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THEMED BARGE CRUISES
Barge Cruises and Private Barge Charters

Themed Barge Cruises

Many barges offer special themed itineraries for barge charters. They are typically for private charters only, but Aurora, for example, sometimes offers a Biking / Cycling Barge Cruise as a cabin week, while others might offer a Golfing Barge Cruise for an individual cabin cruise week.

Itineraries and activities can be tailored for private charters, even for barges not mentioned below. Perhaps you want to charter the barge La Nouvelle Etoile but would like to golf, no problem, just let us know and we’ll see what we can do. Some themed barge cruises have an added supplement, such as for wine appreciation, please inquire.

Antiques  |  Art  |  Biking  |  Christmas Market  |  Culinary  |  Family  |  Gardens  |  Golf  |  Longer routes  |  Opera  |  Tandem cruises  |  Tennis  |  Walking  |  Whisky trail  |  Wine appreciation  | 
Wheelchair Accessible & Limited-Mobility Friendly Barges 

Antique Cruises

If you are interested in antiques, Barge Magna Carta based on the River Thames has an itinerary based around the exploration of antiques, which can be booked at no additional cost.

On the Magna Carta cruise, there is a real variety of excursions for the antiques-hunter, from tours of well-known antiques centers near London, to visits to smaller, specialist outlets in Windsor, Eton and other delightful villages further upstream.

Art Cruises

If you have a passion for art and painting, the hotel barge Athos on the canal du midi offers a wonderful art cruise from the fishing port of Marseillan to Argeliers. Whether you are an accomplished painter or a beginner, the beautiful scenery in Southern France is the perfect setting. Painting opportunities are plentiful and include the sparkling water of the Etang de Thau, the four bridges of Beziers and the panoramic view over the Collegiale.

Biking / Cycling Cruises

Many of our clientele enjoy taking some exercise in the form of cycling during their hotel barge cruise, so each vessel carries bicycles for everyone on board to use. The crew can offload the bikes at almost anytime for you to take a gentle pedal along the canal’s towpath, or perhaps to the next village or lock.

More committed cyclists may be interested in a Biking Themed cruise.

A supplement is charged for themed cycling cruises which is used to upgrade all bikes on board and hire a specialist cycling tour guide who is an expert in both cycling and the areas you ride through. Your chef will even drive your lunch to a point on your route to prevent you having to return to the barge to eat.

All biking routes offer a relaxing and interesting cycling experience, with something for every cyclist to enjoy; quaint villages, wonderful scenery and, of course, your very own floating luxury hotel to return to each day! Your itinerary will be fully customisable so you can be sure the distances will be right for you.

Many barges also offer a “Biking Plus” option with no additional charge. It is not a themed cruise but is for guests who are a little more adventurous. Read more about Biking Plus HERE.

Barges offering Themed Biking / Cycling cruises

Christmas Market Cruises in Alsace

The Alsace-Lorraine region of France is well-known for its Christmas markets. If you’re looking for a festive vacation in a Christmas wonderland, look no further than a Christmas Markets Cruise with Barge Panache in the region of Alsace in eastern France.

The air is filled with scents of mulled wine or vin chaud, gingerbread, and sweet chestnuts cooking over embers to get you in high spirits, as well as fairgrounds, ice rinks and chalet-style Christmas stalls galore.

Colmar is famous for their 6 Christmas markets. There is a magical atmosphere in this town framed by fairytale half-timbered houses, festive scenes, and white Christmas trees at every corner. Strasbourg has one of the largest Christmas markets in Europe with 300 stalls spread over 11 sites. This is a marvelous way to begin the holiday season. Learn more about Alsace Christmas market barge cruises.

Culinary Cruises

Culinary Theme cruises in Burgundy and the Midi will appeal to lovers of fine food interested in understanding how and where locally-grown ingredients are sourced. During your cruise, you will learn more about some of the region’s wonderful products and meet the people behind them. There will be a tour with your chef of the famous food market in Dijon or Narbonne, visits to local producers of cheese, honey, or olive oil, a hands-on cooking class and demonstrations by your on-board chef.

Barges offering Themed Culinary Cruises:

Family Cruises

Families and groups of friends can charter any of the hotel barges. You will have the whole vessel to yourselves which becomes a home from home, except that the crew takes care of all the hard work! We recognise that hectic lifestyles allow little time for families to spend precious leisure time together and planning a holiday involving several generations can be a real challenge.

Families with children charter cruises are available on many of our hotel barges, with tailor-made itineraries that take into consideration the ages and interests of all those in the group. A wide range of activities can be arranged and some will incur a supplement, such as go-karting, for example. Other activities can be booked by the family group directly with the provider, for example: hot air ballooning. Baby and equipment for children can be provided at no extra cost including children’s bikes and helmets, car seats, cots, high chairs, etc. Children under 18 receive a discount on many vessels.

In style, the family-themed charter is relaxed, less formal and above all, great fun.

View the itineraries below to discover what is available for different barges and locations.

Gardens Cruises

If you’re a keen gardener or would simply like to admire some of Europe’s finest gardens, why not combine your passion for horticulture with a luxury hotel barge cruise? Garden cruises include visits to some of the best gardens, estates, and parklands in Europe. Learn about the history of each garden from the expert guides, as well as the cultivation and preservation of a variety of plants and flowers from the professional gardeners.

Garden cruises can be booked at any time during the cruising season by a group chartering the barge. Garden cruises are available in other regions, including in France, on request. Please contact us for more information.

Golf Cruises

Scotland, Ireland, England and France all have some great golf courses including Royal Dornoch, Lahinch, Galway Bay, Wentworth, Sunningdale and Cap d’Agde, which should be enough to inspire and challenge any keen golfer. With your themed Golf Cruise, tee times can be arranged so that you have time to play a memorable round and still enjoy a relaxing cruise aboard your floating hotel with gourmet cuisine and fine wines.

Most golf cruises include four pre-booked and paid tee times and transfers to and from the golf courses. Hire of clubs, caddy or buggy not included. Only those golfing pay the supplement. A minimum of 4 passengers on a golf charter are required to play golf. Verify terms for the various barges.

Barges offering Themed Golf cruises:

Longer Cruises

If you are looking for an experience that is different from the “classic canal cruise,” a number of voyages are offered along the waterways of Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, and Luxembourg. These cruises cover longer distances of 6 days, so you will do more cruising each day.

La Nouvelle Etoile offers an 11-night Belgium to France voyage by way of Bruges, Ghent and through the hills of Picardy to Paris.

You could also book two consecutive weeks and partake a barging cruise that does not include backtracking, such as Anjodi’s final two weeks of their season: Le Somail to Marseillan followed by Marseillan to Avignon. Or perhaps aboard two barges that are in different regions… such as Alsace with Panache and Germany-Luxembourg with La Nouvelle Etoile.

  • Inquire for details

Opera Cruise

Are you an opera lover? La Bella Vita in Italy has special Opera-Themed Cruises that may be of interest.

Enjoy a performance of one of the best-known operas, such as Verdi’s ‘Aida‘, or Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, in the magnificent setting of the Roman amphitheatre, the Arena di Verona.

During La Bella Vita’s opera cruise, there are visits to some wonderful baroque theatres, such as the Gran Teatro La Fenice, where the premières of operas by composers such as Rossini and Verdi were performed, as well as the intimate Teatro Bibiena in Mantua with its bell-shaped interior, that opened with a concert by a 13-year-old Mozart in 1770.

And, of course, there is a lot more to see as you cruise across the Venetian Lagoon past its colorful islands and on through the Po Valley. Experience visits to the famous fish market in Chioggia, the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara and the stunning Ducal Palace in Mantua, as well as wine tastings and dinner in a private stately home where Lord Byron wrote some of his best poetry. And, of course, there is a lot more to see as you cruise across the Venetian Lagoon past its colorful islands and on through the Po Valley.

This 6-night adventure is a wonderful combination for what Italy is famous for wonderful food and wine, Renaissance architecture and, of course, opera.

Tandem Cruises

Tandem barge cruises are ideal for larger groups. Perhaps you are a group of friends, a family reunion, a wine club, a party of golfers, or even a company incentive group, who require more cabins than a single vessel can provide. Planned well in advance, on certain cruise routes we can have two vessels positioned together, allowing as many as 20-24 passengers to cruise in tandem.

In addition to the daily excursions enjoyed along cruise routes, group activities can be arranged such as tennis tournaments, bicycling rallies, golf competitions and more.

  • Inquire for details

Tennis Cruises

Tennis anyone? We currently have two barges which offer a themed tennis cruise itinerary; one in England and one in France.

Tennis cruises in the summer aboard Magna Carta on the River Thames. Arrangements will be made for you to play at some wonderful riverside clubs like the Lensbury, the Royal Berkshire, or the Windsor Lawn Tennis Club.

In France, the barge Athos in the Canal du Midi has a themed tennis cruise itinerary. France is known for its clay courts and during your charter you will play on a mixture of surfaces. Tennis will be played at Argeliers Tennis Club, Poilhes, Béziers Tennis Club and Marseillan Tennis Club.

A small supplement may be required to cover the additional costs of the prebooked clubs (inquire). Tennis cruises can be booked any time by a group chartering the barge.

Barges offering Tennis cruises:

Walking Cruises

A themed walking cruise includes daily walking with a professional walking guide. A wonderful way to explore the region. You’ll enjoy the best of Burgundy in France with its gorgeous scenery, white Charolais cattle, picturesque hilltop villages and tiny vineyards on the edge of the Morvan Forest. Theme cruise supplement: $4,250/charter (up to 12 guests).

If you enjoy walking but wish to also explore other aspects of the region, our classic cruises include ample walking opportunities (at no extra charge) and the crew have extensive knowledge of the region.

Whisky Trail Cruise

Whisky trail cruises are offered aboard hotel barges Scottish Highlander (up to 8 guests) and Spirit of Scotland (up to 12 guests). This special itinerary allows whisky lovers to visit a number of long-established distilleries to find out more about how Scotland’s favorite export is produced, as well as the opportunity to taste it.

Other visits can be included from the Classic Cruise in this beautiful part of the Highlands such as Old Inverlochy Castle, Eilean Donan, Urquhart Castle…

Whisky Trail cruises include visits to 4 distilleries with private guided tours and tutored tastings.

Barges offering Whisky Trail cruises:

Wine Appreciation Cruise

Many of the French barges, plus one in Italy, offer themed Wine Appreciation cruise itineraries. Your barge will take you directly to the vineyards for private tastings with our sommeliers. These dedicated luxury charter cruises will take you off of the beaten track and to some of the most intriguing and historic vineyards in the world. See France and Italy in a whole new way with an immersive wine cruise.

The cruises for charter groups include a comprehensive wine itinerary with additional winery visits, private tastings and the services of a professional wine guide. Also includes an upgrade of the wine list.

Wine Appreciation Cruises incur a special supplement, inquire.

Barges offering Wine Appreciation cruises:

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