This is one of the earliest inscriptions on the World Heritage List, and is defiantly deserving of its place, the outline of the island and the abbey that crown it are so well known that it felt like a really familiar place when I finally managed to visit it. I first saw the island some 12 years ago but I finally managed to ‘tick it off’ with a day trip on a glorious Saturday in April 2006.

The abbey on top is the main focal point and has evolved pretty much continuously from its founding by St Aubert in 708. It is actually quite a feat of engineering with later additions to the buildings using the foundations of the earlier incarnations as their support. In fact the rear of the abbey is called ‘la Merveillle’ (the marvel) due to the way its splendid gothic features perch on a fairly precarious position. The tour of the abbey starts in the cathedral at the very top and spirals down through the many levels and is very well laid out.

Le Grand Rue is the other part of the island and this is the main road up the abbey entrance, it is actually quite nice, however it is cluttered with overpriced restaurants and purveyors of tourist tat (if you desperately want a plastic Mont or a replica lord of the rings sword look no further!). It is worth ducking in to St Pierre’s chapel which is nicely decorated and has scallop shell motifs on the bénitier/ stoup highlighting it’s place on the route to Santiago de Compestella.

The tide (the bay has the second fastest tides in the world) was out when I visited so we were able to walk a lap around the base of the island, which gave a new perspective of the great walls on the town, which still has a population of 53 and is a member of the Organisation of World heritage Cities.

Despite this being the most visited site in France outside of Paris, it is actually quite a difficult place to get to on public transport as trains and buses are so infrequent they serve no practical purpose for a casual visitor (I discovered this the hard way on a failed attempt to visit in 2004). If you are looking for places to base yourself nearby you can’t go to wrong in St Malo, which is a great walled city about an hour West.

Mont Saint Michel is a great site, and if you can handle lots of tourists is a rewarding destination.