Camargue 4x4 Safari from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, capital of the Camargue

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the seaside town at the heart of the Camargue, a cluster of whitewashed houses around a fortified twelfth-century church. Its massive stone walls once sheltered villagers from raids, and visitors can climb to the rooftop terrace for a view over the sea and the marshes. Every May the town hosts a famous pilgrimage that brings travelling communities from across Europe to its church.

How to get to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer: it lies at the end of the road through the delta, about forty minutes by car from Arles. Arrive early to stroll the seafront and the lanes around the church before your safari, and look for the local specialities such as rice from the Camargue and grilled fish.

The Camargue wetlands and pink flamingos

The Camargue is the delta of the Rhône, a flat world of lagoons, salt marshes, reed beds and rice fields between the two arms of the river and the sea. It has been a regional nature park since 1970, and it is one of the most important wetlands in Europe for birds. The greater flamingo is its emblem: thousands feed in the shallow lagoons, filtering tiny shrimps that give their feathers the famous pink colour.

On a Camargue safari you get close enough to photograph them in their natural habitat, along with egrets, herons and avocets. Flamingos are present all year, but the best time to visit the Camargue for birds is spring and autumn, when migration brings many species and the light is soft.

White Camargue horses

The white Camargue horse is one of the oldest horse breeds in the world, small, sturdy and perfectly adapted to the marshes. Foals are born dark brown or black and turn white only after several years. Herds live semi-wild in the pastures, and the local herdsmen, the gardians, still ride them to move the cattle.

From the height of the open 4x4 you see the horses grazing among the reeds and standing in the water, one of the most iconic sights of southern France. Your guide explains how the breed and the herdsmen's traditions have shaped the culture of the region, and why the horse remains the proud symbol of the Camargue on postcards, festivals and village squares.

A traditional bull farm

The safari ends at a manade, a traditional bull farm where small black bulls with lyre-shaped horns are raised in near-wild conditions. Camargue bulls are bred for the local course camarguaise, a bloodless contest in which young men try to snatch ribbons from between the horns; the animals are not harmed and the best of them become local stars.

At the farm you see the herd up close from the vehicle and learn how the gardians live, with their low reed-roofed cabins, their wide hats and their horses. It is a rare look at a way of life that has changed little over the centuries and remains the soul of the Camargue.