Montauban, a city of art and history on the banks of the Tarn river
A town that has produced many leading cultural figures, including Ingres, Bourdelle, Olympe de Gouges and Roland Giraud, Montauban invites you on an artistic journey.
This pink-brick city has been designated a Ville d’Art et d’Histoire thanks to its many architectural gems, notably Place Nationale (a square with double rows of arches), the 14th-century bridge, the Ingres Museum and many fine mansions… Note that it’s just a short cycle trip up from the Canal de Garonne to Montauban via the Canal de Montech.
Custom route
Custom route
13 Moissac / Castelsarrasin / Montech / Montauban
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.
14 Montech / Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds
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.