Cycling in France - Canals and Castles of the Midi

This escorted cycling holiday from Explore Worldwide unfolds along the Canal du Midi and the medieval landscapes of the Midi region. Starting in Carcassonne, the fortified hilltop town with ramparts dating back to the Middle Ages, the route quickly escapes the daytime crowds for peaceful rural rides. The towpaths follow the canal’s historic horses’ trail, often bumpy with gravel and tree roots, tracing locks and aqueducts that have stood for centuries.

The group spends three nights near Homps, cycling through vineyards and olive groves around La Laviniere, a village named after its Roman wine heritage, and stopping for tastings at Château l’Amiral, where the family has been making Minervois wine for seven generations. Optional rides lead up to Minerve, perched between limestone gorges and known for cobbled lanes and ruined ramparts. Later stages bring the canal junction near Narbonne into view. Once a Roman provincial capital, Narbonne’s quiet streets reveal an underground maze of warehouses and a gothic cathedral.

The final day reaches the Mediterranean shore at Gruissan, a former pirates’ nest, where a swim might be on the cards before a return to Narbonne. The group ends back in Toulouse the following morning. It is a quietly absorbing trip, neither strenuous nor rushed, with several chances to pause and enjoy that slow French way of life.

New to France? Our France guide has the practical essentials: money, plugs, visas and when to go.

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These are the places the trip visits, in order. Explore Worldwide publishes the day-by-day itinerary on its own site.