Canal du Midi: Toulouse to Sète

Route description

The Canal du Midi was built by Pierre-Paul Riquet between 1666 and 1681 to link the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and it is listed by UNESCO. Leave Toulouse on the D813, which follows the canal south-east. At the Seuil de Naurouze an obelisk marks the watershed where the water is fed in. Castelnaudary, 60 km from Toulouse, has a large basin and is known for cassoulet.

Continue on the D6113 to Carcassonne, where the canal passes through the lower town below the walled Cité. You can walk or cycle the towpath in either direction. From Carcassonne head north-east through the Minervois vineyards to Minerve, a village on a rock between two gorges; the car park is across the bridge and the village is visited on foot.

Drive on through Capestang, where the canal is lined with plane trees, to the Oppidum d’Ensérune, an Iron Age hilltop town with a view of the radial fields of the Étang de Montady. The Malpas tunnel, one of the earliest canal tunnels, runs beneath the hill. Then reach Béziers and the Fonserannes locks, a staircase of eight chambers that boats take the best part of an hour to climb.

From Béziers the canal runs on to Agde and into the Étang de Thau. Follow the D612 and the coast road to Sète, a fishing port crossed by canals, where you can climb or drive to Mont Saint-Clair for the view. The streets up the hill are steep and narrow, so park motorhomes near the port. Oysters from Bouzigues are sold along the lagoon.