Along the Canal du Midi from Toulouse to Sète

Free time of arrival in Toulouse, check-in at your accommodation durng reception hours.

You start your bike tour in Toulouse, the starting point of the Canal du Midi. Discover the characteristic architecture of the "Pink City", so called because of the orange-pink facades of the buildings. Stroll over the famous Place du Capitole and admire the architectural masterpieces such as the Romanesque Basilica of Saint-Sernin, the Jacobins Church or the Renaissance Hotel of Assézat. Toulouse is also a dynamic and gourmet city, where you will have a great choice to taste the culinary specialties of the South-West.

You leave Toulouse on a cycle route along the Canal du Midi and leave the city in peace and quiet, lulled by the gentle lapping of the water. You will reach the first villages of the Lauragais region, whose bell towers dot the landscape, especially in Montesquieu-Lauragais. You cross a rich agricultural plain surrounded by hills and developed for centuries thanks to the canal.

Short after Gardouch we suggest to leave the banks of the canal to cycle on a beautiful ridge road offering magnificent panoramas. You will arrive at the village of Avignonet-Lauragais, the Mecca of Catharism, before passing through Port Lauragais and the site of the water divide between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, the highest point along the Canal. You then head for Castelnaudary, which will welcome you with its pretty little port and its tasty cassoulets. After that, you continue on the countryside to the charming abbey of Saint-Papoul before returning to the canal at Bram.

Today you stay on the towpath of the canal to Carcassonne. You will cross the new town and arrive on the banks of the Aude, where the impressive walls of the medieval city stand out. Take time to visit this fortress admirably restored by Viollet-le-Duc.

The towpath sometimes turns into a muddy track until you reach Carcassonne. We suggest a pleasant detour on country roads passing through the villages of Alzonne and Sainte-Eulalie, recommended in case of rain.

Shortly after Carcassonne, the route of the canal leads you to the Minervois. In La Redorte, don't miss the "épanchoir de l'Argent-Double" designed by Vauban, built to evacuate the excess water during floods or to empty the canal. The charming wine villages follow one another, each with its own small port. Homps offers you the possibility of a more animated stop before continuing to one of the next villages where you stop.

The Canal du Midi and the Canal de la Robine accompany you at the beginning of this stage. You will then leave the Canal du Midi and follow quiet country roads through Ouveillan. You'll find a winding canal before reaching the lively port of Capestang, where you can stop to visit the collegiate church of Saint-Etienne which dominates the village with its 45m high gothic bell tower. You then keep the canal as a guideline, pass the Malpas tunnel and admire the cascade of the 9 locks of Fonsérannes and finally the view of Béziers, where you end your day's itinerary.

Today, you stay along the canal lined with a bicycle path and then with very rolling paths. You reach Adge without effort, the time to appreciate the birdlife of the Estagnol marshes, the quietness of the Cassafières harbor, or the remarkable works that are the Libron locks and the Saint-Joseph bridge. After Adge, you follow the Hérault river and then slip among the reed beds of the Bagnas lagoons, a strong moment of nature. Then, at the end of the channel, a pause at the Onglous lighthouse, a bit like your "end of the world", because it is here that the Canal du Midi ends in the salty waters of the Thau lagoon. But the adventure is not quite over yet, as a comfortable bicycle path will guide you to Sète along the Mediterranean beaches, a thousand opportunities to take a well-deserved bath !

Let yourself be seduced by the gentle bustle of the port of Sète, built by Louis XIV to provide the Canal du Midi with an outlet to the sea. The charm of this maritime city has inspired many artists.

End of services after breakfast. You leave during the day or extend your stay as you wish.