Special Offers for Barges in France (... and England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Germany, too!)

Contact us for personal assistance in selecting the hotel barge that best matches your interests, needs, and price. You can rely on our fourteen years of experience and frequent visits aboard all of the barges in France and the rest of Europe to give you honest answers to all of your questions, and to guide you to the experience of a lifetime. Note: Prices quoted and payable in US Dollars. Sale prices and special offers apply to new bookings only. "Cabin" special offers are based on double occupancy, unless otherwise noted.
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THEME CRUISES
ELISABETH: Chocolate and Wine Cruise!	The 6-passenger hotel barge ELISABETH, cruising in Burgundy on the beautiful Canal de Bourgogne between Tanlay and Veneray les Laumes, is again offering its fabulous Elisabeth La Chocolat Cruise for Wine Lovers and Chocoholics. Highlights include: • Lezinnes, and a visit to the beautiful renaissance, Ancy le Franc chateau. • Wine tasting in Chablis and visit to the chocolaterie to hear the history of and taste the chocolate Pillars of Chablis. • Ravierres for a visit to the caves of Grottes d'Arcy sur Cure, to see some of the oldest cave paintings in the world. • To Montbard, and a tour of the Abbay de Fontenay, a UNESCO world heritage site • Lunch in the village of Flavigny (where the movie "Chocolat" was made) and a walking tour of the village. • In Alesia, see the site of the last great battle between the Romans and the Gaules. The Roman ruins and amphitheatre date back to 345BC. • Special chocolate tastings, and demonstrations all through the week, with chocolate and wine pairings! For full details Click here for Elisabeth's Chocolate and Wine Itinerary.
SHORT WEEK MINI-CRUISES	A taste of Burgundy! Join the 8 passenger SAVOIR VIVRE for a few days of barging, exclusive sight seeing, and dining out in some of Burgundy's most interesting restaurants. Spend three nights aboard the Savoir Vivre, and enjoy their classic dinig out itinerary for only $1,600 per person! Enjoy guided tours of Beaune, the famed winery, Chateau Clos du Vougeot, and some time for a little shopping in Dijon. Mini-Cruises can begin on Sunday's or Wednesday's. April and May cruises only. Call or email for more information or to book your Mini-Cruise!
HONEYMOON CRUISE	Honeymoon Special! aboard ELISABETH. Book a honeymoon or a special wedding annniversary charter cruise for two and be pampered and looked after by a crew of three for your private cruise week. Imagine Wine and Chocolate and Romance. Red roses and champagne in the cabin as an extra treat! Take the whole barge for yourselves at just USD$12,500 (2012 season). Spend time together away from the hustle and bustle of the real world. Relax and enjoy the privacy of your own intimate floating hotel. Let the crew of the Elisabeth do all the work and organization. Enjoy your special time together! Call or email for more information or to book your Honeymoon Cruise!
HANDS-ON CUISINE CRUISE: Cooking Classes & Cruising	Interested in a HANDS-ON CUISINE CRUISE? Charter Parties: Enjoy Regional Cooking Classes & Cruise: The ultra-deluxe 4-passenger ALOUETTE, and the deluxe 18-passenger LE PHENICIEN offer private hands-on lessons and then the chance to enjoy your carefully prepared sumptuous meals and desserts! Cruise routes for this special program include Burgundy, Canal du Midi, and Provence. (Cuisine class supplement may apply.) Or, just looking to sit back and watch your chef? Then consider this gorgeous selection of barges, each equipped with demonstration kitchens: ROI SOLEIL, PROSPERITE, RENAISSANCE, and ENCHANTE. Call or email for details.
SPRINGTIME IN HOLLAND 2012: The TULIP and GARDEN CRUISE OF A LIFETIME!	Tulip Cruises in Holland: If you've not experienced the Keukenhof in Holland in the Springtime, with hundreds of thousands of tulips, there is still availability on Tulip Cruises from mid March to mid May in 2012. Please call or email us soon to check on availability! Select from the following luxury hotel barges: 8-passenger Absoluut2 6-passenger Elisabeth 8-passenger Nouvelle Etoile 12-passenger Savoir Faire 12-passenger Panache Don't miss the amazing display of thousands of tulips at Keukenhof, the Aalsmeer flower market with up to a million flowers auctioned daily, up-close-and-personal encounters with the art works of the Dutch masters, the town of Gouda and cheesemakers, and the classic artistry of Delft's pottery works where porcelain is still handmade and painted. Priceless memories! Prices vary by barge, starting at USD$4,500 per person aboard the Elisabeth and Savoir Faire, USD$4,650 aboard Panache, USD$4,950 aboard Absoluut2, and USD$6,150 to USD$6,900 aboard La Nouvelle Etoile. (Prices are higher for later April/May cruise weeks on some barges.) Prices include Amsterdam transfers, all meals, guided excursions, wines with meals, and bar drinks. Call or email now to book your 2012 Tulip Cruise.
ACTIVE CRUISES: Cycling Cruises Golf Cruises Runners Cruises Tennis Cruises Tour de France Cruises Walking Cruises	With your luxury hotel floating along with you, combine your interest in walking, golf, cycling or running with a barge cruise. If you are casually interested in these activities, nearly all barges can accommodate you during the course of a regular cruise week. If you would like to have cycling, golf, or the 99th TOUR de FRANCE next July 2012 to be a major focus of your cruise, you can join in on a cruise week that is organized specifically for this or you can gather friends with similar interests and charter a barge to customize the week to match your interests exactly. Call or email for details CYCLING CRUISES can include casual cycling along the towpath and into villages (nearly all canal cruises offer this as part of their regular itineraries), or serious daily cycling (e.g., 25-50 miles each day) with or without a cycle tour guide -- this kind of cycle cruise is specially arranged, and typically provides rented bicycles that match your individual size and preferences. GOLF CRUISES can include as many three or four golf days at local courses along the cruise route, with separate excursions for non-golfers -- these are specially arranged golf cruise weeks. OR you can play golf on your own during most any cruise week aboard any barge, by arrangement with the crew. TENNIS CRUISES include several days of tennis at world class courts, sightseeing and luxury dining and cruising. Play on the red clay "Roland Garros" style courts in France, with a cruise in the Northern Burgundy region, aboard the 8-passenger L'Art de Vivre, in Auxerre, Vermenton, Chatel Censoir and Coulange Sur Yonne. A tennis cruise in England aboard the 8-passenger Magna Carta will include the opportunity to play on a few of Englands most exclusive lawn and grass courts. Enjoy a match with your party at the private Lensbury Club in Teddington, the Runnymeade Hotel, the Windsor Lawn Tennis Club and the private club at Royal Berkshire. TOUR de FRANCE stages include routes that are on or very close to the cruise routes of several barges. If you're interested in planning a barge cruise around the stages in the TOUR de FRANCE, contact us soon, and we'll be happy to match you up with a barge cruising on or near one of the stages. Contact us for further details. WALKING CRUISES are organized to absorb the most that the particular cruise region has to offer. Spend your week ambling through historic villages and slowly unfolding scenic vistas of hilltop castles, ancient vineyards and verdant pastures. In the company of a professional walking guide saunter along the region's scenic pathways, as you are provided just the right balance of exploration and exertion combined with relaxation. The Belle Epoque, the L'Art de Vivre and the Magna Carta, all have organized walking tours, with a professional guide to lead the way.

Open 7 days a week! Call 1-877-642-2743 (outside US/Canada: phone 001.443.321.3614)

Experience barging in France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Germany, or Italy to see why everyone says this is the most pampered experience along waterways of incredible beauty. MOST BARGE CRUISES ARE ALL INCLUSIVE: Unless noted, all canal and river cruises are seven days and six nights. The majority start their cruise on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The all-inclusive trip price includes all meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), alcoholic beverages, transfers, and excursions, except where noted. Most French barge cruises in Burgundy include transfer from and to Paris in their price (some even on the TGV train), whereas barges in the Canal du Midi, for example, typically don't include transfers from Paris. In Ireland, Scotland, England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Italy, prices usually include transfers from and to the major gateway airport or hotel or train station. "Value season" is typically early April and end of October, and July and August for some barges; "regular season" is all the remaining months. Call or email.

MORE ABOUT BARGES and SPECIAL OFFERS:

This edition of our specials page highlights offers for the 2011 season and provides additional suggestions for special cruises -- including Spring Tulip Cruises in Holland, a fabulous cruise in Burgundy for chocolate and wine lovers, and cruises for runners, walkers, cyclists, golfers, antique-hunters, as well as cruises with emphasis on special interests, including garden cruises, archaeology, history, etc. If you've never cruised aboard a hotel barge, now is the time to discover why hotel barges are the best kept secret in travel!

If you've ever thought about cruising the canals of France (or waterways in England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Germany, and Italy) and being pampered like you've never imagined -- call toll-free from US/Canada at 1-877-642-2743, or email us at info@SpecialPlacesTravel.com to discuss "the best kept secret in travel" -- a vacation experience like no other! (Outside US/Canada, call 001.443.321.3614 or email.) We suggest you call early because many of the most popular weeks are already sold out on some barges -- but there are still many openings. So if you are considering cruising in 2011 or beyond contact us soon!

All special price offers apply only to new bookings, and are subject to availability. Unless otherwise noted, all prices are in US Dollars. For a full description of each hotel barge listed on this page, click on the barge name.

Are you thinking of planning a family reunion, high school or college reunion, family celebration of a special anniversary or birthday? We will work with you to make the most memorable lifetime event for groups of 2 to 22. Do you have at least ten people who MIGHT go, but the group may expand to more, where you would like flexibility to eventually accommodate, 14, 16, even 18 total passengers? If so, call or email us soon, and we will work with you to create the most perfect imaginable reunion or family/group celebration for anytime in the cruise season (typically end of March through first week in November, though a shorter season applies to some barges). Group sizes from 2 to 22!

Hotel barging offers something for everyone:

• Garden Tours/Tulip Cruises, especially springtime in Holland with visits to Keukenhof!
• Barge Cruises for Walkers -- featuring casual or vigorous walking programs
• Golf and Tennis Cruises -- the most memorable golf or tennis cruise you'll ever experience.
• Running and Cycling Cruises -- create your own runners or cycling barge week, or join a formal cycle tour. Cycling can be as vigorous or as easy as you want -- and there are a lot of possibilities. Call or email to help decide. For details, see
  http://www.bargecycle.com: Cycle Tour Ideas: Barges in France and elsewhere in Europe
• Gourmet cuisine showcase weeks -- All barges provide exceptional dining experiences from on-board chefs, and some barges offer restaurant touring as well. Special gourmet cruise weeks on some barges raise the gourmet emphasis to an even higher level. Special cooking classes can also be hosted on some barges either for on-board demonstrations, or visiting local chefs in local chateaus or restaurants. Call or email to set up your Gourmet Cruise week.
• Wine connoisseurs go barging! -- All the hotel barges in France and elsewhere in Europe feature excellent wines through the cruise week, and most offer visits to wineries. A few barges offer special wine cruises with premier cru and grand cru tastings and winery visits. Call or email for information.
• Antique hunters cruise weeks -- A few barges offer special antique cruise weeks with outstanding opportunities to discover a wide range of antique items, led by a veteran antique shopper. Call or email to arrange!

Special Places Travel, LLC "Barges in France (and the rest of Europe) ... for the experience of a lifetime!" ™ For booking information, Phone (toll-free): 1-877-64-BARGE (1-877-642-2743) Outside of the U.S.: 001.443.321.3614 or E-mail: info@specialplacestravel.com