A barge is a shoal-draft flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of bulk goods. Originally barges were towed by draft horses on an adjacent towpath. Today, barges may be self-propelled, usually with a slow-revving diesel engine and a large-diameter fixed-pitch propeller. Otherwise, "dumb barges" must be towed by tugs, or pushed by pusher boats. Compared to a towed barge, a pusher system has improved handling and is more efficient, as the pushing tug becomes "part of the unit" and it contributes to the momentum of the whole.
A horse-drawn boat or tow-boat is a historic boat operating on a canal, pulled by a horse walking beside the canal on a towpath.
La Belle Epoque is a barge of the Belgian spits category. She was built in 1930 to carry (mainly) timber. Renovated in 1995, she is now one of a fleet of around 60 hotel barges that operate on the French waterways for international tourists, and is currently on the Burgundy Canal in central France. The waterway authority Voies Navigables de France is promoting expansion of this activity, based on a study commissioned in 2015.
A pleasure barge is a flat-bottomed, slow-moving boat used for leisure. It is contrasted with a standard barge, which is used to transport freight. Many places where canals or rivers play a prominent role have developed pleasure barges for conducting religious ceremonies, holding waterborne festivities, or viewing scenery.
Anjodi, was built to carry freight on the waterways of the Netherlands, Belgium and France but has been converted to a hotel barge.
The hotel barge came into being following the decline in commercial and freight carrying on the canals of Europe. Many working barges have been converted into floating hotels of varying degrees of luxury. This trend began in the 1960s and has now grown into a network of hotel barges operating on the canals and rivers of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. The majority of hotel barges operate on the French waterways, where the national authority Voies Navigables de France estimates their economic importance at 60 million euros of local income, or roughly 5% of all waterway tourism business in France.
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) who have declined in number from thousands in the post-World War II years to just a few hundred today.
Savoir Faire was built to carry freight on the waterways of the Netherlands, Belgium and France but has been converted to act as an hotel barge.
Saint Louis is a Luxemotor hotel barge, on the Canal de Garonne in South West France.
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 Thames 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.
Belmond Afloat in France 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. 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.
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.
