Sète

Located between a lagoon and the Med, this southern French working port is a great place to get seafood and sea views. It’s also a nice hop off on the way from France to Spain.

Interactive map

Luggage

I’m not aware of anywhere to put your luggage while you stroll - if you do know of somewhere - let me know, thanks.

Printable PDF

You can download and print a copy of the strolls here

A mosey around canals and town (4K green)

This stroll gives us a feel for the place and may help explain why it’s called the Venice of the Languedoc.

Leave the station and walk straight on across the Pont de la Gare, then turn left and follow the road (Quai François Maillol) around the little island.

Cross the Pont de Pierre.

Turn right and walk along the Quai Rhin et Danube and then turn the corner. You should now be able to walk along the quayside rather than having cars parked in the way, and so get a chance to look at all the fish swimming around the boats - makes you wonder why the fishermen ever set out to sea?

As you walk along the quay, you start to see an increasing number of bars and seafood restaurants and after Pont De La Savonnerie, you can see the big boats that bring the seafood in. Cross over the bridge, have a little nosey at the boats and when you’ve seen enough nautical stuff.

Cut back on yourself and head into town along Grande Rue Mario Roustan.

If you want to extend your stroll, you can continue walking along the front and go to the Cimetière Marin (blue route).

A little way down the Grande Rue Mario Roustan you pass the Tourist Information Office. If you want to get some more views of the place from higher ground, you could make a detour and walk up to Mont Saint Clair (red route).

If not, let’s get a feel for the town away from the canals.

Continue down Grand Rue Mario Roustan until you see a square (Place du Pouffre) just off a little road on your left (Rue Louis Blanc).

Walk diagonally across the square onto the Rue Gambetta.

Walk all the way down this road (which becomes the Rue du 8 Mai 1945) to the very end and turn right (down Rue Gabriel Péri).

This takes us back to the canals. Turn left and then at the next bridge (Pont Virla) turn right.

Once over the bridge turn left and follow the quay all the way to the end and round the corner until you get back to the Pont de la Gare.

Mont Saint Clair (2.5K red route)

This walk gives us a chance to really get an overview of what makes Sète the place it is - a working port between a lagoon (and the Canal du Midi) and the Med.

Facing the Tourist Information Office, take the Rue Rapide which runs up the right-hand side.

At the end turn right onto Rue des 3 Journées, then left onto Rue Garenne before taking the third right onto Rue Villefranche.

Take the next left onto Chemin Mas Rousson. This road eventually becomes a set of steps leading off to the left which you need to go up - hope your calf muscles are feeling fresh…

At the top continue on Chemin Mas Rousson, then turn right onto Chemin de Saint-Clair and follow it all the way to the top and the viewing area (panoramique du Mont Saint-Clair).

Retrace your steps back to Grande Rue Mario Roustan and continue back to the station via the green route described above.

Cimetière Marin (2K blue route)

This detour provides an alternative view that comes with a decent slice of culture.

From the Quai, instead of turning back on ourselves down Grande Rue Mario Roustan, keep walking along the sea front until you get to the harbour wall and a roundabout.

Cross over the roundabout and follow the Rue des Arabes going up the hill and then take a sharp right up Rue Jean Vilar.

Turn left onto Chemin de Cimetière Marin and walk through the gates.

Note: There are signs for Cimetière Marin and Musée Paul Valéry all the way.

Unsurprisingly, the best views are at the top and there are signs if you want to visit the grave of Paul Valéry (1871-1945) - leading light of French poetry and an enlightened thinker who was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature 12 times.

This might be a good time to fish out his poem about the cemetery (well, it’s more about other stuff like sailing boats, doves and reasons to eat fruit)

If that has just whetted your appetite for culture, why not pop in to the Musée Paul Valéry that overlooks the cemetery.

la Pointe Courte - Agnès Varda homage

This short walk from the station is mainly for Agnès Varda fans who want to see where her breakthrough film, La Point Courte, was set. It’s a tightly packed set of fishermen’s cottages (I’ll avoid any references to sardines) with easy access to the lagoon. There’s also a couple of bars there (I haven’t tried them).

Leave the station, but unlike the hero of the film, don’t walk across the train tracks! Instead, walk the long way round coming out of the station then turning right and right again (that’s three bridges) and then take an immediate left through a small carpark to La Point Courte where you can see the fisherman’s cottages and Lagoon that feature in the film.

Come back the same way.