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Europe, at five knots

2021-04-18T16:01:40.678Z


More than 30,000 kilometers of inland waterways used by small draft motor boats. Authentic houseboats, easy to handle and that are rented for days or weeks. Proposals for a nautical adventure


  • 1Canal du Midi (France) Some 8,500 kilometers of canals cut through France and link five rivers (Seine, Loire, Garonne, Rhine and Rhône). The best known is the Canal du Midi, built at the end of the 17th century and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. A waterway of more than 240 kilometers between Toulouse and Sète, in the Occitania region. One of its sections passes through the imposing fortress of Carcassonne. In Toulouse, the Midi meets the Garonne canal to form the Canal des Deux Mers, navigable from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. In the photo, Two cyclists along the Canal du Midi, passing through Roubia (France).



    More information: turismo-occitanie.es ART KOWALSKY ALAMY

  • 2Canal de Burgundy (France) Connects the Yonne river with the Saone, in eastern France, forming a network of canals —such as the one that joins the Rhône and the Rhine, or that of Nivernais, between the Loire and Seine basins— which allows you to trace a gastronomic, oenological and Cistercian art route through places such as Auxerre, Dijon, Cluny, Paray-le-Monial, Vézelay, La Charité-sur-Loire or Fontenay. Stops can be used to visit some of the most famous wineries, chateaux and vineyards on the Route des Grands Crus, such as those in the Chablis region. In the photo, Semur-en-Auxois, in the French region of Burgundy.



    More information: bourgognefranchecomte.fr LUIGI VACCARELLA SIME

  • 3Norfolk Broads | England (United Kingdom) The Broads are shallow lagoons that open between vast expanses of moorland and salt marshes throughout the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, on the east coast of England. There are about 60 lagoons that flow into rivers such as the Yare, the Bure or the Waveney, forming a network of navigable channels that exceeds 200 kilometers. The journey passes through St. Benet's Abbey, a monastery founded around the year 1000 by King Canute, the legendary Viking who conquered England and became the first king of the unified country.



    More info: visitnorfolk.co.uk Tim Graham getty images

  • 4Canal of Caledonia | Scotland (United Kingdom) The great fjords - in Gaelic, 'loches' or 'firths' - bring the sea closer to the heart of Scotland. Four of them — Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy — eventually split it in two by joining to form the Caledonian Canal. This connects the town of Fort William, in the shadow of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain, with the northernmost of Inverness, next to the Moray estuary. The mist and frequent rains create an atmosphere conducive to legends, accentuated by the ruins of old castles.



    More information: scottishcanals.co.uk Matthew Williams-Ellis getty images

  • 5Grand Union Canal | England (United Kingdom) The longest canal in the country has its head in London and ends in Birmingham, the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, after 220 kilometers and 158 locks. The line includes intersections with other canals, such as the Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace, or the Fazeley (29 kilometers, 38 locks). Another of its arms is the Regent Canal, which runs through central London (in the photo, a floating bookstore on the Regent Canal, in the British capital). Conceived to transport goods, this London waterway has become one of the favorite promenades for pedestrians and cyclists.



    More information: canalrivertrust.org.uk CHRIS MOUYIARIS AWL

  • 6Llangollen Canal | Wales (United Kingdom) The canal that established Thomas Telford (1757-1834) as one of the best civil engineers in the United Kingdom runs through the bucolic landscapes of northeast Wales, threading tunnels, locks and aqueducts such as the one at Pontcysyllte (pictured) , which allows you to literally float 38 meters above the Dee Valley. The crossing, between Wrenbury and Llangollen, is made in the traditional 'narrowboats', old barges that plowed the industrial canals. In 2009, part of its route was declared a world heritage site.



    More information: canalrivertrust.org.uk KEN WELSH AGE

  • 7 Saint Petersburg (Russia) The waters of the Neva River, in the north of Russia, flow to the Baltic Sea through Saint Petersburg, founded in 1703 on a swamp by Tsar Peter I. The former imperial capital for two centuries, Leningrad of the Soviet era, it is a city interwoven by more than 60 channels and 42 islands linked by more than 400 bridges (22 drawbridges). A boat trip on the Neva, Moika and Fontanka rivers and canals such as the Griboedova allow you to get to know the metropolis and see its majestic buildings reflected in the water.



    More information: visit-petersburg.ru Christoph Efaugere getty images

  • 8Naviglio Grande | Milan (Italy) Milan looks out over the water and takes on a placid air in the Navigli district, where the old canals served to irrigate the fields and supply the city. The network was improved in the 15th century by Leonardo da Vinci, who turned them into authentic river roads. Today only the two main ones remain: the Naviglio Pavese and the Naviglio Grande, which connects the Ticino river, near Tornavento (in the Lombardy region), with the Milanese pier of Porta Ticinese. Restaurants and terraces are distributed along its banks.



    More information: milanturismo.com MICRISTEA getty images

  • 9Canal del Brenta (Italy) As it passed through the Veneto province, the Brenta river was channeled in the 16th century to guarantee the agricultural supply of the Serenísima, connecting Padua and its province with the Venetian lagoon. Around its banks are distributed a hundred of 'residenze di campagna', villas of the High Renaissance and Baroque, among which those built by Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) following the classical ideals stand out. In them parties were organized to which the aristocrats attended in boats known as 'burchiellos'.



    More information: rivieradelbrenta.biz MASSIMO RIPANI sime

  • 10Canals of Amsterdam (Netherlands) Through the Netherlands extends a cobweb of 7,000 kilometers of canals and inland lakes that run through old wooden freighters, some centuries old, recovered for tourism. In the capital alone there are a hundred kilometers of waterways: Amsterdam's famous canal belt, a world heritage site since 2010. A concentric labyrinth crossed by 1,281 bridges and edged by rows of deep and narrow houses, with gabled facades, built by merchants in the Golden Age.



    More information: iamsterdam.com LUDWIG WAGNER getty images

  • 11Ludwigskanal (Germany) The Ludwig Canal, named after King Louis I of Bavaria, was built between 1836 and 1846 to link the upper reaches of the Danube with the River Main, a tributary of the Rhine. But the old dream of joining the North Sea and the Black Sea proved unviable (it was too narrow for large barges) and was replaced more than a century later by the Rhine-Main-Danu? bio canal. A 60-kilometer stretch of the original canal is still preserved between Nuremberg and Berching, and part of the towpath has been turned into a cycle track.



    More information: ludwigskanal.de Martin Siepmann getty images

  • 12Canal de Castilla | Castilla y León (Spain) It was the largest civil engineering project in enlightened Spain; a chimera, daughter of the Age of Enlightenment, that sought to unite the Castilian capitals with the port of Santander through a network of navigable channels for the transit of cereals and merchandise. The work was unfinished, but he bequeathed us 207 kilometers of riverbed that bypasses old fulling mills and flour mills, ashlar bridges and aqueducts and 49 locks. In parallel run the towpaths along which the oxen that dragged the barges went. The photo shows the Castilla channel as it passes through the province of Palencia.



    More information: canaldecastilla.org herraez getty images

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-04-18

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