This March, I spent around one week with my dog in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, the capital of the Camargue region of France.
This is an area of saline wetlands where a great variety of birds can be observed. It also borders the sea, and famous artist Vincent Van Gogh spent some time there too. For more information on this trip, please see the details below.
If you are looking to spend more time in the Camargue region, I can recommend the holiday apartment that I stayed at. If you’re interested you can find my review here.
THE ROUTE
For this trip, there is no specific route to follow, but I would highly recommend taking a walk through the “salines”. Have you ever seen wild flamingos? This is your chance! When we were in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, we saw many flamingoes and lots of other birds just by walking around. Super pretty.
I would also suggest a visit to the dike that protects the town from the sometimes tumultous sea. It is a nice walking route, and dogs are allowed on the beaches towards the eastern side.
You will find small lakes formed by the sea that make perfect swimming pools for pups along the dike as well.
My dog certainly enjoyed these. The waves of the sea were a bit too scary for her in this location, but she gladly went into the small pools to cool down and play in the water.
Walking along the dike in the other direction towards the town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, you find many small bays of “human beaches”.
In theory, dogs are not allowed there, but as we came during March, we saw a number of dogs and their owners having fun there too. I will leave it up to you to decide if it’s appropriate in your case.
Walking next to the beaches on the promenade is nice too though. Did you know that famous artist Vincent Van Gogh spent some time in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in 1888? He created numerous artworks during his time, and representations of these works can be seen along the promenade. This allows you to see the same place that Vincent saw when he created the paintings. I thought that was a really nice idea.
Finally, the town also features a small port as well as an intriguing-looking fortified church. Unfortunately, dogs were not allowed to climb up to the panoramic terrace, so I can’t tell you if it’s worth it.
HOW LONG IT TAKES AND WHO IT’S FOR
You can spend as much our as little time in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer as you wish. To walk around the town and see everything that I’ve mentioned, I would estimate between 1-2 hours. It is easy to do on foot, as the terrain is flat. It would mostly be suitable for prams and wheelchairs as well – minus the beach itself. Depending on your route and the amount of time you want to spend observing the birds in the salines, this can be a short visit or an extended one.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is a cute little town and a very nice place to visit with your dog. I would recommend timing your visit outside of the main season and be sure to take your pup to the dog beach.
A trip with my dog 