I am organizing a vacation for a family of 5 with kids. We all love kayaking and we are looking at the possibility to combine kayaking and chartering a luxury barge. Anyone with barging experience that has tried kayaking?

I was in a group of twelve that went barging (two self-drive boats) on the Burgundy canal, and last summer took canoe trip on the Dordogne. My impression is that you would not want to kayak on a canal, and you could not barge on a river that has good kayaking or canoeing. You may have to split your trip in two.

A good source for houseboat/barge rentals along the beautiful Canal du Midi (and tons of other stuff as well) is goto-france.com.<BR>Have fun!

We charterd the 6-passenger Etoile in Burgundy last year and this was fun for all the family...Very accommodating crew who arrange bicycling and other activities (I am sure kayaking would not be a problem especially since the barge is cruising both Provence and Burgundy this year).<BR>You may want to check it out at francecruises.com<BR>John

Maybe the luxury barges have holding tanks; self-drive boats do not. For that reason I do not recommend kayaking or canoeing on any canal.