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A cruise-liner luxury at the freedom of your fingertips and the comfort of a 5-star hotel on the bed of the canal under a blanket of stars—this is what it’s all about. Self-drive boating vacations are Le Boat’s gift to boaters.
Here’s how a self-drive boating tour from Le Boat works: you pick from one of their five-star cruisers, select a start and end date, and then come on down and cruise to your heart’s content.
“You are the skipper of the boat,” says Shannan Brennan, Le Boat’s head of distribution and marketing, US, Canada and Latin America.
Le Boat, Europe’s largest operator of self-drive boating vacations, has several locations to whisk people away to on a boating expedition. At 37 bases and 900 boats in its fleet, Le Boat provides boating vacations in France, England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy which attract Europeans, Americans, and even Australians and boaters from South Africa. But its first out-of-Europe destination is opening May of 2018 in Canada at Smith Falls on the Rideau Canal.
Perfect Match
“We thought if we found the perfect cruising ground in North America we could bring it closer to the North American market but also open up a new cruising area for our European clientele,” explains Brennan. “And when we came across the Rideau and how beautiful it is and how much it fits into our philosophy of what we do, we knew it was the perfect match for us.”
The Rideau Canal is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and is “the place to be.” Its land and water activity possibilities are endless: fishing, paddle boating, canoeing, hiking, biking, bird watching, rock climbing, forest exploring. This canal is riddled with a rich history and a vibrant culture and takes travelers down a chain of beautiful lakes, rivers, and canals between Ottawa and Kingston.
In the future, Le Boat hopes to establish more bases along the canal so that boaters can just glide on through without needing to make a return trip, but for now, these cruises will start and finish at Smith Falls base; the meeting point between Kingston and Ottawa. There are suggested routes offered but travelers have complete flexibility and freedom to do and see whatever they’d like as long as they return the boat back at the appropriate time and place.
Your Schedule
“One of the things we pride ourselves in is when people normally take river cruises, they have to follow the exact schedule that is put out by the river cruises. We don’t do that,” adds Brennan. “Our cruise is all based on—you see something you want to do, you stop, you experience. You can stay as long as you like or as little as you like. Your vacation is what you choose it to be; nobody else will have a vacation quite like yours.”
No experience? No license? No problem. With Le Boat, their model is to take you out and provide you the competencies needed to operate the boat without any issues.
“Our boats only go approximately five miles an hour. They’re there for you to experience the area, not as speedboats,” says Brennan. “So they’re there just to slowly meander along the canals and the waterways.”
Genuine Experience
Priding itself on the experience it offers, Le Boat tries to offer a sense of the true essence of a country—an authentic feel for the area. That’s why it picks places that are beautiful and attractive to the clientele, but also rich in culture and history.
“What we do with Le Boat is we take people to parts of the country that most tourists will not see when they travel,” says Brennan. “So what we try to do is bring a new experience for our customers—take them away from the beaten path.”
The unbeaten path along the Rideau features many cultural enriching activities, like Ottawa’s annual Canadian Tulip Festival in May—featuring live music and entertainment and over a half a mile of 250,000 mass-planted tulips beds. If tulips aren’t your thing, then the unique experience of seeing North America’s only remaining and operating grist mills is waiting in Manotick, Ottawa. And if that doesn’t grind your wheat, drift on over and give Merrickville a visit—it’s claimed to be Canada’s prettiest village and is also dubbed “Jewel of the Rideau.”
Delectable Delights
The sights alone are worth the trip, but what is a vacation without great food? Fortunately, the ride along the Rideau delivers some pretty delectable delights. The maple leaf of Canada’s flag isn’t just a pretty logo—Canada really does have a great assortment of maple-flavored products. The Perth Brewery offers maple-tasting ale for a true Canada-savoring experience. However, if you prefer the wine variety over the ale, then the wine and dine locale for you is Scheuermann Vineyard and Winery by the lakeside in Westport. And if you don’t indulge in ale and wine, perhaps the cheese and chocolate factories will suit your fancy. The Forfar Cheese Factory in Portland is the oldest in Ontario and has specialized in experimenting with all different kinds of cheeses. And of course, the chocolate delicacies at Ridgeway Confections in Seely’s Bay are enough to make any chocolate lover’s day.
The boats provided for this journey are top-of-the-line Horizon Cruisers—with forward staterooms, a spacious upper deck, sunbathing areas, and dining amenities. All cruisers are also equipped with cooling and heating systems and plenty of USB ports to maintain charge of all your electronic items.
“We are only bringing our five-star boats there,” adds Brennan. “They’re built especially for us and they’re going to be brand-new to the cruising area starting next year.”
For More Information
There are currently 16 cruisers for this fleet for the Rideau Canal, but the plan is to expand to at least 32 cruisers in the next five years. A seven-day cruise on a two-cabin horizon boat (sleeping four) starts at $1,775 (CAN $2,380). These fees do not include marina stays or fuel costs.
Le Boat | 800-734-5491 | www.leboat.com
