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If you wish to captain and crew your own boat to affront
the locks, or enjoy the comfort of a luxury barge with attentive crew
ready to serve you. The inland waterways of France has more than 2000
kilometre of navigable rivers and canals waiting for you. You can explore
the wonderful countryside and small villages, hidden in the historical
regions of France.
SELF DRIVE RENTALS
There are companies offering excellent self drive boat rentals,
where no special permits are required. There are boats available
for 2, 4, 6 and up to 12 people. Well designed with modern fittings,
WCs, showers, fully equipped kitchens. All the family can take the
boat's helm and enjoy a wonderful vacation. When you take over the boat,
you'll be given instructions on steering and locking through, simple
maintenance and information on where to moor. Certain companies
offer "one way" trips where it is not necessary to return
to the starting point, there are also programs with a mixture of
river and canal.
You'll find the choice will depend on the region you
want to visit and the boat size that you require, to help you select the
ideal boating holiday we have Cruise Experts ready to answer all your
questions, simply click
here and fill out the form, you'll receive a tailor made suggestion
meeting your exact requirements.
CREWED BARGES
There are barges which have been converted into luxury floating hotels,
cruising the waterways of France. Many standards and prices of barges
are available, the passenger capacity varying from 4, 6, 8, 12, 20 and
sometimes more, the cruise duration is generally 3 days or a week. Some
of the barges such as La
Reine Pedauque, offer very high standards in French gourmet cuisine
and wines. The excellent accommodation and well designed cabins shaming
many a cruise liner will ensure your comfort.
BUILD YOUR OWN BARGE
So you have a dream of owning your own barge! Do you
want to build a charter boat for business? You've decided to make the
break and convert an old barge in to a floating dream ? Make sure you
read through the most important list of a 101
things to do before your start.
RIVER CRUISING
There are many hundreds of kilometre of navigable rivers in France, famous
names such as the Seine, Rhone, Rhine and Moselle. Offering access to
the oceans and other European waters, these rivers are ideal for larger
boats and offer good cruising. Generally open all year round, except during
flood times. There are some lesser well know rivers such as the Tarn,
Garonne and Dordogne where cruising is very agreeable in pleasant landscape.
CANALS
The canals of France offer connections between the major rivers. Usually
they are located in the centre of France, or North of the Seine, except
for the Midi canal. The canals bridge the gap caused by the water dividing
line and eastern mountains of the Jura and the Alps, and allow access
between the rivers. Most of the canals are at least a few hundred years
old, they are very interesting to cruise for many reasons. Even keen sailors
will enjoy the challenge of completing a canal. The obstacles to overcome
can vary from limitation in size, to difficult approaches for certain
lock entrances, or the passing of narrow tunnels that can be quite a few
miles long.
For the novice, canal cruising is a great introduction to boats and boat handling.
After you have accomplished a few dozen locks during one day, you'll soon learn how to use rope and bollards.
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