Things to do · Stroud
Cotswold Canals Trust boat trips, Stroud
Volunteer-crewed trips on the restored Thames and Severn Canal from Wallbridge in Stroud, run by the Cotswold Canals Trust, including a lunch cruise to Stroud Brewery.
Family-friendly
A slow, cheerful way to see the canal Stroud has brought back to life, working through locks with volunteer crew. The brewery lunch trip makes a good half day. No dogs on board.
- Good: Volunteer crews; fares support the canal restoration
- Good: Through working locks on the restored Thames and Severn Canal
- Good: Private charters for up to 12
- Worth knowing: Trips on set dates only; book by 4pm the day before
- Worth knowing: No dogs except assistance dogs
- Worth knowing: Not wheelchair accessible; children need an adult on a full-price ticket
About
The Cotswold Canals Trust, the volunteer charity behind the restoration of the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames and Severn Canal, runs boat trips from Wallbridge Lock in Stroud aboard its trip boat Perseverance. The crews are volunteers and the fares help the restoration.
The trip to choose is the Stroud Brewery lunch cruise. The boat climbs the restored Thames and Severn Canal through Bowbridge Lock and Griffin's Mill Lock, then you walk ten minutes along the towpath to Stroud Brewery, where tables are reserved for 90 minutes before the boat brings you back. It cost £25 for an adult and £18 for a child under 16 in 2026; the next date is Thursday 5 November 2026.
There are shorter seasonal trips too: in 2026, 20-minute Halloween cruises from Bowbridge Lock to Capel's Mill and back on 30 and 31 October, at £5, checking in at the Bowbridge Arms on London Road; they were sold out when we checked, and the Trust said those tickets were pre-booked only. Santa cruises are back for 2026 too: 25 minutes along the Thames and Severn Canal from Wallbridge Lock, on Saturdays and Sundays in December, with departures from 10.30am to 3pm and a gift for each child. They cost £7 for an adult and £10 for a child aged 1 to 16, babies under 1 go free, and each trip takes 12, so book through the Trust's page. For a celebration you can charter the boat for up to 12, with two hours to the Bowbridge Arms and back for £160, booked at least 14 days ahead.
Trips run on set dates only, so check the Trust's page and book online; sales close at 4pm the day before, and the Trust's terms say walk-ins are welcome on the day if there is room, though some trips are pre-booked only. Children must come with an adult on a full-price ticket, and dogs are not allowed aboard apart from assistance dogs. Perseverance is not wheelchair accessible and passengers must be able to get on and off without help from the crew, so contact the Trust before booking if you need a carer; its accessible boat, Adventure, is at Saul Junction for private hire. Our walk from Stroud to Capel's Mill and Rodborough Common follows the same stretch of water on foot.
Opening hours and season
Trips on set dates: brewery lunch trip Thursday 5 November 2026; Santa cruises on Saturdays and Sundays in December 2026, 10.30am to 3pm, from Wallbridge Lock. Charters book 14 days ahead.
Facilities
- DogsAssistance dogs only
- ChildrenWelcome with an adult
The details
- Time to allow
- Half a day for the brewery trip, with 90 minutes ashore
- Features
- By the water · Guided tours
- History
- Cotswold Canals Trust, registered charity 269721
Photos
Under the viaduct near Wallbridge 
Leaving a lock 
Perseverance near Capel's Mill 
Under a footbridge
Location
Accessibility
- Assistance dogs welcome
Places to stay nearby
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The Clothiers Arms
Inn · Stroud
A pub with seven rooms at the bottom of Rodborough Hill in Stroud, a pub since 1891, with a beer garden, an adventure play area next door and a family suite.
Family-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
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Premier Inn Stroud
Hotel · Stroud
A Premier Inn in the Grade II-listed Stratford Lodge, opposite Stratford Park in Stroud, with free parking and a pub next door for meals.
Verified Oct 2026
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The Bell Inn, Selsley
Inn · Stroud
A chef-owned 17th-century inn, listed Grade II, with two bedrooms at Selsley, two miles from Stroud, with two AA Rosettes and dogs welcome throughout.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- The Clothiers Arms 0.3 km away
- Stroud Farmers' Market 0.4 km away
- Premier Inn Stroud 0.5 km away
- Woodruffs 0.5 km away
Sights nearby
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River Frome, Stroud
Sight · River · Stroud
The River Frome runs along the bottom of Stroud, where four streams join it to make the town's five valleys. It drove the mills of the Stroud cloth trade, and today a riverside path through Frome Banks and the canal towpath follow it below the town.
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Subscription Rooms, Stroud
Sight · Historic building · Stroud
Stroud's Subscription Rooms on George Street, paid for by public subscription in 1833 and now an arts venue run by a charity: a pedimented stone front with a carriage porch and balcony, where election results were once read out, and a bar open daily.
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Old Town Hall, Stroud
Sight · Historic building · Stroud
Stroud's market house of the 1590s in the Shambles beside St Laurence's, with an eight-light oriel on scrolled brackets, lion-mask arches and Victorian battlemented stair towers. Grade II*; seen from the market place.
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St Laurence's Church, Stroud
Sight · Church · Stroud
Stroud's parish church, beside the Shambles: a fourteenth-century tower and spire with a High Victorian church of 1866 to 1868 behind it, carved by Joshua Wall, with a Weatherley rood screen, a screen by Peter Waals and about 80 brass plates on its north wall.