Pricing
Departures: Apr-Oct.
Prices (per week-long charter):
From $27,200 for a barge that sleeps four
From $36,000 for a barge that sleeps six
From $41,000 for a barge that sleeps eight
From $69,300 for a barge that sleeps 12
From $5,150 per person per individual cabin
Prices include the
TGV round-trip fare or private vehicle transfers between Paris and the barge.
Special Offers: Call R. Crusoe & Son for current special pricing.
For more information, to book, or to speak to an R. Crusoe & Son tour specialist, please call us at 800-585-8555.
Local Flavor
Barges. Once they were the workhorses of Europe’s developing nations. Back then they carried everything from potatoes to lumber.
Today these boats have been reborn as slender, elegant masters of the French canal for a lucky few who wish to uncover the secrets of the countryside, village by village, in grand style.
Gently Barging Through France. 8 Days.
Forty-eight hundred miles of canals wind through France. Cruising along them are barges, which (despite that slightly clunky word) are frankly luxurious... exclusive floating country inns, really, catering to quite small groups.
The French have anticipated your need to get away from it all on the European excursion of a lifetime. The perfect package, in a sense.
Awaken each day in your lovely room with private bath. Drink in the morning air, then coffee (served by one of your discreet bilingual crewmembers).
Fresh-cut flowers. Well-stocked libraries (and wine cellars). Sun decks, perhaps a grand piano, maybe a swimming pool. Almost heartbreakingly good meals created by your personal onboard chef who peruses the local markets each day along the way.
There are several ways to go: charter one of the five barges hand-selected by R. Crusoe for your own bespoke group of four, six, eight, or 12 (depending on the boat). Or join a scheduled cruise if you (and yours) don’t need a whole barge to yourselves.
Traveling with a slightly larger group? If so, consider chartering the Amaryllis and the Fleur de Lys in tandem or the Hirondelle and Alouette in tandem. The barges can cruise in pairs, allowing passengers to enjoy the amenities of both boats.
Unless you barge on the Alouette, you begin your adventure in Paris; passengers on the Alouette take off from Béziers or Carcassonne, depending on the specific departure date you choose.
More? If you're never been to Normandy, you shouldn't miss it. Call us for more information.
Please note: On these journeys, R. Crusoe & Son partners with Orient-Express. If you are not chartering a barge, you share your boat with other, non-Crusoe travelers.
To request a detailed itinerary for this journey (and others), click here.