Steam Festival on the Somme

The Somme is not just about war and slaughter – the Baie de la Somme where the river meets the English Channel is a bird-watchers paradise with the Réserve naturelle de la Baie de Somme offering plenty of opportunities for bird watching, leisurely walks and cycling.

The riverside town of St Valéry-sur-Somme (80 Somme, (Hauts de France) is a pleasant place to stop with its riverside boardwalk up to the estuary, old fishermans’ cottages. medieval tower and battlements with links to Joan of Arc. It is also the port from which William the Conqueror departed for England in 1066!

Every April there is a Festival of Birds and Nature (fête de l’oiseau et de la Nature)

St Valéry-sur-Somme is also one terminus for the small steam railway which runs around the bay to Le Crotoy and Cayeux-sur-Mer via Noyelles-sur-Mer- the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme (CFBS).

Every 3 years there is a Steam Festival at Noyelles-sur-Mer.

See historic engines and carriages – take a ride on a steam train around the bay – getting closer to the wildlife than you would by car – visit the workshops and go to the market!

For more info see http://www.fetevapeur.fr/

For more on St Valery-sur-Somme

Somme Tourist Office

By Train TGV from London with Rail Europe