The Lot, the river that shaped Quercy

It gave the department its name. It carved its valleys and was long the source of its fortune. Today, the Lot river is best discovered at the slow pace of a walk or a traditional gabare boat. And autumn remains one of the most beautiful seasons to experience it. The cliffs turn ochre and the riverbanks become quiet again.

A 485-kilometre river

The Lot rises on Mont Lozère in the Cévennes. It then flows through Aveyron and the department that bears its name. It joins the Garonne at Aiguillon, in Lot-et-Garonne. For nearly 485 kilometres, it forms spectacular meanders. The most famous one surrounds Cahors. The town is almost entirely encircled by water and connected to the other bank by the Valentré bridge.

In the age of the gabares

For centuries, the river served as a trade route. Flat-bottomed boats, known as gabares, travelled down to Bordeaux. They were loaded with Cahors wine, tobacco, cereals or prunes. On the return journey, the boats had to be brought back upstream. Horses and hauliers pulled them from the riverbank.

It was for them that the towpath between Bouziès and Saint-Cirq-Lapopie was built in the mid-19th century. For about 300 metres, it is carved directly into the cliff, a few metres above the water. The arrival of the railway put an end to this traffic. The Lot was declassified as a navigable river in 1926. It was then redeveloped for leisure boating from 1990 onwards.

The towpath walk

This is one of the most accessible walks in the valley:

• Start: Bouziès harbour (all-day parking) or the Saint-Cirq-Lapopie river stop.
• Short route: a round trip of about 3 km from Bouziès to the Ganil lock.
• Full route: from Bouziès to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, allow 2 to 2.5 hours for the round trip.
• Level: easy and flat, marked with red and white signs, suitable for mountain bikes and all-terrain pushchairs.
• Bus access: the liO 889 bus line serves Bouziès from Cahors and Figeac.

Just before the Ganil lock, a bas-relief of over 50 m² awaits walkers. The sculptor Daniel Monnier has depicted the fauna, flora, and rocks of the river. He began it in the late 1980s and completed it in 2019. Look closely at the details: fish, fossils, and foliage blend into the stone.

On the water

To see the valley from the river, the Croisières de Saint-Cirq-Lapopie operate gabare boat trips from Bouziès from April to October. In Cahors, Croisières Fénelon offers a circular trip around the town via the Coty lock. You can also hire a small boat for the day without a licence, or rent a houseboat for several days between Luzech and Larnagol, navigating the locks. Booking is recommended. Departures depend on a minimum number of passengers.

Our advice

Arrive in the late morning. Walk from Bouziès towards the Ganil lock. Then continue to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie for lunch in the hilltop village. After rain, the path can be slippery. Good shoes are all you need to enjoy it safely. If you plan to take a cruise, check the last departures of the season, which ends in late October.

Louroca, in Barguelonne-en-Quercy, is about an hour's drive from the Lot valley.