Living on a boat - Part III

To try it out, a good first test is to spend an extended holiday on a small, mobile holiday houseboat as offered for charter by many exhibitors in the Travel World in Hall 13 of boot Düsseldorf. Such a holiday houseboat is at about ten to 12 meters significantly smaller than real houseboats or floating homes for living aboard, but they also offers all the comfort that you can expect on boats of this size and for the purpose of a relaxing holiday cruise as a newscomer to houseboats.

Typical layout of houseboats for charter holidays
Usually, houseboats offered for charter holidays feature a more ort less standardised layout: At least two cabins with bunks, schower and toilet, a well equipped kitchen or pantry, a cosy saloon as main living room, often with a good panoramic view of the outside. Most boats have a large outside deck area or terrace. Of course, there is electricity, hot and cold water as well as a heating system for cruises early or late in the season. Almost all boats feature a bathing platform or, at least, direct access to the water at the stern. Such boats are available for charter on many great European inland waterways like in Germany, the Netherlands, France, England, Poland or Ireland.