Baie de Somme
Baie de Somme – unspoilt and untamed
The Baie de Somme remains unspoilt with very little concrete, unlike most of the coast of France. It is a combination of lakes and ponds, marshland, dunes and saltings, a landscape of land and water where the sky and sea merge into each another. Enjoy invigorating walks in the fresh salty air through ever-changing scenery : shades of grey, beige and white, huge skies, soft, shimmering, pearly light. This is one of the major sites for migratory birds in France where wigeons, shelducks, curlews and oyster catchers rub shoulders with seals and salt marsh sheep.
The 70km Picardy coastline from Baie d’Authie in the north to Vallée de la Bresle in the south has scenery of unusual diversity : long beaches of fine sand at Quend-Plage and Fort-Mahon-Plage, perfect for sand-yachting and cycling too along tracks between pinewoods and dunes, beautiful landscapes of land and water along the estuary of the bay, beaches of round blue pebbles at Cayeux-sur-Mer where you can walk along the longest boardwalk in Europe, lined with beach huts dating from the Belle Epoque, dizzyingly high chalk cliffs lapped by turquoise water at Ault and Mers-les-Bains.
At Bois de Cise and Mers-les-Bains, admire elegant villas built at the end of the 19th century when sea bathing became fashionable and all of Paris high society flocked to the beaches of northern France.
Crossing the Baie de Somme
My advice for discovering the bay is to experience the mythical crossing of the Baie de Somme on foot at low tide between the resorts of Le Crotoy and Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. Go with a guide (the Baie de Somme is a dangerous environment) who will steer you across the shifting sands and introduce you to the ecosystem and the inhabitants of the bay from seals to samphire, shells to sandworms. You can make the return journey by train aboard the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme, a vintage steam train dating from the Belle Epoque.
The star attraction of the shoreline of the Baie de Somme has to be the seals ! A colony of around 500 live on the sand banks off the little fishing port of Hourdel. Take a nature walk from here to watch the seals through a telescope as it is inadvisable to get nearer than 300m to these timid, wild animals.
Another option to see the seals without frightening them is aboard a Polynesian pirogue from Saint-Valery-sur-Somme following the movement of the tides.
Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme
The charming medieval village of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme is a delightful place to visit from the colourful fishermen’s cottages of Courtgain to the fine ship owners’ residences alongside the marina, from the remains of the ramparts of the upper town to the charm of the seafarers’ chapel in chequered stone and flint.
How to get to the Baie de Somme
By road : via the A16 autoroute, just 2 hours from Paris.
By rail : to Abbeville, Noyelles-sur-Mer and Rue.
The Baie de Somme is an all year round destination with nature trips every day, even 25 December !
Explore the Somme with Gites de France Somme : Superb Parc du Marquenterre, Gardens and Abbey of Valloires, Cathedral of Notre-Dame d’Amiens, Les Hortillonnages.
Our selection of accommodations
Lodging
Commune de St-Valery-sur-Somme
in SAINT-VALERY-SUR-SOMME - Somme
