"Carefully created cruises, just for you"™

Cruise with Emma

Hi, I’m Emma James-Aldridge, and my company is dedicated to organising hotel barge and self-drive boat cruises on the inland waterways, canals and rivers of France, other European countries and Canada, for clients from across the globe. If you're a family, group of friends, couples or individuals, I have the perfect cruise for you.

Why choose us
Self-drivesHotel barges

Our clients have awarded Hotels Afloat
★★★★★ (4.9) stars

Discover rivers and canals

Top cruise destinations

Loire Valley

Loire Valley

France

Canal du Midi

Canal du Midi

France

Friesland

Friesland

Holland

Saône Valley

Saône Valley

France

Charente

Charente

France

Selected of hotel barge trips

Check out the best hotel barges

Prosperite barge cruise

Prosperite

Burgundy Canal
8 guests
★★★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
20% off
Savoir Vivre barge cruise

Savoir Vivre

Burgundy Canal
8 guests
★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
2027 offers!
L'Impressionniste barge cruise

L'Impressionniste

Burgundy Canal
12 guests
★★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
Saraphina barge cruise

Saraphina

Midi Canal
4 guests
★★★★
France
Canal du Midi
La Nouvelle Etoile barge cruise

La Nouvelle Etoile

Holland and France
8 guests
★★★★★★
France
Holland
Alsace
Dutch Waterways
Nymphea barge cruise

Nymphea

Brittany
6 guests
★★★★
France
Brittany
Magnolia barge cruise

Magnolia

Burgundy Canal
6 guests
★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
C'est La Vie barge cruise

C'est La Vie

Champagne Loire
8 guests
★★★★★
France
Loire Valley
Champagne

A selection of self-drive boat rentals

Discover the offers and discounts

The price shown is based on a 7-day cruise and indicates the lowest starting price, and excluding any special offer or discount.

Linssen Vlet 1030 Self-drive rental boat

Linssen Vlet 1030

8 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
1 bathroom
★★
From 1248€/7 nights
Vision 2 Self-drive rental boat

Vision 2

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
1 bathroom
Comfort
From 2399€/7 nights
Clipper Self-drive rental boat

Clipper

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
Comfort
From 1099€/7 nights
Tarpon 37 DP Self-drive rental boat

Tarpon 37 DP

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
2 bathrooms
★★★★★
From 1100€/7 nights
Last-minute
2027
N SIXTO Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Premium 6 to 8 people

N SIXTO

8 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★★
From 1746€/7 nights
Last-minute
2027
N OCTO Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Premium 8 to 10 people

N OCTO

10 guests maximum
4 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 4 children
2 bathrooms
★★★★
From 2581€/7 nights
Last minute
2027!
Terrasse P.1260R Self-drive rental boat

Pénichette Comfort 6 to 10 people

Terrasse P.1260R

10 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 6 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★
From 1526€/7 nights
Haines Rive 34 Self-drive rental boat

Haines Rive 34

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★
From 1457€/7 nights

Testimonials

Guests have said...

Meant to email sooner but got distracted— just wanted to say again that we had a wonderful time on the Aurora. Thank you so much for alerting us to...

We especially liked Savoir Vivre because they arranged dinner at local restaurants rather than all meals on board as the other Burgundy barges had....

Hi there Emma ,

Just to let you know that we had a great time on our barge. We miss it and the life style. We are looking at other places such as...

5* for the barge, destination, service from Hotels Afloat and the website!

The on board service was personal, professional, super friendly and...

Hotels Afloat's Emma Aldridge was extremely responsive and helpful during the planning and booking process and deserves our gratitude.

The boat was as expected, appreciated it's size & many bathrooms
We rate it a 9/10
The Nivernais route was better than we expected, and loved the...

High marks all around. Great pre-cruise advice. Efficient check-in. We ran into a couple of small problems--part of the experience!--which were...

“We thank you for your kindness and warmth. You made us feel like family from the first day. Lots of laughter all the week long. France will now...

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