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Canal du Midi

From Toulouse to the Mediterranean Sea

Magnificient buildings, sensual pleasures and 60,000 trees

60,000 trees were planted formerly at the Canal du Midi in France to secure the banks. And until today trees in many places line the canal, which runs from Toulouse down to the MediterraneanSea. They shade the towpaths and little streets too, which lead you to countless cultural monuments: to cathedrals and palaces, to Roman and medieval buildings. The wealth of culture is at the Canal du Midi faced with culinary treasures. In the region grows good wine and it gave birth to an excellent cuisine. Pleasure has a long tradition here.

France
Easy to moderate
  • 10 Days / 9 Nights
  • Self-guided tour
Meike Engling
Meike Engling
+49 (0)441 485 97 28 Contact
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Itinerary

Individual journey to Toulouse until late afternoon. Because of its buildings with reddish stones the inhabitants call Toulouse „ville rose“ too, the pink town. Take a little walk to see the important sacred buildings of Toulouse. One of it is the basilica St-Sernin de Toulouse, which is one of the most beautiful Romanesque sacred buildings in South France. Life takes place in cafés and along the Garonne at the old harbour, the Toulousains meet on the Place St. George for tapas. There's plenty to see: the Basilica of St. Sernin, the Place du Capitole or the Augustin Museum. One overnight stay in Toulouse.

Castelnaudary is the largest port at the Canal du Midi, and even the largest wine freighters could turn around here. French people take long journeys to pay their culinary respects to the town of the hearty bean stew "Cassoulet".

Follow the Canal du Midi to Bram, then head towards the Pyrenees. On an old railway line converted for cyclists, the climb is moderate, you roll through railway tunnels, over viaducts and bridges to Mirepoix, an enchanting bastide from the Middle Ages.

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

Montolieu is a wonderful city at the edge of the Montagnes Noires. There are 15 antique stores with over 200.000 books in this worth seeing city of book. The former royal textile manufacturing was declared to a National Monument in 2004. Further overnight in Carcarssonne.

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 practise doing nothing on the canal. Overnight stay in Olonzac or Homps.

The destination of your journey today is Narbonne, you will change to the Canal, driving along the Canal de la Robine towards the Mediterranean Sea. Great buildings of the Middle Ages are the unfinished cathedral and the palace of the archbishops. Another highlight is the market hall "Les Halles", it was awarded as the most beautiful in France. One overnight stay in Narbonne.

You drive via Capestang to Béziers, passing the famous Canal Tunnel. Once a rich wine-growing metropolis, to which many magnificent buildings bear witness, Béziers is also the birthplace of Paul Riquet, the builder of the Canal du Midi. The archbishop's palace watches over the town, and the attraction on the canal are the
Neuf Écluses, the Nine Locks. One night in Béziers,

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 called "Little Venice of the Languedoc" because of its many canals. Here, an evening stroll can be excellently combined with a good meal; the town's origins are Italian - and so is its cuisine. One overnight stay in Sète.

The tour ends after breakfast. Individual return journey.

The route

Moderate heavy! All routes are predominant planar or are located in an area, which is a little bit rippled. You will cycle on partly asphalted or sand- and pebble ways as well as on light traffic branch roads.

Prices and events

All data for 2024 at a glance
Place of arrival: Toulouse
  Season 1
13.04.2024 - 26.04.2024
22.09.2024 - 05.10.2024

Season 2
27.04.2024 - 14.06.2024
15.09.2024 - 21.09.2024

Season 3
15.06.2024 - 14.09.2024

Canal du Midi, 10 days, cat. Deluxe, FR-CMRST-10D
Base price
1,569.00
1,659.00
1,739.00
Surcharge single room 399.00 399.00 399.00
Canal du Midi, 10 days, cat. X, FR-CMRST-10X
Base price
1,269.00
1,369.00
1,429.00
Surcharge single room 339.00 339.00 339.00

Sustainability with Rückenwind!

Help us to achieve greater sustainability. If you choose to use the digital route book and forgo the printed version you will help us to reduce our environmental impact and we’ll give you a discount of 20 Euro per room as a thank you.

Season 1
Apr 13, 2024 - Apr 26, 2024
Sep 22, 2024 - Oct 5, 2024
Season 2
Apr 27, 2024 - Jun 14, 2024
Sep 15, 2024 - Sep 21, 2024
Season 3
Jun 15, 2024 - Sep 14, 2024
Canal du Midi, 10 days, cat. Deluxe, FR-CMRST-10D
Base price
Surcharge single room
Canal du Midi, 10 days, cat. X, FR-CMRST-10X
Base price
Surcharge single room
1,569.00
399.00
1,269.00
339.00
1,659.00
399.00
1,369.00
339.00
1,739.00
399.00
1,429.00
339.00

Sustainability with Rückenwind!

Help us to achieve greater sustainability. If you choose to use the digital route book and forgo the printed version you will help us to reduce our environmental impact and we’ll give you a discount of 20 Euro per room as a thank you.

Season 1
Apr 13, 2024 - Apr 26, 2024
Sep 22, 2024 - Oct 5, 2024
Season 2
Apr 27, 2024 - Jun 14, 2024
Sep 15, 2024 - Sep 21, 2024
Season 3
Jun 15, 2024 - Sep 14, 2024
Toulouse
Double room p. P. cat. deluxe
Surcharge single room
Sète
Double room p. P. cat. A
Surcharge single room
Toulouse
Double room p. P. cat.X
Surcharge single room
Sète
Double room p. P. cat. B
Surcharge single room
88.00
75.00
118.00
104.00
82.00
60.00
79.00
63.00
88.00
75.00
118.00
104.00
82.00
60.00
79.00
63.00
88.00
75.00
118.00
104.00
82.00
60.00
79.00
63.00
Additional nights
Place of arrival: Toulouse
  Season 1
Apr 13, 2024 - Apr 26, 2024
Sep 22, 2024 - Oct 5, 2024

Season 2
Apr 27, 2024 - Jun 14, 2024
Sep 15, 2024 - Sep 21, 2024

Season 3
Jun 15, 2024 - Sep 14, 2024

Toulouse
Double room p. P. cat. deluxe 88.00 88.00 88.00
Surcharge single room 75.00 75.00 75.00
Sète
Double room p. P. cat. A 118.00 118.00 118.00
Surcharge single room 104.00 104.00 104.00
Toulouse
Double room p. P. cat.X 82.00 82.00 82.00
Surcharge single room 60.00 60.00 60.00
Sète
Double room p. P. cat. B 79.00 79.00 79.00
Surcharge single room 63.00 63.00 63.00
Filter
21-gear unisex
21-gear gents
7-gear unisex
Rental bike PLUS
Electric bike
119.00
119.00
119.00
189.00
299.00
Prices per person in EUR

Services & Extras

Services

Included:

  • 9 Overnights in hotels of the booked category incl. breakfast 
  • Luggage transfer
  • Personal welcome briefing (GE,EN)
  • At best elaborated route with maps (GE,EN,FR)
  • Detailed travel documents with maps 1x per room (GE,EN,FR)
  • GPS-Tracks and Navigation-App
  • For rental bikes, rental bike insurance
  • 7-days-service-hotline

Not included:

  • Arrival and departure
  • Costs for parking
  • City tax
  • Transfers
  • Optional sightseeings
  • City maps
  • Repairs of own bike
  • Travel Insurances
  • Costs of the private requirements

 

 

Extras

Arrival / Parking / Departure

How to get there
Good arrival via train or plane to Toulouse.

Airport: Toulouse, Montpellier or Béziers/Cap d´Agde.

Via train from Séte to Toulouse approx. € 40,-.

Bus transfer on Saturday or Monday from Sète € 125,- per person. For the return transport of your own bike we charge € 39,- extra. A reservation is required at the time of booking, a maximum of 6 people can be transported. Payment is made on the spot.

 

Parking

Cat. X:
Sufficient parking spaces in a car park near the start hotel, approx. € 15,- per day.

Cat. Deluxe:
Parking garage of the hotel, approx. € 15,- per night.

 

Hotels

French hotel classification

 

Category X: Overnight stays in good quality hotels of the 2*/3* category and 1x in a „chambre d'hôte“ in Olonzac. All rooms with shower/bath and WC.

 

Category Deluxe: Overnight stays in hotels of the 3*/4* category. Mostly they are the best hotels in the place and nearly all of them offer separate wellness and beauty areas. In addition, enjoy the excellent restaurants in these beautiful accommodations. All rooms have shower/bath and WC.

Important notes

Further important information according to the package travel law can be found here!

This tour has 1 more variation

Ratings

4 of 5 Stars (3 Ratings)
4 stars
James Fischer DE | 30.08.2023
Canal du Midi
Wir haben unsere Reise sehr genossen. Sebastian hat uns über die die Räder, die Strecke, usw. gut informiert und er hat unser Gepäck täglich pünktlich zugestellt. Wir fanden das Hotel in Toulouse (Wilson) etwas in die Jahre gekommen (obwohl die Rezeptionistin sehr nett war). Sonst waren die anderen Hotels in Ordnung (bis auf das Grenadines Hotel in Agde, wo das zweite Zimmer nicht reserviert war). Die Fahrräder und die Restaurantempfehlungen waren auch in Ordnung. Wenn wir eine nächste Radtour machen möchten, werden wir bei Rückenwind buchen.
Anke Tammen
Anke Tammen answered:
Schön, dass Sie eine gelungene Radreise hatten. Vielen Dank für Ihre gute Bewertung. Im Grenadine Hotel gab es etwas Verwirrung mit unserer Reservierung, wir bitten um Entschuldigung für die kurzzeitige Unsicherheit.
4 stars
Michael Kiefer DE | 16.04.2023
Ein Traum am Canal du Midi
Sehr angenehme, leicht zu fahrwnde und erholsame Tour in wunderbarer Landschaft mit meist angenehmen Unterkünften.
Anke Tammen
Anke Tammen answered:
Danke für Ihre positive Rückmeldung. Wir freuen uns, dass Ihnen die Tour so gut gefallen hat und würden uns freuen, Sie auf einer unserer vielen schönen Radreisen wieder begrüßen zu dürfen.
4 stars
Meike K. DE | 19.10.2022
eine schöne Fahrradreise mit vielen Eindrücken und gutem Essen
Überwiegend sind wir den Canal du Midi entlang gefahren in wunderschöner Natur mit ungezählten Schleusen. Auch die Fahrt auf den Nebenstraßen führte uns durch abwechselungsreiche Gegenden , oft in Weingegenden. In den Städten sahen wir wunderbare Kathedralen und uns begegnete die Geschichte Frankreichs. Abends speisten wir schmackhaftes Essen und genossen guten Wein. In der Unterkunft in Olonzac in der alten Villa eines ehemaligen Weinhändlers haben wir uns besonders wohl gefühlt. Auch sehr schön war es in Sete. Unser Hotel lag direkt am Hafen.

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