Boating France 2027
Bonjour de Port Chalmers.
Winter has truly arrived and we hope you are safely surviving this wild weather. With the road closures we are hunkering down in front of the fire and dreaming of France. Hence a newsletter ……
Le Boat, as well as Canalous and Riverly, currently have short term promotions offering discounts up to 30%. While these may expire before you can get organised, specials are the norm nowadays so more will be forthcoming. If you are flexible, booking late can sometimes find a bargain, but it is rarely your preferred choice of boat or waterway. To get that you do need to book early and we already have our first booking for 2027, with a 20% discount and 25% deposit, plus a guarantee that the quoted price will not be undercut next season.
We love boating holidays, as we’ve repeatedly stated, and think that anything less than a week can only lead to disappointment. Even for devotees like ourselves it takes a couple of days before we get back into the rhythm of life on the canal, and for novices your holiday will flash past in a blur of new experiences. Renting a boat for 10-14 days gives you the opportunity to chill out, explore ashore and enjoy more than one night at a good mooring. We've had several bookings for three weeks, and a couple for even longer, from clients who want to use the boat as a floating base, usually with bikes, but not essential. We think that a boating holiday is ideal for family get togethers and is far more interesting than renting a big house and having to drive. Canals were built to service villages and towns, so a variety of restaurants, cafes, shops and wine cellars, plus the history and culture of France, are always nearby
If time is short we suggest you indulge yourselves with a six night, fully escorted cruise on a hotel barge. After working on barges for three seasons, we created Bespoke France in 1991 to return to France and experience a barge cruise as a passenger. We still believe hotel barges are the perfect, indulgent holiday.
We never worked on the Luciole, which cruises the beautiful Nivernais Canal in Burgundy, but have known the owners since the eighties. The barge has had many refits since then, including last winter when the galley floor was ripped out in order to replace the water tanks. That resulted in a new kitchen, plus they replaced the air-conditioning system to ensure cool cabins as summer temperatures continue to rise.
This season is almost full booked with only two cabins available for the cruise starting 30 August and one cabin for 6 September. Next year four weeks are already fully booked, but that leaves lots of options over the season which runs from the end of April to mid October. The Luciole has two single cabins without no single supplement and so is popular with solo travellers. Prices are 5,400 Euros per person for low season and 6,200 € p.p. for peak - all-inclusive of meals, drinks, guided excursions, entrance fees and transfers from Paris.
European Waterways operates lots of barges throughout France, plus Venice and the UK, and bookings are now open for 2027. Barges range from Premier class to deluxe to ultra-deluxe, basically offering bigger and bigger cabins. We prefer the traditional premier class such as the Rosa in Gascony and the Nymphea in Brittany, both of which offer great character and equally high quality service, food and wine.
Throughout the season European Waterways have various special offers for selected barges and dates, so if you are planning for this year please advise your dates and we’ll check what is available. The discounts are only for share twin cabins or whole barge charters, but for solo travellers the single supplement can be waived on some cruises, such as La Bella Vita departing from Venice on 6, 20 & 27 September 2026. This cruise follows the Po Valley up to Mantua and the all-inclusive cabin price 5,500 Euros for single occupancy, or for share twin the price is discounted to 4400€ per person (8800€ per cabin).
Hoping we have got you thinking and that we'll be hearing from you soon.
Bien cordialement,
Robert & Barbara