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7
days
6
nights
5 days
by bike
THE PERM'AVENTURE BY BIKE
THE CANAL DU MIDI AND THE MEDITERRANEAN

This tour, Toulouse - Montpellier, is the third of the six sections of the Grand Tour Cycliste:

  • 295 Km in total

  • 60 km / day on average

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

  • Much of the paved road

  • Lots of towpaths along the dirt canals

  • Mostly on green roads

  • Some sections are on small local roads with very few vehicles, and a few more busy roads towards the end

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Hi,

My name is Ryan and

I will be your cyclo-guide

during this stay. I will answer this from A to Z

to support you, provide you with the necessary assistance, and take care of

Your luggage.

See you soon !

Welcome to Toulouse!

Day 1

Saturday July 25

15:00

You are free to join the hotel from 3:00 p.m. to settle in and prepare your bike for the adventure ahead. Why not take a short bike ride along the Garonne, a short walk from the hotel, or explore Toulouse city center and its beautiful public squares on foot?

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

Your trip begins at 6:00 PM with your first group meeting at the entrance to the aparthotel. There you will meet your guide and discuss the next five days of cycling from Toulouse to Montpellier.

You will then have your first group dinner in the city center, where you will get to know the other participants in the group, before hitting the road the next morning.

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Shaded edge of the canal

Day 2

Sunday July 26

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

Toulouse

Castelnaudary

60Km

Once breakfast has been taken at the hotel with the other participants and your luggage left at reception, you will be ready to roll!

Direction the very beginning of the Canal du Midi near the city center. As you walk along it in the morning, the sounds of the city give way quite quickly to the sounds of birds and waves of barges.

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

Your route follows the canal quietly all day long, largely shaded on its two banks by immense old lime trees. The towpath on which you will ride is paved for the first 50 km approximately, it is afterwards in dirt. You will spend the night in Castelnaudary, a town built around the Grand Bassin, the largest inland port on the canal.

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To the City

Day 3

Monday July 27

Castelnaudary

Carcassonne

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40km

42km entirely on the Canal du Midi, this is our shortest cycling day, which gives you plenty of time to visit Carcassonne. Following a pleasant stroll along the banks of the canal, still quite shaded by huge aligned trees, you will arrive directly at the walled bastide of Carcassonne where you will spend the night.

 

From the bastide, we suggest you take the walk to climb the hill where the famous fortified city is located. Internationally recognized thanks to period cinema such as Robin Hood or Game of Thrones. Its impressive ramparts have also deserved recognition by UNESCO, which are classified as World Heritage of Humanity.

Budget participants spend the night in a dormitory.

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Characteristic curves of the canal

Day 4

Tuesday July 28

Carcassonne

The Comail

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60Km

Today you will continue to ride along the winding canal, and through its typical landscapes and villages. A stop is necessary to admire the spillway-spillway at Redorte, designed by Vauban, which adds to the canal bridge the possibility of discharging high water into the Rivière de l'Argent-Double below. And shortly after Paraza, you will cross the Répudre canal bridge; built in 1676, it is the oldest still in service in the world!

 

We spend the night in one of the most typical villages of the Canal du Midi, Le Somail, with its centuries of history to welcome travelers who sail there. As it is a small village, our group will be dispersed through a few small guesthouses depending on availability.

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Canal infrastructure

Day 5

Sunday July 29

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Somail

Agde

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65km

You will notice that today the landscape changes, pine trees adorn the banks, as well as works of genius that serve the canal as it approaches the coast. Capestang deserves the first visit of the day, where you can climb the church tower in the heart of the village to enjoy the unobstructed view of the surrounding vineyards.

 

The canal crosses a mountain through the 165m Malpas Tunnel, but it is prohibited for bicycles. You will therefore make a detour to the top of this small mountain and enjoy the exceptional view of the Oppidium of Enséruné. This curious star division of farmland was established in the thirteenth century to share the irrigation water of the pond in the middle.

 

The Canal du Midi joins the Hérault River, and you will finally leave your faithful traveling companion to cross the center of Agde and find the beach. As we are in the middle of summer, it's time to spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach!

Depending on availability, our group may be scattered among a few hotels in Agde, each a few minutes from the beach.

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The Mediterranean coast

Day 6

Thursday July 30

Agde

Montpellier

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65Km

The Mediterranean is omnipresent throughout our last day of cycling. You will drive directly to the water's edge on a green road that starts in the town of Agde to Sète. From there, you will follow the Canal du Rhône along the coastal ponds, away from all traffic. You will finally find the local cycle network of Montpellier which leads to its Escutcheon where you will spend your last evening together.

 

You will have time to explore the city center of the Hérault prefecture in the afternoon, with its small pedestrian streets, its series of large squares, or the Peyrou belvedere with its view of its immense aqueduct of the ten -Eighth century. With your guide, you will meet for your last group dinner to celebrate the end of the Toulouse - Montpellier route.

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Rest day in Montpellier

Day 7

Monday July 31

Montpellier

You have just cycled 300 km over the past five days, from Toulouse to Montpellier. Congratulations! Breakfast at the hotel concludes this tour. Saint-Roch train station is a short walk from the aparthotel for easy departure.

 

Those who participate in the next section of the Grand Tour Cycliste, it is the first day of this nine-day tour that will take you from Montpellier to Lyon. It is therefore a day of rest. Perma Social Club offers ecotourism activities in and around Montpellier, something to see the surroundings in a different way while you can leave your laundry at the hotel.

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Included / Not Included?

What is included?

  • Welcome dinner, day 1

  • Departure dinner, day 6

  • Breakfasts x6, days 2-7

  • Hotels x6, well located, double occupancy, private bathroom, nights 1-6

  • Budget option: dormitory room in Carcassonne, night 3

  • Briefing in person with guide on the first day

  • All luggage transfers from Toulouse to Montpellier

  • Guide available at your fingertips for any need

  • Paper maps of all the cities where we spend the night

  • .gpx of each day's routes

Not included

  • GPS computer (optional)

  • Insurance

  • Tips

  • Laundry services

  • Bike equipment: helmet, water bottles, cadena ...

  • Transport to and from the start and finish points of the tour

  • Lunches: you have the choice to stop where you want

  • Dinners: from nights 2 to 5 you have the choice of your restaurants in each stopover town

  • Any other item not listed above as being included

Accommodation

Quality of accommodation

  • The hotels on the course have been chosen according to certain criteria in order to better accommodate our cycling group.

  • In general, we are lodged in three star hotels, with the possibility of four or two stars.

  • In each case, the hotel is clean, with two separate beds in the shared rooms, and always with the private bathroom in the room.

  • In Carcassonne, the hotel is rated two stars. In Montpellier, the apartment-hotel is rated four stars. In general, the location of the hotel is excellent for exploring overnight towns.

  • Breakfast is included at each hotel. Hotels normally have a bicycle storage room, while sometimes you will be led to take your bikes to your room for the night.

Accommodation, budget option

  • In order to offer a more affordable option, this tour includes a night in a hostel rather than a hotel in Carcassonne. The location is very similar, but the dormitory, containing up to eight beds, may ideally be shared only with other participants on your tour. The bathrooms are shared with other users of the hostel. Breakfast is included.

  • Budget participants must bring their own towels for that night, as well as for the last night at the Montpellier aparthotel.

  • Depending on availability, if our group has to occupy more than one hotel in Agde, comfort participants will have priority on the best rooms (although all are good, and are very close to the same beach!).

  • In Montpellier, in the event of an odd number of participants, some budget participants may share a triple suite with three beds.

  • Other than those details, the accommodations are the same.

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Prices

€ 950 Comfort option

€ 725 Budget option

 

Supplements and discounts

Depending on the booking of single / double / shared rooms and your city of origin, additional tariffs or discounts may apply.

Please contact us for more information.

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