"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

Canal du Midi

Canal du Midi

France

Friesland

Friesland

Holland

Bodrag River

Bodrag River

Hungary

Selected of hotel barge trips

Check out the best hotel barges

Last-minute
Renaissance barge cruise

Renaissance

Loire Valley
8 guests
★★★★★★
France
Loire Valley
10% off
Johanna barge cruise

Johanna

Midi Canal
4 guests
★★★★★
France
Canal du Midi
Maïtena barge cruise

Maïtena

4 guests
★★★★★
France
Saône Valley
Burgundy Canal
Last-minute
Magna Carta barge cruise

Magna Carta

Tested by Jane McDonald
8 guests
★★★★★
England
River Thames
Last-minute
2027 offers!
Athos barge cruise

Athos

Midi Canal
10 guests
★★★★
France
Canal du Midi
Camargue
Shannon Princess barge cruise

Shannon Princess

Ireland
10 guests
★★★★★
Ireland
Shannon
New route for 2026
Elegance barge cruise

Elegance

6 guests
★★★★★
France
Aquitaine & Bordeaux
Last-minute
2027 offers!
Anjodi barge cruise

Anjodi

Midi Canal
8 guests
★★★★
France
Canal du Midi

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.

Save up to 50%
P.1022FB Self-drive rental boat

Pénichette Premium 2 to 3 people

P.1022FB

3 guests maximum
1 cabin
Ideal for 2 adults
and 1 child
1 bathroom
★★★★
From 2268€/7 nights
Next year!
Tamaris Self-drive rental boat

Tamaris

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
Value
From 939€/7 nights
Last-minute
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
Next year!
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
Save up to 50%
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
Next year!
Mystique Self-drive rental boat

Mystique

8 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 6 adults
and 2 children
3 bathrooms
Comfort
From 2159€/7 nights
Save up to 50%
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
Last-minute
Triton 1050 Self-drive rental boat

Triton 1050

8 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
bathroom
★★★
From 969€/7 nights

Testimonials

Guests have said...

Thank you for your assistance, it all went very well and the boat was very comfortable and provided everything we expected.

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 all so very much for an absolutely marvellous week! Your hospitality, flexibility, understanding and company were wonderful! You shared...

The boat was better than expected, and rates 10/10. Appreciated the contrasting countryside and villages.
We would book with Hotels Afloat again...

The boat provided plenty of room for our group. I rate it 8/10.
We appreciated the quiet countrside cruising with interesting towns along the way.

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...

How would you rate your boat? 4 stars   
How would you rate the Customer Service from Hotels Afloat, i.e. our response to emails, phone calls etc. ...

We have very much enjoyed our week of canal and river cruising on "La Vie en Rose". We had some fabulous food, cheese and wine and learnt a lot...

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