HERAULT TOURISM

Canal du Midi

Montpellier

Béziers

The Villages

Cirque de Navacelles

Gorges d'Héric

Grotte des Demoiselles

Other attractions & Beaches

Herault has a great year round climate ideal for wine production. But the department is also the most dynamic of the Languedoc-Roussillon departments. Montpellier, the capital, is the Silicon Valley of France with a number of high-tech companies.

Cap d'Agde, Sete and Grande Motte are lively seaside resorts. The river Hérault runs through the department, through the gorges of the Black Mountains, across the countryside of rolling vineyards and down to the coast where there are 100 kilometres of coastline running from la Grande-Motte to Valras.

The Hérault also has many architectural and histoirical treasures.

The Canal du Midi, which flows through the department, is an incredible feat of construction. Linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, it took 12,000 men working for 14 years to complete it in the 17th Century.

The canal is 240 km long and has 64 locks, 55 aqueducts, 126 bridges and 7 canal bridges.

Dotted with ancient stone bridges and pretty villages, nowadays, it is used mostly by the tourists hiring cruise barges. It is a great way to leisurely explore "La France Profonde".

Lined with plain trees, on a hot day, it is ideal for a shady walk or cycle ride along the tow path.
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Montpellier is a modern and dynamic town, with a population of 230,000 and is the capital not only of the Herault, but also the whole Languedoc-Roussillon: one of the most progressive towns in France with good housing, pedestrianisation of the town centre and a public transportation network that is second to none.

There is a rich choice of restaurants, shopping, architecture and museums. Montpellier has managed to combine art, culture, festivals and idleness, for the pleasure of everybody.

Béziers has a population of 70,000 and is in the centre of the largest wine producing region in France.

The town has had a rather turbulent history. In 1209 the town was burnt to the ground and 20,000 people massacred, during the Albigensian Crusades.

Later Beziers recovered its importance with the boom in the wine industry. Vineyards dominate the hills surrounding the town.

This is also one of the principal rugby towns of France. There is a daily covered market, a weekly flower market, and a monthly antiques market. website

Pézenas is a charming town with a picturesque centre with interesting shops. The town is a major antique center, with dozens of dealers. It was once the region's capital and is quite sophisticated with good restaurants, and many arts shops and galleries.

An arts festival runs throughout the summer. There is a market in the town square every Saturday. website.

Roquebrun is on the banks of the river Orb. Pretty cobbled streets wind their way up the hilly village of charming old houses.

There are several of good restaurants in Roquebrun and a Mediterranean garden, with hundreds of cacti.

Under the old stone bridge there is a beach on the river for sunbathing, swimming and relaxing under the hot Mediterranean sun.

The Cirque de Navacelles

A magnificent geological formation this is a valley with a small hill marooned in its center by a river that has carved a moat all around it.

From the south side of the valley you look down the 600m drop to the village below. A 2-hour guided walk is also available.

The drive down into the canyon to the village of Navacelles is spectacular.

Gorges d'Héric

A breathtaking sight, the Hérault River, tumbling through deep gorges cutting through the Black Mountains.

It is beautiful here and you to walk all the way up the gorge and you can swim in the series of rock pools.

Also along the river's length are two underground wonders: the Grotte des Demoiselles and the Grotte de Clamouse.

A complex of caves discovered in 1770 with spectacular limestone stalactites and gigantic stalagmitic forms.

The cave is visited on a small train and is probably the most impressive of the caves in the Languedoc. website.

Beaches offer all kinds of nautical activities from la Grande-Motte to Sète, Agde, et Valras. Between the sea and the land are a series of étangs (salt-water lakes), protected nature reserves.

Sete is the most important fishing port on the French Mediterranean coast and France's second-largest. The quays are lined with restaurants and in summer there are jousting tournaments where teams of fishermen in their boats try to knock the opponent into the water.

Le Cap d’Agde is the largest purpose built tourist resort in the whole of Europe. It can accommodate up to 100,000 tourists at any one time. Europe's largest nudist colony is at Cap d'Agde.

St Guilhem-le-Desert is one of France’s most beautiful villages. A halt on the road to St Jacques de Compestella where pilgrims came to worship a piece of the Cross, it is a charming village of medieval cobbled streets.

The abbey in the centre of the town founded at the beginning of the ninth century by St Guilhem, a comrade-in-arms of Charlemagne, is a beautiful building and a World Heritage site. website.

The towns of Herault
Agde Autignac Bassan Bedarieux Bessan Beziers Béziers Bouzigues Cap D Agde Capestang Causses-et-Veyran Cazouls Les Beziers Cazouls les Béziers Cessenon-sur-Orb Clermont L Herault Corneilhan Faugeres Florensac Gabian Ganges Herault Herepian La Grande Motte Lamalou Les Bains Laurens Lignan Sur Orb Magalas Maraussan Meze Montpellier Murviel Les Beziers Olargues Palavas Les Flots Pézenas Pezenas Pouzolles Prades Sur Vernazobre Puimisson Puissalicon Puisserguier Roujan Saint Chinian Saint Geniès de Fontédit Saint Pons De Thomieres Servian Sete Thézan les Béziers Valras Plage Vieussan.