"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

Camargue

Camargue

France

Bodrag River

Bodrag River

Hungary

Shannon

Shannon

Ireland

Loire Valley

Loire 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
Elegance barge cruise

Elegance

6 guests
★★★★★
France
Aquitaine & Bordeaux
2027 offers!
L'Impressionniste barge cruise

L'Impressionniste

Burgundy Canal
12 guests
★★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
Shannon Princess barge cruise

Shannon Princess

Ireland
10 guests
★★★★★
Ireland
Shannon
Esperance barge cruise

Esperance

Midi Canal
6 guests
★★★★★
France
Canal du Midi
2027 offers!
Finesse barge cruise

Finesse

Canal du Centre
8 guests
★★★★★★
France
Saône Valley
Central Canal
La Vie en Rose barge cruise

La Vie en Rose

Burgundy
6 guests
★★★★
France
Saône Valley
Central Canal
20% off
Savoir Vivre barge cruise

Savoir Vivre

Burgundy Canal
8 guests
★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal

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.

2027
N900 DP Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Comfort 4 to 7 people

N900 DP

7 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 1 child
2 bathrooms
★★★★
From 1420€/7 nights
Continentale Self-drive rental boat

Continentale

6 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
3 bathrooms
Value
From 1599€/7 nights
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
Linssen Yacht 36 Self-drive rental boat

Linssen Yacht 36

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 2 adults
and 2 children
bathroom
★★
From 1277€/7 nights
2027
N QUATTRO B Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Premium 4 to 6 people

N QUATTRO B

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★★
From 1866€/7 nights
Espade Concept Fly Self-drive rental boat

Espade Concept Fly

9 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 3 children
1 bathroom
★★★
From 1209€/7 nights
2027
N SIXTO PRESTIGE C Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Premium 4 to 6 people

N SIXTO PRESTIGE C

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 2 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★★★
From 2843€/7 nights
Dancer 2 (Tango) Self-drive rental boat

Dancer 2 (Tango)

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 1 child
1 bathroom
Comfort
From 1639€/7 nights

Testimonials

Guests have said...

Emma,
 
Our cruise in Savoir Faire was wonderful in all respects: the FOOD!, the service, the accommodations, the cities, the tours —...

The layout was very practical and well appointed with everything needed for a week aboard supplied and in very good condition. We were also given a...

We appreciated It's small size, fabulous crew, and the opportunity for our family to be together. I rate the boat 9/10
The Nivernais Canal was quiet...

We enjoyed it very much.  Very likely to book with Hotels Afloat again, rated 5/5 *

Rated barge 4/5 *; rated region 4/5 *

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...

All 7 of us thank you very much for arranging our houseboat holiday on the Bourgogne canal, especially the 1300 boat - it was real luxury and we...

Hi Emma

We had a great trip. The arrival, boat familiarisation and boat hand-back service at the yard were excellent. The boat was fine. We went...

The cleanliness and reliability of the boat overall: 9/10
The cruise in the Lot was generally as expected:  One or two of the locks were a little...

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