1965

We enjoy riverboat and ocean liner cruising, but think we might want to try something new. We know nothing about barge cruising, but are intrigued by the idea. Can anyone share your thoughts, knowledge on this type of travel? A very quick search made me think it might be more expensive that riverboat cruising. Any info. anyone can share will be much appreciated.

jan47ete

There are 2 types of barge crusising self drive a large tugboat looking boat,large cabin cuiser which we did, and the large type with 40-50 people and captained. Look at www.leboat.com if you are not familiar with self drive barge cruising. We L O V E D it. Will write more later as I have a lot to say about the wonder of self drive cruising if that is the way you are going. We are not into organized, group, lots of people touring.

1965

thanks jan47ete. ANY info is appreciated. So far I've read about barging through England on a barge that houses 8 passengers. All others were through France, which I haven't yet looked at. We don't mind organized group, but are definately open to other possibilities. Not at all sure either of us could drive a barge! LOL.

jan47ete

In this forum, try putting the word barge in the search field. There are quite a few and you might get some sense of what you want to do then.

As we went with Leboat, for the 2 of you it would be a small cruiser. The steering is no problem as you go 5km an hour. The issue might be the locks. You can man the steering wheel and I say this as if your husband gets you into the lock, you just hold onto the steering wheel. He will have to do the dirter work of pulling on the wet, yucky rope to steady the boat in the lock. There are a number of canal cruises that have very few locks although we did the midi canal. We may have traveled as much as you, specifically we did Russia in 2011 in Sept. Keep in touch but if you get down to Austin, we can really get into it.

trurodoc

You may be thinking of a barge with a capacity of 8-12 people, fully crewed and of varying degrees of luxury. Certainly the top-scale barges are wonderful, but you can go with first class rather than ultra deluxe and have a very enjoyable trip. From my experience (two trips; one with French Country Waterways and one with Orient Express) I would be very careful to make sure the cabns are pictured in the promotional material. There are extreme differences even in the same nominal class.

You would be able to find many agencies by searching for "barge trips in Europe". Best of luck.