La Grande Motte: The Good Life
Concise details on the tour can be obtained by downloading the tour pdf [right]. Alternatively, read the tour description below and click through the sub-headings in the right-hand column for information on access, accommodation, availability, content and prices.La Grande Motte-The Good Life is a short, four-star, total-immersion in health, fitness and sunshine, with the option of majoring in golf or multi-sports.”
La
Whilst some voiced disapproval of its pyramidal architecture and ‘avant-garde’ concrete facades designed to protect the surrounding vegetation from sea winds, few can deny that this daring and innovative project has ultimately achieved its aim. For each year, in the months of July and August, the town’s capacity is breached fourfold as European holiday-makers from as far afield as The Baltic and The Swiss Alps [and ironically many even from Spain] flock to the resort, filling its hotels, bars and restaurants to breaking point.
Recently garlanded with the coveted [sic] title of «Patrimoine du XXe siècle/20th Century Heritage Site», and boasting broad sandy beaches and refurbished esplanades that belittle anything comparable found anywhere around the coast of The British Isles, La Grande Motte remains strangely bereft of Anglophones. At The Enlightened Traveller we believe that now is the time to rectify that imbalance and say YES to GM food and GM gentle walking breaks, bien sûr! We cannot promise Genetic Modification, but you will come out of it feeling a fitter and healthier individual.
The first thing you notice about La Grande Motte as you venture out of your hotel door in the morning is the sheer number of people clad in a varied array of multi-coloured appareil, sporting sweat bands, pedometers and ipods, either walking or running along the innumerable tree-lined alleys and walkways that make this health resort so remarkable. But this is no Cannes, where the bodies are as thin as the beaches are narrow. No – these exercisers, walkers, joggers and runners fit no stereo-type and do, quite literally, come in all shapes, sizes and ages. What unites them all is the infectious desire to get fit and healthy, which is where we come in of course – as facilitators of your improved fitness level.
La Grande Motte – The Good Life tour comes in two formats: light walking and Golf OR light walking and Fitness – à vous de choisir and each is a four-night total immersion in the best that the modern-day French Mediterranean has to offer. LGM boasts kilometres of newly-resurfaced, tree-lined walkways that are just waiting for you to don your kit and get out there. With numerous options to suite you, ranging from 2 to 12 kilometres, with next-to-no ascents or descents and a number of themes to be explored [architecture, nature, park-life], you are empowered to choose what suits you each morning; and after lunch you either opt for a round of golf on two separate afternoons, on a world-class golfing range designed by Florida’s Robert Trent Jones Senior [leaving you one free PM], or multi-sports and a plethora of choice that includes cycling, fitness/gym, tennis [clay and hard courts], swimming [in-door heated or at the beach] as well as the [optional] hedonistic extra of a Spa and Well-Being visit – because you’re worth it, bien sûr!
See the example programme contents below for a model programme of each of the two tours.
In the evenings you can enjoy a gentle stroll along the esplanade and round the impressive marina on route to the vast array of restaurants that lay in wait to help you replenish some of those calories you have enjoyed so much losing during the day. So give the casino and Sunday tourist markets a very wide berth, and enjoy ‘La Grande Motte- Good Life’ at a pace, to suit you.
Prices based on two customers sharing a double or twin-bedded room
LGM-Golf
- High Season:
4th July 2023 to 4th September 2023
• Pro-level, handicap 35: 965.00 Pounds Sterling or 1200.00 Euros per person
• Green-card level: 895.00 Pounds Sterling or 1050.00 Euros per person - Low Season:
Jan 1st to 3rd July 2023 and 5th September to end December 2023
• Pro-level, handicap 35: 810.00 Pounds Sterling or 950.00 Euros per person
• Green-card level: 775.00 Pounds Sterling or 895.00 Euros per person
LGM-Fitness
• 775.00 Pounds Sterling or 895.00 Euros per person
• 715.00 Pounds Sterling or 840.00 Euros per person
- Experience the good life on the French Mediterranean’s health and fitness resort par excellence, comprising 20 kms of pedestrian walkways and 7 kms of sandy beaches.
- Half-day, short walking/jogging/running circuits and distances to suit you, with PM options according to your own interests.
- Florida-style freeways right here in France on the 18-hole Executive [Green Card] or International [Handicap 35] courses.
- Multi-sport package includes cycling, fitness/gym, tennis [synthetic courts], swimming [in-door heated or at the beach] with Spa and Well-Being option or half-day cruise.
- 4-night, self-guided, single-centre programme
- Commence your trip any day you want, all year round.
- Gentle, leisurely half-day walks aimed at anyone who wishes to improve fitness and stamina levels
- Choose from Golf or Multi-sports programme: two rounds of 18-hole golf or three half-day sports of your choice
- Four-star Golf hotel or four-star marina hotel options
- Why not combine this tour with our nearby inn-to-inn and light 4-night Hiking in Camargue trip? The perfect complement.
- What’s Included in LGM-Golf
• 4 nights bed and full buffet breakfast in your four-star golf hotel and all local taxes
• 2 rounds of golf at the appropriate level – Green Card [Seagull] or Pro [Pink Flamingo]
• 6 clubs and a hand-pulled caddie
• Bike rental for an afternoon**
• Comprehensive tour dossier, maps/plans of LGM walking circuits
• Return taxi transfer*
• Telephone helpline with 7/7 native-English speaking back up
What’s NOT Included in LGM-Golf
· Dinners and lunches
· Golf balls and other golf-related equipment
· Personal expenses
· Entry to any other events or venues
· Health, Travel and activity-related insurance
· Single rooms unless booked at single rate
* Please note that out-of-hours and Sunday transfers are subject to a each-way supplement of 25 euros
** A deposit may be required and lost locks/keys incur a cost of 20 euros
- What’s Included in LGM-Fitness
•4 nights bed and full buffet breakfast in your four-star marina-located hotel and all local taxes
•Bike rental for up to two afternoons
•One game of tennis, incl. loan of equipment
•One visit to the private health and fitness centre with in-door pool, gym/weight-training room, sauna and steam room
•Comprehensive tour dossier, maps/plans of LGM walking circuits
•Return taxi transfer*
•Telephone helpline with 7/7 native-English speaking back up
What’s NOT Included in LGM-Fitness
· Dinners and all lunches
· Spa-Well-being treatments
· Personal expenses
· Entry to any other events or venues
· Health, Travel and activity-related insurance
· Single rooms unless booked at single rate
* Please note that out-of-hours and Sunday transfers are subject to a each-way supplement of 25 euros
** A deposit may be required and lost locks/keys incur a cost of 20 euros
- Fine four-star hotels.
- The Golf hotel lies is contiguous with the golf course and you stay in Superior Rooms. The hotel boasts a fine restaurant and an open-air swimming pool that is not heated.
- Our Fitness hotel lies on La Grande Motte’s marina and all rooms have a marina/sea view. The hotel has a fine heated swimming pool and first-class facilities. It is located in an area renowned for fine restaurants and boutiques.
- Each hotel provides a full buffet breakfast of the sort that sustains you through until dinner time!
- By Plane
Fly into Montpellier Méditerranée Airport (MPL), 17km away. You are collected by taxi and transferred to your 4-star hotel.
There are quite a few (low-cost) airlines serving Montpellier, including Air France to Paris, Lyon and Corsica, Ryanair to Brussels, London-Stansted, Bristol and Frankfurt-Hahn, Easyjet to London and Transavia to Amsterdam.
Alternatively you can fly into Nimes – Arles – Camargue international airport, which is 53km away and take a taxi from there for a supplement – please enquire. Ryanair serves London, Liverpool and Brussels from Nimes.
- By Train
Take the train (High speed/ TGV ) from Paris or Lille in approx 5 hours to arrive at Montpellier railway station. You are collected by taxi and transferred to your 4-star hotel.
Customers recommend RailEurope.com for research and ticketing
- temperate climate, with an average temperature of 23 °C between April and October.
- Hottest time is between June and early September when highs normally are around 30 °C on most days, with warm night and plenty of sunshine.
- Winters last from December to February but it’s usually mild with 10 to 12 °C during they day and rarely frost at night due to moderating sea influences.
LGM-Golf: Model Programme.
Day 1: Arrival in LGM by taxi from either Montpellier [SNCF/airport] or Aigues-Mortes [the finish of our Hiking in Camargue tour]. Take a dip in the open-air pool and acquaint yourself with the contiguous golf course.
AM: walk the BIG CIRCUIT
[7½ miles-12 kms, 2½ hrs]
Explore the periphery of the town which takes in the trail alongside the Vidurle river, Ponant Bridge, the main Promenade de la Mer and dunes, the Marina and much more.
PM: Tee off on the 18 hole, par 58 and 4000 metre Seagull Executive course which is quite a technical circuit, with grass bunkers, that takes around two-and-a-half hours. Then relax in the comfortable clubhouse.
AM: in the footsteps of Balladur
[5½ miles-9 kms, 2 hrs]
Walk between Sea and Lagoon, round the almost island of Ponnat and then take in the Architectural splendours of LGM’s inner sanctum.
PM: Tee off on the 18 hole, par 72 and 6400 metre Pink Flamingo Pro-International course which boasts fast greens, numerous water hazards and white sand bunkers. The circuit takes between four and five hours. Then it’s back to the welcoming comfort of the clubhouse.
The ‘Feminine’ part of town – architecturally speaking! [4½ miles-7½ kms, 1½ hrs]
AM: A short cycle over to the west end, park up and enjoy a stroll through the Parks and around the curved pyramids.
PM: Whatever takes your fancy
Free time to explore whatever you like in and around the town. Not technically included in the programme, but we can book whatever you fancy and you pay in cash on the day.
Day 5: Departure day from your La Grande Motte experience – breakfast and onward journey by taxi to Montpellier. Bon retour et a la prochain!
LGM-Multi-Sport: Model Programme
Day 1: Arrival in LGM by taxi from either Montpellier [SNCF/airport] or Aigues-Mortes [the finish of our Hiking in Camargue tour]. Take a dip in the open-air pool and acquaint yourself with the hotel and marina.
AM: walk the BIG CIRCUIT
[7½ miles-12 kms, 2½ hrs]
Explore the periphery of the town which takes in the trail alongside the Vidurle river, Ponant Bridge, the main Promenade de la Mer and dunes, the Marina and much more.
PM: Le Grau du Roi or Tennis
Choice of two options: either enjoy an hour’s tennis or cycle eastwards from the department of l’Herault over the Vidrule to neighbouring Gard and onto the nearby fishing village with swiveling bridge, beaches and lighthouse [9 miles-15 kms].
AM: in the footsteps of Balladur
[5½ miles-9 kms, 2 hrs]
Walk between Sea and Lagoon, round the almost island of Ponnat and then take in the Architectural splendours of La Grande Motte’s inner sanctum.
PM: Swimming [beach or indoor pool in a local private club] or gym/weight training and sauna/steam.
Optional Spa and Well-being treatment by appointment only.
The ‘Feminine’ part of town – architecturally speaking! [4½ miles-7½ kms, 1½ hrs]
AM: A short cycle over to the west end, park up and enjoy a stroll through the Parks and around the curved pyramids.
PM: Cycling westwards onto the fishing port of Carnon and back. {approx 9 miles-15 kms]
Day 5: Departure day – breakfast and onward journey by taxi to Montpellier. Bon retour et a la prochain!
Further Reading
Read our articles on:
Independent testimonials about The Enlightened Traveller can be read here:
Click to see our full range of short walks in France