You're about to discover the five times you should choose a barge cruise in
Europe over a river cruise. I'm Gary Bembridge, and this is another of
my tips for travellers. I'm just back from a barge cruise through France
on CroisiEurope Deborah, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk
about the five times that I think a barge cruise is a better choice than a
river cruise in Europe. The first, and one of the most important reasons for
choosing a barge over a river cruise in Europe, is pace. If you're looking for a
vacation which is slower and much more relaxing, then take a look at a
barge cruise. The reason for that is the way that barge cruises work. First of
all, they cover a much smaller distance. They might travel only 50 to 70 miles
across the course of seven days. They travel and cruise much slower. An
important reason for the pace slowing down is that barges do not cruise at
night. Normally what happens is you will have half a day of excursions and half a
day of cruising along the canal, or if you're cruising along the rivers along
the rivers. The barges are always docked at night, so it has less time
that it can be cruising than on a river cruise where you might cruise all night. The
whole pace slows down because you're going to be spending half of the day on
board the barge as you meander along the canals or the rivers. The pace
slows right right down. If you're looking for something that's calmer as a
vacation option, a barge is a great option. A second good reason for choosing
a barge over river cruise is if you are a sociable person and you like
small intimate experiences where you really get to know a few people really
well. A river cruise boat will have between 120 to 200 passengers, but barges are
much smaller. For example, on the CroisiEurope Deborah barge there are a
maximum of 22 guests, and many other barges are even smaller where you
might find there's an average of 12 guests. It's a smaller and
intimate experience and you're going to get to know people really
well, because you'll go out on excursions
together, you're dining together and you will socialise together. It's a more
intimate experience and if you're the sort of person that likes to travel with
less people and you like to get to know people really well, a barges is a really
good option. River cruise boats are quite small in terms of number of
people, but this is an even more intimate experience. The third area where a barge
cruise could be a good option is if you've travelled quite a lot around
Europe or you've seen lots of Europe, a barge cruise could be a really good
alternative, because barges as they go on canals, will go to more
out-of-the-way places. They might go to quieter places while river cruises go
on the big rivers and go to the big towns and often go to many of
the must-see iconic towns. Barges tend not to do that because
they're going along canals. They'll go to more out-of-the-way quieter places,
smaller villages and towns, so you're going to see parts of Europe that you're
not going to see otherwise. They go deep inside the countryside. You are
going to see very different things. If you've seen many parts of a country
or you've been to all the big iconic places in Europe, a barge is a really
interesting way of seeing a different side of a country, because it's
going to take you to more out-of-the-way places. Definitely it's a good
option to think about if you feel you've done quite a bit of Europe, or
alternatively you don't want to see the obvious things, and you want to see more
in-depth and unusual places a barge cruise is a really good idea. If
you are less bothered, or have seen all of the big iconic places, and
you want to see the more out-of-the-way, the more rural, the more countryside
parts of a country, it really is definitely going to give you a very
different experience. Another reason when a barge cruise may be better than a
river cruise is, if you're the sort of person that's not bothered with having
lots choice. First of all, you're going to have less choice of the
number of places you can go to. Barges largely cruise on canals, about 95% of
all barge cruises in Europe are on canals. These are man-made waterways built
largely in the 18th century and were designed
to transport goods around about Europe before railways came along and, of course,
eventually road haulage came along. 95% of barge cruises go along
canals, and because the nature of where canals are, barge
cruises tend to be mostly in France, you can do some in England, you can do
some in Scotland, some in Ireland and there are a few in the Holland and
Belgium area. There's much less choice of places you can go to. Unlike
River Cruises where there are a multitude of providers, there are many
many different cruise lines offering River Cruises, barges is much less so.
For example, there are only about three or four key providers of barge
cruises around Europe. CroisiEurope is one of them, for example, who focus
on France. Also once you're on board, there is less choice
because (obviously) the boats themselves are much smaller. If you take, for
example, the Deborah barge there were obviously the cabins, then on the main
level you had a dining room, a small bar area and a lounge
area, then outside there was an open seating area where we could eat
or relax and a hot tub. There's also an upper level Sun Deck
on many barge cruises. The Sun Deck level is closed when you're cruising
because the level of the bridges is quite low, so it you can't be
out on top deck. On many barge cruises if you're heading along canals you can
only use the Sun Deck when you're docked. A lot of our cruise took place on the
river, because the water level was very low in the canal, so we actually went on
the Yonne and the Seine River, and the top deck was available much more
often when we were cruising. You're not going to find things like fitness
centres, work out rooms, alternative dining venues, swimming pools or any of that kind of
stuff that you might find on modern river cruise ships. You're
will have less choice. Another key area where you are going to have
less choice is when it comes to dining. On River Cruises you're often find large
menus with lots of choice, with multiple starters, main courses and desserts.
On barge cruising, you tend to have a set menu. So, again let me give an example on
my cruise, breakfast was a buffet breakfast.
The usual things: pastries, fruit yogurt. The lunches were a set menu and a
four-course menu. The food was very good and gourmet like with a
starter, a main course, a cheese course and then a dessert course. It
was a set menu with one starter, one main course, two cheeses and one
dessert. If you had dietary issues they would cater for them if you'd
arranged with the cruise line and chef once on board.
The evening meal was also a set menu with a starter, a main course and a
dessert. Unlike on river cruising, on a barge
you have very good food, very high quality
gourmet cooking but you don't have a choice. On many of the cruises you'll
find it's very specific to the region, so on a French barge cruise you'll get lots
of classic French dishes. Another area where you're going to have less
choice is when it comes to excursions. Excursions will be included and every
day you'll have one excursion but there won't be a choice of excursions. Everyone
will do that one excursion. Of course on rivers they often a
choice of excursions. They might have more active ones through to more
relaxing and calming walking tours. On a barge cruise you will have an excursion
every day but not a choice of excursions, but if that doesn't bother you and you're
drawn to the pace, the experience and you want to have good food , know
you're going to see the sights , where you're going to be able to relax and not seeking
lots of choice, then definitely then a barge is something
worth looking at. Another key consideration is if you're not bothered
about your cabin being more of a functional place. On a river cruise you
can get pretty big cabins, you can get Suites, you can get cabins with balconies
and a cabin can become a place where you can retreat to and you might want to
spend time relaxing in. On a barge that's very different. The cabin is a more
practical place. For example, on Deborah it had two single beds, quite a
lot of storage, a little seating area and then it had an ensuite bathroom with a
shower. It's a pretty small compact space and it's not the sort of place that
you're going to spend a lot of time relaxing and chilling out in.
You can spend that more in the public areas. It's already a place to
retreat to because it's a smaller more compact space, and it's a more
functional space. If you're not that bothered about
having a bedroom that you want to spend time in or a private
balcony you want to spend time on, a barge is definitely something to think
about. I had a great time on my barge cruise and it really opened my eyes to an
alternative and different way of traveling. It's definitely something I am
going to do much more of. I like river cruising and I'll really liked barge
cruising. If you're interested in going on a barge cruise or even a river cruise
I have many more videos about barge and river cruising and of course ocean
cruising too ,so why don't you watch another one of those
right now?