The navigable waterways in France and other countries
Canal, river & lake boat cruise destinations
On this page, you will find information about most of the waterways in France and other countries, including canals, rivers, and lakes, that our cruise itineraries propose.
The information includes the total number of locks and lock sizes, the sources and mouths of the rivers, construction dates, special features and many more interesting facts.
All the navigable waterways, canals and rivers
We've listed the main inland waterways which are part of the cruise routes and itineraries on either the hotel barge trips or the self-drive cruises available from Hotels Afloat.
The inland waterways are divided into the following types:
- Major River
- River
- Channelled river
- Slackwater canal
- Canal
- Lakes
The information has been specially compiled for Hotels Afloat by Alister Aldridge (MA History, MA2 Digital Humanities) during his internship with us in 2022. Alister has collected data from many sources, including Wikipedia, and created a purpose-built XML file format for waterways. All the information has been translated into French and is available on our French website, Vacances Fluvial, in the Voies Navigables section.
Photographs have been collected and edited from private collections, Adobe Stock under licence, and other sources, all of which are credited.
©Copyright 2010 - 2026 Hotels Afloat France
v3.21