River Tourism at its best !
Prepare your river cruise 2008 with Nicols !
Discover our entire range of river boats to prepare your next cruise aboard a Nicols houseboat ! 450 boats to hire without navigation licence from 18 bases throughout France, 2 in Germany and 1 in Portugal are available this year : choose your destination of river cruise, your Nicols boat, and we will arrange the rest !
Franche Comté / Doubs : DOLE
Dole ancient capital of Comté, doorway to the Jura and birthplace of Pasteur, situated in the heart of a marvellous region gifted with one of the most beautiful navigation areas offering a very large choice of cruising: le canal du Rhône to the Rhin (in fact it's the Doubs) with Besançon and citadel of Vauban, Baume les Dames, the charm of Comtois villages and market towns, wild beauty of fauna and flora in the superb deeply embanked valleys. You can cruise upstream one way to Port sur Saône or Champigny-Les-Langres or the Burgundy canals beyond Saint-Jean-de-Losne.
The attractions :
A crossroads of rivers for an exceptional choice of cruises, delicious cheeses and wines, wild beauty of a still intact nature.
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How to get to the base :
Easy access to Dole by A36 motorway from Besançon (50 km), Bâle(220 km)and the A6 from Paris (370 km), Lyon (190 km). TGV direct from Paris (2H), Lausanne (1H30). Access to l'Isle sur le Doubs by A36 motorway & train.
A 2 day week-end
| Itinerary | Km / Locks |
| Dole / Salans and return Dole / Auxonne and return Dole / Saint-Vit and return |
77 km , 16 locks 77 km , 16 locks 76 km , 18 locks |
Tourist places
To Osselle Caves
Little port of Auxonne, at the foot of the old fortifications. Verdun sur le Doubs : large fortified town with narrow streets lined by old houses.
Mini week
| Itinerary | Km / Locks |
| Dole / Besançon and return Dole / Heuilley and return |
104 km , 36 locks 90 km , 22 locks |
Tourist places
Besançon : from the quays to Vauban citadel, a city full of fountains and noble homes.
On the way, the town of Pontailler, known for tourism and sports
1 week
| Itinerary | Km / Locks |
| Dole / Baume les Dames and return Dole / Seveux and return Dole / Tournus / Louhans and return |
167 km , 52 locks 179 km , 26 locks 226 km , 30 locks |
Tourist places
Baume les Dames full of memories of the benedictines.
The town of Gray : the town hall, N.D. Basilica as well as various museums.
A pretty canalised river, the Seille, particulary appreciated by anglers.
10 days
| Itinerary | Km / Locks |
| Dole / Pont d'Ouche and return Dole / Macon and return Dole / Port sur Saône and return Dole / Langres and return | 150 km , 132 locks 275 km , 32 locks 248 km , 112 locks 136 km , 57 locks |
Tourist places
Mâcon, a town which in despite of the religious wars has kept few relics of its past ; the towers and narthex of old St Vincent, the wooden 16th houses and the senece house around the Lamartine museum. Langres, on a rocky spur, shelters St Mammes cathedral and the treasure room containing a fragment of the crucifix.
2 weeks
| Itinerary | Km / Locks |
| Dole / Montbéliard and return Dole / Villefranche sur Saône and return Dole / Pouilly en Auxois and return Dole / Chagny / Digoin and return | 300 km , 106 locks 300 km , 106 locks 400 km , 30 locks 350 km , 50 locks 400 km , 122 locks |
Tourist places
Montbéliard : town and country of art and history
Villefranche : capital of Beaujolais, where lovers of this wine are sure to find their favourite vintage.
On the canal du Centre, Paray-le-Monial with all its quays allow mooring near the monuments. Montceau-les-Mines : a mining town which developed in the 19th C. and whose port served for the transport of coal and steel.