Springs of the Canal du Midi – the Selection

Arrival and check-in at the hotel or guest house with swimming pool, depending on availability. Night and breakfast in Carcassonne.

You’ll leave the city of Carcassonne for a while to roll along the Midi Canal. If you feel daring enough for a detour, head away from the Midi Canal to ride through valleys of wheat and rapeseed, in the direction of the Saint Papoul Abbey, founded in the 8th century. Admire its 19th century church and cloister, a veritable catalog of fantastical, Gothic-style sculptures. Surrounded to the east by the Black Mountain and to the southwest by the Pyrenees, head for the port of Bram, an authentic “circulade” (medieval Languedoc village built in a circle around a church or fortified castle) from the year one thousand. Take a leisurely ride along the road lined with villages that sometimes date back 2000 years and structures reflecting the ingenuity of Paul Riquet, such as the lock at Beteil and the double lock at Lalande. Spend the night in a hotel in Castelnaudary.

Still heading in the direction of Toulouse, you’ll ride in the morning along the Midi Canal for 12 km to then plunge deep into the Lauraguais countryside. You’ll arrive at Lake Lenclas where you can stop for a swim. Here begins the bucolic bike path along the Rigole all the way to Lake St Ferreol, where you can also swim (a short but difficult climb). After enjoying the beautiful surroundings of the lake, you will ride down to Revel, where you will spend the night in a hotel.

After visiting the city of Revel, classified "City of Art and Crafts," and strolling along the famous medieval fortified town founded in 1342 by Philip VI of Valois, you’ll experience the beautiful villages of Saissac and its castle, as well as Montolieu. Then you’ll reach the Midi Canal again to head back to Carcassonne, where you will spend the night in a hotel.

The trip ends after breakfast; free day in Carcassonne.