The Nivernais Canal & River Yonne

Bases at Joigny, Corbigny and Dompierre sur Besbre

As you follow the valley of the Yonne and the Canal du Nivernais, you are travelling through a landscape where at each bend or lock new vistas open up, often punctuated by the tower of some little-known but sublime Romanesque church.

Here, at superb restaurants in Joigny and Auxerre, food and fine Nivernais architecture complement each other like capon and a good Chablis.
Irancy, surrounded by vineyards, sleeps around its church which felicitously combines Gothic and Renaissance features.
The dramatic location of Châtel-Censoir, a pretty village with a 5th-century crypt and ancient church vies in splendour with the excursion to glorious Vézelay, its main street lined with medieval bouses and its magnificent Sainte-Madeleine basilica.

Friendly, bustling Clamecy retains its ancient dovecots.
The canal also makes the most of its verdant setting as it passes the Rochers de Saussois where, if rock- climbing is your thing, you can try your hand at scaling the crags.

One-week cruises from Joigny

• Joigny, Auxerre, Vermenton, Chatel-Censoir, Joigny
  154 km; 68 locks; 5hr30 cruising per day
• Joigny, Auxerre, Vermenton, Clamecy, Corbigny ONE WAY
  128 km; 62 locks; 4hr45 cruising per day

10 or 11-day cruises

• Joigny, Auxerre, Chatel-Censoir, Clamecy, Joigny
  194 km ; 86 locks ; 4hr45 cruising per day
• Joigny, Villeneuve, Sens, Bray, Nogent sur Seine, Joigny
  256 km; 48 locks; 4hr15 cruising per day

Three-week cruise

• Joigny, Sens, Montereau, Moret, Montargis, Briare, Sancerre, Nevers, Decize, Chatillon, Baye, Clamecy, Auxerre, Joigny CIRCLE
  553 km; 214 locks; 5hr15 cruising per day

One-week cruises from Corbigny

• Corbigny, Tannay, Clamecy, Chatel-Censoir, Corbigny
  108 km; 62 locks; 4hr15 cruising per day

10/11-day cruise

• Corbigny, Tanlay, Clamecy, Coulanges, Vermenton, Corbigny
  158 km; 92 locks; 4h15 cruising per day

Two-week cruise

• Corbigny, Chatillon, Decize, Nevers, Sancerre, Corbigny
  340 km; 168 locks; 6 hr cruising per day

One-week cruises from Dompierre sur Besbre

• Dompierre, Decize, Cercy, Chatillon en Bazois, Dompierre
  170 km; 58 locks; 5hr cruising per day

Two-week cruises from Dompierre sur Besbre

• Dompierre, Decize, Chatillon en Bazois, La Collancelle, Clamecy, Auxerre, Joigny: ONE WAY
  260 km; 129 locks; 4hr30 cruising per day

Waterways on this route

The Briare Canal, The Loing Canal, The Loire Lateral Canal, The Nivernais Canal, The Yonne,