I am looking into the Canal du Midi for September, but was wondering if anyone had a real favorite!- or if you've been only once and liked it so much you would consider it again! Thanks.

We dit a trip from St. Florentin to Montbard, one way, with Rives de France. I chose that itinerary because it had more "old stones" (chateaux, towns) than most other itineraries.

Hi, Beatle.
I have only done one and I loved it. I did the Canal du Midi in April 2003. It was possibly the most relaxing trip I have ever taken. Ate wonderful food, drank delicious wine and watched France float past while we visited and laughed. I would do it again in a heart beat!
There are possibly better areas for excursions but the canal is beautiful.
Have a great time, whichever canal you go on!
Judy C

Thanks Michael and Judy- Question: I've heard that on some of these excursions you can take bikes and stop along the way and explore some of the countryside and villages. Anyone familiar with this? Thanks...

Are you talking about renting a boat and doing a "self drive" or taking a package cruise? We were very close to doing a self-drive a couple years ago, and yes, it is very easy. And you can take bicycles along. It is also possible to do one way rentals of the boats.

Patrick- I've looked at both but am leaning toward a self drive, one-way. I think it would give me more flexibility, especially if I found an area I really like.

I was corresponding by email with a couple who did the trip twice with a rented boat. They highly recommended Connoisseur Cruisers (www.connoisseurcruisers.co.uk)
The first year they used a company called Crown Blue Lines and found it not nearly so good.
When we were in Narbonne, we looked at some of the boats from Connoisseur Cruisers and found them looking much better than some of the other companies we saw.
For some reason my partner lost interest in this canal trip, so we still haven't done it.

Patrick- Thanks for the website. I also checked into Crown Blue. The boat doesn't have to be fancy, am looking for one to hold about 4 people and bikes.

The Rives de France boats have a flat roof which can hold the bikes. It is wise to get one size boat larger than what the barge company rates. A boat that can sleep six is good for four or five. Quarters are cramped and if the weather is rainy, a larger boat is more comfortable. Also, go upstream if possible. Locks are usually kept open on the downstream side, which means that you generally can slide right in without waiting for the lock to be emptied. If you come from the upstream side, it means that they have to close the lock, fill it, open it to let you in, empty it, and open it to let you out.

One thing to look for is a boat with a sliding top or one that can be controlled from the outside as well as the inside. There's nothing worse than one person being stuck inside piloting the boat, while the other person is outside enjoying it all.

We had wanted to do a self-drive canal trip and had done a lot of research into the various companies. At the time Crown Blue appeared the best, but we ended up chickening out since we could not get another couple to go w/us (fearful the lockwork would be too much).

During our trip this last fall, we kept being drawn to the rivers and these self drive penichettes, however!
Particularly beautiful was the Charentes

(sorry--jumpy fingers hit post accidentally)

We especially thought the area between Cognac and Saintes was lovely and really enjoyed these two cities. Would definitely have to consider this one next time.

While visiting Malicorne in the Loire Valley, there were numerous Penichettes passing by as we picniced. Malicorne was a wonderful town with a faience factory/museum, beautiful chateau and interesting shops. If there were other towns along this waterway that were as interesting, I would have to look hard at this option.

What we DID end up doing was spur of the moment renting a penichette from Locaboat late in our trip in the Alsace-Lorraine area. We took an extended weekend trip (4days)on the Canal du Marne starting at Lutzelburg heading towards Nancy.

(accidental posting - continued from above)

We cannot say enough about the experience! The fall colors were gorgeous, the locks easy to use,bikes rented from Locaboat essential to seeing the towns/countryside with ease. Lutzelbourg is

(this isn't funny anymore-I'm going to have to make my son get off my computer)

Lutzelbourg is a fairy-tale perfect village with one hotel/restaurant. We met a German who had been doing this same route with Locaboat 6 years in a row he loved it so much! And going up the one-of-a-kind inclined plane was quite a breathtaking experience, too. Locaboat was fantastic--boats like new, heat/toilet etc worked great, nice base crew. We passed Crown Blue's base along the way and were glad we had gone Locaboat. In this particular area anway, the boats appeared in much better condition and we like the beauty of Lutzelbourg over the Crown Blue's larger, quite ugly waterfront base.

Our next trip, however, we will probably do the Midi Canal, as that was our original plan and coming from Alaska we're always on the look out for a little Southern warmth!

I'm sure you'll enjoy anywhere you choose.


I would be glad to send you some digital pix if you want to send me your email adress, or I could give you more specific information if you'd like. I'm at [email protected].

Thank you all for the helpful info.
Klondike: You've got my interest on the Canal du Marne- I'm definitely going to check it out, but will probably do the Canal du Midi first.
Michael: Thanks for the boat info. and the tip about going upstream.

Beatle,
The trip I took was on a hotel barge. The self drive boats that we passed all had bicycles on them. The boats go slow enough that you can bicycle to the next village and enjoy a glass of wine while the boat catches up with you. Whichever way you go, I'm sure you will have a great time.

We did a 3 generation trip on Canal du Midi on La Tortue through http://www.bargecompany.com
It was great. It was $$, but included all. They had bikes for canal biking or biking excursions at stops. A real luxury trip. Not sure if they have self drive.

To prepare for the Canal du Midi you might want to get "Canal Cruising in the South of France" by Pixie Haughwout and Ralph Folsom. They are Americans who own their own penichette and travel each year along the Canal du Midi, updating their manual-style publication. Tho we haven't used it yet, we are impressed with its format.

You can contact them at [email protected] or call them to chat. We had a most pleasant phone conversation with them in preparation for our trip.