Around Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is instilled with an exceptional atmosphere and offers up its most fascinating facets to curious cyclists! Starting out from the town centre, this itinerary invites you on a 25 km tour of the town's little lanes lined with white houses, impressive fortified church, gypsy culture and, just on the outskirts, the typical vistas of Camargue with its maze of marshy lakes, squat buildings huddling at the water's edge and vast Mediterranean seascapes. You will also take one of the last remaining ferry boats crossing the Petit Rhône river to Petite Camargue. A fascinating foray into the typical villages, landscapes, herdsmen's traditions and fauna of Camargue, this itinerary is a full immersion in a land of authenticity.

From the market place in front of the town hall, take the avenue de la République and then the avenue Van Gogh. You will pass in front of the tourist office and the arena while going along the sea on your left, in the direction of Aigues-Mortes. At the exit of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, after about one kilometer, you will quickly find the typical landscape of the Camargue with the ponds that brighten up a flat horizon, the numerous low buildings lurking at the edge of the water and, on your left, the immensity of the Mediterranean. Continue on the D38. After two kilometers, you will reach the mas de la Fourque, the first example of typical Camargue architecture. It houses a farm, the epicenter of the agricultural life of a family of gardians. The D38 then heads north.
On your left, you will see the fork that leads to the Petit Sauvage ferry, one of the last two in the Camargue
Camargue with that of Barcarin on the Grand Rhône. This one, on the small Rhone, allows to join
the Petite Camargue. The landscape, clear, is still very inhabited.
After about 4 km, leave the D38 and turn right in the direction of Pioch Badet and Cabane de Cambon, taking a small municipal road. Cross the hamlet of Cambon.
Shortly after, you will reach the D38b which you take on the right.
After 2 km, take the D570 on the left. Be careful, a lot of traffic.
After 500 m, turn right in the direction of Pioch Badet. This hamlet is the archetype of the Camargue village gap. From Pioch Badet, take the D85A. For ten kilometers, you go along the left side of the ponds of Consecanière then of the Imperial, ideal occasion to see the icons of the Camargue fauna: the pink flamingo and the horse. The D85a finally brings you back to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

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