Exploring & Activities

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Saint-Chinian, 27km north west of Beziers, is a bustling village dating back to the founding of a monastery here in 825, and situated at the foothills of the Cevennes.

The village prospered with the monastery, surviving the Cathar Crusade (1209 - 1229) relatively unscathed, and emerging in the 18th and 19th centuries as a centre for the manufacture of cloth. Since the 19th century, the village has concentrated on wine production, and now it is perhaps best known for this.

Saint Chinian is much more than just one small town, it is in fact twenty communes and a wine region with its own appellation, producing mainly red and rosé wine. The vines grow on hill sides facing the sea at an altitude of between 100-200m.   During the French revolution the abbey of St Chinian was dissolved and its buildings put to new uses. The former abbey church is now the village hall, which hosts anything from exhibitions to villages dances. You can see what remains of what was once the cloisters behind the hall. During the summer months there are fetes to enjoy.  In Saint Chinian you will find the following amenities.  

Small Spar supermarket, Pharmacy, Doctor

2 Bars (food available), 2 Restaurants

Boulangers, Boucherie

Market Thursday & Sunday

Intermarche supermarket on the outskirts.

Tourist Information

Many Vendeur de Vin & Cave

The wines from our village of Pierrerue come under the Appellation of St.Chinian one of the best wine producing areas of the Languedeoc.

Until the latter part of the 20th century the Languedoc region was known as the “wine lake of Europe” producing enormous quantities of poor quality wine, mainly in the hands of very large co-operatives, where local growers would take their grapes for the wine to be made.

Things changed, particularly in the 1990s when young growers,well educated in the art of viticulture, took over from their parents and decided to make their own wine, looking for quality and not quantity and making particular use of the old vines which, although producing small quantities of grapes, made very high quality wine.

There are many such growers in St. Chinian now making great wines, known the world over and you will have the opportunity to visit them and sample their wines.  A short walk from the gite in our village is Domaine la Croix Sainte Eulalie which produces excellent wines and a tasting of their wines can be arranged.  We can also recommend other growers in the area,

There is also the Maison du Vin where you can taste a range of local St. Chinian wines.

We hope you enjoy our local wines as much as we do.

Both road cycling and VTT are very popular in Saint-Chinian, and the Langudoc region in general is a haven for cyclists, with several trails on and off road. If you would like to use your own bike we have space to house them in our secure garage.

The Tour de France is a regular visitor every few years. There are also lots of other races throughout the year.  Mountain biking in the National Park is very popular. Just find one of the many local tables d’orientation, and follow the trails which are graded according to ability.

We have a small selection of spare tubes and cables in addition to bike tools and a bike stand.  
We can also provide information on local routes we have experienced.

Bikes including, VTT, road and electric bikes can be hired locally.

Herault has over 20 Mediterranean Sea beaches all offering something different.  The nearest sea beaches are approximately 40 minutes away from Combejean, these are Valras Plage, Vias, Vendres, Serignan, Portiragnes. Additionally we are lucky to have lovely river swimming in our own garden and river beaches at Cessenon sur Orb 10 minutes away and Roquebrun 20 minutes away.  Slightly further away are the Gorges d’Héric and Pont du Diable/Devils Bridge. 

There are many places to walk in the area, some starting from Gite Florence’s front door. 

We are also on the outskirts of the National Park, with it's many routes.  The Pays Haut Languedoc et Vignobles, a federation of local councils, publishes a collection of 73 marked walks, which are available from the tourist office in Saint-Chinian.

10 minutes from us is Cessenon Sur Orb on the Orb river.   Here you can wild swim and from Reals you can hire a canoe or at Roquebrun 20 minutes by car,  you can also wild swim and hire a canoe to paddle down the Orb.  You could even cool down in the Vernezobre river that runs along the gite garden.