Garonne

The Garonne River begins in the Spanish Pyrenees from glacial waters high up in Aragon and is 357 miles (575 kilometers) long. It is France's fourth-longest river, flowing north then east through Saint-Gaudens and across one of the country's greatest alluvial plains. Just after the Ariège river joins it, it goes through Toulouse, famed for the great artist Toulouse-Lautrec.

The Canal du Midi, which begins in Toulouse, connects the Garonne to the Mediterranean. It then heads northwest towards Bordeaux. The Lot River joins it just below Aiguillon. It joins the Dordogne river 16 miles north of Bordeaux to form the massive Gironde Estuary, Europe's largest, at the Bay of Biscay on the Atlantic coast, which features some of France's greatest beaches. With high springtime levels and low levels in August and September, the river is impassable. It has 50 locks to control its flow, yet it may still overflow. Come here and visit this river!

Length: 529 km