Rowing & Canoe Course

The water here is properly still and wide - a purpose-built lake east of Peterborough that exists purely for people to push themselves on it. This is the Rowing and Canoe Course, and it's exactly what the name suggests: a 2,000-metre stretch of water designed for competitive rowing and paddling, though it welcomes everyone from club members to casual kayakers.

What you get is straightforward. Arrive and you can watch rowers gliding past in synchronized silence, or rent a kayak and have a go yourself if you've got any sense of balance. The water is calm, the setting feels proper athletic without being intimidating, and on a decent day the light across it is genuinely lovely. It's not a walk around a lake with scenic viewpoints - this is functional water sports territory.

Families with older kids who fancy trying paddling will get something out of it. Serious rowers come here for training. Casual visitors? You'll spend forty minutes maximum unless you're actually getting on the water. If you want lakeside strolls and picnic spots, Ferry Meadows Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite just down the road (1.4 miles away) offers better value for time. But if you're staying at one of the nearby parks and want to either participate or watch something genuinely functional and focused, it's worth the short drive. Just check ahead what's actually available to book or watch before you go - the details aren't well advertised.