My partner and I are planning our summer holiday and would like a change from our usual week of biking in the alps. We’re thinking of taking the dog and driving over to France and would like to do a canoe trip for a few days. I’ve found a company that does a 3 day trip down the Ardeche and the dog is allowed also. You camp on the way down at the side of the river. I’m just wondering if anyone has done this and will it be very busy in July/August? Also any tips for somewhere nice to stay (not camping) for the rest of the week that is dog friendly and good places to eat. Thanks!

Then Ardeche is the busiest river of the Massif Centrale by someway. It will be rammed with canoes full of French holiday makers and PGL teens. Having said that, it looks stunning.

Other rivers in the area are quieter, and a variety of difficulty. It would be worth looking at Song Of The Paddle for ideas of which rivers, again most will have guided options. This book (if you can find a copy) is invaluable.
http://www.riverspublishing.co.uk/whitewater-massif-central/ Pete is re-writing it, but not sure of publication date. We met him out there two years ago.

It’s a useless place for a holiday btw..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/albums/72157655197686658/with/19490089176/

Looks lovely. Guess we better get booking asap!

I’m from Millau, at the end of Gorges du Tarn. And very similar to Ardeche.

Canoeing for 3 days can be a bit boring and hard work.

Very useful thanks for the info

You camp on the way down at the side of the river.

At official sites, the fine elsewhere is 60e per head IIRC – and you might die.

The Tarn and Dordogne are alternatives. We very much enjoyed the Tarn.

How about Thiers, Vichy, Clermont Ferrand or somewhere in Auvergne and walk the volanoes. Be selective as some are tree covered and you can’t see much. Google Earth to plan your walk.

Gorges de Tarn is lovely, not far from my place to many people/tourists in july august though for my liking

Done 2 separate 1 day trips. Very enjoyable with some nice spots to stop off. 3 days would be too much for me but can see the appeal if your into that kind of thing.

you could still go in the Ardeche and do 2 days canoening and then walk up Mont Lozere .

My parents live in the Ardeche (and rent out a gite, although I suspect they don’t take dogs). The Ardeche river itself is absolutely rammed even in June:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/3UPyQ]The Pont D'Arc in Summer[/url] by Hannah, on Flickr

If we go in the height of summer, we prefer to canoe the Chassezac river – much better swimming points and a touch less busy. The Ceze is also nearby, but I didn’t think it was quite as nice as the Chassezac.

Canoeing for 3 days can be a bit boring and hard work.

You’re doing it wrong then. 😉

I will just leave the Spey, Royal Dee and Tweed here, as well as some more Massif pics.
If it is flatwater you are after, I will leave some North West Scotland pics from Mal here.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/vGgefS]Canoe France[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/vGhbWb]IMGP9214[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/uMQ1n6]Allier glissere[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/vs7MX9]Allier canoe rapid[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/vs9e6U]Lavoûte-Chilhac canoe bridge[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/uMKbTY]Lavoûte-Chilhac swim[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/vskuX2]Allier Canoe[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

I most probably do it wrong .

it is fun for a day .

Yeah just looking for flat water, scenery and bimbling along to the campsites. Not too fused about it being busy really but will look into those other suggestions. I’m guessing the 3 day trip is pretty relaxed pace as it’s aimed at tourists and families etc.

This was what I was looking at:Descent “La Farniente”- 32 km 3 days

Three days to enjoy quietly this marvelous natural site.
From Vallon Pont d’Arc to Saint Martin d’Ardèche. Recommended time 3 days.

Once, during a down moment, Mrs A booked tickets to France. I love driving, so I did. All I had to go on was a pic of that rock arch on the Ardeche and Oh Boy did I need to get there. On the way down though we got a bit confused and ended up on the Dordogne and had one of the best holidays ever. Boy 1 was still a toddler and sat on my lap as we gently kayaked the length of the river over a fortnight or so. We’d camp somewhere, drive to the get in and then when finished I’d hitch or cycle back to the car to collect the family. It was glorious. then in the evening I’d ride up into the hills and back down. To this day I can still smill at the memory of being cheered by a bunch of locals in the village bar as I rode past at dusk.

France eh, what’s not to like? Love the place. Hit the Dordogne, it’s really great.

We did it in a September a few years ago, Vallon Port d’Arc to Sauze in 2 days. I personally wouldn’t go in July/August, it will be horridly busy and not relaxing at all. You would also need to take a book to read if you took 3 days because there are only 2 campsites you can stay at within the gorge and the distance between them only takes 45 mins – 1 hr. It was very pleasant and very picturesque and we were happy finding other things to do in the area as there are plenty of mountains and forests and vineyards. We stayed in a gite in Largentiere which was a nice old market town with enough restaurants; Les Vans and Lablachere looked nice enough with perhaps more services.

If you want a 3 day canoe trip consider the longer Ruoms-Sauze trip (if you are happy navigating and portaging the weirs) or choose part of the 120 km ‘route’ on the Dordogne or do a search on Song of the Paddle. And I recommend taking your own waterproof bags to go inside the containers the outfitters give you; we saw people drying sleeping bags out at the campsite!

Did it about fifteen years ago in a day, that’s Vallon to the bottom of the gorges where the water flow slackens off. That was taking it easy with a few stops and going only slightly faster than the flow of the river.

It’s a great trip and that’s from someone who really doesn’t do watersports.

Ah, canoeing the Ardeche, this should be my specialist subject. I spent a summer there guiding (adult) PGL groups over a three day descent of the river.

In my opinion, both sets of answers are right. If you’re fit and have canoed a bit, you can run the river in a day fairly easily. Your upper body will be sore afterwards and mostly you will have paddled to make the distance, especially if the wind is upstream over the last stretch. Having worked for PGL while I was at uni, I went back and ran the river in a day with my wife some years later.

But a three day descent is a different beast. It is more of a holiday on the river. You have time to play a bit by the rapids, do the various jumps off rocks along the way (including one from inside the Arc), and chill over long lunches and late afternoons on the beaches. If you’re the type of person who likes ‘go, go go’ it will drive you mad. But if you prefer being with a guide and a group I’d suggest it will be great fun.

And one other advantage of a three day descent is escaping the crowds. By far the majority of people run the river in a day, so they need to set off in the morning and keep going to make it in one day. They end up in fairly big groups on similar sections of river. Three day people can leave later on the first day, they then set off on the second and third days ahead of the one day crowds. For perhaps 50% of your day on a three day trip, you only have other three day people around you.

Thanks very useful that! We are certainly not wanting it to be serious all day paddling but the mucking about on the river and enjoying the surroundings and camping.

Found a good 3 day trip on the dordogne which looks a better length than the one I was initially considering. As suggested 32k over 3 days does seem rather short! Is the dordogne likely to be less busy than Ardeche. Perhaps we could combine this with a visit to the coast..

So much depends on flow – the Tay or Spey blat you along and 30k+ in a day is easy.
Flat water, wind, and 12-15k is hard work.
Steeper with rapids, and again time wise it can add up.
What section of the Dordogne? I will look it up in the book.

Try the upper dordogne (Argentat area) quiet even In summer.

The Dordogne is much quieter, the odd group goes through then nothing for quite a while. On the Tarn we made no attempt to ride the road down the river on bikes – too many badly driven vans with canoe and kayak laden trailers, however there’s excellent riding around Florac in every direction on an MTB.

Me and Madam Kormoran took our klepper down the Loire last September with our dog. It was ace. We paddled for 12 days, traveled about 350km and at the end packed up the boat put it on a wee trolley and got on a train back to where we started and had left the car.

We wild camped on the river bank 10 nights and 2 in campsites and carried all our supplies stopping for coffees and croissant when we passed near a village. The dog loved it, lots of swimming for everyone and fabulous wildlife to see on the way – birdlife, heaps of massive fish and beaver swimming past the kayak. It was pretty quiet, we saw maybe 4 other kayaks/canoes but it was out of the main season. There are lots of canoe rental outfits for busier periods.

We covered about 30km a day, I wouldn’t describe it as hard but we weren’t slacking. On the water at 8, then off when the sun got to hot, then on again in the late afternoon.

Loads of info on Song of the Paddle for similar trips.

Not much to add, like whitestone I went a long time ago and did the day run on a very hot late-summer day. Absolutely loved it and although it was mental busy with people around the arch it slackened off by the time you got to the nudist sites halfway down.

Epic scenery, loved kayaking in and out of caves and checking out the spiders. Swimming with big fish, a few rapids, one guy capsized and lost all his stuff. GF and I were first -timer kayakers and had no probs, Just an amazing experience. We camped and hired with pickup (great service) from Viking, a UK company. No clue if they are still active.

Matt this is what I’m considering:
Day 1: Argentat > Beaulieu 18 km
Day 2: Beaulieu > Vayrac 23 km
Day 3: Vayrac > St Sozy 18 km

[/url]BK by My Ti, on Flickr[/img]

Well today we did a test run with the dog (she’s never been in a canoe) for our dordogne adventure in 2 weeks. 3 days of very relaxed paddling as per the previous post.

After a wobbly, excited start she took to it like a duck to water and could move about from the front of the boat to the back without rocking it and eventually curled up between my legs in the very front of the boat. She was also much more nimble than me at getting in and out. Can’t wait for the hol now!

I have just booked up to do 5/6 days down the Dordogne in a few weeks time. I am under no misapprehension about this being an intrepid adventure – I know it will be full of tourists – however I am after a lazy and easily organised trip and it looks perfect for that.

Good stuff – hope you get the cracking weather we’ve had…