"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

Saône Valley

Saône Valley

France

Friesland

Friesland

Holland

Canal du Midi

Canal du Midi

France

Bodrag River

Bodrag River

Hungary

Selected of hotel barge trips

Check out the best hotel barges

Grand Cru barge cruise

Grand Cru

Near Dijon
8 guests
★★★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
Shannon Princess barge cruise

Shannon Princess

Ireland
10 guests
★★★★★
Ireland
Shannon
Last-minute
2027 offers!
La Bella Vita barge cruise

La Bella Vita

Venetian lagoon
20 guests
★★★★
Italy
Venice Lagoon
La Vie en Rose barge cruise

La Vie en Rose

Burgundy
6 guests
★★★★
France
Saône Valley
Central Canal
Best price!
Grand Victoria barge cruise

Grand Victoria

River Saône
6 guests
★★★★★★
France
Saône Valley
Central Canal
River Rhone
Last-minute
2027 offers!
La Belle Epoque barge cruise

La Belle Epoque

12 guests
★★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
Rendez-Vous barge cruise

Rendez-Vous

Burgundy Canal
4 guests
★★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
Last-minute
Kir Royale barge cruise

Kir Royale

Exceptionally spacious
8 guests
★★★★★★
France
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.

Next year!
Elegance Self-drive rental boat

Elegance

6 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
3 bathrooms
Comfort
From 1299€/7 nights
Save up to 50%
N SIXTO Green Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Premium 6 to 8 people

N SIXTO Green

8 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★★
From 2741€/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
Next year!
Vision 3 Self-drive rental boat

Vision 3

10 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 6 adults
3 bathrooms
Comfort
From 1719€/7 nights
Last-minute
Haines Rive 40 Self-drive rental boat

Haines Rive 40

8 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 6 adults
and 2 children
3 bathrooms
★★★
From 1679€/7 nights
Save up to 50%
N DUO Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Comfort XL 2 to 4 people

N DUO

4 guests maximum
1 cabin
Ideal for 2 adults
1 bathroom
★★★★
From 1201€/7 nights
Save up to 50%
N1010 Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Comfort 6 to 8 people

N1010

8 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★
From 1373€/7 nights
Save up to 50%
Classic P.1107W Self-drive rental boat

Pénichette Classic 4 to 7 people

Classic P.1107W

7 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 1 child
1 bathroom
★★
From 1246€/7 nights

Testimonials

Guests have said...

Dear Emma
We've just returned from Burgundy.
Many thanks for arranging the booking with Heidi & Stefan. Everything went very well indeed. The boat...

The cruise was so wonderful, got to see some places that have been on our “bucket list” for years! Emma was a dream to coordinate our trip,...

The Caprice is Spacious; we liked the sliding back door
Boat rated 10/10
Was the route as you expected? yes
What did you most appreciate about the...

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

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

Thank you so much for our week in paradise. the knowledge imparted, the comfort, the ease, the pace, the shared laughter, the most scrumptous meals...

Words cannot describe the experience we have had on this cruise from Bruges to Paris. The excellence of service was the best part and then the...

In all of my travels, Hotels Afloat is the best organisation that I have used.  They provided me with all of the information that I needed but...

To call the voyage perfect is not enough. Perfection has to include the crew and our Captain Chris. Thanks for all the kindness

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