Gîtes and Villas in the Camargue

The Camargue is a vast wetland delta where the Rhône meets the Mediterranean, a place of white horses, black bulls, pink flamingos and endless horizons of marsh and lagoon. This is France at its most elemental: salt pans glittering under a hard southern sun, rice paddies stretching towards the sea, and a distinctive cowboy culture shaped by centuries of herding semi-wild livestock across the watery plains.

Self-catering gîtes in the Camargue put you within reach of Roman Arles, the wild beaches of the southern coast, and nature reserves where you can watch wading birds by the thousand. It's a landscape that feels both ancient and otherworldly, with its own rhythms and a light that has drawn painters for generations.

About the Camargue

The Camargue occupies the delta of the Rhône in southern France, a triangular wedge of land bounded by the river's two main arms and the Mediterranean. Much of it is protected as a regional nature park, though working ranches — known locally as manades — still raise the sturdy Camargue horses and the horned black bulls used in the traditional courses camarguaises.

The area's character is defined by water: brackish lagoons called étangs, salt marshes, reed beds, and channels that shift with the seasons. Rice has been cultivated here since the Middle Ages, and the salines near Aigues-Mortes still harvest sea salt as they have for centuries. On the fringes, the medieval city of Arles — once a major Roman port — offers cobbled streets, a striking amphitheatre, and the landscapes Van Gogh painted during his brief, feverish residency.

The Camargue attracts naturalists, photographers, and anyone seeking space and quiet. Summer brings heat and crowds to the coast; spring and autumn are gentler, with migrating birds arriving in vast numbers. The light here is famously sharp and clear, the horizons wide, and the sense of remoteness palpable even though Montpellier and Nîmes lie within an hour's drive.

Things to do in the Camargue

The Ornithological Park of Pont de Gau is the standout for birdwatching, with hides and boardwalks threading through seven hectares of marsh where flamingos, herons, egrets and storks gather year-round. The Arles Amphitheatre, built in the first century AD, still hosts bullfights and concerts within its two-tiered Roman walls. Carnon Plage offers a long sandy beach with watersports and beach bars, less polished than resorts further east but popular with families.

An hour north, the Pont du Gard is among Europe's best-preserved Roman aqueducts, its three tiers of honey-coloured stone arches spanning the Gardon river in a feat of engineering that still impresses two thousand years on. The Seaquarium Institut Marin in Le Grau-du-Roi focuses on Mediterranean marine life with large tanks of sharks, rays and sea turtles. For something unexpected, the Haribo Candy Museum in Uzès traces the history of the gummy bear with factory tours and — inevitably — a well-stocked sweet shop at the exit.

Food & drink

Camargue cuisine revolves around what the land and sea provide: bull meat in rich stews called gardiane de taureau, served with the nutty local red rice grown in the delta paddies. Tellines — tiny clams dredged from the sandy shallows — appear in pasta dishes and salads, best eaten near the coast where they're freshest. The salt harvested here seasons everything, and in Aigues-Mortes you can buy fleur de sel still damp from the pans.

Arles and the market towns around the delta host weekly produce markets; Marché du Lez near Montpellier is a large covered market with regional cheeses, charcuterie and wine stalls. The vineyards of the Costières de Nîmes appellation, just north of the wetlands, produce robust reds and crisp rosés worth seeking out. Eating well here means simple preparations and good ingredients rather than haute cuisine.

Getting there

Marseille Provence airport lies 63 kilometres northeast, with direct flights from UK regional airports and good onward connections by hire car or bus. From Paris Gare du Nord, the TGV takes roughly three hours to reach Arles, Nîmes or Montpellier, all within easy reach of the Camargue. Béziers Cap d'Agde airport, 92 kilometres southwest, is served by budget carriers during the summer season.

Driving from Calais takes around ten hours via the A7 autoroute; the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen Ouistreham (727 kilometres) offers an overnight crossing but still leaves a full day's drive south. Once here, a car is essential — the Camargue is too spread out and rural for practical public transport.