Canal boat? Vermenton to Marigny Sur Yonne

I am wondering about the trip between Vermenton to Marigny Sur Yonne for a one week trip on a self-drive boat.

If have seen mentioned on some forums that some of the towns and villages along the canals in Burgundy are far from the canal and involve a lot of walking. Is that the case, or are there great things to see right along the side of the canal? One member of our party has somewhat limited mobility. Could easily walk 1/4 mile but may have a hard time with 1/2 mile or further.

Any other thoughts about this route?

|||

I do believe that towns in Burgundy did not develop along the canals as did those along the Canal du Midi for example. Probably because the Burgundy system was developed much later.

One solution is to hire the optional bicycles which can expand the range of your exploration radius away from the canal. It%26#39;s also possible to hire mini-van taxis just to take you to restaurants. I have done this in both Alsace and Burgundy with success.

As for what can be seen along side the canal, this of course depends greatly upon the route. It is the limited mobility of a crew member which has taken us back to the Canal du Midi so often in the last number of years. There the towns are close to the canal.

If you are a user of %26quot;Goggle Earth%26quot; you might be able to make a detailed accounting of exactly what is available along your chosen route.

|||

Thanks so much for the input. After a bit more research, it turns out we also have the choice of routes for the Canal du Midi of NEGRA - ARGENS or ARGENS - LATTES for the time we are available.

Any opinions about which route would be better for a one week trip?

Thanks again for the help!

|||

My guess is that you are looking at Locaboat routes.

For me the sweet spot along the Canal du Midi is between Bram and Bézier - somewhat in the middle of these two choices. I%26#39;m always excited to traverse the Etang de Thau (in the morning only it%26#39;s way too turbulent most afternoons) and visit Sete as well.

If you decide upon the route from Négre Argens, I recommend an easterly direction. Not because of any upstream/downstream nonsense but because the scenery will become increasingly more interesting. West of Bram there are fewer trees and it%26#39;s more open (but a stop in Castelnaudary for Cassoulet is always a must). The Négre Argens route would place Carcassonne towards the end of your trip which is a good way to build interest during your voyage.

Either way there are good facilities along the canal and you should have no problem finding interesting diversions. Last summer we went to a wine tasting at the Office de Tourisme in Capestang so always stop in the Tourist Office and ask what about events.

I have travelled the stretch from Castelnaudary to St. Gile (in the Camargue) a half dozen times so if you have any additional questions, just let me know.

|||

After much research and looking at the various websites, we have decided to do the cruise mentioned above by CA Apples. Our preference is to go north to Vermenton from Marigy. We have booked for mid July 09 aboard a EC 139 with France afloat. A great source of info has been Tom Sommers book/CD on Euro Canals. I was worth the $35...www.eurocanals.com. Tom has also been helpful with his email replies to me. When all is said and done, you can go crazy trying to digest all the info and route possibilities. I have been told from a number of past cruisers that one can%26#39;t go wrong on the Nivernais. We will see.

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 8:22 am, October 23, 2009