Mont Saint-Michel Beyond the Abbey

Visiting Mont Saint-Michel seriously feels like stepping into the pages of a fairytale. The tiny island, one of France’s UNESCO World Heritage sites, rises dramatically above its surroundings, with its impressive abbey and medieval village reaching 92 meters (302 feet) above the bay. The bay itself is vast, covering 250 square kilometers.

The tides at Mont Saint-Michel are the biggest in Europe and are a fascinating piece of the Mont Saint-Michel charm, dramatically changing the landscape in just a few hours.

The main attraction on the island is the abbey, which is perched atop the steep rock and dates back to the 1000s AD.

At low tide, you can walk on the sand around the island (access to the sandy bay is right by the entrance to the island), but you do need to be very careful – tides come in fast and there are patches of quicksand around the bay.

The areas right in front of the Mont are pretty safe for self-exploration if you are careful and pay attention to the tide schedule and your surroundings (and there were a lot of people out on the harder-packed sand), but I wouldn’t venture out farther by yourself, for sure. 

We thought going out farther into the bay sounded like fun, so we booked a bay walking tour and it was a highlight of our visit.

We walked far out around the Mont, even to the very far backside, walking through hard sand, soft sand, and even shallow pools of water. It was extremely cool to see Mont Saint-Michel from the backside, where a small forest sits under the abbey.

We learned about how the tides work, interesting features of the ecosystem, and more history of the Mont.

But the coolest part of the whole thing was the quicksand demonstration, where we learned how quicksand is formed, how you get trapped, why it’s impossible to get “swallowed” in quicksand, and how to get out.

Our group then actually made a quicksand pit together and everyone purposefully got themselves stuck in the sand. It was a crazy feeling – it really did feel like your legs were getting sucked down and in.

Getting out also was a really unique sensation, as you carefully removed your leg from the pull.

Note that the times for the tours are based on low tide schedules, so available times will be different every day. 

>>Book the bay + quicksand tour here

2. Bike Around Mont St Michel

Biking around Mont Saint-Michel was seriously one of my favorite activities of our visit, as it allowed us to explore and experience the views of the island from many vantage points. 

Some hotels or vacation rentals will offer bikes for guest use. You can also rent from Bike’inBaie, a bike rental center in the town of Beauvoir, the town that is the gateway to Mont Saint-Michel. This is what we did on our second day in Mont Saint-Michel.

Bike rates are very reasonable and you can rent mountain bikes, e-bikes, and child carriers, and all rentals come with helmets, bike locks, and water. You can make reservations online but we just showed up the day of and were on our way in minutes. I’d highly recommend them!

So, where to bike?

There is a long, paved bike path that runs parallel to the river and the main road to the Mont. This is a fantastic spot to bike or walk up to the Mont, and you have incredible views as you approach.

Eventually, the bike path will end and you’ll have to bike on the bridge. Be prepared to yield to buses – only shuttles and the occasional delivery truck or police car are allowed in, but it’s not hard to swing back and forth between biking in the left or right lane. 

Once you get to Mont Saint-Michel, there are bike racks inside the left gate and overflow around the gates. 

I loved the gorgeous scenery of this bike path – even if you are just walking up the Mont, I’d walk here instead of on the main road. You can see the location of this path here.

There are also numerous other walking/bike paths around the area and biking is a common way to get around. You can easily bike to all the spots on this list (which is what we did).

3. The Meanders

The Meanders is a charming viewpoint of Mont Saint-Michel where a tightly winding stream bed cuts through a field. This spot is all over social media and has become a popular viewpoint, for good reason – it is SO picturesque.

You can find the Meanders in a sheep field on the east side of the Mont. There is a fence, but you can just walk in – the field is open to visitors, just be respectful and close the gate.

If you are there early in the morning, you might get to see the herds of sheep being let out to graze – a whole herd of them came right by us while we were there!

4. The Dam

The dam, or “barrage” in French, of Mont Saint-Michel is about 2 km from the Mont and helps control the flow of water around the bay.

The dam is also designed to be a nice pedestrian bridge and even a hangout spot, with wooden flooring, steps to sit on, and nice wide pathways across.

The dam is easily accessible via the bike path or the main road that goes up to the Mont.

5. The Fields

The tide at Mont Saint-Michel moves remarkably fast, reaching speeds of up to 6 km/hr (4 mph), and the incoming tide wave can be as tall as a meter (3 feet) during the highest tides. In a single cycle, the water can retreat or advance up to 20 kilometers.

Although the most iconic views of Mont Saint-Michel show the island completely surrounded by shallow water, most of the time it actually is partially dry.

The biggest tides, high enough to turn MSM back into an island, are around the equinoxes (in spring and fall). In summer and winter, even at high tide, there is still a decent bit of dry land connecting the Mont to the mainland.

There are two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours, although the exact timing of the tides changes with the moon, with a high or low tide occurring ~every 6 hours.

You can check the exact timing of the tides online – it’s worth trying to catch the Mont at both high and low tides to see the difference!

7. Moulin de Moidrey

The Moulin de Moidrey is a historic windmill located just 5 km from Mont Saint-Michel. Once part of a landscape dotted with windmills, only a few remain today. What makes this windmill particularly special is that it’s still active, continuing to mill grain as it has for centuries.

You can take a tour of the mill portion for a small fee and purchase various flour types that have been milled here. It also offers nice views over the countryside.

8. Bonus! Les Nocturnes

Okay, this is back on the island, and in the abbey no less, but it’s very much an “off the beaten path” experience, so we’re including it as a bonus item on this list.

During the summer, the Mont Saint-Michel Abbey puts on “Les Nocturnes,” which is a nighttime light and sound show experience that is totally different from the daytime abbey tour.

You’ll go through the abbey in a different order and via some different passageways (and through a few different rooms) than the regular day tour. Some rooms are just lit with colored lights, but several rooms have music and lights that coordinate and do a little “show.”

I wouldn’t say that this is the most over-the-top light show I’ve seen, but it was also really cool to experience the abbey this way at night. 

The other advantage of Les Nocturnes is that there are far fewer visitors than during the daytime hours, and it’s a much more relaxed and chill experience. 

If you are visiting Mont Saint-Michel during summertime, I’d definitely recommend coming. I think doing both the regular day tour as well as the night experience is well worth it. 

Where to Stay When Visiting Mont Saint-Michel

On The Island

There are a few hotels on Mont Saint-Michel itself. This is a great option if you want the unique experience of staying on the UNESCO site and enjoying early mornings and late evenings when the crowds are blissfully low. 

Auberge Saint Pierre is one of the best historic hotels on the island and the one I’d recommend if you have your heart set on staying on-site.

In Beauvoir

However, we do think that the best experience of Mont Saint-Michel is looking at it, not being on it. Plus, the hotels on the island are more expensive, so it likely will make more sense to stay in the village of Beauvoir, the main artery to the Mont. 

While anywhere in a 15-20 minute radius of the Mont is a decent spot, there are a few cluster areas that are particularly good.