Man Made Sites

While they don’t have the wilderness or mystery of a natural river, man made white water centres are a phenomenal resource for rafters allowing them to go white water rafting in the UK whatever the weather. White water centres give you a guaranteed water flow, almost zero walk in and walk out time, supervised courses if you need a rescue and best of all hot showers and a fresh cuppa within minutes of getting out of the boat. They’re a great place to learn rafting for the first time, have a bit of a play or perfect your technique and you can get stuck in without having to drive into the middle of nowhere.

There are several top white water centres in the UK. Probably the most famous is Lee Valley the £31m venue that was built for the 2012 Olympics. Sitting just outside London in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire this centre offers a 300m course with plenty of cool features and a giant deck area to chill out on after a hard day’s rafting.

I you want to go white water rafting in Wales, check out Cardiff International White Water, sat at the southern end of the city’s bay area. There’s 250m of white water fun to be had here and it’s an easy bus or train ride from Cardiff city centre.

Other centres to look out for include the UK’s first artificial white water course the Nene White Water Centre in Northampton and the Tees Barrage International White water Centre in Stockton on Tees.

Natural Rivers

If you’re going white water rafting in the UK then you’ve got to check out the unspoiled natural rivers that criss cross the kingdom. These waterways offer up a challenge just as nature intended, no pumps, no dam feeding, just you and the river.

If you’re just getting started with rafting then the Blackwater in Northern Ireland is a great place to begin. Dividing counties Tyrone and Monaghan, this gentle class 2 river forms part of the border between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, offering broad, wide bends with some fun white water thrown into the mix.

White water rafting in Scotland is the next logical step up when you’re ready to progress. Scotland’s longest river, the 117-mile long Tay offers plenty of opportunity for rafters. This is a great spot to go for longer white water raft tours and the river’s centre piece, the popular Grand Tully Rapids, will raise your game up to class 3.

You can find some great rafting on the Welsh River Wye too, which has some very chilled and scenic sections but also comes with class 4 rapids and up to 8ft standing waves.

Big Thrills

If what you really want from white water rafting in the UK is a challenge then look no further than Scotland’s river Orchy. Flowing fairly low in the summer and with no dam feeding, it won’t be until winter and early spring that you can take on the Orchy, but it’s worth the wait. Boasting some of the toughest rapids in the UK, including the 6m high Falls of Orchy, this is class 5 white water that will give you a true rafting rush.

If you want some big summer thrills then rafting the Tummel in Scotland’s Cairngorms Naional Park is sure to please. Fed by releases from the Clunie Dam the Tummel season runs from June through to September, letting you have fun in the sun on its grade 4 to 5 white water. Make sure you don’t miss out on the Linn of Tummel, an 18ft two tier waterfall that ranks among the top spots for white water rafting in the UK.

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