Les Marais Salants

Photo : Pline / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Natural wonders · MancheWorth a visit

Les Marais Salants

Manche, Normandie

In the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, between Normandy and Brittany, the salt marshes, called salt meadows or herbues, cover vast expanses flooded by the great tides. They are not salt pans, but specialised vegetation that tolerates immersion and salt: sea poa, sea arrowgrass, sea purslane.

The bay is a site of international importance for waterbirds: it regularly hosts more than 20,000, and several tens of thousands of waders winter there, among them dunlin, oystercatcher and grey plover. It also shelters a colony of common seals. It has been classified a Ramsar site since 1994 and benefits from two Natura 2000 sites.

The salt meadows are discovered on guided outings in the bay, which let you learn more about their fauna and flora.

← Other sites in Manche