Explore nature hiking, cycling, and river cruising by foot or boat on the Ways of St James on the waterways. There are so many different ways to tour.

Six Nature Pilgrimage Routes 

• Tours route, a picturesque route through vineyards
• Coastal route
• Vezelay route, already famous in the Middle Ages
• Le Puy route including a 22 km portion registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List
• Arles route, the oldest Way of St James
•  “Piemont Pyrénéen” route enables visitors to admire the splendid Nouvelle-Aquitaine. And Lourdes is not too far away.

Hiking in the Pyranees

With its multiple and lavish landscapes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine offers majestic, mysterious and enchanting horizons. The Pyrenees Atlantiques area, from Pays Basque to Bearn, offers footpaths for hikers of all levels, including the famous GR10 which crosses the Pyrenees from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

With an ever-surprising wilderness, the Limoges area offers nature lovers many hiking possibilities, notably in the Millevaches Park (one of the 4 Regional Nature Parks in Nouvelle-Aquitaine).

A Great Diversity of Landscapes, Atmospheres and Possibilities for Cycling

Explore Périgord Vert’s forests, the Atlantic Coast, the Garonne canal, the Pyrenees passes, and vineyards of Cognac and Bordeaux! Among Europe’s great cycling routes, Velodyssee goes from Brittany to Hendaye in the Pays Basque via the Pays de la Loire and the Gironde Estuary.

This marked, Exclusive Right of Way path, is a terrific way to discover the area. Another cycling route, Flow Vélo, connects the Atlantic Ocean to Périgord. Half of the route runs along waterways, namely the slow and peaceful Charente river. Flow Vélo is a prestigious route which stops over in the Cognac area.

Rivers and Canals 

There is nothing quite like a boat ride to change your perspective! There are many possibilities all over the area, from the Gironde estuary to the north, to the Bidassoa crossing, a natural border between France and Spain. The Garonne canal, the Lot area and Baïse offer visitors a network of 197 navigable waterways. Onboard traditional wooden, flat-bottomed boats called “gabarres”, in Bergerac or La Roque Gageac in Perigord, or in a “galupe”, on the Huchet current in the Landes area, discover the charms of Nouvelle-Aquitaine’s riverside villages and sites.

For more information on: Nouvelle Aquitaine