Attractions and Places To See around Montpellier - Top 20

This monumental gate marks the entrance to the Maguelone estate, between the Rhône à Sète canal and the coastal ponds. Officially named "Portail de Maguelone", this monument is also commonly called "La Porte de Maguelone". Despite its appearance as an ancient gate, it is a 20th-century construction, erected following the conflict that opposed at the beginning of the century the owner of the estate, Frédéric Fabrège, to the municipality of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone concerning a path giving access to the beach and the existence of a servitude right.

From Frontignan to Palavas-les-Flots, the route follows the Canal du Rhône à Sète through one of the large lagoon complexes on the Languedoc coast. After the Étang d'Ingril and the Aresquiers, the canal successively crosses or runs alongside the Étangs de Vic and de Pierre-Blanche, then passes between those of l'Arnel and du Prévost before reaching Palavas. The canal itself is a major historical element of this landscape. Its construction began in 1701 under the name Canal des Étangs, in order to ensure continuity between the Royal Canal of Languedoc – today the Canal du Midi – and the Rhône. The route, completed in 1829, passes through Frontignan, Maguelone and Palavas before joining Aigues-Mortes and then Beaucaire. In Frontignan, its opening in the 18th century profoundly modified the landscape: the canal notably separated the former Étang de Frontignan into two complexes, giving rise to the Étang d'Ingril and that of La Peyrade.

From Frontignan to Palavas-les-Flots, the route follows the Canal du Rhône à Sète through one of the large lagoon systems on the Languedoc coast. After the Étang d'Ingril and the Aresquiers, the canal successively crosses or runs alongside the Étang de Vic and Étang de Pierre-Blanche, then passes between the Étang de l'Arnel and Étang du Prévost before reaching Palavas. The canal itself is a major historical element of this landscape. Its construction began in 1701 under the name Canal des Étangs, in order to ensure continuity between the Royal Canal of Languedoc — today the Canal du Midi — and the Rhône. The route, completed in 1829, passes through Frontignan, Maguelone, and Palavas before reaching Aigues-Mortes and then Beaucaire. In Frontignan, its opening in the 18th century profoundly modified the landscape: the canal notably separated the former Étang de Frontignan into two parts, giving rise to the Étang d'Ingril and the Étang de La Peyrade.

From the locality of Le Pilou to the eponymous footbridge, this path takes us to the heart of the lagoon landscape of the Arnel pond. An area where human developments coexist with the characteristic environments of the Palavasian ponds: lagoon, sansouire (salt-tolerant vegetation) and halophytic vegetation. L’Arnel is today a protected natural area, integrated into the Natura 2000 network and the classified site of the Palavasian ponds. But the lagoon also bears the traces of a long history of exploitation: fishing, old salt pans and hydraulic developments have shaped this amphibious territory for several centuries.

The Porte de Maguelone is an ochre stone arch located at the entrance to the Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone peninsula. It symbolizes a historical conflict related to private property in the 19th century.

The étang du Méjean (also called étang de Pérols) is a protected natural site of over 600 hectares located in Lattes, just 8 kilometers south of Montpellier. Managed by the Conservatoire du littoral, this exceptional lagoon space offers a mosaic of preserved landscapes (marshes, reed beds, sansouïres) where you can easily observe pink flamingos, white storks, bulls, and Camargue horses.

L'étang de l'Arnel is a vast coastal lagoon located in the municipality of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone, in the Hérault department, less than 20 km south of Montpellier.

The coastline between Sète and Marseillan-Plage, called the Lido, is a sandy spit about 12 kilometers long separating the Mediterranean Sea from the Thau lagoon. The Voie Verte du Lido: A 12 km secure path reserved for cyclists and pedestrians, built on a former section of road moved to combat erosion.