Les Hortillonnages
Just minutes from the city centre, the Hortillonnages are a labyrinth of market gardens threaded by 65 kilometres of narrow channels called rieux, worked by boat-farmers since the Middle Ages. Punting through this green maze on a traditional flat-bottomed boat is one of the most quietly magical experiences in northern France.
Gardens that float on the Somme
The Hortillonnages cover roughly 300 hectares of alluvial islands between the Somme and the Canal du Centre-Ville. Market gardeners — the hortillons — have grown vegetables, herbs and flowers here since Gallo-Roman times, ferrying their produce to market by punt. Today around 1,000 individual plots are still tended privately, and the patchwork of leeks, pumpkins, dahlias and willows changes colour with every season.
You can hire a guided electric punt from the Association pour la Sauvegarde des Hortillonnages, departing from Chemin du Halage near Rue Voiture, for about €7 per adult. The 45-minute circuit winds past wooden landing stages, vegetable plots and the occasional heron standing perfectly still in the reeds.
Art, festivals and seasonal highlights
Every September the Hortillonnages host 'Art dans les Jardins', an outdoor contemporary art trail where sculptures and installations are dotted across the islands — you reach them by punt and on foot. It's free to wander and consistently surprising.
Spring and early summer are the most photogenic seasons: the channels are lined with irises and the plots glow with young growth. Autumn brings extraordinary colours as the willows turn gold and the pumpkin harvest piles up on the wooden jetties. Wear flat shoes — the paths between plots are narrow earth tracks.
The departure point is about 1.5 km east of the cathedral. From the city centre, follow Rue de la République east and turn onto Chemin du Halage; there is no reliable bus, so walk or cycle.
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