Canal Holidays Guide to the Falkirk Wheel and Edinburgh
to Glasgow Canal
This pleasant and leisurely cruise covers the Union and the Forth
and Clyde canals between Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland..
The route includes canal transfer between the canals
using the 115 foot high Falkirk Wheel.
Distance, Time, and Locks
Falkirk and Edinburgh - 1 week, 68 miles, 6 locks and 3 hours per
day Glasgow, Falkirk and Edinburgh - 1 week, 118 miles, 14 locks
and 6 hours per day.
Cruising
Cruise out of Edinburgh over the Slateford Aqueduct, through the
Wester Hailes Linear Park to Ratho (home of Edinburgh Canal Centre).
The magnificent Almond Aqueduct takes you to Linlithgow. From the
canal basin there are panoramic views over the town, its Palace,
Loch and the hills behond. The Union Canal passes high above the
town of Falkirk as you approach the Falkirk Interchange. The breathtaking
Falkirk Wheel takes us down to join the Forth & Clyde Canal.
Falkirk
provides countless areas of interest to visit. Scotland's Roman
heritage is never far away as the Forth & Clyde Canal carries
the boats through splendid scenery to Kirkintilloch, then on to
Cadder Village and into Glasgow. The Arm to Port Dundas affords
us views over the city and features many historic buildings, including
those of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
The Falkirk Wheel is 115 foot high - the equivalent
of eight double-decker buses. It is 115 feet wide and 100 feet long.
The wheel will lift loads of 600 tonnes (300 at each end) - the
approximate weight of 11 adult African elephants. The structure
stands in a 330 foot wide circular basin with moorings for over
20 boats.
The
first wheel-based boat lift was proposed by a German engineer at
the beginning of the last century though it was never built. The
Falkirk Wheel is the world's first rotating boat lift and the first
boat lift to be built in Britain since the Anderton Boat Lift in
Cheshire which dates from 1875. The total project cost was approximately
£17 million and work took 22 months. The wheel is designed
to last for at least the next 120 years.
Cruising
Falkirk
provides countless areas of interest to visit. Scotland's Roman
heritage is never far away as the Forth & Clyde Canal carries
the boats through splendid scenery to Kirkintilloch, then on to
Cadder Village and into Glasgow. The Arm to Port Dundas affords
us views over the city and features many historic buildings, including
those of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
The
first wheel-based boat lift was proposed by a German engineer at
the beginning of the last century though it was never built. The
Falkirk Wheel is the world's first rotating boat lift and the first
boat lift to be built in Britain since the Anderton Boat Lift in
Cheshire which dates from 1875. The total project cost was approximately
£17 million and work took 22 months. The wheel is designed
to last for at least the next 120 years.