Canal du Midi

Individual arrival to Toulouse in the late afternoon. Toulouse is also called the "ville rose" because of the reddish stone of many buildings. One sight is the Basilica St-Sernin de Toulouse, a culinary speciality is the duck breast with green beans.

Many buildings are built with red bricks in Toulouse, therefore this city is also named “ville rose”. A wonderful place of interest is the basilica St. Sernin de Toulouse. A culinary delicacy is the duck breast with green beans.

You cycle to water reservoir St. Férról. The clear water and sandy beaches as well as paddleboats, canoes and catamarans are inviting you to a wonderful day at the beach.

Carcassonne free disposal or a round trip to Montolieu. There are 15 antique stores with over 200.000 books in the worth seeing city of book “Montagnes Noires”. The former royal textile manufacturing was declared to a National Monument in 2004.

In the lower city of Carcassonne bastion Saint Louis is located and in the house of memories you learn a lot about the life of Catharist people. Welcome to Olonzac, you will enjoy it.

Welcome to Homps. This picturesque village on the Canal du Midi has the third largest port on the canal. Destination today is Narbonne with the cathedral Saint Just et Saint Pasteur.

You drive to Capestang and on to Béziers. The city is the centre of winegrowing und birth place of Paul Riquet, the builder of Canal du Midi.

You start todays tour in the port and fishermen-town Sète, where the Canal du Midi flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The town is surrounded by water and its surname is “Venice des Languedoc“. The reasons for this surname are beneath the Canal du Midi countless additional waterways, which cross the town. Your cycling alongside the Canal du Midi leads you past masterpieces of engineering like the lock of Agde. It is the only round lock of the Canal du Midi and was built with volcanic rock. The basic measurements of the lock are 29.90 metres diameter and 5.20 metres depth. Cap d´Agde at the Mediterranean Sea is your destination today. The biggest European marina is part of the French town Agde and a paradise for water sportsmen like divers, surfers or sailors. But people, who just want to bath and to rest at the beach, get their money‘s worth too.

The "modern" Sète was built in the middle of the 17th century by Paul Riquet so that his Canal du Midi would have a port on the Mediterranean. There were Romans here, naming this Mons Setius some 17 centuries earlier, and pirates were ensconsced on Mont Saint-Clair in the 16th century. But it was Riquet's new "Port-Saint-Louis-du-Cap-de-Cette" that became the seaside and canal town of today.

Individual arrival to Toulouse in the late afternoon. Toulouse is also called the "ville rose" because of the reddish stone of many buildings. There is plenty to see: the Basilica of St Sernin, the Place du Capitole and the Augustin Museum.

Castelnaudary is the largest harbour on the Canal du Midi; even the largest wine freighters could turn around here. The French travel long distances to pay their culinary respects to the town of the savoury bean stew "Cassoulet".

Follow the Canal du Midi as far as Bram, then head towards the Pyrenees. On an old railroad line that has been converted for cyclists, the ascent is moderate and you cycle through railroad tunnels, over viaducts and bridges to Mirepoix, an enchanting bastide from the Middle Ages.

Back through the Ariége countryside, a peaceful and meditative agricultural landscape with rolling hills, to Carcassonne. There, the imposing Cité, the largest fortified city in Europe, awaits you in the heart of the Cathars.

The beautiful book town lies on the edge of the Montagne Noire and is home to 15 antiquarian bookshops with over 200,000 books. The former royal textile factory has been listed as a historical monument and many artists now have a studio here. Another overnight stay in Carcassonne.

Olonzac is the centre of the winegrowers in the Minervois, Homps was the shipping port. Vines everywhere, the Montagne Noire and the Corbière in sight, here you can practise doing nothing by the canal.

Today's destination is Narbonne, you change to the canal and travel along the Canal de la Robine towards the Mediterranean. Major medieval buildings include the unfinished cathedral and the archbishops' palace. Another highlight is the market hall "Les Halles", which has been honoured as the most beautiful in France.

You travel to Capestang and on to Béziers. The town is the center of winegrowing and also the birthplace of Paul Riquet, the builder of the Canal du Midi. The archbishop's palace watches over the town, the attraction on the canal are the Neuf Écluses, the Nine Locks.

The further you cycle, the saltier the air becomes. The cycle path leads directly along the sea towards Sète, the largest French fishing town on the Mediterranean, also known as the "Little Venice of the Languedoc" due to its many canals. Here, an evening stroll can be perfectly combined with a good meal, as the origins of the town are Italian - as is the cuisine.