Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. The term barge has a rich history, and therefore there are many other types of barges.
A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commercial canal traffic gradually diminished and the last regular long-distance transportation of goods by canal had virtually disappeared by 1970. However, some commercial traffic continued. From the 1970s onward narrowboats were gradually being converted into permanent residences or as holiday lettings. Currently, about 8580 narrowboats are registered as 'permanent homes' on Britain's waterway system and represent a growing alternative community living on semi-permanent moorings or continuously cruising.
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.
A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such as lake or harbour tour boats. As larger water craft, virtually all riverboats are especially designed and constructed, or alternatively, constructed with special-purpose features that optimize them as riverine or lake service craft, for instance, dredgers, survey boats, fisheries management craft, fireboats and law enforcement patrol craft.
Anjodi, was built to carry freight on the waterways of the Netherlands, Belgium and France but has been converted to a hotel barge.
A hotel barge is a barge that has been built or converted to serve as a hotel or other kind of lodging. Hotel barges are generally found on rivers and canals in Europe, and may be used for river cruises or permanently moored in one place.
The Scottish Highlander is a boutique hotel barge cruising the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, from Inverness to Fort William. She is a Luxe motor Dutch steel barge. She is a member of the fleet of hotel barges owned by European Waterways.
European Waterways is an international company based in Berkshire, England that operates a fleet of 17 river cruising vessels along the rivers and canals of Europe. The company takes old trading barges and converts them into hotel barges.
Enchanté is a Belgian-built barge of the spits category, originally named Maria, converted into a hotel barge. She is one of around 50 hotel barges operating on the French waterways.
The L'Impressionniste was built in 1960 in Belgium and is a spits barge with a Dutch luxe motor-style bow. The overall hull shape of the barge is a marriage of the French and Dutch barge building influences. She was converted to a hotel barge in 1996. L'Impressionniste is owned and operated by European Waterways and sails on the Canal de Bourgogne in France.
La Renaissance was built in Belgium in 1960 as a standard péniche barge to carry cargo along the canals of Europe. Her original cargo was grain and iron ore. She presently serves as a hotel barge, owned and operated by European Waterways. She is one of around 60 barges offering luxury cruises on French waterways.
The L'Art de Vivre was built in 1917 in Deptford, England, as a cargo barge but currently serves as a luxury hotel barge owned and operated by European Waterways. She is one of around 60 hotel barges operating on European waterways, mostly on the smaller French canals.
The La Dolce Vita was built in 1897 in Groningen, Netherlands. She originally served as a cargo barge in the Netherlands. She presently serves as a hotel barge, owned by Giampaolo Friso.
Rosa is a French hotel barge of Dutch origin. Since 1990 she has been offering cruises to international tourists on the Canal de Garonne in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region of South West France. The waterway authority Voies Navigables de France reported in 2014 that there were around 80 hotel barges operating on the inland waterways. They keep alive the tradition of the boatmen (mariniers) whose numbers have declined in number from thousands in the post-World War II years to just a few hundred today.
A péniche is a steel motorised inland waterway barge of up to 350 tonnes' capacity. Péniche barges were built to fit the post-1880s French waterways and the locks of Freycinet gauge. They are visually similar to a Dutch barge, but built to different specifications.
The Luciole is a converted French barge, or péniche. She was built in 1926. In 1966 she became the first hotel barge on the French canal system. She now operates on the Canal du Nivernais and River Yonne, her home mooring is in Auxerre.
Les Bateaux Belmond is a group of seven canal barges or péniche-hôtels that are part of the Belmond collection of around 50 international hotels, trains and river cruises. Formally known as Afloat in France, the barges offer cruises on canals and rivers in the French regions of Burgundy, Franche-Comté, Saône, Provence, Vallée du Rhône, Midi-Pyrénées and Camargue, while the Alsace and Champagne regions are added in 2018. The barges carry up to 12 passengers. The barges visit towns and cities including Dijon, Besançon, Carcassonne, Arles, Nancy and Strasbourg. There are stops at countryside sites of interest en route.
Johanna is a former working barge (péniche) of Freycinet dimensions, after the French minister of transport Charles de Freycinet who gave his name to an Act of Parliament in 1879, establishing a standard for French canals: they were to accommodate barges of 38.50 by 5.05m, carrying 250 tonnes to a draught of 1.80m. Thousands of such vessels were in operation on the network until the 1960s, when the decline in commercial traffic started. Many péniches were converted by their operators into permanent homes. Johanna is one of around 60 hotel barges offering cruises on European waterways, most of them in France.
Aslaug is a replica Luxemotor Dutch barge built in 2005/2006 to operate as a hotel barge on the French waterways. She is one of around 50 hotel barges operating in France, and currently offers holiday cruises on the river Somme, between Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme and Péronnes. She is the only hotel barge operating on this waterway. Aslaug was named after a queen of Norse mythology.
La Reine Pédauque is a former freight-carrying barge of Freycinet type, converted into a hotel barge and operating on the Canal de Bourgogne in central France. She is one of around 60 barges offering cruises on the smaller waterways of Europe, mainly France.
France