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Canal du Midi

From Toulouse to the Mediterranean Sea

Magnificient buildings, sensual pleasures and mediterranean sea and pyrinees

From the Occitan metropolis of Toulouse to beginning of the Pyrenees - and finally to the "French Venice" at the Mediterranean Sea. This cycle tour leads always along the world heritage site of the Canal du Midi. You pass the ancient land of the Cathars with world-famous fortress castles like Carcassonne. You explore the former medieval and Roman tracks. The wealth of culture along the Canal du Midi is matched by culinary treasures: Excellent wine is cultivated in the Minervois and Corbière, and the outstanding cuisine has Spanish influences. Savoir vivre in Occitania.

France
Easy to moderate
  • 8 Days / 7 Nights
  • Self-guided tour
Meike Engling
Meike Engling
+49 (0)441 485 97 28 Contact
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Meike Engling
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Meike Engling
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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".

Carcassonne is today one of the best preserved fortress towns in Europe and since 1997 part of the UNESCO World Heritage. The mightiest building of the town and one of the biggest fortresses in Europe is the fortress Cité Médiévale of Carcassonne with its 52 towers. You can experience the lively Carcassonne best in the downtown with its lively streets and the bastion Saint Louis. One overnight in Carcarsonne.

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.

Narbonne, which is flanked by vineyards. The former capital of the Romanesque antiquity was the first Roman colony outside of Italy. Sights like the relics of the street “Via Domitia“ or the houses-bridge with Roman origin “Pont des Marchands“ are evidences of this time. But later centuries too have left their marks in the town: for example the archbishop’s palace or the Gothic cathedral. One overnight 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

Saturday
Season 2
27.04.2024 - 14.06.2024
15.09.2024 - 21.09.2024

Saturday
Season 3
15.06.2024 - 14.09.2024

Saturday
Canal du Midi, 8 days, cat. D, FR-CMRST-08D
Base price
1,199.00
1,279.00
1,329.00
Surcharge single room 359.00 359.00 359.00
Canal du Midi, 8 days, cat. X, FR-CMRST-08X
Base price
1,049.00
1,149.00
1,199.00
Surcharge single room 269.00 269.00 269.00

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
Saturday
Season 2
Apr 27, 2024 - Jun 14, 2024
Sep 15, 2024 - Sep 21, 2024
Saturday
Season 3
Jun 15, 2024 - Sep 14, 2024
Saturday
Canal du Midi, 8 days, cat. D, FR-CMRST-08D
Base price
Surcharge single room
Canal du Midi, 8 days, cat. X, FR-CMRST-08X
Base price
Surcharge single room
1,199.00
359.00
1,049.00
269.00
1,279.00
359.00
1,149.00
269.00
1,329.00
359.00
1,199.00
269.00

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. D
Surcharge single room
Sète
Double room p. P. cat. deluxe
Surcharge single room
Toulouse
Double room p. P. cat. standard
Surcharge single room
Sète
Double room p. P. cat. standard
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

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

Saturday
Season 3
Jun 15, 2024 - Sep 14, 2024

Saturday
Toulouse
Double room p. P. cat. D 88.00 88.00 88.00
Surcharge single room 75.00 75.00 75.00
Sète
Double room p. P. cat. deluxe 118.00 118.00 118.00
Surcharge single room 104.00 104.00 104.00
Toulouse
Double room p. P. cat. standard 82.00 82.00 82.00
Surcharge single room 60.00 60.00 60.00
Sète
Double room p. P. cat. standard 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
99.00
99.00
99.00
169.00
259.00
Prices per person in EUR

Services & Extras

Services

Included:

  • 7 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

Good arrival via train or plane to Toulouse.

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

Via train from Séte to Toulouse.

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

4.7 of 5 Stars (3 Ratings)
5 stars
Birgit E. DE | 18.10.2023
Eine entspannte Radtour am Canal du Midi entlang
Die Strecke war sehr viel besser zu befahren als erwartet. Denn bei youtube findet man leider viele negative Videos, die größtenteils nicht mehr der Realität entsprechen. Allerdings waren die Schotterpisten manchmal noch herausfordernd. Darüber sollte im Katalog besser informiert werden. Wir hatten eine Woche Sonnenschein und konnten auf trockener Strecke alles gut fahren, bei Regen sieht dies vielleicht anders aus. Die Unterkünfte waren alle sehr schön. Die Restaurant-Tipps waren nicht immer hilfreich, da im Oktober vieles bereits geschlossen hatte. Das könnte man sicherlich aktualisieren. Ein Problem war es allerdings nicht, da es genügend andere Restaurants gab. Insgesamt war bei herrlichem, warmen und trockenem Wetter die Reise rundherum ein Genuss und sehr erholsam.
Anke Tammen
Anke Tammen answered:
Herzlichen Dank für Ihre 5✨als Gesamtbewertung. Die Restaurants schließen leider manchmal früher, manchmal später. Unsere Empfehlungen erstellen wir kurz vor der Saison nach Auskunft der gastronomischen Betriebe zu diesem Zeitpunkt. In der laufenden Saison kann das leider nicht aktualisiert werden. Toll, dass Ihnen die Tour so gut gefallen hat.
5 stars
Rudolf Hrovat DE | 23.09.2023
Das französische Abenteuer
Sehr gute Streckeneinteilung, interessante technische Schleusen-Highlights, typisch französische Unterkünfte, sehr nette Gastgeber,,viel Natur, angenehme Mitreisende, sehr gute Betreuung vor Ort
Anke Tammen
Anke Tammen answered:
Eine bessere Rückmeldung kann man sich kaum wünschen. Vielen Dank für Ihre 5 Sterne, die zeigen, dass Sie sich rundherum wohlgefühlt haben auf Ihrer Aktiv-Reise.
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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