The Canal du Midi begins in Toulouse at the Port de l'Embouchure, where it meets the Canal de Garonne, and runs for 240 km southeast to the Mediterranean at Sète. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was built in the 1660s to bypass the overland trade route through Spain. The towpath through Toulouse is lined with centuries-old plane trees and is one of the most pleasant walking and cycling routes in the city. Boat hire is available from the port for short trips, and canal barges run multi-day tours along the full route in summer.
Canal du Midi
The 17th-century waterway that links Toulouse to the Mediterranean
A story
Pierre-Paul Riquet, the canal's creator, spent his personal fortune and 14 years building the 240-kilometre waterway between 1666 and 1681 — only to die six months before it opened. He never saw a single boat use it. The canal was nonetheless a financial and engineering triumph, and Riquet's children received a monopoly on its tolls for two generations.