"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

Charente

Charente

France

Saône Valley

Saône Valley

France

Friesland

Friesland

Holland

Loire Valley

Loire Valley

France

Bodrag River

Bodrag River

Hungary

Selected of hotel barge trips

Check out the best hotel barges

10% off
Johanna barge cruise

Johanna

Midi Canal
4 guests
★★★★★
France
Canal du Midi
Save up to 20%
Spirit of Scotland barge cruise

Spirit of Scotland

Scotland
12 guests
★★★★★
Scotland
Caledonian Canal
Last-minute
Save up to 20%
Renaissance barge cruise

Renaissance

Loire Valley
8 guests
★★★★★★
France
Loire Valley
Magna Carta barge cruise

Magna Carta

Tested by Jane McDonald
8 guests
★★★★★
England
River Thames
Luciole barge cruise

Luciole

Nivernais Canal & Yonne
12 guests
★★★★
France
Nivernais & River Yonne
Rendez-Vous barge cruise

Rendez-Vous

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

Shannon Princess

Ireland
10 guests
★★★★★
Ireland
Shannon
Last-minute
Save 20%
La Belle Epoque barge cruise

La Belle Epoque

12 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.

Last-minute
Save up to 50%
Panoramic P.1400FB Self-drive rental boat

Pénichette Comfort 8 to 9 people

Panoramic P.1400FB

10 guests maximum
4 cabins
Ideal for 6 adults
and 2 children
3 bathrooms
★★★★
From 2002€/7 nights
Last-minute
Save up to 50%
N QUATTRO S Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Premium 4 to 6 people

N QUATTRO S

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 2 adults
and 2 children
1 bathroom
★★★★
From 2059€/7 nights
Last-minute
Save up to 50%
Classic P.935W Self-drive rental boat

Pénichette Classic 2 to 5 people

Classic P.935W

5 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 2 adults
and 2 children
1 bathroom
★★
From 1134€/7 nights
Corvette B Self-drive rental boat

Corvette B

4 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 2 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
Value
From 959€/7 nights
Sheba Self-drive rental boat

Sheba

5 guests maximum
1 cabin
Ideal for 2 adults
and 3 children
1 bathroom
Value
From 979€/7 nights
Tarpon 49 QP Self-drive rental boat

Tarpon 49 QP

12 guests maximum
5 cabins
Ideal for 8 adults
and 2 children
5 bathrooms
★★★★★
From 3229€/7 nights
Last-minute
Save up to 50%
Panoramic P.1180FB Self-drive rental boat

Pénichette Premium 6 to 7 people

Panoramic P.1180FB

7 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 6 adults
and 1 child
3 bathrooms
★★★★★
From 1988€/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

Testimonials

Guests have said...

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 had a GREAT trip... loved the beauty of the canal and the plane trees.
Most appreciated part of the boat: Electronic toilets.

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...

Thank you to Alex, Nicole and Carls for an excellent trip. It exceeded my expectations. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves French...

Emma,

I just wanted to thank you, again, for saving our vacation!
The barge cruise on the Clare Du Lune was fantastic!  We loved the family!
Thanks...

The Clipper was as we expected, I rate it an 8/10
It was easy to handle.
Cruising from Port Cassafieres on the Midi was a good beginner route
My...

This cruise was way beyond our wildest expectations. On the Savoir Vivre, the food, the wine, the excursions, the scenery, the relaxing cruising,...

We rate the boat 9/10. The scenery in the forest was great.
We heard about Hotels Afloat by word of mouth and will book again.

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