What to REALLY Expect on a Canal du Midi Boat Trip

What to REALLY Expect on a Canal du Midi Boat Trip

Ho ho ho ho we almost had our first injury gliding down a 350 year old canal in the south of France captaining your own boat with a glass of wine in hand it’s an absolute bucket list trip welcome to the Canal du MIDI but before you book it what is it really like how hard is it to actually drive one of these things what do you do all day and is it worth the money we spent seven days on a LA boat exploring the Canal du MIDI and in this video we’re going to give our complete and honest review we’re covering everything you need to know from the boat tour and the lesson to the reality of navigating the locks what daily life is like and our final verdict on the LA boat experience Ho ho ho ho well we got our first injury that is crazy they’re so low I can’t believe you got a duck to go under the bridges we’re ducking Woohoo okay so you just saw our close call and that is the first thing you really need to know about the Canal du MIDI the bridges are no joke before we get into picking up the boat and the rest of the trip we have to talk about the bridges this was our biggest challenge and it’s something that you need to be prepared for is it nerve wracking game or are you pretty calm it’s a little nerve wracking I gotta say the the canals pretty narrow and those bridges man they are they’re the first two are pretty scary not too bad now once you get the hang of the boat now we’re going over a bridge that’s crazy from Amsterdam Castle Nodre we navigated through 45 different locks we also navigated under almost as many bridges of different sizes and heights over aqueducts and through both narrow and wide channels creating a unique adventure on the water we were surprised to find that we couldn’t keep our canopy up to protect from the harsh south of France sun as every few hundred meters we had to take it down to go under the ancient bridges so make sure to pack a hat plenty of sunscreen and stock up on water most bridges were so low we had to duck our heads and make sure to warn all passengers to do the same or there would be some serious injuries get down we have arrived in um here in the south of France on the Canal du MIDI for our the boat trip it’s such a charming town you definitely want to get here early and enjoy your nights out for dinner there’s a grocery store where you can pick up your supplies there’s plenty of cafes where you can have a drink and it’s just this charming village we stocked up on our groceries and we’re getting ready to head out getting our orientation getting the boat all ready for you head out on the Canal de MIDI gonna be fun even if you don’t have any boating experience don’t worry the Lobo staff goes through the entire boat with you before departure and shows you how to drive it there are speed limiters on the boat and thrusters to help you navigate well we didn’t find the vision boats as easy to handle as the Premier Horizon boats it still was not too difficult to park and steer as long as you gave plenty of time for the boat to turn and anticipate the route that you need to take ahead of time the vision boats are considered comfort plus boats and after testing both boats we would choose the horizon boats and we like the layout much better plus they are newer and easier to navigate you can check out our Rito Canal cruise for a tour of the horizon line so this is the inside of a Vision 3 all of the all of the bedrooms are all in one place with the front cabin hanging out here oh this is very pleasant so this is where we’ll be hanging out for the night we have a full fridge kitchen we got the grocery pack here so this is a they gave us this little starter kit let’s take a look at the bedrooms okay there’s plenty of space on the bedrooms here so this is a different setup than the horizon all of the bedrooms are all the same so you’re not fighting over different sizes and it’s a very nice bathroom it takes four people to run this boat one person at the front two at the rope and one to drive here we go working the locks on the Canal de MIDI is quite the adventure we recommend at least four people to take a Le Boat vacation on this canal so when you’re doing the canals in the d one person has to get off the boat and get to the top and then the people on the boat throw you the rope now I’m holding it up here as we go up that water is rushing in whenever you come up to a lock one person has to get off the boat to catch the ropes from the deck and loop it around the cleats at the top of the dock then there is one person at the front and one person at the back to hold the boat in place as the water rushes in and of course the fourth person is the captain who does a lot of the work navigating through the locks as soon as the boat is level with the dock you can get back on and continue on to the next lock Whoo I’m on the rope one thing you really need on the Canal du MIDI are gloves the ropes are really rough and hurt your hands and they flush the toilet water into the Canal du MIDI so you really don’t want to touch the water with your hands if you don’t have to I wash them on a regular basis as it is but the gloves come in very handy so on this portion of the Canal du MIDI we take care of our own locks there’s a set of four locks here and they’re all about a kilometer apart so you just get on your bike LA LA and you ride up and then we have this little booth that we actually take care of the locks ourselves so I just rode up here when I see the boat coming I’m going to press the button to start opening the locks so they have a lot of trust and faith in people I have to say so now I have to do is press the green cycle and it does all the work for me let’s go so the bike really came in handy on this little boat on the Canal de midi uh because there are a lot of locks where you have to get off the boat and I just found that it was easier sometimes to ride in between the locks if they were only a kilometer or two apart so I highly recommend it there’s hiking trails and a lot and a lot of the towns are actually a couple kilometers away so it does help to rent the bikes welcome to Trebs an excellent stop for the night on the canal is the town of Trebs you can moor right downtown and easily walk to anywhere this lovely village has walking paths an olive producer and plenty of places to eat but the picturesque harbor is the perfect spot to enjoy the onboard barbecue dinner time cheers it’s busy leaving tribes this is a busy for here lots of tight space to get out of day and handle it like a pro there are plenty of places to moor for the night if you don’t make it to any of the other villages or towns and with a full kitchen and barbecue you’re self sufficient dinner time on the boat user welcome to the beautiful city of karkazal so we’re here at the entrance of Karakizol medieval city wow look at that behind me and that’s just a little bit of it one of the best stops on the Canal de MIDI is the medieval city of Carcassonne with its iconic castle standing at its centerpiece we suggest parking here for two nights as it truly is a highlight of the trip between Alps and Castle Naudry the main attraction is the Castle of Carcassonne and we took a day tour of it to explore the outer defensive walls and the interior of the castle so we’re inside the castle now which is amazing you come up upon the castle walls and what you see is just amazing it opens up in front of you you see the church you see the steeples and you see the guard towers it’s incredible to think how this was built over centuries karkazun dates back to the 1st century as a Roman military fortress with the castle walls being built in the 13th century it was in the 19th century that the castle was restored to its original glory what is really cool is that the ramparts are all around the city and when you come up here you can go into the castle and that’s what we’re doing now check this out so I would say it’s definitely worth it to uh come in and do the tour of the castle but also get a look at the museum for all the artifacts that they found in and around this area it’s very interesting to see um how everything was built from the Roman times up into uh the further times down the road it really is uh pretty amazing to see it’s very well preserved within the old city walls you’ll find shops cafes and boutiques lining the ancient paths plus there’s a luxury hotel if you are looking to get off the boat for the night or you can just have some lunch there if you want as well and that was the city of Carcassonne to highlight is Castle Naudry this is a place where we spent two nights and you can easily do a day trip here to Toulouse by catching the train look at this beautiful harbor we are coming into here in Castleknock right nice spot to spend a day Castelnaudary was the final stop on our trip along the Canal du MIDI and besides the Laboat offices at amps and Trebs there is one here as well we spent two nights here to explore the medieval town while Jim and Janice went into Toulouse for the day by train Toulouse is a very walkable city and you can see many of the sites in a day by just walking around the downtown area I love this main capital square here during the day they have a great huge market if you want to do some shopping we recommend visiting Toulouse before your trip to settle into the French way of life and soak up the atmosphere it’s a city that requires at least two days but if you don’t have the time it is just a quick train ride and you can see a lot in a few short hours Toulouse is located on the Garonne River and you must come down to the place de LA Gare to see the Pont Neuf and all of the sites along the river we have an entire video dedicated to the best things to do and to lose so make sure to click on the links in the description to see more if you’re planning on a few days there back in Castle Nadri there are enough activities to keep you busy for at least a day or two as well there are plenty of restaurants lining the canal so make sure to get out and explore also make sure to take a stroll through the town to see its historic buildings city square cathedrals and ancient windmill at the top of the town it’s then time to check out and gather up your things for your transfer back to Toulouse so when you return your boat here from the boat basically what you do is uh you give it a a clean unless you have the actual cleaning service where they’ll do a little bit more you don’t have to do a super clean but just so that it’s uh presentable and then you go into the office office drop off your bag they’ll come out with a technician run through the boat and then you’re good to go and that’s the end of our Le Boat tour here on the Canal du MIDI and we are on the way to the Toulouse airport in our sweet ride with the executive road lies welcome baby if you wanna learn more about traveling in France and on other Le Boat trips check out our Le Boat playlist and our France Travel playlist and make sure to 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Is cruising the Canal du Midi on a houseboat a romantic dream trip… or a stressful challenge? We found out it’s a bit of both! Here’s what to REALLY expect from a Le Boat trip in the south of France.

Join us for our unfiltered, seven-day houseboating adventure. In this video, we’re sharing everything a first-timer needs to know, from the moment you get the keys (and your only lesson!) to the reality of navigating ancient, narrow locks and bridges that are lower than you think. We’ll show you what daily life is like on board, the incredible scenery, and our final, honest review of the Le Boat experience.

⬇️ OUR HONEST LE BOAT REVIEW ⬇️

00:00 – Is a Canal Cruise Worth It?
01:15 – The Biggest Challenge: Navigating the Bridges
02:43 – Getting Started & Stocking Up
03:19 – The Le Boat Orientation & Driving Lesson
04:07 – Our Le Boat Vision 3 Tour
05:03 – How to Work the Canal Locks
06:33 – The Automatic Locks & Using the Bikes
07:41 – Stop #1: Mooring in Trebs
08:40 – Stop #2: The Medieval City of Carcassonne
10:55 – Stop #3: Castelnaudary (Our Final Stop)
11:39 – Day Trip to Toulouse
13:04 – Checking Out & Final Thoughts

If you love the unique adventures of channels like Kara and Nate, or the slow-travel lifestyle of sailing and van life channels, you’ll love this in-depth look at what it takes to captain your own boat through the heart of historic France.
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►Toulouse
↠ Check out all the Things to do in Toulouse https://youtu.be/5q-zWOHRGWU
►Watch more Cruising videos:
↠ Things to do on the Rideau Canal – https://youtu.be/qzPk7Y2n0O8
↠ Cruising the River Shannon with Le Boat – https://youtu.be/5WpNCfnAKok?si=4EFRnZ4RQ4vbuzqT
↠ Houseboating the Trent Severn Waterway – https://youtu.be/VgptYbNcy3M?si=ldPHSlnXvDGHtQIo
↠ Ultimate Le Boat Rideau Canal Cruise – https://youtu.be/o8c9Mne5I9E
If you’re thinking of cruising the Canal du Midi, be sure to check out this video! We’ll take you on a tour and show you all the amazing sights and attractions this canal has to offer. from beautiful villages to fabulous canals, this video is a great way to get a taste of the canal

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Canal du Midi – What to Expect When Barging the South of France

Canal du Midi Cruise – What to Expect While Barging the South of France

► Watch more France videos:
Toulouse – The French City Nobody is Talking About – https://youtu.be/3dYhaRlQ5t0?si=6-r_nJGxjKwvuXf3
Bayeux’s Top Attraction is Closed – Still Worth It?-https://youtu.be/3jmEvWqYkN8?si=vAyjhODumh2Xj-Ek
Forget Paris – Go to Lyon Instead -https://youtu.be/E4aWKgNazsQ?si=Ayy0LihtspuQzNyV
Where to Stay in Paris France – https://youtu.be/n-iqF17Gmhg?si=bq574lgLIp-beCSV
Best D-Day Tour in Normandy – https://youtu.be/kAPKlorJdaA?si=JrCEpM3Nto2I5u2h

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