020 • Couples
We'd booked a boat tour after a couple of rainy days and were called promptly by Kieran to let us know that due to the conditions the boats were grounded. Instead, he offered us a walking tour or a refund; we chose the walking tour and we're so pleased we did. With a Masters in History, we felt very lucky to be shown around the city by Kieran; his knowledge of local history spans the roots of Christianity to modern day Harry Potter facts. We were entertained and informed, feeling as though we have a real sense of the city by the end of the tour. Would highly recommend.
Written 4 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your fabulous review.
Really great to hear you enjoyed your walking tour, I will pass your compliments onto Captain Kieran.
Written 14 October 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Tamar B
Whitstable, UK6 contributions
Sept 2020 • Friends
Super trip yesterday celebrating a friends Birthday. The weather was sunny & warm and our guide was very informative and had a good sense of humour. Would definitely recommend to do. Loved singing under the bridge by the Marlow, even got a round of applause from onlookers! I'm looking forward to doing it again!
Written 20 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your fabulous review and recommendation.
Written 29 September 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Is it easy to get on the boat? Am planning on going with my 80 year old parents who are a little wobbly on their feet!
Written 12 August 2023
Yes the staff are really lovely and would be on hand to help. Please also remember that the tributary of the stour is very Shallow and so
The boat will Not be moving a great deal. The trip is excellent I’m sure you will Enjoy it. Hope this helps.
Written 13 August 2023
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