Britain's Dramatic 'Stream In The Sky' Is A Unique Destination Not For The Faint Of Heart

There's something so whimsical and charming about traveling by canal boat around Britain. You can follow 2,000 extraordinary miles of canals and rivers from the capital into the countryside, floating in a colorful narrowboat along London's Regent's Canal to Birmingham, one of the U.K.'s most underrated cities, and across the border into Wales. And it's here, close to a lovely little town called Llangollen, that you'll find the UNESCO-listed Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which carries the waters of the Llangollen Canal 126 feet above the River Dee.

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is the highest canal aqueduct in the world, inspiring the nickname "the stream in the sky." An extraordinary feat of engineering, its 19 vast arches tower above the Dee Valley. While there's a footpath on one side of the water, the other side is entirely open, offering breathtaking, vertigo-inducing vistas across the North Wales countryside. Completed in the early 19th century, the aqueduct, along with the rest of the U.K.'s Industrial Revolution-era canal infrastructure, was built to carry goods such as coal and metals, with boats pulled by horses along the towpaths.

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is a part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, which includes 11 miles of the Llangollen Canal with other buildings such as Llangollen Wharf and Chirk Aqueduct, which straddles the English-Welsh border. Today, the area remains in continuous use, not for coal or slate, but as a charming route for narrowboats and walkers.

The best way to experience the thrill of crossing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is by motorized canal boat, of course. You can rent a boat without a license on the Llangollen Canal, with suggested routes taking boaters from Chirk to Llangollen via Ellesmere. For longer trips, it's possible to begin in nearby Chirk and journey across the border to the delightful English town of Chester for a weeklong cruise through idyllic British countryside, sailing past lush forestry, nature reserves rich with birdlife, and beneath historic bridges in quaint Welsh villages. You'll cross the aqueduct slowly, often with walkers on one side taking in the view, but you'll also pass through long tunnels and navigate excruciatingly tight sections of water that are just one canal boat in width. And there's a second aqueduct: The Chirk Aqueduct, which is not quite as high as Pontcysyllte but offers wonderful views of its big brother.

Those who'd prefer not to navigate the tight canal waters themselves are well served with a small collection of group tour boats departing from the picturesque village of Trevor. The tours generally take around 45 minutes and always include a jaunt across the aqueduct. While the canals are no longer used for moving goods, it's possible to take a short tour from nearby Llangollen Wharf on a horse-pulled narrowboat, a reminder of the horses that once pulled heavy cargo between the villages and towns of 19th-century Britain.

In addition to being a picturesque route for narrowboats, canoes, and paddleboards, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is also a fabulous spot for walkers and cyclists. The easiest and most scenic route is from Llangollen Wharf, walking eastward along the flat towpath until you reach the aqueduct's 1,007-foot-long crossing.

The most convenient airport for Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the little town of Llangollen is Liverpool's John Lennon Airport. Be sure to spend a day in Liverpool to enjoy its vibrant music history, the reinvigorated dockside, and one of the U.K.'s best malls before embarking on the onward journey — either by car, which takes around 52 minutes, or by local bus and train via Chester, in around 3 hours and 40 minutes.

If you intend to explore this idyllic corner of Wales, your first stop should be Llangollen, a beautiful small town embraced by the beauty of the Welsh hills. Llangollen is an excellent base for outdoor adventures, with hikes leading to romantic ruins like Castell Dinas Brân, perched atop a hill above the Dee Valley, and whitewater rafting on the River Dee.

Another wonderful piece of historic British transport infrastructure is located right in Llangollen: The Llangollen Railway, a heritage train that winds through the Dee Valley alongside the river, with large windows framing countryside views of sheep-dotted hills and stone farmhouses. The five Victorian stations along the line have been given a colorful overhaul with 1950s Great Western livery (a near-200-year-old British railway company). Afterward, consider heading to the sea to hike the walking paths that cling to the breathtaking Welsh coastline.