The best cycling routes around Frontignan

And this time we are not driving through, but staying overnight in this attractive town at the Georges Hostel. The beautiful square with the music pavilion is totally "modernized" and sealed, all the old trees are gone and replaced by young ones. Presumably because there is now an underground car park underneath. Simply a shame and, given the heavy rainfall, certainly also unwise. In 2024 it was still much nicer.

This monumental gate marks the entrance to the Maguelone estate, between the Rhône à Sète canal and the coastal ponds. Officially named "Portail de Maguelone", this monument is also commonly called "La Porte de Maguelone". Despite its appearance as an ancient gate, it is a 20th-century construction, erected following the conflict that opposed at the beginning of the century the owner of the estate, Frédéric Fabrège, to the municipality of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone concerning a path giving access to the beach and the existence of a servitude right.

From Frontignan to Palavas-les-Flots, the route follows the Canal du Rhône à Sète through one of the major lagoon areas of the Languedoc coast. After the Étang d'Ingril and the Aresquiers, the canal successively crosses or runs alongside the Étangs de Vic and de Pierre-Blanche, then passes between those of Arnel and Prévost before reaching Palavas. The canal itself is a major historical element of this landscape. Its construction began in 1701 under the name Canal des Étangs, to ensure continuity between the Royal Canal of Languedoc — today the Canal du Midi — and the Rhône. The route, completed in 1829, passes through Frontignan, Maguelone, and Palavas before reaching Aigues-Mortes and then Beaucaire. In Frontignan, its opening in the 18th century profoundly modified the landscape: the canal notably separated the former Étang de Frontignan into two parts, giving rise to the Étang d'Ingril and that of La Peyrade.

From Frontignan to Palavas-les-Flots, the route follows the Canal du Rhône à Sète through one of the major lagoon complexes on the Languedoc coast. After the Étang d'Ingril and Les Aresquiers, the canal successively crosses or runs alongside the Étangs de Vic and Pierre-Blanche, then passes between those of Arnel and Prévost before reaching Palavas. The canal itself is a major historical element of this landscape. Its construction began in 1701 under the name Canal des Étangs, in order to ensure continuity between the Canal Royal du Languedoc – today the Canal du Midi – and the Rhône. The route, completed in 1829, passes through Frontignan, Maguelone, and Palavas before joining Aigues-Mortes and then Beaucaire. In Frontignan, its opening in the 18th century profoundly modified the landscape: the canal notably separated the former Étang de Frontignan into two parts, giving rise to the Étang d'Ingril and that of La Peyrade.

From Frontignan to Palavas-les-Flots, the route follows the Canal du Rhône à Sète through one of the large lagoon complexes on the Languedoc coast. After the Étang d'Ingril and the Aresquiers, the canal successively crosses or runs alongside the Étangs de Vic and de Pierre-Blanche, then passes between those of l'Arnel and du Prévost before reaching Palavas. The canal itself is a major historical element of this landscape. Its construction began in 1701 under the name Canal des Étangs, in order to ensure continuity between the Royal Canal of Languedoc – today the Canal du Midi – and the Rhône. The route, completed in 1829, passes through Frontignan, Maguelone and Palavas before joining Aigues-Mortes and then Beaucaire. In Frontignan, its opening in the 18th century profoundly modified the landscape: the canal notably separated the former Étang de Frontignan into two complexes, giving rise to the Étang d'Ingril and that of La Peyrade.

Here, the stony path follows the Rhône canal in Sète to Les Aresquiers. This canal directly crosses the Étang d’Ingril and forms a long, straight cut within the lagoon. The pond is thus separated into two parts, while remaining in communication with the canal through several passages. This waterway resulted from the digging of the Canal des Étangs, which began in the early 18th century to connect Sète to the Rhône; the Frontignan section then became a major element of communication and goods transport. The canal has progressively transformed the organisation of this lagoon landscape, which was once much more continuous.

At the entrance to the Bois des Aresquiers, a path begins that crosses a particularly original landscape of the Languedoc coast. Between the ponds of Vic and d’Ingril, the pine forest is interspersed between the lagoons and the salty environments, a proximity to the coast that makes this Mediterranean woodland rare. The site, protected by the Conservatoire du littoral since 1980, is home to remarkable flora: about fifteen rare or threatened species have been recorded there. Among them are Bupleurum glaucum, a protected species discovered on the site, and Ophrys des Corbières, an endemic Mediterranean orchid.

From the greenway, the panorama opens onto the Étang de Vic. This vast coastal lagoon of over 1,000 hectares stretches between the Gardiole massif and the Aresquiers lido. Protected within the Natura 2000 site of the Palavasian ponds and recognized as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention, the pond forms a vast landscape of lagoon, salt marshes, and wetlands here. This opening allows its full extent to be appreciated from the surroundings of Vic-la-Gardiole.