Orléans Canal
The Canal d’Orléans connects Montargis, known as the Venice of Gâtinais, to Orléans, an essential stop in the Loire Valley. The cycle route is away from the main tourist routes and winds its way along the meandering canal between forests, ponds and farms.
For more information, visit: Development of the cycle route along the Orléans Canal.
This section can also be the starting point for the loop known as “Le Loiret au fil de l’eau”, which includes the Briare Canal, the Loire Valley and the Orléans Canal.
The CyloTransEurope association remains in favour of EuroVelo 3 following the Orléans Canal.
< Montargis
Orléans >
Alternative itinerary, recommended by CTE
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De Namur à Tours par l'Eurovélo3
It is completely free.
Join us : https://eurovelo3.fr/adhesions/
The 4 stages of the section « Orléans Canal »
Montargis is a must-see destination (Tour Carrée, half-timbered houses, tanneries). Crossed by the Briare Canal and located at the confluence of the Loing, Puiseaux and Vernisson rivers, you will often find yourself crossing a bridge here.
The Briare Canal will take you to the Buges lock, where the Briare, Orléans and Loing canals meet. From there, you will reach the village of Chailly-en-Gatinais by following the Orléans Canal.
500 metres downstream from the May lock, don’t miss the Chevillon-sur-Huillard swing bridge.
The service area at Chailly-en-Gâtinais is very welcoming, with picnic tables, benches, a water fountain, and more.
The water divide between the Seine and the Loire begins at the Bas Grignon lock. The cycle route runs alongside the Gué des Cens and La Noue Mazone ponds.
In Combreux, enjoy the Vallée pond and its beach.
Following the canal, you will pass alongside the Forêt d’Orléans, France’s largest state-owned forest, which offers numerous cycling routes from Vitry and Fay-aux-Loges.
To the south, those wishing to join the Loire à Vélo cycle route can visit Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, an ideal base for exploring the surrounding area.
In Mardié, at a place called Pont aux Moines, you may see the Oussance, the only cruise boat on the canal, at its landing stage.
Combleux, with its beautiful banks of the Loire, the canal and its locks, make this village one of the favourite walking destinations for residents of the Orléans metropolitan area.
The 2 alternatives of the section « Orléans Canal »
53 km long, the Briare navigable canal provides a link between the Seine basin and the Loire basin.
This route, which is very pleasant in dry weather, provides an opportunity to meet lock-keepers, boatmen and tourist boats.
Numerous structures linked to inland waterway transport are dotted along the route. At Rogny-les-Sept-écluses you can see the remains of 7 successive locks.
In Briare, as well as the famous canal bridge over the Loire, don’t miss the Maison des deux Marines, which presents the history of the Loire and canal marinas.
At Briare, the cycle route joins the Loire à vélo / EuroVélo 6 route, and they run together as far as Tours.
Briare is the gateway to the Unesco World Heritage Loire landscape, with its growing number of historic sites, the river with its marshes, meadows, islands and sandy shores where colonies of birds nest, and the revival of inland waterway transport, with “gabarre” and “futreau” boats gliding along the water’s edge.