"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

Loire Valley

Loire Valley

France

Friesland

Friesland

Holland

Saône Valley

Saône Valley

France

Selected of hotel barge trips

Check out the best hotel barges

Elegance barge cruise

Elegance

6 guests
★★★★★
France
Aquitaine & Bordeaux
Rendez-Vous barge cruise

Rendez-Vous

Burgundy Canal
4 guests
★★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
Luciole barge cruise

Luciole

Nivernais Canal & Yonne
12 guests
★★★★
France
Nivernais Canal & River Yonne
2027 offers!
L'Impressionniste barge cruise

L'Impressionniste

Burgundy Canal
12 guests
★★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
2027 offers!
L'Art de Vivre barge cruise

L'Art de Vivre

Nivernais Canal & Yonne
8 guests
★★★★
France
Nivernais Canal & River Yonne
Shannon Princess barge cruise

Shannon Princess

Ireland
10 guests
★★★★★
Ireland
Shannon
20% off
Savoir Vivre barge cruise

Savoir Vivre

Burgundy Canal
8 guests
★★★★
France
Burgundy Canal
Magna Carta barge cruise

Magna Carta

Tested by Jane McDonald
8 guests
★★★★★
England
River Thames

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.

Haines Rive 34 Self-drive rental boat

Haines Rive 34

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★
From 1457€/7 nights
Vision 2 Self-drive rental boat

Vision 2

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
1 bathroom
Comfort
From 2399€/7 nights
2027!
Terrasse P.1120R Self-drive rental boat

Pénichette Comfort 4 to 6 people

Terrasse P.1120R

6 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
2 bathrooms
★★★
From 1281€/7 nights
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
Crusader Self-drive rental boat

Crusader

6 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
3 bathrooms
Value
From 1139€/7 nights
Tarpon 32 Self-drive rental boat

Tarpon 32

8 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★★
From 1457€/7 nights
Dancer 4 (Salsa A) Self-drive rental boat

Dancer 4 (Salsa A)

10 guests maximum
4 cabins
Ideal for 8 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
Comfort
From 2059€/7 nights
2027
N OCTO Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Premium 8 to 10 people

N OCTO

10 guests maximum
4 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 4 children
2 bathrooms
★★★★
From 2581€/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...

5* for the barge Magnolia, the Burgundy Canal, Hotels Afloat customer service and website.
We are very likely to book again and to recommend Hotels...

Vive la France, Magnifique. Tres bon. To old friends, new friends and wine, wine, wine. Thank you all so much, crew and friends, for an experience...

How would you rate your boat?    4 stars

How would you rate your cruise destination?    4 stars

How would you rate the Customer Service from...

We especially liked Savoir Vivre because they arranged dinner at local restaurants rather than all meals on board as the other Burgundy barges had....

The boat was spacious; we rate it 9/10
Cruised from Migennes to Sens and back: Appreciated that there were
relatively few locks
We found you on line,...

The 3 aspects we liked most about our boat, Le Grec, are:

* The outdoor seating space and flying bridge steering.
* The well appointed kitchen, as we...

I had no preconceived notions about the barge. I saw the photos online and it looked okay for a week. It turned out to be better laid out and...

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