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.

On a recent trip to the Midi region in southern France, I took  the time to explore a special place: the famous Canal du Midi in the area known as Languedoc/Roussillon.  This manmade waterway is a wonder of hydraulic engineering, and its entire length has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Here are a few facts about the Canal du Midi. It was built during the reign of Louis XIV by a wealthy individual called Pierre Paul Riquet. It was dug by some 12,000 workers using only raw manpower. (Backhoes and front loaders didn’t exist in those days.) It was conceived to enable the transportation of goods between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as a shortcut to a lengthy voyage around Spain and Portugal through the Strait of Gibraltar.

The southeastern part of the waterway, 130 miles between Toulouse and Marseillan (near Sète), used to be called the Canal Royal du Languedoc. The northwestern section, about the same length between Toulouse and Castets (near Bordeaux), was formerly known as the Canal Lateral à la Garonne because it runs parallel to the Garonne River. The full length, once completed, was first named the Canal des Deux Mers (the Canal of the Two Seas), but the entire system is now commonly known as the Canal du Midi.

Today there is virtually no transportation of goods on the canal. Instead, it is used almost exclusively by self-driven pleasure boats and luxury barge-hotels. As I said, it is an amazing piece of engineering, and as it lazily winds its way through vast areas of vineyards and olive groves, it is one of the loveliest and most peaceful waterways in France.

The most striking feature of the canal, in my opinion, is what I would call its “signature look” - tall rows of enormous plane trees lining both banks, arching high above the waterway and shading its entire path all the way down to the deep blue Mediterranean. Imagine floating gently down the nave of a leafy Gothic cathedral for miles on end! Also notable is the ubiquitous tow path where horses once pulled the freight barges and where one can now take leisurely walks, jogs or bicycle rides.

During this one-week trip, I only covered the southeastern section of the canal. I traveled up and down between Carcassonne and Marseillan on the Bassin de Thau. I visited a dozen places, met quite a few people and took a lot of pictures. You can get more details on my visits from the full article I posted on our website.

Canal barges vs. riverboats - Canal cruises are boat trips on barges that travel on man-made waterways. These barges usually are remodeled commercial cargo hulls that have become obsolete for modern freight transportation. The canals are narrow and not very deep. They were dug decades or centuries ago, and they normally allow for just two boats to pass each other. The barges are small. Depending on the size of the cabins, their capacity varies from 4 guests to 10 or 12… sometimes 20. By contrast, river cruisers typically have over 100 passengers and travel on much larger rivers: the Seine, Rhone, Rhine, Danube, etc. Because they are small, barges can reach deep into the countryside, away from major tourist destinations, for a more unique and personal encounter with the local culture. You can even charter the smaller ones for your own family or affinity group (wine, gardens, golf, bicycling, cooking, art, etc.) Imagine… the whole boat just to yourself!

The lap of luxury - As I said, canal barges are small. However, they are more comfortable than you might think. Again, depending on the number of guests, some of the deluxe ones have very large cabins with gorgeous private bathrooms (usually with a shower, but sometimes a bathtub). Many of these boats even have saunas and hot tubs on board. Living rooms and dining rooms are decorated with beautiful fixtures and furnished with fine furniture.

Daily life on board a barge - One of the most striking features of a canal cruise is the slow pace. The boat sails only during the day and usually covers short distances: typically 50 to 100 miles a week. So, there is ample time for strolls in the neighboring countryside, bicycle rides along the towpath or minivan excursions to a local castle, monastery, winery, museum or other historical site of interest. The other “claim to fame” of a barge cruise is the gourmet food and the wines. During the course of a cruise, guests will sample dozens of cheeses, wines, local dishes and desserts.

Your hosts - Many of these small boats are owned and operated by a husband and wife team who are totally dedicated to barging. They operate the boat as they would their own home with additional rooms for a bed and breakfast (except that, in this case, “breakfast” means all the meals… every day). Your hosts are a combination of captain, cook, butler, sommelier, social director, chauffeur… everything. They “baby” their guests in every way they possibly can.

How long and when? - Barge cruises normally last a week, starting on Saturday or Sunday and ending the following weekend. They operate from April through October. In the south of France, where the climate is milder, some of them start as early as March.

You can find more information about barging on the FAQs page of our website. You can also see itineraries for a couple dozen of these canal cruises.