What if, on your next visit to a foreign city, you ditched your car and instead, explored with a boat?
Click start to play today’s Word Search, which takes you on a journey of streets filled with water – the world’s canals.
Navigating around cities through canals is a truly unique experience. Here are five places, where you can do so:
1. France
This beautiful country has an 8,050km network of canals, so you can literally float your way from north to south, exploring all the picturesque towns and villages along the way. The famous Canal du Midi, in particular, meanders through walled cities and beautiful landscapes, and you can hop on or off a boat at any point you like!
2. Gota Canal, Sweden
Connecting a series of lakes, the Gota Canal gives travellers the opportunity to journey all across Sweden, right to the Baltic Sea. One of the largest civil engineering projects ever undertaken in the country, the Gota Canal now runs a length of 190km – of this, 87km were dug by hand! Along the canal are 58 locks, which you can watch the crew open, as they manoeuvre the ship through.
3. Black Sea Canal, Romania
The 64km Black Sea Canal goes from Ruse, on the Bulgarian end of the Danube River, to Constant, a Romanian resort on the Black Sea. A haven for incredible wildlife, the canal is part of the Danube Delta area, which is home to herons, egrets, and over 300 other species of birds.
4. Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Amsterdam is home to over 160 historic canals, which is why it’s called the Venice of the North. With low bridges, old, arching trees and colourful narrow houses lining them, the canals are a sight to behold. There are several ways you can enjoy these meandering streets of water. You can pedal along the canals yourself via pedal boats, stay in a houseboat hotel, or go on a dinner or sightseeing cruise.
5. Venice Grand Canal, Italy
Speaking of Venice, you can’t talk about canals without mentioning this beautiful city’s busy waterway. The Grand Canal is Venice’s busiest thoroughfare – one of 150 canals in the city – and passes by some beautiful historic buildings, like the Doge’s Palace and the Basilica of St. Mary. Other buildings along the Grand canal date back to the 13th century, and their fronts are only accessible by boat. You can also find an old, beautiful bridge spanning the canal, made immortal by English bard Shakespeare, when he mentioned it in The Merchant of Venice: “What news on the Rialto?”
Have you been to any of these canals? Play today’s Word Search and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.
