"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

Friesland

Friesland

Holland

Saône Valley

Saône Valley

France

Shannon

Shannon

Ireland

Canal du Midi

Canal du Midi

France

Selected of hotel barge trips

Check out the best hotel barges

New route for 2026
Elegance barge cruise

Elegance

6 guests
★★★★★
France
Aquitaine & Bordeaux
Last-minute
2027 offers!
L'Art de Vivre barge cruise

L'Art de Vivre

Nivernais Canal & Yonne
8 guests
★★★★
France
Nivernais & River Yonne
Maïtena barge cruise

Maïtena

4 guests
★★★★★
France
Saône Valley
Burgundy Canal
Last-minute
2027 offers!
Rosa barge cruise

Rosa

Aquitaine
8 guests
★★★★
France
Aquitaine & Bordeaux
Last-minute
Finesse barge cruise

Finesse

Canal du Centre
8 guests
★★★★★★
France
Saône Valley
Central Canal
Esperance barge cruise

Esperance

Midi Canal
6 guests
★★★★★
France
Canal du Midi
Last-minute
Kir Royale barge cruise

Kir Royale

Exceptionally spacious
8 guests
★★★★★★
France
Champagne
Nymphea barge cruise

Nymphea

Brittany
6 guests
★★★★
France
Brittany

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%
P.1020FB Self-drive rental boat

Pénichette Premium 4 to 5 people

P.1020FB

5 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 1 child
2 bathrooms
★★★★
From 1386€/7 nights
Last-minute
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
La Péniche P Self-drive rental boat

La Péniche P

7 guests maximum
2 cabins
Ideal for 4 adults
and 2 children
2 bathrooms
★★★★★
From 2475€/7 nights
Next year!
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
Last-minute
Save up to 50%
N1160N Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Comfort 8 to 10 people

N1160N

10 guests maximum
4 cabins
Ideal for 6 adults
and 1 child
2 bathrooms
★★★
From 1702€/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
Tarpon 42 TP Self-drive rental boat

Tarpon 42 TP

8 guests maximum
3 cabins
Ideal for 6 adults
3 bathrooms
★★★★★
From 1400€/7 nights
Last-minute
Save up to 50%
N1160 Self-drive rental boat

Cruiser Comfort 8 to 10 people

N1160

10 guests maximum
4 cabins
Ideal for 6 adults
and 1 child
2 bathrooms
★★★
From 1702€/7 nights

Testimonials

Guests have said...

We loved our trip. Wonderful food and wine selected for our Burgundy wine canal cruise and the staff were terrific! 

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...

Roomy cabins, nice outside deck space  (Renior Junior suite & Sisley Stateroom)
Beautiful countryside on the Burgundy Canal


We rate Hotels Afloat a...

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...

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 boat was as expected, appreciated it's size & many bathrooms
We rate it a 9/10
The Nivernais route was better than we expected, and loved the...

Tournus to Lyon with a short trip up La Seille canal.
Though I have never piloted a boat before this was an experience not to miss. The time of year...

Hi Emma

It was fun, would do it again.

Boat and destination: 4*
Hotels Afloat Customer service 5*
Website: 4*
We are likely to cruise again, via...

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