Branges - Santenay - Branges

Destinations / France / Doubs (Burgundy-Franche-Comté) / Branges - Santenay - Branges

• Cruise length: 176 km
• Trip duration: 7 days
• Type of cruise: there and back 
• Number of locks: 36

The Saône is one of the most beautiful rivers in France with not too many locks flowing through an idyllic, fertile landscape. Here you'll see impressive farmhouses with traditional roofs and masonry and balconies decorated with flowers.

Each village around Dôle and Mâcon invites you to a festive feast and beckons you with its particularly rich and well-preserved cultural heritage.

If you sail along the Canal du Centre to the south-east, you will reach the famous vineyards of Chalonnais. The Dheune valley meanders past pretty villages with wine-growing houses whose old walls are decorated with colourful glazed tiles. Here, at the foot of the Châlon hills with the church of Saint-Jean-de-Narosse from the 13th century. Mercurey, Santenay, Montrachet or Rully with its 12th century chateau.

The Saône River and the more southerly Seille River provide numerous opportunities for swimming.

Following the Seille River, through a gentle landscape of small lakes and pastures, you will return to the starting point of Branges.