Barge Cruises: GoBarging/European Waterways
Based in England, GoBarging/European Waterways works with the English-speaking market worldwide. In continental Europe, the company operates luxury European barge cruises, with barges ranging in capacity from 4 to 20 people.
All vessels are fully crewed with a Captain, gourmet chef, hostess and tour guide, with a private air-conditioned mini-bus taking passengers on excursions.
See Barging Through Alsace & Lorraine: A Recap Of Our Adventure – by Ralph Grizzle
Countries of operation include France, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. It is the only cruise company offering barge cruises in Scotland and in the Venetian lagoon and River Po valley, as well as the first company to offer an Avignon-to-Amsterdam 6-week trans-Europe cruise, a 1,000 mile journey alongWestern Europe’s inland waterways.
The company offers daily itineraries that give passengers the opportunity to visit cultural and historical places of interest, vineyards and markets in each region.
Also offered are tandem cruises for larger parties and a wide selection of themed cruises, such as wine appreciation, golf and even honeymoon charters on three barges.
Go Barging was the first company to put a barge on the Upper Nivernais Canal in Burgundy, and in the “real” Loire Valley. It also is the only company with barges in Scotland and in the Venetian lagoon, as well as the first to offer an Avignon-to-Amsterdam six-week trans-Europe cruise.
Luxury barge cruises are not inexpensive vacation experiences. Rates ranges from $750 per person per day up to more than $1,000 per person per day, plus suggested gratuities from 5 percent to 10 percent of the total cost of the cruise depending on how generous you’re feeling. On a per-diem basis, barge cruises are certainly among the most expensive travel experiences offered.
River cruises, by contrast, typically will cost you less than half the price of a barge cruise, but as is often said, you get what you pay for. I spent six days on European Waterways’ Panache, barging the canals of Alsace and Lorraine in France. I’ve put together a short video that aims to give you a bit of the flavor of the experience.
Click the links below for ship reviews and related posts.
Is Barge cruising wheelchair access? Are stops accessible?
Hi Debbie, I’ve had a wheelchair traveler on four of the 12+ barge trips I’ve hosted.
She’s not totally wheelchair-bound and can walk (with help) across the gangway and get on the tour busses. She and her husband take the main-level deck (the other 10 staterooms are one level down via stairs). She wheels up to the end of the dining room table. They also tour, although there are many things that she cannot get to because of accessibility. I’d say she gets to do about 75 percent of the tours. Hope this helps.
We have done over fifteen great river cruises in Europe with various companies, and sailed on the Caledonian Canal on Lord of the Glens. We chose this trip with European Waterways because it had a different itinerary and we wanted to return to the Scottish Highlands. At over £3,000 each for 6 nights, we were looking forward to a very high standard of food and service. The crew were great and very hard-working (they do a lot of multi-tasking), and nothing was too much trouble. Service at meals was excellent. The boat was very nice and we liked the open bar. The restaurant chosen for a night out was lovely.
But – I run high-end tours, so I have a lot of experience of tour planning – we felt that the cruise was otherwise run on a budget. The food was a huge disappointment. In our opinion, it was too specialised for a group; portions were generally small, meals were rarely hot enough, and my dietary requirements, notified beforehand, were not adhered to at the first two meals. We had a party of Americans on the boat who did enjoy the food, but we also travelled with a British Couple who had done two previous European Waterways cruises and were very unhappy with this one. They said that the difference between the food on this cruise and the earlier cruises (which they praised highly) was significant. They said the earlier portions had been huge (they’d had to ask the chef for smaller ones) and the choice was much more mainstream. The wine on this cruise was good, but this couple weren’t happy that it was all French (apparently a directive from EW head office), when they had had an international variety of wines on the earlier cruises. We all had the impression that this cruise was geared to the American guests.
After enjoying wonderful food on many earlier river cruises and the Lord of the Glens, we were deeply dissatisfied with what we were given to eat. Each day, we were bracing ourselves for what was to be served and this was stressful when the meals should have been a delight – good food is one of the main reasons people go on cruises. The chef did substitute some dishes for us and the other English couple, and these were good. He served us all octopus after several people had said they didn’t want it, and, when someone asked if there was an alternative, he said there wasn’t one. Not what one would expect to hear after paying so much for the cruise. Would it not be a good idea to offer a choice of something more mainstream for those who don’t want specialist or foraged food?
I aimed to use this holiday to chill and relax after a frantically busy and stressful few months. The American party were very keen on long walks and cycling. That’s fine, but I felt there was too much emphasis on this, to the extent that I felt uncomfortable just sitting on the barge at these times. In the end, we were very glad to get off the boat. We would not travel with European Waterways again.
go barging link doesn’t work
Thanks. Fixed it and updated the page.