Sete travel guide

Visit Sete (Occitanie, France)

Sete is a large, cosmopolitan town between the Etang de Thau and the Mediterranean, referred to by the locals as the Venice of Languedoc. It is the largest fishing port of the French Mediterranean coast.

Explore Sete

The town of Sete falls into two parts - the low town, with the port, and criss-crossed by canals and bridges; and the high town on Mont St Clair. In the low town, the harbour front houses, canals and the fishing activity itself are the main attractions, along with the lovely 'village within a town' - the Pointe Courte sector.

Along the edges of the canals are attractive buildings housing shops, restaurants and bars and strolling along these streets edged with small boats is a real pleasure.

Sète lies at the foot of Mount St. Clair (175 meters above sea level), between the Gulf of Thau and the Mediterranean Sea. To get a feel for the layout of the town you really need to head up Mount St Clair from which you get views of Sete below with its canals and sea-port.

It is quite a hike to the top but you can drive or catch the bus up to the top. As well as the views you can admire the wonderful painted walls of the Chapel of Notre Dame de la Salette.

Also on the summit of the Mont Sant-Clar is the quarter known as the 'Quartier Haute', which was once inhabited by Italian fishermen and it is now home mostly to artists who here have opened their 'ateliers'. Also spread out on the hill are some lovely villas with large, attractive gardens.

Over the years a number of economic and tourist activities (the beaches) have developed. Sète is not just a port town, but a city with a very active cultural life, enhanced by the presence of several interesting museums and important churches.

Sete beaches

For beaches it is necessary to leave the centre of town and head for the long strip of sand which starts behind Mont St Clair and stretches out as a long thin 12km strip to Marseillan Plage to the west. The beaches of Lazaret, the “Corniche” and Villeroy are not far from the city

On one side of this thin strip is the sea and on the other the Bassin de Thau. This lido is very popular in the summer and has a chic palm-tree-lined promenade and la Fontaine beach has an area with jets of water - great fun for adults and children alike on a hot summers day.

Paul Valery Museum, Sete

A visit to Sète should include the Paul Valery Museum on Mount Saint Clair (on the sea front next to the Cemetery, celebrated by Paul Valery), from which you can also enjoy an exceptional panoramic view. In the permanent collection of the Paul Valery Museum there are works by various important contemporary artists including Maurice Sarthou, Robert Combas, Francois Desnoyer, Hervé Di Rosa, Albert Marquet and Henry Matisse (La religieuse portugaise).

On the first floor an entire room is dedicated to Paul Valery, born in Sète (1871-1945), with manuscripts, watercolour paintings, and rare editions of some of his work. Also very interesting is the room devoted to the painters of the eighteenth and nineteenth century with works by several French and Italian artists.

Chapel of Notre-Dame-De-La-Salette

The chapel of Notre-Dame-De-La-Salette stands on Mount St. Clair, built on the site of an ancient fortress built by Louis XIII. It is a fair hike up to the top of Mount St Clair but worth it for the views and the chapel itself.

The church, consecrated in 1864, has fairly recent frescoes (by Bringuier from Annecy), and painted with real skill; the artist has successfully interpreted the sacred scenes with extreme delicacy, and the frescoes lose nothing to classical medieval frescose in their intensity. The frescoes give the church a very individual style and is well worth a look.

Sete Regional Centre for Contemporary Art

For those who enjoy contemporary art, we recommend a visit to the Regional Centre for Contemporary Art on Rue Aspirant-Hebert, a forum open to young artists who utilise the most varied and innovative techniques of contemporary art such as installations and videos.

Don't miss the 'George Brassen Space: a space for a poet' - a technology space dedicated to the famous singer song-writer of Sete, with unpublished photographs, manuscripts, and to hear the entire discography from 1952 to 1976. The visitor is equipped with a personal stereo in order to follow the story and songs of Brassen in a quite modern and unusual way. The Museum is open all year.

International Museum of Modest Art - Le Musee International des Arts Modestes (MIAM)

Another interesting museum in Sète is the International Museum of “poor Art”, an invention of Hervé di Rosa and Bernard Beluc, in which are collected everyday objects that have been abandoned because they were considered useless: toys, trading cards , flower baskets and other items, which, according to the founders, though they no longer have practical use, 'arouse aesthetic pleasure'.

The museum also features temporary exhibitions, sometimes related to personalities eg in 2001 a section was devoted to Elvis Presley, and in 2008 was devoted to Graffiti, and involved many contemporary artists.

The Joutes de Sète

Every year Sete hosts the 'Joutes de Sète' a jousting tournament from boats rather than horseback. The competition takes place from the end of June to the begining of September with the big final on around the 22 August.

The jousters dress in white and each round is between two boats, the red team and the blue team. The goal is to use the long jousting spear to throw your opponents into the water.

The jousting competitions are very popular with locals and tourists alike and during the tournament the town has a very festive feel. It is an excellent time to visit Sete.

Other Sete highlights

Sète, in an excellent geographical position, is an enjoyable city to visit in all seasons. After the visit to Mount St. Clair, follow the 'Haute-Route' which leads to a characteristic and historical town, the pier 'Saint Louis', from where there is a nice view of the old lighthouse, on which are inscribed some verses of Paul Valery.

From here you can continue to the so-called Old Port with its narrow streets and canals and the sight of the vessels, and public meeting places.

In the many local restaurants tourists can taste the typical dishes of the region, especially fish specialties: oysters, mussels and clams, the “rouille” of fried squids and the famous “Tiella” of Sète, starting perhaps with a local aperitif, the Noilly Prat, and then with some wine to accompany the fish, such as, for example, white wines of Listel.

A 'little train' guided tour of Sete is available.

Attractions close to Sete

Boat trips along the coast are available from the harbour, and an unusual side-excursion can be made from Sete out towards the Etang de Thau in a glass-bottomed boat to see the mussel and oyster cultivation.

The most visited local attractions are those around the Etang de Thau such as the harbour town of Marseillan and the villages of Balaruc-le-Vieux and Meze.

A litle further, Montpellier is one of our favourite towns in France, and the resort of Cap d'Agde near Agde is also very popular.

You can find more travel ideas in the Herault guide and the Languedoc-Roussillon guide.