Guide n° 11 - Bourgogne/Nivernais

The canal de Bourgogne, the Yonne and the Canal du Nivernais.

In this guide we follow the river Yonne for the whole of the navigable section. The Yonne is a big river and, indeed, at Montereau its flow is greater than that of the Seine but outside flood times it is calm, deep and easily navigable. The main riverside towns such as Sens, Villeneuve, Joigny and Auxerre offer interesting stopover points.

The Yonne is linked to the Loire by the Nivernais canal. Despite its small gauge, this canal functions well and offers an interesting alternative for boats on their way to the Mediterranean.

The Burgundy Canal, cradle of inland leisure boating in France, has suffered in the last few years from lack of maintenance and the available depth is limited in the central sections. It can no longer be called a transit canal, but it continues to offer some extraordinary cruising opportunities in a typically Burgundian countryside.