Lagruere Lock on the Garonne Canal
Le Canal des 2 mers à vélo - J. Damase

The Canal de Garonne

The final link in the canal chain joining Atlantic to Mediterranean

The Canal de Garonne, created much later than the famed Canal du Midi, runs alongside the mighty Garonne River for 193 kilometres. Dotted with 53 locks and several other remarkable related constructions, including the daring canal-bridges at Agen and Moissac, today this canal is shadowed by a beautiful, unbroken greenway accessible to all.

Villeton Lock on the Garonne Canal
Le Canal des 2 mers à vélo - J. Damase

The Canal de Garonne in figures

  • 193km in length
  • 17 years of work (1838 - 1856)
  • 143 architectural features, including 53 locks, 83 bridges et 7 canal-bridges
  • Opened to traffic: 1856
Filter Basin in Toulouse between the Garonne and the Canal du Midi
Le Canal des 2 mers à vélo - J. Damase

The Garonne Canal, an extension of the Canal du Midi

Built in the 19th century, the Canal de Garonne, also known as the Canal Latéral à la Garonne, was made to take over from where the great Canal du Midi left off. So the Canal de Garonne links Toulouse to Castets-en-Dorthe (nr Langon), allowing boats to travel via canals between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic quite avoiding the turbulent currents of the Garonne River.

 

Pierre-Paul Riquet, the celebrated engineer who designed the Canal du Midi between Sète and Toulouse in the 17th century, had already envisaged further works to create a canal link to the Atlantic. The realization of the idea had to wait two centuries. Leading engineer Jean-Baptiste de Baudre oversaw the project at the outset. Work began simultaneously at several points, with thousands of workers employed to construct the 193km of canal. The section from Toulouse to Agen was completed in 1850, that between Agen and Castets-en-Dorthe in 1856, after 17 years of work.

Bike ride under the plane trees of the Garonne Canal
Le Canal des 2 mers à vélo - J. Damase

The Canal de Garonne runs along beside the great river for 193km

The Canal de Garonne is dotted with 53 locks and many canal-bridges, including the celebrated Pont-Canal d’Agen, the second-longest canal-bridge in France, built entirely of cut stone.
 

Designed to cater to commercial barges, for which it was specifically designed, what with its straight lines, the Canal de Garonne soon had to compete with the new railway line linking Bordeaux to Toulouse, which was also inaugurated in 1856.


Canal and river tourism took over in earnest in the 1970s, with pleasure craft transporting tourists into exceptional natural and historic settings.

Today, you can cycle alongside the Canal de Garonne along the whole of its length, between Castets-en-Dorthe (nr Langon, southeast of Bordeaux) and Toulouse, going via Agen, Moissac, Montech and many other ports.

Custom route

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La Réole / Marmande

8 La Réole / Marmande

22 km
1 h 26 min
I begin / Family
The cycle route joins the Canal de Garonne close to the startling Musée de l’Allumette (Match Museum) at Fontet. This place’s port and outdoors recreation centre make it a great spot to stop before starting out on the greenway beside the canal. This stage is calm, but the perched village of Meilhan-sur-Garonne draws you up to it for fabulous views. For a further short detour, visit the town of Marmande, which conceals some surprises.
Marmande / Damazan

9 Marmande / Damazan

25 km
1 h 38 min
I begin / Family
Le Mas-d’Agenais is the highlight on this stage of the Canal des 2 Mers à Vélo cycle route. Its church of St-Vincent is an architectural gem, startlingly containing a work by Rembrandt, Christ on the Cross. The wide vista over the Garonne at one end of the village adds to its attractions. At the end of the stage, the cycle track leads to Damazan, a bastide fortified town built from scratch in the 13th century.
Damazan / Agen

10 Damazan / Agen

33 km
2 h 10 min
I begin / Family
The Canal des 2 Mers à Vélo cycle route continues along the greenway beside the Canal de Garonne, passing through the very lively port of Buzet-sur-Baïse. You reach Agen itself via one of the longest canal-bridges in France, at 600m. The town is both capital of the département (French county) of Lot-et-Garonne and French capital of prunes… and it conceals many other curiosities, which you can discover in the remarkable monuments in the historic centre.
Agen / Valence d'Agen

11 Agen / Valence d'Agen

27 km
1 h 46 min
I begin / Family
Leave Agen’s port via a greenway. The way continues close to the Garonne, although the river is rarely visible from beside the canal. After Lamagistère, you enter Valence d’Agen, passing close to former abattoirs superbly converted into an information centre. The town was built as a fortified bastide in the 13th century. Admire its covered market, dovecotes, washhouses and port. Every summer, the show entitled Au Fil de l’Eau une Histoire revives the town’s important past as a port.
Valence d'Agen / Moissac

12 Valence d'Agen / Moissac

17 km
1 h 08 min
I begin / Family
From Valence to Moissac, the cycle route sticks to the tranquil canal. The town of Moissac, located on one of the famous pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, stretches out peacefully beside the Tarn River. Visit Moissac’s splendid medieval Benedictine abbey, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its stunningly carved cloisters and one of the most beautiful Romanesque church entrances in southern France.
Moissac / Castelsarrasin / Montech / Montauban

13 Moissac / Castelsarrasin / Montech / Montauban

36 km
2 h 17 min
I begin / Family
The Canal des 2 Mers à Vélo cycle route leaves Moissac via the Pont-canal du Cacor, a remarkable canal-bridge. Not long after, you reach a business park at the entrance to Castelsarrasin, an historic fortified town in the County of Toulouse. From its marina, you can head into the old centre that witnessed many turbulent times, but that has preserved many fine public spaces and buildings, including the imposing St-Sauveur Church, built of fine brick.
Montech / Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds

14 Montech / Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds

36 km
1 h 31 min
I begin / Family
Leaving Montech, the Canal des 2 Mers à Vélo cycle route leads south along the greenway beside the Canal de Garonne towards the great regional capital of Toulouse. Numerous big villages are dotted along the way, like Grisolles, with its museum, and many ‘Villeneuves’, ‘new towns’ dating from the construction of fortified grid-plan settlements… in the 13th century. A cycling circuit through the nearby vineyards of the Frontonnais allows you to discover them and a grape variety unique to this part of southwest France – négrette.
Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds / Toulouse

15 Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds / Toulouse

23 km
1 h 30 min
I begin / Family
You can sense the outskirts of the huge regional metropolis of Toulouse long before reaching the centre of ‘the pink city’, as it’s nicknamed. Sticking to the Canal de Garonne, its historic tranquillity contrasts with the rampant urbanisation beyond. You enter Toulouse at the junction of the Canal de Garonne, the Canal de Brienne and the Canal du Midi, at the level of Les Pont-Jumeaux. Then a cycle track beside the Canal du Midi takes you into the city centre.