Do you enjoy drinking wine and other alcoholic beverages?

Most cruise packages include water, tea and coffee, but beyond that, policies vary. If you don’t drink wine or other alcoholic beverages, you can usually save money on a cruise that doesn’t include these or only includes wine with dinner, for example.

The usual options, depending on the cruise, are:

1. Wine with dinner only, all other alcoholic drinks extra  (soft drinks may or may not be included with meals)
2. Wine with lunch and dinner, all other alcoholic drinks extra
3. Wine with lunch and dinner, plus open bar between meals

Most cruises include at least one or two wine tastings of local vintages, but if you’re really interested in wine, look for a wine theme cruise. Many of the smaller luxury barges offer these for group charters. We even offer a “Wine and Chocolate Cruise” in the Chablis region of Burgundy. This cruise is open to both individuals and groups in the spring and fall.

Do you want to do a lot of sightseeing or just relax?

Most cruises include at least one sightseeing excursion per day, and these are usually included in the price of the cruise. However, it’s a good idea to find out if any of the excursions are “optional,” i.e., you have to pay extra for them. In addition to wine tastings at local vineyards, excursions can range from visiting a village farmers market to touring nearby chateaus and cathedrals.

If you just want to relax, you can skip the excursions, of course. And with a barge charter, your group can decide to do things like additional wine tastings instead of sightseeing.

Do you have a special interest?

Besides wine cruises, you can take a cruise focused on a special interest, like garden cruises, golf cruises, bicycle cruises, etc. Most of these require putting together a group for a charter, but this can be arranged for groups as small as four people.

As you can see, there are a lot of choices available for cruising in France, from larger boats that cruise the Seine and Rhone Rivers to small luxury barge-hotels that travel the networks of canals and smaller rivers in Burgundy, Provence, Champagne, the Loire Valley and other regions. So, whatever your interests and budget, you’re sure to find the perfect cruise that will provide a lifetime of wonderful memories.

A trip to Burgundy without a wine experience wouldn’t be complete, of course. So, while I was visiting barges on the Canal de Bourgogne, I went to one of the most famous vineyards in Burgundy (and in France, for that matter)–the Clos de Vougeot. This 12th-century winery/chateau was built by Cistercian monks for their wine production. They owned the property for 700 years and life was good for a long time. But the French Revolution took everything away from them. Today, it is the headquarters of the “Confrérie des Chevaliers de Tastevin,” an elite fraternity of wine connoisseurs known for, among other things, its annual event, the “Trois Glorieuses” (the three glorious days). This extravagant event takes place on the third weekend of November. First, a meeting of the Confrérie on Saturday, then a famous charity wine auction at the Hospice de Beaune on Sunday and finally the “Paulée de Meursault” and the award of its literary prize on Monday. All of these happenings are carried out with ample celebration and pageantry, of course. At the chateau, I was particularly impressed by the four mammoth, medieval wood presses on display in the cellars. They are really enormous!

As for the vineyard, well… it is clustered all around the chateau and it is a very unique and unusual growing arrangement. The stone-wall enclosed area of 125 acres is now owned by 80 different owners. Some of them only own a few rows or even less. So, although it is the largest Grand Cru area in Burgundy, the average production per owner is just over 1,000 bottles. The grape grown is Pinot Noir which produces a delicious full-bodied red wine. Taste it–you will not be disappointed. Clos de Vougeot is classified as a national monument and is well worth the visit. Being there on the Trois Glorieuses weekend would be so much fun!

Welcome! This travel blog is about river and canal cruise vacations on luxury barge-hotels and riverboats in France. With its extensive network of rivers and canals, France offers dozens of cruising possibilities from Alsace to Normandy and the Loire valley, down to Burgundy, Provence and the Languedoc. The boats navigating French waterways can be as small as upscale barges for 4 guests on the Canal du Midi or as large as 150-passenger river cruisers on the river Seine through Paris. Cruising around the French countryside is a great way to spend a vacation. Exploring out-of-the-way places, seeing the locals up close and sampling the many regional dishes and wines is a lot of fun. So, we hope you enjoy your trip (or enjoyed, if you’ve already been there) and we look forward to chatting with you.

From our “About” page you will see that we are travel professionals who specialize in tours and cruises in France, Spain and Portugal. You might want to take a look at our website.