The Nivernais Canal & River Yonne

with Locaboat

The Nivernais Canal & River Yonne boat rentals

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,

Locaboat rental boats for the Nivernais canal & River Yonne

Locaboat have 13 self-drive boats available in this region

P1500 R self-drive

P1500 R

12 guests

P1120R self-drive

P1120R

6 guests

Europa 400

4 guests

P1020 FB self-drive

P1020 FB

5 guests

P1107W self-drive

P1107W

7 guests

P1165 FB self-drive

P1165 FB

7 guests

P1180 FB self-drive

P1180 FB

7 guests

P1260R self-drive

P1260R

10 guests

P1400 FB

10 guests

P1500 FB

12 guests

P935W self-drive

P935W

5 guests

View all the Locaboat fleet