Planning your Le Boat Holiday Abroad
While you may be excited for your trip abroad, planning it can be rather stressful. Planning holidays abroad to Europe and other continents take a lot of pre-planning with visas, flights, extra accommodation and arranging the logistics to and from your destination. We have put together some holiday planning tips to help you prepare better.
How soon should I book my boat?
While we have options throughout the year, we recommend to always plan well ahead especially if you know what you want. This way you can take advantage of our fantastic Early Booking Discount offers to book for the following year. The next time to book for your barging trip for South Africans is ideally between September and February. Honestly, we get great specials throughout the year and last minute booking can also be a good idea if you do not mind sorting your documents out in a few weeks.
Visas
One of the biggest issues facing South Africans is the preparation of the visas. Once your booking is confirmed we will issue out a visa letter for you and your travelling party. Be sure to request it before your scheduled appointment. The visa letters we issue are to confirm your barging trip as the boat will serve as your accommodation for that specific period.
Spring or Summer
This is all down to personal preference. Spring time can be a bit cooler than the peak season. The days are warm, but not exceptionally hot but it’s bearable especially if you don’t have AC on your boat. There are also less crowds and prices are cheaper overall.
Summer is and always will be the best time to barge. Barging holidays in Europe are as common as caravan camping in South Africa. While all the common tourist places in European countries and cities might be full of tourist crowds, the barging regions aren’t as busy. For now, many of these spots are still off the beaten track.
Arranging trains, cars and buses?
If it’s your first time visiting Europe, you are most likely unsure how to arrange the transport within the country to get to different places. Honestly, you can simply buy your train and bus tickets on arrival at the station. The domestic railways are on fixed schedules daily. However, you can pre-book your train tickets before the time. We always recommend eurorail.co.za and you can get discounted prices in Rands!
Renting car can only be done via companies within the countries and you can easily arrange with them beforehand if they are a reputable international brand. However, there are plenty of cheaper options in the country.
Do research on your route
Well, you have the option of being spontaneous or planning where you’d like to stop and explore. We can encourage you to read up more on the regions, its food specialities and best sights.
How should I budget?
The barging regions in the South of France lie mainly in the countryside. Most of the produce you find in the supermarkets are grown on these local farms and this makes shopping and eating out significantly cheaper.
Currently you’ll need between R300-R500 per day and these includes shopping and eating out. You won’t find any of the big shopping malls and popular brands in most of the towns you stop along the rivers. Instead, you will find many supermarkets, artisanal goods, crafts and souvenir shops.
Ready. Book. Go! Our amazing deals will make sure everyone can be accommodated on a holiday along the waterways!