Nene/Cambridge.

Its horrible, they are all weird down here.
@gazza will have the best advice.
Mooring in reeds is fun.
If you can find somewhere to moor in the reeds above Denford lock the Cock is worth a visit (no food)
Jamie the landlord is a bit Marmite

And dont forget the first part down to Islip is said Nen and from Oundle onwards its Nene
The bit between Islip and Oundle is undecided.

Harlow is better than what ?     Beirut ?

I came the other way in August, and I have to say it is a truly beautiful route and lovely waterways.

A few of the things I can remember are:

Make sure you join the FOTRN- I think its only about 15 quid but it probably trebles the number of available moorings.
Don't leave it too late to apply- they can take a week or so to process applications.

The public moorings are sometimes 5, 6 or more miles apart, and I can imagine in the summer you might get to your planned mooring spot at say 6pm and find that the 3 available places are already taken. It happened to me once or twice.
So you either have ask if you can double-moor onto someone, or cruise on into the very late evening, with the next mooring several hours away.

There are lots of GRP boats, as you might imagine, and they have slightly different behaviours, speeds, and needs to the steel narrowboats. I used to always try to let them past as soon as I could, as the speed limit is 7mph in some places, and of course they can use that limit.

I had no problem mooring on the Great Ouse, but in high summer it might be different. Might also be worth joining the GOBA- Gazza will know if its worthwhile.

You probably know, but worth mentioning just in case: all the moorings I saw were 48 hours, so there's no dwelling for a week if you find a nice spot. You need to keep moving.

Fotheringhay castle is a lovely place to stop if you can fit it in. Its a fiver a night, but so peaceful.
Which reminds me, sometimes the villages with shops are a few miles away from the mooring spots, so a bike might be handy in some places.

But all in all, an amazing trip that you wont regret.
Unless you get trapped for 3 months by a SSN.
Lovely place to get trapped though.

I used to think only mountainous landscapes were really beautiful, but the Great Ouse landscape, although flat as anything, has a beauty all its own.

ETA-  When I eventually do it again, I will start down the Northampton flight early, so I can guarantee to get down by mid afternoon.
There were a bunch of homeless/vagrant type guys based on a knackered GRP cruiser that were apparently letting water out of the pounds and trying to strand boaters around lock 9 or 10, with the idea of charging them 20 or 30 quid to 'rescue' them, so be prepared for some shenanigans if they're still around and not many boats.
I hardly saw a boat all day- I think it was second week of sept I came up.

As you approach the Nene junction the canal narrows to barely wider than a narrowboat in a couple of places because of heavily overgrown reeds, and if boats are coming up that could get interesting. 

Northampton marina is only 10 quid a night and very secure, so you could book in there and spend the evening or next morning having a wander around the place, before heading down the Nene. I think its seen better days, but still, most towns are worth a look. 

All the towns are worth a stop, but the Peterborough 'waterfront' moorings seem to be a place that kids might gather in the evenings- if it does look a bit dodgy I was told you can moor a little further on among some moored boats on the left, and maybe come back and go through the lock the nest day. 
March didnt have a lot of public moorings but if you get there early you might be ok.

Again, Gazza will be able to tell you how busy these spots get in high summer.

I didnt have one, but I'm told you really ought to have a life jacket to go through the denver sluice bit, and also have an anchor. 

 

It’s dreadful - stay on the canals 🤪🙈

shush !!!

Il be careful with my pronunciation, when I get there later this year then.