‘So serene and beautiful’: readers’ favourite riverside spots in France | France holidays

Winning tip: Waterways any which way, Burgundy

In Auxerre, head for Le Batardeau (also called the Bike House) and choose your device – bike, pedalo, boat, paddle, kayak – for a day on the Yonne River and the Nivernais canal (once voted more beautiful than the famous Canal du Midi). There’s no need to book: they’re well equipped, and there’s also a bistrot with great homemade cakes, lunches and drinks. The path along the water is so serene and beautiful. We did it twice: one day by bike, then by boat.
le-batardeau.fr
Carole Lyandrat

EAST

Ride the loop, Tournus, Burgundy

Following the banks of the mighty River Saône from Mâcon towards Chalon-sur Saône, the Voie Bleue cycle path is the perfect riverside ride and a birdwatcher’s paradise: south of the historic town of Tournus, we detoured to the nature reserve at La Truchère and watched marsh harriers gliding silently over the water and purple herons statue-still. We turned the ride into a loop by picking up the Voie Verte, giving us more than 150km of biking in beautiful Burgundy. If you ride the loop, allow time to enjoy the sights – and take binoculars! Accommodation is plentiful. francevelotourisme.com
Hilary Macmillan

Finest Burgundy

In an area full of rivers, Louhans is a great spot. It’s an attractive Burgundian town that sits where the Solnan River joins the Seille, and you can walk or cycle for miles down the banks of the Seille and see no one but the occasional fisher or boat pottering by. What you will see is plenty of birdlife: black redstarts, green woodpeckers, kingfishers and shrikes included. On Mondays the best of Burgundy’s produce, including the famous poulet de Bresse, is on sale at a huge market in Louhans town centre. Stays at the Aire-Service campervan park on the Seille just west of Louhans cost €4 a night.
Amanda Harrison

SOUTH

‘Amazonian’ jungle under the Pyrenees

The rolling hills and steep valleys of the Baronnies sit in the space where hills turn to the Pyrenees. The Arros River carves through this lush, green, forested landscape, and just beyond the village of Bulan it runs through the Gourgue d’Asque. Get here early to find a parking space at the end of the road and head off on the sentier de découverte on a 2½-hour walk through la petite amazonie des Pyrénées. Huge trees are clothed in moss, their branches bearded with…