Experience the John Bunyan Boat

Welcome to the John Bunyan Boat

The John Bunyan 2025 cruise season starts in April and finishes in September. Our 2025 Public Cruise Brochure will be available to download soon.

Charter enquiries for 2025 are now open, so please head to our charters page for more information.

The John Bunyan Community Boat offers a range of scenic river cruises along the River Great Ouse in Bedford from April to October, enabling both local people and visitors to Bedford to access the wonderful river environment. 

The John Bunyan Community Boat was launched in July 2013 and is operated  behalf of the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust. All funds and donations raised from the John Bunyan Community Boat go towards the development of a 16 miles (26Km) new waterway park, which will link the River Great Ouse in Bedford to the Grand Union Canal in Milton Keynes. The boat is run entirely by volunteers and is open to everyone. Our cruising season starts each year in April and runs through until the end of October each year.

  • star rating  Spent a great afternoon on a Soul Cruise with a few friends. Both the DJs were excellent and play a great mixture of Soul tunes enjoyed by everyone on board... read more

    T Davies
    August 1, 2019

    star rating  Spent a great afternoon on a Soul Cruise with a few friends. Both the DJs were excellent and play a great mixture of Soul tunes enjoyed by everyone on board... read more

    MitzyD123
    August 29, 2019
  • star rating  What a fabulous trip the Soul Cruise was from start to finish ! Had so much fun dancing & singing to some excellent tunes from the 2 master DJ’s... read more

    Mandy A.
    June 1, 2019

    star rating  What a fantastic evening on the John bunyan.... a cruise down the ouse with perfect weather and great tunes of soul and Motown this a private charter so I was... read more

    Audra T
    August 29, 2019
  • star rating  We were on the Motown and soul cruise, what a fantastic way to spend an evening cruising the embankment with the excellent on board DJ getting all involved even the... read more

    bena249
    August 26, 2021

    star rating  Visited here with a group from Essex. Had two hour gentle cruise with a cream tea. From the moment we stepped aboard we were immediately looked after by the volunteers... read more

    casimmonds
    September 30, 2022
  • star rating  What a fabulous trip the Soul Cruise was from start to finish ! Had so much fun dancing & singing to some excellent tunes from the 2 master DJ’s... read more

    Mandy A.
    September 1, 2019

    star rating  A lovely way to spend a couple of hours, the free were really friendly, welcoming and interesting. Very COVID secure.

    sparkler10
    October 1, 2020
  • star rating  Cruise on the Great Ouse  - This was a lovely and informative cruise along the Great Ouse from Priory Marina to Kempston. 4 hours in total. We all really enjoyed the experience and would definitely do... read more

    avatar thumb Sue A
    July 2, 2024

    star rating  What a fantastic evening on the John bunyan.... a cruise down the ouse with perfect weather and great tunes of soul and Motown this a private charter so I was... read more

    audratimmins
    August 1, 2019
  • star rating  First time on this boat for my wife and I. We booked an evening jazz cruise as a birthday treat. It was a really wonderful experience. The... read more

    Mike_Dennison3
    September 1, 2021

    star rating  A great journey  - Lovely tranquil trip along the canal. Fish & Chips were served hot & were delicious. Friendly service throughout. Would recommend.

    avatar thumb Benoore
    July 4, 2024
  • star rating  What a fabulous trip the Soul Cruise was from start to finish !
    Had so much fun dancing & singing to some excellent tunes from the 2 master DJ’s... read more

    TiggerLincs
    September 1, 2019

    star rating  Great time ! We joined the boat at the priory marina and cruised for 3 hours to the Anchor pub at Great Barford. Beautiful countryside , a relaxing cruise followed... read more

    Michael G
    July 1, 2021
  • star rating  We’ve just done the curry night cruise. A superb couple of hours along the Ouse.

    The food was superb. We’ve eaten in the restaurant a number of times... read more

    SmiloMilo123
    July 14, 2022

    star rating  What can I say, had the boat on a charter and what a great day we've had. Boat was lovely and the crew even better, all volunteers with a real... read more

    Carl S
    September 1, 2019
  • star rating  Booked with a few friends. We all had a great time. Party atmosphere, great music, good bar prices. Already booked for next year. Recommend if you like good music, dancing... read more

    Andrea A
    August 1, 2019

    star rating  We were on the Motown and soul cruise, what a fantastic way to spend an evening cruising the embankment with the excellent on board DJ getting all involved even the... read more

    ben a
    August 1, 2021
  • star rating  What can I say, had the boat on a charter and what a great day we've had. Boat was lovely and the crew even better, all volunteers with a real... read more

    715carls
    September 1, 2019

    star rating  We were on the Motown and soul cruise, what a fantastic way to spend an evening cruising the embankment with the excellent on board DJ getting all involved even the... read more

    ben a
    August 26, 2021

Get in touch with us!

To make an enquiry about one of our public cruises or a private charter, please get in touch using the information below.

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John Bunyan Community Boat Partners