You should visit Aigues-Mortes if you're interested in the beautiful or historical (Charlemagne and Saint Louis) town, medieval towns or fortresses, if you visit Camargue, want to see the salines, wild horses, bulls and flamingos, if you want to know more about the gypsies, if you want to witness some traditional festivals.
The fortress of Aigues-Mortes is certainly one of the France's best-kept secrets. Situated at 30 kilometres from Montpellier, the little town is the entrance gate of Camargue, the highlight of our second itinerary from the south-west to the south-east of France I'll publish in a few weeks.
For our first itinerary, we had stopped for one night in Saint Guilhem le désert, a magnificent medieval village close to Montpellier. For our second itinerary, we have spent one night in Aigues-Mortes, then one night in Le Lavandou, along the Mediterranean sea. Aigues-Mortes was a good place for visiting Camargue on the next day.

The main door of Aigues-Mortes from outside
Why did I choose Aigues-Mortes for our night stop
- It was a natural entrance to Camargue from Agde.
- Palavas would have been a good option but the visits would have been limited.
- La Grande-Motte is an awful town with a modern seafront full of buildings.
- Aigues-Mortes has a rich history.
- It's possible to walk on the walls of the city.
- Aigues-Mortes is famous for its saline (salins in French).
- Les "Salins du Midi" can be visited by bike or little train.
- I wanted to see the town and knew I wouldn't arrive before the evening in Camargue.

Church square close to the main door
Where did we stay
I had a reservation in the "Hotel des 4 Vents" from booking.com (affiliate link).
It was a correct option for one night: friendly staff, good breakfast on the terrace, swimming pool, clean, well situated, quiet. It also only takes 10-15 minutes to walk to the centre, along the canal.
But compared to the next hotel in Le Lavandou, it was more expensive, I also had to pay a supplement for my westie dog, my room was a bungalow, and my "private" terrace was open with the view on the flowered parking (instead of the sea in Le Lavandou).

The terrace for the breakfast
What to visit in Aigues-Mortes
Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis, left his mark on the town and has a great influence still nowadays.
#1. Walk on the walls of the town and learn its fascinating story.
Following Charlemagne who erected the Matafère Tower in the middle of the salt marsh in 791, Saint Louis understood the strategic importance of the place. He buys the town and the ground around from the monks of the abbey to get a direct access to the Mediterranean sea. He will send his troops for the Crusades from here.
He first built some of the towers and a castle. In 1266, he begins to build the ramparts all around the town. His son, Philippe le Hardi, and grandson, Philippe le Bel, will achieve his work.
You can visit the 1643 metres long walls, towers and doors. It's open each day, except on the 1st January, 1st May, 1st and 11 November, 25th December, from 10am to 5:30pm (7pm from May to August). It costs 7,50€ (free for people under 18yo) and 6€ for a group of 20 people minimum. Check the whole information on the official website of the monuments.
Info+: Accessible to the disabled people.
No dogs allowed.
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- Ramparts of Aigues-Mortes from the salines side
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- The ramparts from the salines side
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- The door on the salines side
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- The walls of the town, close to the main entrance and Constance’s Tower
#2. Wander around the streets and lanes, the Saint-Louis square and the churches.
We arrived too late to go on the ramparts, but wandering around the city is a pleasant activity. We have seen several chapels and churches with the typical provencal open bell tower. Some people romantically say it's a way to let the wind go through.
I only followed my inspiration through the flowered lanes in and outside the walls. It's not possible to get lost here.
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- Detail of the White Penitents chapel
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- The statue of Saint Louis on the square

A beautiful restaurant terrace
#3. Go to the "Salins du Midi".
There are two ways to discover the beautiful salines:
- with the little train (also an evening visit during summer).
- with a mountain bike and a guide.
You will find the prices and opening hours with the two previous links.
Special tip: there's a special ticket to visit the ramparts + the salines.

The salt marsh of Aigues-Mortes. Photo credit : Didier Baertschiger. Under license CC
I, unfortunately, couldn't shoot the salines during my first visit. The second time, as I was there during the day, but the sky was very cloudy and the water is only a bit red on my video.
#4. Don't forget to go to the "Tour Carbonnière".
This tower was the first one to be built by Saint Louis. At the same time, he built the road in the middle of the marsh. Its function was to keep the city from the invasions, both by the sea and by the road.
At the beginning of the XIX's century, the tower should be destroyed to widen the road. Fortunately, they get around and nowadays the monument is classified as a historical one and protected.
Visit the tower on your way between Aigues-Mortes and Saintes-Marie de la Mer. At a roundabout close to Aigues-Mortes, you will see the sign to the tower "Tour Carbonnière" and Saint Laurent d'Ayguade.
Close to the parking, you will see the beautiful wild white Camargue horse. I learnt there that the foal is brown and becomes white around 3 years old.
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- Camargue wild horse
You will walk on a small bridge in the middle of the marsh to reach the tower.
From the top of the Carbonnière tower, you will have an amazing view on the different types of landscapes all around. I only kept one video as the sky was too cloudy. There was a big colony of pink flamingos I could shoot with my zoom.
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- Pink flamingos in the marsh
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- The viewpoint from the tower
What to eat and drink in Aigues-Mortes
"Fougasse": a cake perfumed with orange flower.
"Fleur de sel de Camargue": a hand-harvested sea salt.
"Vin des sables": the grapes are cultivated in the sand (sable). The wine (vin) is mainly grey (gris), grey of grey (gris de gris) and pink. There's also a bit of white (2%) and red (4%) wines. In my area (Landes) we also have some sand wines.
"Asperge des sables": asparagus from the sand. Also available in my area.
"Taureau, gardianne": Bull meat.
"Tellines": a delicious little shellfish often served with aoïli.
Where I ate
Be aware that Aigues-Mortes is an expensive town and the restaurants menus are quite expensive.
I found a place called "les Enganettes". I had a good local menu (tellines, taureau). The dessert was also homemade. The dish was generous and beautifully served. And the price was cheaper than in the other restaurants.
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- Telline shellfish
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- Bull meat in “les Enganettes” restaurant
Agenda: Traditional festivals of Aigues-Mortes
#1. Saint Louis Feast in August
It celebrates the King Louis IX during a whole weekend, at the end of August: medieval processions and markets, knights camps, musicians, theatre, etc.
The ramparts are illuminated by a firework.
#2. Votive feast in October
This festival ends after 12 days and involves mainly the local families.
The days begin with a traditional breakfast in the old arenas. These wooden structures belong to the families of the town. During the day, but also nights, there's a lot of activities, as Camargue races, abrivados, parties, etc.
Another read I recommend on Aigues-Mortes
The personal website Provence & Beyond made a brilliant article on the medieval town, with a different approach. It completes perfectly mine.
You'd like to mix itinerary number 1 and 2?
After St Guilhem le desert, in the north-west of Montpellier, spend the day in Aigues-Mortes (south-east), then spend the night in Saintes-Maries de la Mer or Salins de Giraud (wild Camargue, full of wild horses, bulls and birds). That would be my favourite option.
In the medieval streets, there was a great Jack the ripper's atmosphere!
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- Scaring, right?
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- Jack the ripper’s atmosphere
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- Constance’s tower
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- Outside the medieval part
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- The ditch
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- The main door, city side

Constance's Tower and the walls of the town
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Stephanie Langlet is called Indie, the female Indiana Jones by her French readers.
She helps the travellers to feel comfortable outside of their comfort zone and to travel closer to the people and culture.
She is a Trip Planner and a Hospitality and Management Consultant.
Fond of the Tribes and Minorities, she’s specialised since 2012 in the tribes and festivals of Central India and have collaborated with Chhattisgarh Tourism Board to promote it. She’s often interviewed by the Indian medias.
In 2015, she was recognised as one of the Top 6 foreign bloggers about India by Holidify, and as an influencer for Chhattisgarh by Chhattisgarh Tourism Board.
She also runs her own guesthouse in the south-west of France, from May to October.
From November to April, she will be in India to work on a social guesthouses project with her Indian associates.
The salt marsch looks amazing. And I can see me sitting in that beautiful cafe sipping a cafe au lait….
On the day before, unfortunately, I didn’t have time to stop in Aigues-Mortes to shoot the salt marsh as there was the Gypsy pilgrimage in Saintes Marie de la Mer. It was a very sunny day with a beautiful blue sky, perfect for the pink of the salt marsh. Next time, I really hope to take the train and have some incredible shoots.
Very nice post. Enjoying reading about the area and will save the information for future reference. The photos are a bit large, but the site is visually wonderful. Thanks for sharing the information.
Thanks Christine, and good to know for the size of the pics. I thought it was a bit too large too but it seemed to be the size of reference of WP. I’ll change it!
Awesome photos! The food looks delicious and one can never go wrong with any French wine 🙂
Thanks Adonis 🙂 The food was really delicious, but that time I chose a beer as I was a bit fed up with wine lol
So much great information and options! The place looks beautiful and relaxing. The meal, though, yum! Thanks for sharing
This place is unique as it’s the only one in France where we can find a medieval town with ramparts, salines and other marshes.
Ah Aigues-Mortes! Ca me rappele mon enfance! J’adore cette region, et aimerais y passer plus de temps! Merci des conseils 🙂
La Camargue: une de mes régions préférées! La dernière fois, j’y étais pour le pèlerinage gitan et j’en ai profité pour prendre les photos des environs.
Nice post and beautiful photos! I felt like I visited Aigues-Mortes by your photos and descriptions. Nothing beats the real deal of course. Very useful itinerary!
Thanks Cynthia, very happy to read such a comment!
What a wonderful tour of an amazing place. I love the sites and the stories. I’d quite happily spend a few days here, relaxing and exploring.
The visit of the salines shall really be awesome. I really hope I’ll do it next time and share the pics 🙂
The shots at night are amazing. A beautiful cultural and heritage place. Someday, hope to get here.
Very wild also. The whole area around is only all about Nature!
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Thanks, John. Loading time and user experience were two important things I constantly had in mind when I built this blog. I tested all my widgets and I followed the example of a few great marketers like Neil Patel and Pat Flynn.