You can take an all-inclusive organized cruise or simply rent a boat and plan their own leisurely route. Hotel-barge owners spare no expense in equipping and decorating their vessels. For a more independent experience, about 2,000 self-drive boats are available for rent to ply the French canals. Piloting the vessels through the canals and locks is easy, and for most boats, no license is required. The waterways can offer a calm and serenity that no road will ever grant.
Boats can accommodate up to eight passengers and are equipped with everything needed for the week.
In the company of family and friends, travellers may decide to pilot themselves for a week or weekend along the canals and rivers of France. Whether it's tooling around Paris's back streets, discovering vineyards in the heart of Burgundy or rolling through the villages in Provence, there is no shortage of wide, empty roads and flat or rolling countryside in France suitable for biking. With its variety of landscapes, its delicious food offered impromptu everywhere and its countryside shaped to French life-rhythms over two thousand years, France invites you on to see these traditions come to life. Whether you choose to stay in a country inn or a chateau hotel, far away from the noise and the crowds, a bicycle tour will grant you time to explore, experience, and comprehend the French countryside from within.