A Tour de France on the canals, or exploring France in eight stages!
The Tour de France on the canals is the theme of an adventurous multimedia travel log produced by L’Express and RFI. Based on experiences, encounters and impressions gleaned from journeys on France’s canals, this account touches upon on just about every aspect of river tourism: history, heritage, culture, cuisine, sports and leisure, practical considerations, handy addresses, etc.

What’s the route?

- Stage 1 > The Paris area, the Canal de l’Ourcq, the Marne

- Stage 2 > The Canal du Nord and the Canal de la Somme

- Stage 3 > Brittany, the Nantes-Brest canal

- Stage 4 > the South-West, the Canal de Garonne, the Baïse and the Lot

- Stage 5 > The Canal du Midi

- Stage 6 > The South-East, the Canal du Rhône à Sète

- Stage 7 > The canals of the Centre (Loing, Nivernais, Briare, Burgundy)

- Stage 8 > Eastern France, the Marne-Rhine canal

> Click here to visit the Tour de France canal blog.

“Captain of the ship”

[…] Never been boating before? No problem. You’ll get a quick lesson on how to manoeuvre your boat or barge before you set out, with instructions on handling, mooring and navigating locks. And that’s pretty much all you’ll need to know, as boating on canals is safe, with speeds limited to 6 km/h. Only navigating locks can sometimes be a little tricky, requiring several people to help manoeuvre the boat.
On the money side, boating isn’t just a different kind of holiday. It’s also an affordable kind of holiday! Aside from the diesel fuel, which has to be paid for at the end of a cruise, boating holidays are “all in”, with no hidden extras. The hire rate is per boat (not per person), and the main activities don’t carry surcharges: 4 to 5 hours of boating per day, walks and bike rides along the towpaths, angling, bathing, visiting waterside villages, and passing through locks is free.

“Water-based getaways”

Off the beaten track, boating holidays definitely have the wind in their sails. More intimate than their seafaring cousins, river and canal cruises are an excellent opportunity to explore the very heart of a country or city. In France alone, there are around 8,500 kilometres of navigable waterways. […]
TAKE THE HELM! You don’t need a licence to skipper a boat. Much more fun and ideal for exploring inland areas, a barge is easy to handle and can navigate not just rivers, but also canals, making it a great way to discover idyllic scenery.

“I’m off on a river cruise”

The Seychelles. Too pricey. Egypt? Too hot. The Scandinavian fjords? Too cold! So why not stay closer to home with a cruise in France?

“The watery way to wellbeing”

Why not try a cruise on France’s navigable waterways? Firmly anchored in France’s history, its rivers and canals have helped to shape the development of the country’s regions, economy and culture. Once used to transport cargo and passengers, in recent years France’s canals and rivers have been riding a new wave: river tourism…