Michelle van der Kroft
Cycling the Canal du Midi France
Geographe Cruise and Travel - Busselton, WA
We had a fabulous time cycling with e-bikes (so glad we got e-bikes as average of 50kms per day!) and just finished the trip before a big heat wave hit Europe in June 2022 for 7 days. Lovely to finish on the Mediterranean Coast in the beautiful port of Sète cycling a total of 240kms.
The Canal du Midi was built by Pierre Paul Riquet in the 17th century, overcoming great obstacles to connect the Mediterranean with the Atlantic through the Garonne Canal. The best way to appreciate all facets of the canal is by bike.
We started in Toulouse, a lovely worth spending an extra day to explore and enjoy before setting off on our adventure. The next morning our e-bikes were delivered to the hotel ready to commence our travels. We had already downloaded tour notes and a comprehensive GPS guide as this was a self-guided tour.
The first day cycling to Castelnaudary was long although flat mostly (around 70kms) and we were quite exhausted by the time we got there. The hotel was located just out of town. We decided to have dinner at the hotel restaurant which was very nice, beautiful local food, wine and service. So nice to have a shower and soft bed for the night.
The next morning we headed off early travelling to the incredible medieval walled city of Carcassonne. The hotel was in a super location and a very short walk to the walls. We have plenty of time to explore and enjoy the city and relax that evening. It was a beautiful sight cycling across the river to see the city walls ahead.
Next day moving along to Homps again was a reasonable distance but was a very hot day. The navigation app was great and made it very easy. I purchased a little phone holder to go on the front of the bike (10 euros) and it really was helpful with the GPS to see where we were and to make sure we were on track, taking us straight to our hotel that night to collect our luggage and enjoy a local restaurant and a gelato to cool down. So lovely to come across many little makeshift cafes and boulangeries along the canal or near the lockmaster houses ready and happy to serve the many fellow cyclists along the canal.
Travelling onto the lovely city of Beziers was a big day, again around 70kms thank goodness for the e-bikes! A very educational and interesting city where the canal was born with 9 locks and full of tourist and houseboats waiting to move up or down. At this precise point, the water on one side flows naturally to the East, therefore to the Mediterranean, and on the other side it flows westwards, towards the Atlantic. A steep ride winding up to the city to our centrally located hotel for the night. We enjoyed our evening in Beziers to explore and had a great tapas meal being so close to Spain the culture blends.
Last day travelling down to the coast, we took a little side trip and headed straight to sea to wet our feet and celebrate our arrival!. Enjoyed a great lunch at a typical seaside town. The ride along the coast through to Sète was a beautiful surprise and a charming canal town. The hotel again was great, central and having a canal view room was the icing on the cake to end our journey!
The track really is a variety of all types of paths to ride along. Starting in Toulouse it was very easy from the hotel to navigate straight to the canal and we were out of the city quite quickly. The path was wide and very easy. On other days, the paths were a variety of dried mud tracks, grass, and some places very close to the canal. Very rough in parts for very long periods, more like mountain bike riding but added to the overall experience! So not for someone expecting a leisurely ride each day on smooth paths, be prepared and a little bit of training before I would recommend. They are trying to upgrade parts of the track which will be a big improvement but is a work in progress and I imagine will take some time.
Overall a fabulous memorable experience full of adventures, amazing changing scenery every day, emersing in local culture, French delicacies, staying in charming accommodation throughout. Our luggage being transported each day to our next destination so we only needed our daily backpack with us. Such a sense of achievement at the end and then followed up with a relaxing small ship cruise in Greece! (next blog to be published!)
My ideal holiday! Contact me if you would like to do something like this!
My Personal Travel Experience
One of many locks along the way, one of 91 in total!
A cafe stop along the canal
Carcassonne a highlight of the journey
One of the charming towns to pass through with cute art markets to explore
Some of variety of tracks travelled
Made it to the Mediterranean sea!
Our charming hotel in Homps for the night
The charming port town of Sete (many cruise ships visit this port also!)
View from our hotel balcony in Sete.
Arriving at Carcassonne, incredible!
Enjoying a morning coffee stop
A cute little village to divert into for a visit along the way
One of the many boulangeries along the way to refuel!
Another stop along the canal
Read About My Travel Experiences
My Accreditation & Awards
Cruise Lines International Association Australasia (CLIA) Certified Master Cruise Consultant. This is the highest accreditation achievable demonstrating my outstanding commitment to ongoing professional development and experience in the cruising industry.
Princess Cruises Commodore Accreditation
Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) Certified Travel Manager
With 35 years experience in the travel industry I have travelled to 50 countries and cruised onboard or inspected over 20 cruise lines.
Several awards for outstanding sales in the industry.
Travel Advisors listed on Find A Travel Expert are:
- Affiliates of Your Travel & Cruise Pty Ltd, operating since 2003.
- Your Travel & Cruise is a member of ATAS, CLIA and the Magellan Travel group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Helloworld Travel.
My Reviews
My wife & I have had the pleasure of meeting Michelle van der Kroft many years ago when she became our Travel Consultant & we still make sure to this very day that all our travel plans are left in the Professional & Experienced hands of Michelle who has over 35 years in the travel industry.
Michelle has so much knowledge, always friendly, pleasant & willing to assist you in your travel plans to give you the best outcome by listening to your requests that are suitable for your needs.
We pride ourselves on having such a BRILLIANT Travel Consultant in Local, Intra State, Interstate & all kinds of Overseas Travel.
Thanks for all your assistance Michelle & we have travelled in Peace over the years knowing you have worked hard to make ALL our trips/travel plans wonderful experiences, trouble free with lots of very happy memories.
You are the BEST as you do care so much about your clients.
Michelle has been my travel agent since 2011
Pre covid she organised 8 self guided cycle trips for my husband and I to Europe, plus what we did before and after our cycling.
In 2024/25 she has fully organised a trip for myself to Europe which will include a guided walk
She is very personable, knowledgeable and thorough. Everything is well planned and the trips have gone smoothly. Her recommendations for accommodation have been perfect. Everything is booked and prepared early and updates are received as soon as possible
I highly recommend Michelle to give you a thoroughly well planned and organised trip
We have been using Michelle’s 1st class services for organizing our holidays for more than 15 years.
Michelle always comes up with great suggestions for holidays and we have enjoyed fantastic cycling and walking tours as well as river and ocean cruises and a wonderful Sth African safari holiday. We have always had trouble free trips and Michelle has often been able to secure great deals and discounts for us and our friends, all with great efficiency.
Very happy to recommend Michelle to organize your next holiday.
Michelle was absolutely amazing with helping me and my partner figure out all of our Europe travels. She took away all of the stress of planning and finding places to stay so we could focus on the fun side of things. We had the best trip and couldn’t have done it without her!