There’s just something about houseboats that makes me nostalgic. Perhaps it’s the fact that I grew up watching Rosie and Jim on CITV, or maybe it’s because my parents’ house is right next to the river where plenty of narrowboats sail through - either way, the thought of staying on one for the weekend puts an instant smile on my face.

Until recently, with the addition of green-listed countries, the UK has been encouraged to holiday on our own turf. The thought of a British Holiday was an off-putting one for a lot of us at first but, having explored a few locations now, I can’t think of anything better than visiting another local-ish place. Especially if it means bunkering down on the water for the night.

We've found 19 cottages with hot tubs which still have availability for summer

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As we edge our way out of the pandemic for good (here’s hoping), I for one am looking to make additions to my things-to-look-forward-to list and booking a houseboat on Airbnb is top priority. There’s plenty to choose from, and all are within the confines of our beautiful country - who knew we’d find joy in staycations?

So what makes the cut of our curated list of best houseboats? Well, it turns out that not all houseboats are necessarily narrow boats or canal boats. Some of the charming places that we’ve come across are floating homes or are fully moored, so you needn’t worry about drifting away.

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