Holidays & Tourism in Herault...

The Canal of midi, it was the dream of so many : Romans, Gauls, Henri IV, etc... Join the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic. It will become true thanks to the work of Pierre Paul Riquet which built the canal du Midi which joins Sète to Toulouse, and finished by others with the canal latéral de la Garonne.


Pierre Paul Riquet was an extreamly wealthy self taught entrepreneur.After only 15 years of work he offered us on top of the technical achievement in building locks , a true decorative work of art: over 45 000 planted trees, 240 km of canal dug by over a 1000 workers, and countless piece of art hidden all along the journey down the canal.

Pierre Paul Riquet did not get to see the end of the works since he died in october 1680, just 7 month before the inauguration of the canal in mai 1681 under the name of Canal Royal de Languedoc which will be changed to Canal du midi after the revolution.

After serving its time as an economic asset very important in trade the canal is now used for the irrigation of neighbouring fields... However the main activity of the Canal today is the river tourism, hicks, horse rides and of course bike trips.

The river tourism : boat rental and cruises

The canal is open nearly all year, et de nombreuses sociétés de location de bateaux vous proposent diverses formules allant de la balade de quelques heures, à la croisière de plusieurs jours, jusqu'à la location de bateaux avec ou sans permis (formule qui offre une liberté totale mais qui nécessite une petite préparation...)


• The climat of Languedoc Roussillon is mild enought to enable la navigation from the begining of spring until the end of autumn.

• The locks are open from 8 in the morning, they close between 12.30 and 1.30, The evening closing time varies with the time of the year between 5.30 and 7.30.

• The VNF (Voies Navigables de France) manages the canal du midi, it is therefore the first group you shouyld contact in order to organise a boat trip on the canal...

SWeb site : www.vnf.fr

- VNF Toulouse : 8, Port St Etienne 31079 Toulouse Cedex.

- VNF Carcassonne : Port du Canal 11000 Carcassonne
tel: 04 68 71 74 55

- VNF Béziers : Pont Rouge 34500 Béziers
Phone : 04 67 11 81 30
Phone : 05 61 80 07 18

Boat rental and Cruises