France Travel Planner by Tom Brosnahan & Jane Fisher   Canal Barge Cruises in France
Cruising on a canal barge in France, your vessel is your hotel, your fellow voyagers your society, and all of France your panorama....

 
 

 

 

Barge cruising is one of the best ways to experience the beauty, culture and history of France.

Rich in great rivers, since the Renaissance France has boasted Europe's most extensive and elaborate system of navigable waterways—8,500 km (5,300 miles) of them, including more than 3,800 km (2,300 miles) of purpose-built canals, including the famous Canal du Midi and the Canal St-Martin in Paris.

Begun in the 1500s for commercial and military transport when France's roads were poor, France's canal system today is used for both commercial and pleasure craft.

Among the finest vacations in France is a bicycling and canal barging cruise: during the day you bicycle along the back roads and through the villages of the French countryside, and in the evening you relax, dine and socialize on your comfortable canal barge floating hotel. No changing hotels every night: you float to your new starting-point on the barge. More...

On some canals, such as the Canal du Midi, you can even rent your own barge and cruise as you like. More...


Bike & Canal Barge Tours

Bicycling in France

Special Interest Vacations

Where to Go in France

When to Go to France

 

Paris Girls Secret Society, a novel by Tom Brosnahan

 

Canal barge moored at Josselin, Bretagne, France

Canal barge moored near a lock
in Josselin, Brittany.

 

 

 

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