Travel French canals by barge

I hesitate to answer since we have never taken a barge tour, per se. We have, however, travelled many of the European waterways by private or rented canal boat. The difference is that having your own vessel involves more effort, but you can choose your itinerary and spend more time in those places you find attractive. The large barge tour on the other hand caters to your every wish and leave you free to watch the passing scenery.

The other difference is the cost, of course, with the catered barge tours costing multiple times the expense of doing it yourself. I have had many friends who chose the barge cruise way, and have loved every moment, as we have enjoyed our own method.

Hi we are also planning a barge trip for 2019 - its something my husband and I have been dreaming about for a few years. I looked at European Waterways and the Barge Ladies websites. But I also found on google a couple of independent barges – Nilaya, Aslaug and Serenity.

All of them were cheaper than the boats on the main booking sites. Looks like we are going with Serenity Barge on a cruise in Champagne (hubby really wanted a wine region!). I picked Serenity because they offered the all-inclusive option with excursions and transfer from Paris to the ship - we are paying about $15,000 for a weeks cruise for 6 people. And I love that we can eat at local restaurants in evenings rather than having to have dinner onboard every night. Plus the owner Claire has been really helpful answering my questions during the booking process. It’s nice to deal with a real person rather than a big company.

Wow, that's really spendy.

The poshest narrowboat I can think of to self drive a family of 6 for a week in England is under £2000. Self catering and in England but you can get a lot wine for $10,000.

Or am I missing something?

With 6 in the party somebody could spend a bit of time in the galley, or a couple could jog off to the nearby pub, and a couple or so could work the locks.... loads of fun.

You have the economics dead right, Nigel, between an hotel barge vs. self drive, but I think the OP wants to do France rather than the U.K. waterways. If asked, I would strongly advise against doing a narrow boat. The difference in using the almost all automatically operating French locks and having to crank the British ones by hand is enough in itself to rule out British canals, IMHO. I have done them both, and even with a strong crew we found ourselves dreading that da*ned crank handle.

the locks and all that is entailed is where the fun comes in!! That and standing at the tiller in a waterproof (they're not you know) are what gives interest.

(voice of experience - and I still love boating on the British waterways (no matter what it is called now))

oh, except for the locks of the Knowle flight.

You can rent self-Drive barges in France, too, and it’s a wonderful experience. Minimal boating skills required. You can stop wherever and for as long as you’d like. Highly recommended. There are several barge companies; we used Locaboat. Contact them if you have any interest in this type of barging.

You are so very right, Nigel, about the effectiveness of "waterproofs" against the insidious assault of a steady British rain. While it is true that the human skin is waterproof, a stream of cold water running down your back while you crank a Welsh lock is not my idea of a happy holiday. After a week of non stop downpour even my strong boys had to be harried into going out to do the locks.

It is important to make a distinction between the barge journeys packaged by several barge companies and the self driven canal boats. Normally, the barge tours are all in one packages, generally consisting of large barges sleeping 12 to 15 passengers in a number of staterooms. They are all inclusive, meaning food, transportation, and entertainment are planned out by the owners.

A self driven canal boat is a different animal. It consists of a boat which has full facilities for sleeping groups of individuals in a less formal, less structured environment.

I have never booked passage on a barge, but imagine that it is best suited to those who like to watch scenery go by in a tranquil and unhurried manner. Food is prepared by the staff and the transits through the locks is all done by the crew. I can imagine that it is pleasant, but it isn't the way I would choose to travel. First, unless you fill up the barge, you get to hang out with a number of other folks who you may or may not care for. In a river cruise on say, the Rhine (better book quick before they run out of water), you have a larger number of passengers to choose your cruising buddies from.

I have done two canal trips down the Canal du Midi, and will state that they are a much more interesting (IMO) and enjoyable way of traveling. Driving a canal boat is easy, and negotiating the locks is fun and challenging. We stocked the vessel with food and wine and ventured into the unknown, motoring from Agde to Carcassonne, greeting other adventurers along the way and stopping whenever we wanted to in order to shop or to grab a bite ashore or o explore the towns contiguous to the canal. On one occasion we rented a boat that slept 8, which suited the 4 of us very well. On another trip, we rented a boat with accommodations for 12, and the 6 of us were supremely comfortable.

Most important to me, as mentioned above, $10,000 buys a lot of wine. Our boat rental for the 12 berth vessel was approximately $2,600 for a week in September. We drank an awful lot of wine and ate an awful lot of food, and didn't feel any pain to our pocketbooks. Visiting patisseries and grocery stores in small towns was an adventure, and we bulked up on French pastry and cognac. We were never bored.

I am sure that this would be heresy to someone accustomed to just lying back and having your vacation done for you as you were being pampered by attentive staff, but it was a grand adventure for all of us to be masters of our own fate with our self catered vessel.

Very well said, Wbfey1.

Riding the bike from the boat into the nearest village along the misty towpath early in the morning, finding the local boulangerie by smelling the baking bread, and riding back with the baguettes, nibbling the crusty ends, is one of the marvelous things about the canal adventure I will always fondly remember.