Step aboard one of the tour boats in the region. Take a boat trip with or without a guide, possibly including a wine tasting on board, all kinds of snacks or even a delicious lunch. Of course, you can also rent a boat yourself and view the beautiful surroundings without a license.
Cahors Wine region
Discover the Cahors valley wine region and sail through the vineyards. Enjoying the alternating views of the beautiful wine châteaus and picturesque villages. If you go further in the direction of Cahors, you will certainly pass the famous Pont Valentré and more easterly you will be able to admire the heart of the "Parc Regional des Causses du Quercy" with its impressive rocks.
Vallee de Lot
If you go more west of Cahors, you will discover the wide variety of the Lot valley. The river meanders through the valley and impressive views appear after every turn of the river.
You will pass nice places like Pradines, Mercuès, Crayssac, Luzech, Castelfranc, Puy l'Évêque and Fumel.
Gabarre
There are various types of boats. The most authentic are the Gabarres. Originally, this is a traditional type of French ship intended for freight transport. These are flat-bottomed boats, as is customary for river cargo vessels, so they can carry a large load despite shallow waters. Often these boats could also be sailed. Depending on the region, the cargo consisted of agricultural products, wine, minerals, building material and wood for the barrels and shipbuilding industry on the journey downstream. On the way back upstream, it was mainly salt, dried fish and colonial goods such as coffee, sugar and spices.
Using a Gabare for transport fell out of favour due to the rise of the railways and completely disappeared in the first half of the 20th century. Later, a number of replicas were built for tourist use, including on the Dordogne and Lot.
Boarding places and tours
There are several places to board. The most famous in the region are:
- Gabare Copeyre Jeny (Puy-l'Eveque)
- Les Croisières Fenelon (Cahors)
- Les Croisieres de Saint Cirq Lapopie (Bouzies)
There are boat trips of varying lengths. One or two hours and sometimes a half or full day. It is nice to have a guide in your own language who can tell you the details along the way. It certainly is an added bonus.
Reviews
Nice boat trip on the Lot
Enjoyed the trip over the Lot. The Dutch guide told us a lot about the environment and also took care of the sluice. The sluice still has to be turned by hand. Super fun to experience this.
Amazing!
Highly recommend doing this. Beautiful trip over the Lot, there are also tours with Dutch travel guide. A lot of explanation of what you pass and as a nice highlight the passage through the lock. The children (aged 3 and 5) also enjoyed it very much.
Much more fun than expected
This sort of boat trip seems like it would be kind of boring, but thanks to the excellent guide it was a successful outing! We took the Dutch option. Very informative and nice humour. Floor seems to be an asset for Fumel.