Le canal du Centre

The canal du centre is a 112 km waterway, with 61 locks of at least 38.5m by 5.0m. The minimum air draft is 3.5m and the maximum authorised water draft is 1.8m. There are three distinct sections: from Chalon to St Léger the canal runs through renowned wine growing country; from St Léger to Montceaux takes in the summit level, where the water ceases to flow to the Atlantic and runs towards the Med; from Montceaux to Digoin the canal is, in some respects, at its most rural. The entire waterway is not crowded by leisure craft, even in high season, and there is very little commercial traffic. The locks are either manned, or have been converted to automatic operation, which is often supervised by a VNF official. This makes the canal du Centre an excellent waterway for first timers, but, with an average distance between locks of under 2 kms, this is not a waterway for those who view locking as a chore, or a bore!