Beziers

Béziers is a town in southern France, in the Hérault department of Occitanie, built on a hill overlooking the Orb valley. Its historic centre is centred around Saint-Nazaire Cathedral, whose forecourt offers open views over the river and the Pont Vieux. The Allées Paul-Riquet, a broad plane tree-lined promenade, honours Pierre-Paul Riquet, a native of the town and designer of the Canal du Midi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nearby, the nine locks of Fonséranes are among the canal's most visited features. Béziers retains a strong winemaking identity, having long served as a key hub for the Languedoc wine trade, alongside a well-established rugby tradition upheld by the ASBH club. Each summer the town hosts a lively feria centred on bullfighting traditions. The Plateau des Poètes, a nineteenth-century English-style garden, adds to the green spaces within the town centre. With its Mediterranean climate and proximity to the coast, including Valras-Plage some twenty kilometres away, Béziers makes a convenient base for exploring both the wine-growing hinterland and the seaside.