Just now at a time in life where we can fulfill a dream of boating on the canal du midi. probably 3 couples. Self guided or hiring a boat/captain? Is the canal too crowded these days? Haven't seen any recent posts about this area, so I'm just tossing the question out there for anyone who has experience in this area. thanks in advance!

August is probably the busiest time of year. Is this when you are planning on going?

There are a number of companies renting boats which are relatively easy to captain. The only real bottleneck are the Écluses de Fonseranes. These locks are alternating one way and can, if not planned for, cause your pacing to suffer. Otherwise, have a great time. These are the largest rental companies in France:

LeBoat
Les Canalous
Locaboat

August, too hot, busy and smelly
very easy to do so captain not required
Some locks stop for lunch, a long lunch
Hire bikes in the deal
Make sure you have twice the number of sleeping places to people. You need the room
Look out for restaurants near the canal who will come and get you. Adverts stuck on lamp posts.

If you are thinking of this year there may be restrictions due to the drought that has hit Europe hard. Many rivers and canals in France are restricted or closed now, and the Rhine is at it's lowest ever. The source of the Thames has also dried up.
Melting glaciers and lack of snow fall followed by a very dry, and hot spring/summer mean rivers here are suffering, just as they are in the west of the US. Climate crisis in action.

as heti says, climate change is endangering this holiday form, now what causes climate change?

We did the Midi with Le Boat. We have traveled the world and been incredible places and seen incredible sites and doing the Midi Canal is in our top 5. You receive a very detailed and specific manual of towns, villages, locks, wineries, water, gas, etc. We left out of Carcassonne-fabulous! Our boat was perfect as had 2 masters, one in front and one in back with living and galley in the middle and was great for 2 couples. The gals went ahead on bikes, we met the guys at a rendevous point with meal fixins, which we were always sure to have. We also tried to make sure we past a lockkeeper lock before they closed for lunch. It's a wonderful, fabulous trip!

thanks so much for your responses. Sorry I neglected to say that we are tentatively planning for Fall of 2023. Since sending this question, I've been doing a little research and the reviews of various companies and experiences are not consistent. some people have traveled with the companies you mention and had a great time and others had a nightmare of a trip. It's about 50/50! not sure I want to take that risk of having a bad trip! looking at biking along the Canal as well. again, thanks so much for your feedback and suggestions. any other thoughts greatly appreciated!

You will always find those discrepancies. This week I stayed in a hotel in Switzerland that had both terrific and absolutely terrible reviews (including things like "don't look under the bed!"). My own experience was terrific. I had the same sort of experience in NYC where complaints included "the lighting in the elevators is weird!" You have to take a lot of this with a grain of salt.

Check the web site of freewheelingfrance.com for guidance on options for cycling the Canal du Midi. If you’re not quite capable of carrying everything you need in a couple of panniers, you can always use one of the self-guided touring services that take your bags from one hotel to the next.

We’ve done day trips around Agde, Sète and Beziers — very pleasant.

I cycled the canal in 2018. The signage is good for bank selection. This is important as the trees that line the banks ( thousands of the things) have roots which come to the service and make for very bumpy rides. Back then the route was also reasonably well maintained.