Grand Site Occitanie - Canal du Midi -Béziers
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, the Canal du Midi meanders through the heart of the vineyards, near the sea. Designed in the 17th century by Pierre-Paul Riquet, it connects Sète to Toulouse (240 km) and is now a tourist hotspot.
The sea, never far away, provides other pleasures, between invigorating walks along the vast fine sandy beaches and tasting of local mussels in a guinguette in the port of Chichoulet, in Vendres.
A wine-growing territory
The sun-kissed vineyard stretches as far as the Mediterranean and produces renowned IGP and AOP wines, such as those of Saint-Chinian, to be enjoyed in cellars or restaurants, in the festive atmosphere of "divine evenings" or during a winegrower's stroll.
The essentials of the Canal du Midi
Climb aboard a boat, get on a bike, put on your sneakers, and cross the Malpas tunnel, dug in three months and in secret against Colbert's advice. A real technical feat, less spectacular however than that of the impressive water staircase of the 9 locks of Fonseranes. The latter have been completely restored and today constitute a first-rate tourist site.
Also admire in Béziers the very beautiful canal bridge over the Orb which allows boats sailing on the Canal to cross this river.
Road-trip through “Languedoc Tuscany”
Start your journey in Maraussan where the oldest cooperative cellar in France awaits you. Take the charming little roads that cross the vineyards and the villages: you will see here and there wine chateaux, built in the 2nd half of the 19th century. by the wealthy winegrowers-merchants of Béziers. The vine, cultivated here for 2500 years, is omnipresent. Combined with almond trees, umbrella pines and fig trees, it gives the Biterrois terroir the air of “Languedoc Tuscany”.
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