Le Somail, Canal des 2 mers à vélo
Grand Narbonne - Christophe Baudot
Cyclistes au Somail
ibgfolio ADT de l'Aude

The village of Le Somail

Carpe diem at "Le Somail"

Between Narbonne and Carcassonne, the charming hamlet of Le Somail, a port on the Canal du Midi, feels unchanged down the centuries. It has retained a variety of buildings dating back to the construction of the canal designed by brilliant 17th-century engineer Pierre-Paul Riquet. This big hamlet was originally built to serve postal boats. Admire the waterside Chapelle des “Nautoniers” (for boat drivers), as well as the arched stone bridge, the inn, the warehouses and a remarkable period ice house, a unique survivor of its type along the canal.

Today, visitors like to linger at the numerous terraces of the hamlet’s guinguettes (riverside restaurants), in the artists’ galleries and in the fascinating bookshop selling second-hand books. It’s a beautiful place to appreciate time flowing slowly by on the canal.

Custom route

Accommodation Useful information Leasure Restauration

Accommodation Useful information Leasure Restauration

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Custom route

Leucate / Narbonne

3 Leucate / Narbonne

38 km
2 h 36 min
I’m used to cycling
Cycle up via a small road to the Leucate Plateau and your reward is a picture-postcard view of olive groves, vineyards and dry-stone walls. The panoramas are magnificent too as you descend to Les Coussolles Beach and La Palme Lagoon. The cycle route then follows the train line to reach Port-la-Nouvelle. This is a lively harbour where you might, for example, witness a freight ship being loaded. It lies at the end of the Canal de la Robine, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The atmosphere then changes as you cycle along towpaths, past locks marking your progress to the city of Narbonne with its splendid cathedral complex and covered market.
Narbonne / Béziers

4 Narbonne / Béziers

60 km
3 h 35 min
I’m used to cycling
The Moulin du Gua with its brasserie restaurant marks the end of the Narbonne city section. At Le Somail, the Mediterranean Cycle Route and Canal des 2 Mers à Vélo cycle routes meet. The Tunnel du Malpas was a major piece of civil engineering to carry the canal under Ensérune’ s hill. It’s worth cycling up to the Oppidum d’Ensérune, a significant pre-Roman settlement with views down on the extraordinary dried-out Montaldy Lake. The sites get even more remarkable along this stretch, with Fonseranes’s unique nine locks and the splendid canal-bridge over the Orb, a breath-taking engineering feat, offering views onto the city of Béziers.

It is advisable to request written authorization to cycle across these parts from VNF, the managing authority, in accordance with Article R4241-68 of the French Code des Transports.