The Somme tourist board

The upper town is a fine example of a mediaeval citadel: the Courtgain, set behind the harbour, is where the sailors lived in their little, brightly-painted, close-set cottages, while the Abbey neighbourhood is more rural with working farms. Since 2003, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme has been ranked as one of France’s most delightful destinations (Les plus beaux détours de France).

© baieattitude.com

Between the ramparts and the sea are several imposing Anglo-Norman villas. In the Courtgain, narrow streets of fishermen’s cottages wind up the hill behind the harbour. Sailing boats are tied up along the channel and the wharves, where strollers can buy at the Sunday-morning market.

Life in Picardy from before the age of the motor has been painstakingly recreated in the Picarvie museum, with displays of a score of different traditional crafts.

A herbarium (or medieval garden) next to the ramparts, has a fascinating mixture of simple flowers and rare vegetables, and of course the plants of the Picardy shore.

- Nature walks and cycle rides around the Bay of Somme

- Visits to the medieval citadel, the Picarvie Museum, the Herbarium, the flower-bedecked streets and the church of Saint Martin

- Kayaking on the Bay of Somme

- The Somme Bay railway

- Boat trips on the Commandant Charcot

- Available locally: tennis, mini-golf

- Markets: Wednesday and Sunday

© CDTSomme/Justine Labesse

- Painters in the Street June

- Transbaie running race

- William the Conqueror’ Festival: July

- Festival of the Sea: August

- Local produce market: every Friday evening in July and August

- Free open-air concerts: every Saturday evening in July and August