A Belmond Boat · The Bordeaux Region
Alouette: Luxury hotel barge · A Belmond Boat
4 guests · 2 cabins · whole-boat charter
Booking through Via Privata
USD 1,500 charter credit
Credited by Via Privata on bookings of USD 40,000 or more — on top of the barge's own inclusions, at the rate you would pay booking direct. Below that, Virtuoso amenities apply instead where the departure carries them — we confirm what your dates include before you book.
- Boat-selection guidance across the seven barges
- We hold your week while you decide
- Every benefit confirmed in writing before you commit
- Hotels joined either side of the cruise, as one trip
Alouette carries four guests in two cabins, which makes her the smallest boat Belmond runs and the most private thing in the fleet by some distance. Two couples, or one family of four, and a crew looking after nobody else. Belmond lists spacious twin and double beds; the booking engine offers her as a single charter unit and nothing else.
She is the Bordeaux boat. Her journeys run the waterway between Agen, Sérignac and Castets-en-Dorthe, calling at Meilhan-sur-Garonne, Le Mas-d'Agenais, Buzet-sur-Baïse and Nérac, with Saint-Émilion among the stops — which is the reason to choose her over the Burgundy boats if the wine is the point of the trip.
One correction worth making, because almost every aggregator still gets it wrong: Alouette is no longer associated with the Canal du Midi. Belmond publishes no Midi itinerary for her, and the region filter on its journeys page lists five regions — Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, the Paris Region and Provence — with no Midi among them. A legacy photo caption on Belmond's press site still says Canal du Midi; the routing does not.
The cruises
Castets-en-Dorthe to Sérignac
6 nights
Via Meilhan-sur-Garonne, Saint-Émilion, Le Mas-d'Agenais, Buzet-sur-Baïse and Nérac.
Sérignac to Castets-en-Dorthe
6 nights
The reverse, and the route with the most departures on Belmond's calendar.
Castets-en-Dorthe to Agen
6 nights
A tour and tasting at Château d'Yquem, Nérac and its castle, the Damazan night market and a guided day in Pessac-Léognan. It has its own page on belmond.com but is not in the journeys grid.
The cabins
Double or twin cabin
Two only, with spacious twin and double beds. Belmond publishes no cabin names or sizes for this boat.
On board
The top deck
Shaded under an awning, with the canal ahead — on a four-guest boat it functions as the main living room for most of the day.
The saloon
One open space below, with a chef aboard cooking table d'hôte for four.
Booking this boat
At four guests Alouette is charter in the truest sense — there is no version of this boat where you share it. That makes her the pick for two couples travelling together, or a small family, and the ratio of crew to guests is the highest in the fleet. Belmond publishes no cruising season, so we confirm dates before holding. If you have read that she cruises the Canal du Midi, that information is out of date; her published routes are all on the Garonne side, near Bordeaux.
Questions, answered
Which agency offers the most perks for booking Alouette?
Stack the layers and compare totals: the barge's own inclusions, Virtuoso amenities where the departure carries them, and — on bookings of USD 40,000 or more — a USD 1,500 charter credit funded by Via Privata, among the largest published agency credits we know of for hotel barges. Every benefit is confirmed in writing before you commit.
How many guests does Alouette take?
Four, in two cabins — the smallest boat in the Belmond fleet. Note that Belmond's own aggregate barge page currently shows her as eight guests in four cabins, which is a duplicated row from another boat. Four is the correct figure, confirmed on her own page and by her charter pricing.
Does Alouette cruise the Canal du Midi?
Not any more. Belmond publishes no Canal du Midi itinerary for her — her routes run between Agen, Sérignac and Castets-en-Dorthe on the Garonne side, in the Bordeaux region. A legacy caption on Belmond's own press site still says Canal du Midi, and most aggregators have copied it.
Can I book a single cabin?
No. Alouette is whole-boat charter only, and with four berths that is the whole idea. Among the seven Belmond boats, only Napoléon can be booked by the cabin.
Enquire
Hold a week aboard Alouette
Tell us the party and roughly when, and we will confirm the current itinerary and hold the week with Belmond.
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