Apr 24, 2008
Riverboat cruises of Europe are getting all the attention, but self-drive small boats (2 to 6 passengers) are growing, too
Riverboat cruises are not the only cost-conscious way to tour Europe in the coming year. In previous posts, I talked about a surge in the rental of small, sleep-aboard, eat-aboard, self-drive ships for sailing the canals and waterways of Europe, which are far more extensive than Europe's rivers. Hundreds of years ago, these waterways were the major arteries of commerce, and they remain almost entirely in good working order today for leisure travel.
In those earlier blog posts, I wrote particularly about a British firm called European Boating Holidays (www.europeanboatingholidays.co.uk), which has recently set up an office in the U.S. to take bookings of self-drive boats stationed on the waterways of France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Holland, Poland, and elsewhere in both western and eastern Europe. European Boating Holidays is represented in the U.S. firm by the travel public relations firm, Diana M. Orban & Associates, and especially by Diana's husband, Mike Brown. When Mike (whom I know) recently read my paean to riverboating and especially my enthusiastic post about the river stop we made in Strasbourg, France, he wrote to point out that I could also have visited Strasbourg on a self-drive boat rented from European Boating Holidays. His description of a potential trip by self-skippered boat is so interesting that I thought I'd repeat it below. Here's Mike Brown's letter to me:
In those earlier blog posts, I wrote particularly about a British firm called European Boating Holidays (www.europeanboatingholidays.co.uk), which has recently set up an office in the U.S. to take bookings of self-drive boats stationed on the waterways of France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Holland, Poland, and elsewhere in both western and eastern Europe. European Boating Holidays is represented in the U.S. firm by the travel public relations firm, Diana M. Orban & Associates, and especially by Diana's husband, Mike Brown. When Mike (whom I know) recently read my paean to riverboating and especially my enthusiastic post about the river stop we made in Strasbourg, France, he wrote to point out that I could also have visited Strasbourg on a self-drive boat rented from European Boating Holidays. His description of a potential trip by self-skippered boat is so interesting that I thought I'd repeat it below. Here's Mike Brown's letter to me:
Value-conscious travelers who like the freedom to set their own itineraries can rent a Locaboat Penichette from European Boating Holidays (EBH) for a week (or longer) independent boating adventure, exploring the Alsatian region and piloting their own personal cruiser right into the heart of Strasbourg on those historic canals, for as little as $365 per person for the full week's accommodations and travel.Write and read comments about this post.
From the EBH base at Lutzelbourg, it's an easy cruise through the Alsatian Plain on the Marne-Rhine canal past the scenic town of Saverne and into the heart of Strasbourg. Once in Strasbourg, travelers on an independent boating vacation can take their time to enjoy this wonderful city at their leisure without the constraints of a fixed itinerary. They can even moor their Penichette at the Bassin de l'Hospital for an overnight stay in the city, if they wish. (There is no fixed charge for the overnight mooring, but it is customary to give the association that runs the marina between €10-15 for use of the water, electricity and showers available there; an Internet connection is available for an additional €5.)
Rates for a one-week excursion on a fully-equipped Penichette -- including a complete kitchen with all utensils and tableware, linens, and training by the EBH staff to make even boating neophytes confident captains of their private canal cruisers -- start at less than $1,300 for a two-person boat.
Families and friends traveling together can hire a top-of-the-line Penichette1500FB that accommodates 8 people in four private cabins with separate shower/toilet facilities for each cabin at a weekly rate as low as $4,390, or just $548 per person. For budget-minded family groups, this model can sleep up to 12, bringing the per-person cost to just $365 for the one-week excursion.
You can find more information about this itinerary and the base at Lutzelbourg at the Locaboat website. And you can rent such a boat by contacting European Boating Holidays.
Labels: deals, europe, river cruise
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
