Harbour

Chalon sur Saône

Maximum length: 52 ft
Maximum draught: 3 ft

River port of 100 berths on the right bank of the Saône in Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy, at the foot of the old town.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Reached on the Saône between Tournus upstream and Mâcon downstream, on the Freycinet gauge. The 1 m draught figure is conservative for visitors: the long outer pontoon, taken on entry, commonly carries 1.5 to 3 metres, so larger boats lie there, while the finger berths are kept for residents. Floating logs and tree debris drift into the basin, and the fuel pontoon is a little awkward to reach. Quai de la Poterne lies 0.3 NM N and Fragnes on the Canal du Centre is 3.5 NM N.

Practical

Pontoons with water and electricity, and a fuel station on site. No advance reservations are taken and the port fills on weekends and in season, so arrive around midday, with a 15 day maximum stay and rates about 12 to 19 euros. The capitainerie is unstaffed at weekends, entry then by a code or a QR scan photographed at the exit, which can fail in the evening and lock crews out. The sanitary block was rebuilt in 2025 and has a washing machine. A large supermarket is a five minute walk and the rail station on the Paris-Lyon line is 1 km away.

Ashore

Musée Nicéphore Niépce, dedicated to the Chalonnais inventor of photography, stands on the riverfront quay 400 m from the port. The Saint-Vincent cathedral and the timber-framed houses of place Saint-Vincent are at 500 m. Entrance to the Canal du Centre and its lock chain toward Digoin starts at Fragnes, 3.5 NM N.

History

Chalon has been a Saône crossing since Roman Cabillonum and grew as a river freight hub in the 19th century. Nicéphore Niépce produced the first permanent photograph from nature here in 1827, at his estate of Saint-Loup-de-Varennes south of the town.