Call Special Places Travel 1-877-64-BARGE (1-877-642-2743)
Outside US: 001.443.321.3614, email: info@specialplacestravel.com

Barges In France, Barges In Europe

Special Places Travel 
Logo.  Phone 1-877-642-2743, or email: info@specialplacestravel.com Greetings to our Travel Agent Colleagues!

A barge trip along the canals of France -- or through Holland at tulip time, or along the Thames River and its upper reaches, or in the highlands of Scotland or the Shannon River in Ireland -- these are experiences that clients come back from, saying it was the best vacation they have ever had in their lives. From the cuisine, to the rural countrysides, to the fascinating, customized excursions led by knowledgeable and so very accommodating crew members ... this is one of the most gratifying travel experiences you'll include your clients in.

At Special Places Travel, we focus exclusively on canal and luxury river cruises -- in France, Holland, Belgium, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and Italy.

Special Places Travel is the travel agent's best source for ALL the canal and river barges in Europe, with a unique and exceptional collection of services to support you and your clients in their travel decision.

We invite you to take a look at our updated web site at: http://www.bargesinfrance.com. We have added a new capability to the master list of barges on our website -- you can now sort all of the barges by the number of passengers, price, departure day, and category as well as the cruise region. We now have on-line barge brochures for nearly all of the barges, with many pictures of the barges taken during our barge trips. We are very interested in working with you to provide this type of unique vacation to your clients.

The website cited above contains current prices for all of the 60+ barges in France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Italy, as well as special offers from several barge owners (see: http://www.bargesinfrance.com/specials.htm.)
In addition to commissions on all sales of barge trips to clients, we offer a full package of free services that is ONLY available from Special Places Travel, including:

  • "Private label" web sites (for full charters and special packages) that clients can visit to read about barge trips, with YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION, including your agency's name, your name, your phone number, and your email, preserving your identity in your relationships with your clients.
  • Complete protection for commissions -- if you call us about your client's interest in a barge trip, and your client comes back to us directly to book the barge trip we will refer them back to you for booking.
  • Unlimited consultation on all aspects of the barge trip, and detailed suggestions for pre- and post-barge travel, hotels, rental car arrangements, air and rail suggestions, and trip cancellation insurance, provided to you (or, on your request, directly to your client, with communication to you on our contacts with your client).
  • 7-day per week availability in case of emergencies or urgent questions about your booking or your client's travel.
  • An experienced "silent partner" to support and guide your consultation with your clients -- based on our thousands of hours of direct personal experience with all of the barges (including having been aboard nearly all of the more than 60 barges in France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Germany, and Italy, and our ambitious program of regular repeat visits to all of the barges),
  • Follow-up questionnaires for you to forward to your clients to have them report to you what their experience was like.
  • Extensive post-booking support, when needed, e.g., to address clients' trip cancellation claims processing, or to address client questions on their return.

This level of agency support is unique in the travel industry, and not available from any source, except Special Places Travel.

One of the best things about booking clients on barges in France (as well as the rest of Europe) is that your clients really have the time of their lives, and come back to tell you so ... Here are some of the comments we received from our clients this year about their barge trips:

"The cabin was better than some 5 star hotels we've stayed in. Luxurious describes it. They even had a heated towel rack and cleaned our bathroom 2 or 3 times a day. I took a long, hot bubble bath while cruising down the canals! The service was outstanding! We really felt that we were special people, even royalty! Everyone tried their very best to please us. On the first morning I felt like a bit of cheese from the previous night's dinner for breakfast. From then on, there were morning cheeses out just for me without my asking. The food was incredible! Never have we been so consistently surprised at taste, presentation, and variety. The staff was consummately informed about the origins of the food, cheeses, and wines and shared information about such in an authoritative, yet "unstuffy" and friendly manner. The wines were very impressive and perfectly matched with the food for each meal. The captain not only took us to the most interesting places, but he also gave us time to wander around the little villages and towns. We were grateful for his wealth of historical facts which he shared with aplomb and humor. We even spent a morning with an 85 year-old Contessa who inherited a winery that she still operates. We toured her cellars as we learned about a vintner's life. We drank her wine, ate her pate and cheese puffs, and listened to her stories about growing-up in Nuits St. George and surviving the war years."
-- D.G. Pinehurst, NC

"We credit the crew with making what would have been a great vacation, an extraordinary one. They were wonderful, professional, fun, and supremely accomodating. All the food and drinks were excellent - really 5 star. The presentation, variety, quality of selections were of the highest caliber. The barge route was breathtaking. It was a fabulous combination of natural scenery, small villages, larger villages, and towns. I knew the barge would be wonderful but it was so much more. This was one of the most delightful trips we've ever had. We look forward to our next barge experience!"
-- A. D., Frederick, MD

"The excursions were really a huge hit with my wife and myself, to a large degree, because of the incredible knowledge and humor that the crew possessed. They were a big hit with their presence and attitudes. My wife and I were both surprised to see the good size of the cabins and the size and furnishings of the living room and dining room, which were more than adequate. The high points of the trip were the excursions and the eating, eating, eating and drinking, drinking, drinking. Thanks again for your help on this trip."
-- R.E., McKinney, TX

"The service was just the best. The crew are wonderful people. The food and wine were great - we had fun learning about the wines, cheeses and special dishes - every meal was a treat. The excursions were good - they handled well our splitting up and sometimes going in different directions - they knew what we were seeing and made it interesting. The barge route was beautiful, restful, and fun."
-- A.D., Bronxville, NY

And some comments about Special Places Travel:

"The service from Special Places was perfect and very responsive and I would recommend anybody to your firm. The quality of the pre-trip info was more than adequate and I could not think of anything else that could be added."
-- R. E., McKinney, TX

"Your service was excellent in every way: Communication, timely and complete receipt of documents, insurance recommendation, even extra tidbits of general travel info (that we found others who booked through someone else had not been given)."
-- D. G., Pinehurst, NC

"Everything you did was great, especially the last minute help in changing our arrival time and place."
-- K. K., Eastlake, OH



Barge Cruises in France, and the Rest of Europe, for an All-Inclusive Week of Adventure, Relaxation, Gourmet Cuisine and Wines, Excursions How to book your clients on Barges in France and Barges in Europe, 7-days a week:
Call (Toll-Free in the U.S./Canada):
1-877-64-BARGE (1-877-642-2743),
Outside the U.S.: 001-443-321-3614.
Email: info@specialplacestravel.com

See also the following web sites for more information about barges in other areas:
http://www.BargesInEngland.com
http://www.BargesInScotland.com
http://www.BargesInIreland.com
http://www.BargesInHolland.com
http://www.BargesInGermany.com
http://www.BargesInItaly.com

About this Web Site: Web site creation by Don Dillin of www.specialplacestravel.com. Questions? Call 1-877-64-BARGE, or send an email to info@specialplacestravel.com
The contents of this web page are Copyright © 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006 by Special Places Travel, LLC. All rights reserved. The contents of this web page as well as all linked barge pages (including photography and text may not be reproduced without permission. "Barges in France ... for the experience of a lifetime"™, "Barges in France, Barges in Europe ... for the experience of a lifetime"™ are service marks of Special Places Travel, LLC.