Enjoy a luxury barge cruise, A standard barge cruise is 6-nights / 7 days, typically beginning on Sunday afternoon and ending on Saturday morning after breakfast. Some special cruises might be longer, see the particular barge’s rate page to view their departure day, or contact us.

What’s generally included in an “all-inclusive” barge cruise:

• 6-night accommodation on the barge
• pick up and drop off from pre-arranged meeting point to barge
• breakfast, lunch, evening meals
• open bar with alcoholic and soft drinks
• daily guided excursions, including transportation and entry fees
• use of barge’s bicycles
• use of barge’s provided amenities: possibly jacuzzi/hot tub, exercise equipment, musical instruments, games…

What’s not included:

• Crew gratuity (up to you, of course, but 5-10% depending). Should be in cash and in local currency.
• Trip cancellation insurance, personal insurance, medical insurance, baggage insurance…
• Items of a personal nature, such as souvenirs, postcards, stamps, etc.
• Airfare & transportation to/from barge’s designated meeting point
• Food & drinks off the boat, that are not part of the barge’s planned routine/menu (you stop at a café for a beer to rest up during shopping, for example)
• Optional ballooning
• Supplements for themed barge cruises such as golfing, wine appreciation, etc.

About your cruise

The barges we represent accommodate between 4 and 12 guests, though La Bella Vita takes up to 20. For larger groups, we can provide a “tandem charter” for up to 24 guests.

You may choose to book the entire vessel for a private charter or just one or more cabins and share the boat with other like-minded passengers.

Smoking: No smoking inside of the barge. Smoking is allowed outside, but please be considerate of other guests on board.

All barges have English-speaking crew. Most are British. Some crew will speak other European languages as well.

Guided excursions. While very interesting, perhaps you just want to chill out on the barge, take a snooze, or do something else that afternoon. That’s OK, too.

Let us know if:

• you have a special event during your barge cruise, such as a birthday or anniversary.
• you have food allergies or special dietary requirements
• you have a medical condition or take medications that the crew should know about

We always stress that good communication between guests and crew is important. If you have a problem, don’t hide it… let the captain know as everyone wants this to be your best vacation ever 🙂

HOME > Frequently Asked Questions