Nautal: Rental of a barge, to go on an adventure on the Canal du Midi!

A dream , an adventure! Sailing on the Canal du Midi from Toulouse, reaching the Mediterranean Sea or the Atlantic aboard a barge, with or without a license is a dream within everyone's reach. Renting a barge on the Canal du Midi is an atypical holiday experience. Live to the rhythm of river navigation, learn to maneuver, go through locks and do slow tourism, meet others... Nautal is a boat and barge rental website, which allows you to choose from hundreds of different barges, the one that will host your boat trip with family or friends. Fast, easy, secure, it's an experience to live absolutely when you like original stays!

Photos of the report © Nautal

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Rent a barge to do the Canal du Midi

Nautal is a leading boat rental platform for our Spanish neighbours. For several years, Nautal has been offering in France the houseboat rentals in Canal du Midi, with or without a permit! To find the best offer according to your availability, your family configuration, your budget and your desires, just use the search engine. Nautal does not rent boats, the platform connects rental professionals and individuals with a boat with future captains!

Are you wondering if it's a good idea to do this type of trip if you've never sailed? Don't worry, license free houseboat rentals are well planned and organized, no hassle in sight! You will be given a little training and you will be in contact with the owner or Nautal customer service.

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Price for renting a boat on the Canal du Midi

The price of renting a barge or a boat depends on many factors, like when you buy a car! It is a question of combining the size of the boat, its accommodation capacity, its comfort, with the presence or not of a skipper. Indeed, there are barges without a license, but they are often small and less suitable if you are making a long descent of the Canal du midi from Toulouse. For long stays or with a group of friends or a large family, renting a barge with captain / skipper, will allow you to be comfortable, not to worry about navigation. Just enjoy the scenery, go sightseeing! If you have a boat license, you can rent a barge of the size corresponding to your needs and navigate it yourself of course. Be aware that the lowest prices for renting a barge start at 60 euros per day and 420 euros per week, in low season.

Remember to bring the bikes to walk along the Canal du Midi or go sightseeing from a parking port.

Discover the region by waterway

What an original way to discover a region, the boat! River tourism has the coast on the Canal, because its appearance does not require any prior knowledge, just a few common sense and elementary rules. You will be able to move around in a fun way, while stopping to enjoy visits, discoveries, purchases from small producers to discover the gastronomy of Haute-Garonne. In this department, there is of course Toulouse to explore, boarding the barge is at the Port de l'embouchure, where the Canal de Brienne and the Canal lateral to the Garonne meet.

Do you like pretty bike rides? Explore the Canal du Midi by bike, read our article to organize this adventure in Haute-Garonne.

The Canal du Midi is an ambitious project for its time, it required 10 years of work. Imagined by Pierre Paul Riquet, supported by King Louis XIV, it was in 1666 that the first stone was laid. The purpose of the Canal was of course not to offer a place of pleasure as it is today mainly its use, but to transport goods by river. With the development of road and rail transport, the Canal du Midi gradually lost its vocation, but fortunately tourism came to take over to maintain the maintenance and navigability of this remarkable work.

On the Haute-Garonnaise part, the Canal du Midi goes from Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds to Avignonet-Lauragais, bordering the Aude. You will cross the Lauragais region, which is very pleasant. A greenway runs along the canal, allowing pleasant bike rides for the whole family. Do not forget your binoculars and do not hesitate to get up early during your cruise on the Canal du Midi, which enjoys an interesting fauna: turtles, moorhens, ducks and gray herons, perches and pike along the water and often coypu and muskrat on the banks.

Read our article on visiting Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds, to organize your break during your cruise on the Canal du Midi. A few minutes further, you can visit the bastide town of Grenade and if you continue a little further, the very pretty Château de Merville, which will delight the whole family with its large park and corn maze.

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The Canal du Midi is a surprising tourist destination! Renting a barge and exploring it is the promise of a stay that will remain etched in your memory, a river trip full of surprises. Visit the Nautal website now to book a barge.

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