Reviewed in the travel press by Arlene Harris and Helen Jackson (Silver Travel Advisor) • Family-owned barging since 1982
On Sunday afternoon you step off the train at Rennes, and our driver brings you to the Nymphea, moored at Redon on the Nantes à Brest Canal. Six guests at most, a crew who cook, guide, and look after everything, and a week with nothing to arrange. The champagne is already on ice.
For six nights the Nymphea is your hotel, your restaurant, and your view. This is France’s wild northwest: stone villages, old forests, and a canal that winds between Redon and Josselin at a pace the rest of the world forgot. You walk or cycle the towpath when you feel like it, and sit down each evening to a meal cooked aboard by your chef, with the wines already chosen.
The week is punctuated by the things Brittany does best: the fairy-tale château at Josselin reflected in the canal, cider tasted at the farm that presses it, the gardens at La Gacilly, and one dinner ashore at a Michelin-starred table. Each morning, your guide has arranged something worth seeing. Each evening, you find your way back to the barge.
The Nymphea is one of the two hotel barges we own and crew ourselves, so the standard aboard is our own name on the line. She is 81 feet long by 14 feet wide, sized for the small canals the big boats cannot reach, and carries no more than six guests in three ensuite staterooms: two twin-bedded, and one that makes up as a twin or a double. Above deck there is a sitting room, a dining room, and open deck space for the slow hours between locks. Six bicycles are aboard for the towpath, and an air-conditioned minibus follows ashore for excursions. Your crew of 2 to 3, a captain and tour guide plus a chef and housekeeper, runs the whole week. Your only job is to show up.
These comments are from FCBC guests and are not attributed to a particular barge. Source: French Canal Boat Company.
The questions guests actually ask before their first barge trip. If yours is not here, call Kim at 888-229-2315.
The Nymphea has three staterooms, each with its own private ensuite: two are twin-bedded, and one makes up as a twin or a double. They are comfortable and well kept, but they are boat cabins: cozy and efficient rather than large. Picture a well-appointed small hotel room that happens to move through Brittany. One honest note: the Chenonceau stateroom is reached from the outside main deck by 7 steps down to the cabin, so ask for one of the other two if stairs or weather are a concern. You never share a bathroom with other guests, and housekeeping refreshes the cabins daily.
This is the question almost every first-time guest is too polite to ask. The Nymphea sails with a crew of 2 to 3: your captain, who is also your tour guide, and your chef, who doubles as housekeeper. The honest answer is that it feels like being looked after, not watched. They have their own quarters and their own rhythm, they read when you want to chat and when you want space, and by day two most guests stop thinking about it.
A Private Charter is the entire barge and crew for your group alone, from $31,100 for two guests up to $35,000 for six. A cabin booking means you join a departure by the stateroom, from $6,190 per person, and share the barge with up to four other guests. Some weeks are available for cabin bookings only. Tell us which you want and we will point you to the right week.
The rhythm on most days: a gentle morning cruise, a guided excursion ashore to a village, a garden, a cider farm, or a site like the Monteneuf standing stones, lunch aboard, then a free afternoon to walk or cycle the towpath, read on deck, or do nothing at all. If you need a packed schedule to feel like you are on holiday, a barge can feel slow. If your idea of a good week is cider in the glass and Brittany going by at walking pace, boredom is not the problem. Leaving is.
It is uncommon, but canal levels can occasionally limit how far the barge travels in a given week, usually after a dry spell. When it happens, the crew rebuild the week around the same villages, gardens, and meals by road, and guests who have been through it still describe their week as one of their best. We would rather you hear this from us now than be surprised by it. Travel insurance is a sensible backstop for the things none of us control.
The Nymphea cruises Redon to Josselin one week and Josselin to Redon the next, so she does not have to run empty back to her starting point. The stops, excursions, and meals are the same either way; only the order changes. Whichever direction your week runs, you meet us at Rennes TGV station and we handle the rest. Private charters can also discuss other itineraries with us.
The Nantes à Brest Canal runs 364 kilometres through inland Brittany, with 238 locks built by hand in the 19th century, and hardly any hotel barges cruise it. Brittany is Celtic France: granite villages, cider and crêpes instead of vineyards, standing stones older than the pyramids, and the château at Josselin rising straight out of the water. If you have already done Burgundy or the Canal du Midi, or you simply want celebrated scenery without the crowds, this is the route.
Take the TGV to Rennes; direct trains run from Paris, including from Charles de Gaulle airport. Your crew meets you at Rennes TGV station at 16:30 on Sunday and drives you to the barge. At the end of the week we transfer you to Redon TGV station for your onward travel. Both transfers are included. The travel day is easier than most trips you have taken: one suitcase, one meeting point, and the crew takes it from there. Kim can also help you plan Paris nights on either side of the cruise.
Yes, it is possible to drive and park at the boarding ports. Get in touch and we will give you the specifics for your departure point.
All meals are cooked fresh on board by your chef, wines are served throughout the cruise, and the bar is open around the clock with a wide range of drinks. One dinner during the week is ashore at Michelin-starred Maison Tiegezh in Guer, included in your price. Brittany adds its own flavors: farm cider, crêpes, and whatever the coast and the markets are offering that week.
At least part of the time. Inland Brittany is genuinely off the beaten track. WiFi and signal depend on where the barge is, and are usually good when moored in the mornings and evenings, patchier while cruising through open country. Most guests come to see the disconnection as part of the point. Enough for email, photos, and a call with the grandkids.
Six bicycles are aboard, and the flat towpath is easy, pleasant riding alongside the barge between locks. There is a sitting room for the evenings, open deck space for the days, and an air-conditioned minibus ashore for the excursions. Mostly, though, the entertainment is Brittany itself.
Locks are part of the fun. The Nantes à Brest Canal has hundreds along its length, built by hand in the 19th century, and the barge rises and drops as it passes through. They are easy places to step off and walk, and in many stretches they sit close enough together that you can stroll or cycle from one to the next and rejoin the barge on the other side.
No. Dinner is a gourmet event, but the dress code is relaxed: think smart casual, the way you would dress for a nice dinner at a friend’s home. No jackets required, no gowns, no fuss. Comfortable shoes matter more than anything formal.
Yes. Tell us at the time of booking. With four guests at most and the chef herself taking the request, dietary requirements and preferences are handled personally rather than passed down a kitchen line.
No. Dinner is a gourmet event, but the dress code is relaxed: think smart casual, the way you would dress for a nice dinner at a friend\’s home. No jackets required, no gowns, no fuss. Comfortable shoes matter more than anything formal.
No, and you would be in good company. Most barge guests are in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. The pace is unhurried by design: the barge moves at about four miles per hour, and there is no packing and unpacking between hotels. You settle in once and France comes to you. Guests who want more activity can walk or cycle the towpath beside the boat; guests who want none can watch it all from a deck chair.
Very unlikely. Canals are flat, placid water, and the barge moves at a slow, steady pace. If you are prone to motion sickness on boats, the canal is about as gentle as it gets. There are no waves and no swell, and there is no rocking at night because the barge moors every evening. If motion sickness has kept you off cruise ships, this is the boat that was built for you.
Yes. You are on flat, calm water in settled countryside, never far from a village. Your hosts handle every lock and mooring. On deck, the usual boat rules apply: mind the rails, wear sensible shoes, and take the towpath at your own pace. Children need supervision on deck, the same as at any waterfront.
Kim confirms availability directly with the barge owner. A 25% deposit is due when booking, with the balance due 90 days before departure. Bookings made within 90 days require full payment. Your checkout shows the exact amounts and due dates. You can cancel within 24 hours after your initial booking payment and receive a full refund. Contact us within that window. After 24 hours, payments are non-refundable if you cancel, including for illness or inability to travel. You may substitute passengers by contacting us. If the barge owner cancels your cruise for any reason, we will provide a full refund. This differs from a route change where the trip still operates. Read the full Booking Terms and Conditions.
We strongly recommend travel protection for non-refundable trip costs and medical evacuation. Cover and exclusions depend on the policy you buy. Read the policy and check with the insurer; accepting our booking terms does not buy or decline insurance. Read the full Booking Terms and Conditions.
You can cancel within 24 hours after your initial booking payment and receive a full refund. Contact us within that window. After 24 hours, payments are non-refundable if you cancel, including for illness or inability to travel. You may substitute passengers by contacting us. If the barge owner cancels your cruise for any reason, we will provide a full refund. This differs from a route change where the trip still operates. Lock repairs, drought, flooding or unsafe conditions may require an alternative route. A route change does not by itself give you a right to cancel for a refund. If the owner cancels the cruise itself, the full-refund policy applies. Read the full Booking Terms and Conditions.
If the barge owner cancels your cruise for any reason, we will provide a full refund. This differs from a route change where the trip still operates. Read the full Booking Terms and Conditions.
Lock repairs, drought, flooding or unsafe conditions may require an alternative route. A route change does not by itself give you a right to cancel for a refund. If the owner cancels the cruise itself, the full-refund policy applies. Read the full Booking Terms and Conditions.
You may substitute passengers by contacting us. The booking terms do not promise a refund or automatic credit for changing dates. Contact us about a requested change before making other travel arrangements. Read the full Booking Terms and Conditions.
You can cancel within 24 hours after your initial booking payment and receive a full refund. Contact us within that window. After 24 hours, payments are non-refundable if you cancel. Passenger substitutions are permitted. If the barge owner cancels your cruise for any reason, we will provide a full refund.
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Every voyage in the fleet is booked and looked after by Kim directly. See all departures.
Until it is live, call Kim at 888-229-2315, or request the full itinerary to start the conversation.
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Until it is live, call Kim at 888-229-2315, or request the full itinerary to start the conversation.
