Mont Saint Michel Tide in Normandy 2023-2024
At one moment it's coastal, at another—an island in the open sea, cut off from the land with 15-meter high tide
Best time: all year round on selected dates
"A medieval capsule trapped by time and tide"—that's how Mont Saint Michel is described by poetic narrators, and honestly the site lives up to these words. A gothic-style monastery nestled 900 stair-steps atop of the mountain is named after Archangel Michael, and so is the mountain itself. Thanks to extremely high tides, rising water levels to 15 meters, the mountain lives a kind of double life. Imagine you see it surrounded by sea water some 600 meters off the land, and suddenly the water starts flowing away, and what was an island just recently is already a mountain stuck in shallow waters.
In the past, the site truly used to be a part of mainland until sea water level rose, and this eventually led to the erosion of the coast. So today Mont Saint Michel is united with the land with a causeway.
3 million visitors make use of this causeway to witness the gem of Normandy drowning and rising from sea water. This number is even more striking when to compare it with the number of islands' 50 full-time residents.
The natural wonder can be experienced monthly during a few days. Despite forecasted dates, remember that nature can never be 100 percent predictable, and it's too dangerous to roam in the bay without a certified guide. It particularly refers to spring tides, when the water flows 15 km away, and then comes back.
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