Top 20 Lakes around Montpellier

The view plunges over the Thau lagoon and its immense checkerboard of shellfish farms. These regular alignments are the breeding facilities where the oysters and mussels of the lagoon are produced. Bouzigues holds a special place in this history: in 1925, Antoine Louis Tudesq and other Bouzigues oyster farmers developed the "Pyramid" technique, which contributed to the development of shellfish farming in the lagoon. Thus, the panorama allows us to read the landscape differently: behind this vast expanse of water lies a real production area, shaped for over a century by the work of the "sea farmers".

From the greenway, the panorama opens onto the Étang de Vic. This vast coastal lagoon of over 1,000 hectares stretches between the Gardiole massif and the Aresquiers lido. Protected within the Natura 2000 site of the Palavasian ponds and recognized as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention, the pond forms a vast landscape of lagoon, salt marshes, and wetlands here. This opening allows its full extent to be appreciated from the surroundings of Vic-la-Gardiole.

Here, the Bouffie canal crosses the old Villeneuve Salt Marshes. Near the old pumping station, several structures control the water flow and levels in this vast hydraulic network. Fed in particular by the waters of the Gardiole and the overflow from the Étang de l’Estagnol, the Salt Marshes still depend on this hydraulic management today to maintain their various wetland environments. From this point, the view opens widely onto the old salt pans, the Étang de Vic, and the reliefs of the Gardiole. The shallow waters and halophytic vegetation also offer a privileged habitat for a significant birdlife (Little Egret, Greater Flamingo, Terns...) of the Mediterranean lagoons.

From the place called Le Pilou to the eponymous footbridge, this path takes us to the heart of the lagoon landscape of the Arnel pond. A space where human developments rub shoulders with the characteristic environments of the Palavas ponds: lagoon, sansouire and halophytic vegetation. Arnel is today a protected natural area, integrated into the Natura 2000 network and the classified site of the Palavas ponds. But the lagoon also bears the traces of a long history of exploitation: fishing, old salt pans and hydraulic structures have shaped this amphibious territory for several centuries.

This is an almost entirely "flat" canal with only one active lock (in Saint-Gilles), which greatly facilitates pleasure boating

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.

Please note that ... from June to August access is subject to a fee! (Only if you arrive via the main entrance). Whether you are on a bike or on foot, for a short trip to Ste Croix, you will have to pay 5 euros to pass ... (even if you don't swim, don't go to the "guinguette", etc ...). In short ... prefer another nearby passage, or come back off-season.