Canal du Midi
A 240 kilometre canal across southern France from Toulouse towards the Mediterranean, one of the great construction works of the 17th century. Shaded by plane trees, its locks and towpaths are now the domain of slow barges, walkers and cyclists.
- Where
- Toulouse, Occitanie, France
- Grade
- UNESCO heritage
- Worth
- 10 points collected on site, plus 8 for its grade
- Coordinates
- 43.6111, 1.4183
Get the Canal du Midi stamp
Open LOQAH when you are at Canal du Midi. It checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp is yours: confirmed on site in gold and struck with the date. It goes into your Occitanie volume with your photos and a note.
Near Canal du Midi
Basilica of Saint-Sernin 1.9 km
A great Romanesque basilica in Toulouse built over the tomb of Saint Saturnin, the city's first bishop. Its octagonal brick bell tower rises in tiers above a church famed for its Romanesque sculpture, long a stop on the pilgrim road to Santiago de Compostela.
Cité de l'Espace 6.6 km
A space discovery park opened in 1997 on the eastern edge of Toulouse, the home of Europe's aerospace industry. Visitors walk around a full size model of an Ariane 5 rocket and a replica of the Mir space station, and there is a planetarium.
Albi Cathedral 68 km
A red brick cathedral begun in 1282, after the Albigensian Crusade, and built over two hundred years; from outside it looks like a fortress. Inside, walls painted in blues and golds and an ornate carved choir screen make a lavish contrast, and it is said to be the largest brick building in the world.
Cité de Carcassonne 89 km
A walled medieval citadel on a hill above the river Aude, with two rings of ramparts and dozens of towers. Restored in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc, who gave many towers their pointed roofs, it holds a small town of lanes, a castle and a basilica inside the walls.
Pic du Midi 128 km
A Pyrenean summit of about 2,877 metres crowned by an observatory, reached by cable car from La Mongie. Its terraces look along the whole chain of the Pyrenees, and its dark night skies are protected as an International Dark Sky Reserve.
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes 132 km
A Catholic shrine around the grotto of Massabielle, where Bernadette Soubirous said the Virgin Mary appeared to her in 1858. Millions of pilgrims come each year to pray at the grotto, take its water and join the candlelit evening procession past its three basilicas.
Millau Viaduct 139 km
A cable stayed bridge completed in 2004 across the Tarn valley near Millau, designed by the engineer Michel Virlogeux and the architect Norman Foster. With a structural height of 343 metres it held the title of the world's tallest bridge for two decades, its masts often rising above the morning cloud.
Gouffre de Padirac 141 km
A great chasm in the limestone near Gramat, opening onto an underground river. Visitors go down by stairs and lifts into the pit, then travel by boat through galleries of rock deep below the surface.
More UNESCO World Heritage sites in Occitanie
Questions
Where is Canal du Midi?
Canal du Midi is in Toulouse, Occitanie, France. The nearest other LOQAH stamps are Basilica of Saint-Sernin (1.9 km), Cité de l'Espace (6.6 km), Albi Cathedral (68 km).
How do I get the Canal du Midi stamp?
Open LOQAH when you are at Canal du Midi and get its stamp. The app checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp goes into your Occitanie volume, confirmed on site, with the date.
I have been to Canal du Midi before. Can I still have the stamp?
Yes. Add it from Earlier trips in your Occitanie volume, with the date if you know it, or import your Google Timeline and LOQAH matches the places you were.
Collect your first stamp.
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