Most people who write about Le Boat on the Rideau Canal have been once. Me? What can I say, when I love something, I keep going back.
I’ve had a divorce party with ten of my best girlfriends that turned into the founding story of my women’s travel company. A family trip with my parents and our two dogs. A romantic weekend with my partner anchored in Ottawa to watch fireworks over Parliament Hill. A couples getaway out of Smiths Falls with two of my favourite people and their partners. And a fully hosted retreat through Girl Trips, where I got to watch other women fall in love with this waterway the same way I have.
Five trips. Five completely different experiences on the same canal. So if you are trying to figure out whether Le Boat is worth it or whether your group can actually handle it, I might be one of the most qualified people on the internet to tell you.
What is Le Boat Canada?
Le Boat launched in Canada in 2018, starting with a base in the charming town of Smiths Falls. Since then it has expanded to include Ottawa and, most recently, Peterborough, opening up new waterways for adventurers. Along the Rideau Canal you will find stops like Perth, Merrickville, and Westport, where you can explore local shops, eat extremely well, or simply pull up to a dock and do absolutely nothing for an afternoon.
What sets Le Boat apart is its fleet of custom-built boats designed for comfort rather than complexity. Each one comes with a fully equipped kitchen, a top-deck grill, spacious cabins, and private washrooms per cabin. Think floating cottage, not yacht club. And crucially, no boating experience or licence is required. Le Boat provides a full orientation before you leave the dock, and their staff are a phone call away if you need them while you are out on the water.
How Much Does Le Boat on the Rideau Canal Cost?
Short Break vs. Full Week: How the Numbers Break Down
This is the question everyone has and nobody answers directly, so here is the honest breakdown based on current pricing.
The boats are priced per boat, not per person, which is the key thing to understand. The more people you bring, the better the per person value gets.
For a short break of three nights, a Horizon 3 which sleeps up to seven people runs around CA$1,724, working out to roughly CA$575 per night for the whole boat. Split across even four people and you are looking at about CA$430 each for a long weekend on the water. That is cottage territory.
For a full week, a Horizon 4 sleeping up to nine comes in around CA$3,339 for seven nights. A Horizon 5 sleeping up to twelve runs approximately CA$4,209 for seven nights. The Horizon 5 is the one I used for the Girl Trips retreat and for our couples trip, and with a full group the per person cost becomes genuinely reasonable for what you are getting.
Le Boat runs sales regularly throughout the season, so it is worth signing up for their emails or checking their deals page before you book. I have seen savings of CA$1,000 or more on longer trips, and early spring departures in particular tend to be significantly discounted.
A few extras to factor into your budget upfront:
Parking at the Rideau Lockmaster House in Smiths Falls comes with a cost, so build that in if you are driving.
Early check-in and late check-out are available as add-ons and worth considering, especially if you are travelling from out of town and want to maximise your time on the water.
Le Boat offers a grocery starter pack which is genuinely useful if you are coming from out of the country or simply do not want to spend your first hours provisioning a floating kitchen.
Parks Canada mooring fees are separate: CA$120 for short breaks and CA$275 for trips of seven nights or longer. These cover overnight moorings at all Parks Canada lock stations along the route.
Prices vary by season, boat type, and availability, so check Le Boat’s site directly for current rates. What I can tell you from five trips is that however it shakes out per person, it is worth it.
What to Expect on the Water
A Le Boat trip on the Rideau Canal is genuinely different from any other kind of travel, and I mean that in the best possible way. There is no set schedule, no lobby to check into, no restaurant to make a reservation at. You are in charge of everything, which sounds like a lot of pressure until you realise it means you can anchor in a quiet spot for three hours just because the light is beautiful and nobody can make you move.
The People Who Make This Trip
The Parks Canada lockmasters are one of the unexpected pleasures of this trip. They are stationed at each lock, ready to guide you through, and they are almost universally wonderful. I have run into Ian, my favourite lockmaster at Beveridges, on multiple trips now. The first time was during my divorce party, when he talked us through docking between two boats while a crowd of very enthusiastic bystanders shouted conflicting advice. He told us afterward that he had seen men who had been boating for years not park as well as we did. We absolutely believed him. When I ran into him again two years later I made him take another selfie, and well now? Now it’s a tradition.
The rhythm of a Le Boat day takes about 24 hours to settle into and then becomes immediately addictive. Slow mornings. Cruising for a few hours. Docking somewhere for lunch or a wander. Watching the sun go down from the top deck. It is slow travel in the truest sense and it is exactly what most of us are not getting enough of.
Bringing the Whole Family, Dogs Included
My parents, my partner, Dolly Pawton, Kenny Pawgers, and one very competitive cribbage board. Read about what a multigenerational Le Boat trip actually looks like, including everything you need to know about bringing your dogs on board.
Who is Le Boat on the Rideau Canal Actually For?
After five trips I can tell you it works for almost any group configuration, but it works differently each time.
With a large group of women it becomes an empowerment trip whether you intend it to be or not. There is something about successfully navigating a 50-foot boat through a lock with ten people shouting helpful suggestions that builds a specific kind of confidence you do not get anywhere else. If the idea of a curated girls trip on the Rideau Canal appeals to you without the planning headache, you can read about what the Girl Trips retreat on this waterway looked like.
Want Someone Else to Plan It?
I have hosted a fully curated retreat on this waterway through Girl Trips, and it is exactly what it sounds like: all the magic of Le Boat on the Rideau Canal without any of the logistics landing on you. Read about how the first one went and what made it work.
With family it slows everything down in a way that is genuinely hard to manufacture otherwise. My dad and my partner had never had much occasion to bond until they discovered cribbage on the Rideau Canal. They have played at every Sunday dinner since.
It Works Differently Depending on Who You Bring
With couples it is the rare trip where you actually spend time together rather than adjacent to each other. Shared meals, shared navigation, shared views. The system we used on our Smiths Falls trip where each couple was responsible for one dinner produced some of the best food I have eaten anywhere. Smoked gouda pasta and bibimbap on a boat in Ontario. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
And as a hosted retreat it gave me the chance to watch strangers become friends in real time, which is the whole reason I built Girl Trips in the first place.
The Practical Things Nobody Tells You
After five trips there are a few things I wish someone had mentioned before my first one.
You will get to the boat later than you think and that is fine. Plan your first evening as a settling-in night rather than an ambitious cruise to your first stop. Get comfortable with the boat, pop the champagne, enjoy where you are.
The locks have operating hours. In peak summer on weekdays you can pass through between 9am and 6pm, but you need to arrive at least 30 minutes before closing. Plan your day around this and you will not get caught out.
Soft luggage only. Hard shell suitcases are a nightmare in the storage areas. Duffel bags and collapsible totes are your friends.
Bug spray is not optional. Neither is reef-safe sunscreen. (yes I know there are no reefs in the Rideau, but there are lots of other living things to protect)
You do not need a boating licence but you do need one designated captain and one co-captain who pay attention during the orientation. The rest of the crew can show up with wine and enthusiasm.
The Complete Le Boat Packing List
Three trips worth of trial and error distilled into one list. What to bring, what to leave at home, and the things nobody thinks of until they are already on the water. Your floating cottage awaits, and it deserves better than a hard shell suitcase.
A Note on Fuel
The boats go out with a full tank and the engines run slowly by design. For most trips you will not need to refuel while you are out on the water. That said, fuel is not included in your rental price. Le Boat takes a fuel deposit at the start of your trip and calculates your actual use by engine hours when you return. You will either get money back or pay a small top-up depending on how much you cruised.
My honest recommendation is to ask about prepaying your fuel when you book. It may cost you a touch more than what you actually use, but it means no surprises at the end of the trip. Nobody wants to think about fuel costs when they are tired, happy, and trying to get home. One more thing worth confirming when you book: given the current economy, ask whether any fuel surcharge applies for your departure date. It is a straightforward question and worth knowing upfront.
For the complete breakdown of what to pack and what to leave at home, I have a full Le Boat packing list that covers everything from kitchen supplies to what to wear on deck.
Is Le Boat on the Rideau Canal Worth It?
Every single time.
I have done this trip in the best of circumstances and in the middle of personal upheaval, with people I have known for decades and with guests I had just met, in peak summer and in the quieter shoulder season. It has delivered every time. The Rideau Canal is genuinely beautiful and quietly underrated, and Le Boat is the best way I have found to actually experience it rather than just drive past it.
If you have been thinking about it, stop thinking. Check Le Boat’s deals page for current offers, grab a few friends, and go.
The Trip That Started It All
Before the retreats, before Girl Trips, there was a divorce party, ten women, and a 50-foot houseboat on the Rideau Canal. Read about the girls trip that changed everything, including why a lockmaster named Ian will always have a special place in my heart.
Frequently Asked Questions About Le Boat on the Rideau Canal
No. Le Boat is designed for people with zero boating experience. Before you leave the dock, your designated captain and co-captain receive a full orientation from the Le Boat team covering everything from operating the boat to navigating the locks. You are given a temporary permit to operate for the duration of your trip. The boats themselves are built to be forgiving, with bumpers around the hull and powerful thrusters that make docking and lock navigation far less terrifying than they sound.
It depends on the boat. Le Boat offers several configurations on the Rideau Canal, from smaller two bedroom boats ideal for couples or a small group, up to the Horizon 5 which sleeps up to twelve people. The sweet spot for a girls trip or a group of couples tends to be the Horizon 3 or Horizon 4, which offer enough space for everyone to have privacy without the boat feeling like you are managing a small hotel.
Yes, and this is one of the genuinely great things about Le Boat. Dogs are welcome on board with an additional fee per dog, and a maximum of two dogs per boat. I have brought my two dogs — Dolly Pawton and Kenny Pawgers — and they adapted to boat life faster than any of the humans. A life jacket for each dog is a must, and if yours is a runner like Dolly, keep them secured when you are going through the locks.
The season runs from mid-May through Thanksgiving weekend in October. Shoulder season in late May or early September tends to offer quieter waterways, easier mooring, and often better pricing. Peak summer is beautiful but you will have more company at the locks and popular docking spots.
Le Boat currently has three bases in Ontario: Smiths Falls on the Rideau Canal, Ottawa, and Peterborough on the Trent-Severn Waterway. Smiths Falls is the original base and sits right in the middle of the canal, which gives you the most flexibility for either heading north toward Ottawa or south toward the lakes.
It is one of the best girls trip formats I have found, and I say that as someone who has now done it twice with women’s groups, once as a participant and once as a host. The boat creates a contained, collaborative environment where everyone has a role and there is nowhere to hide from each other, in the best possible way. The confidence that comes from captaining a 50-foot boat through a lock with your crew is something a spa weekend simply cannot replicate.
On a three or four night trip out of Smiths Falls you can realistically get to Merrickville and back, or make a run toward Ottawa depending on your pace. Le Boat suggests trips ranging from 22 kilometres on a short three day loop up to 83 kilometres for a four night break on the bigger lakes. The key is not to over-schedule. The whole point is slow travel, and the canal rewards people who resist the urge to cover ground.
No open liquor is permitted while the boat is in motion. Once you are docked for the evening though, the top deck is yours and the sunset over the canal is an excellent companion for whatever you have brought aboard. Plan accordingly.
Freshened up on April 07, 2026
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