The dovecotes of Murviel-lès-Béziers

The route is dotted with several dovecote towers, one of the distinctive features of the commune of Murviel-lès-Béziers.

Details

2581
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.25 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 140 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 136 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 133 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 37 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Yellow and/or blue markings

Start at the caravan park car park, near the paintball course, Route de Réals.

(S/E) Take the tarmac road on the left. Pass a first and then a second road on your left and continue straight ahead. View of a crenellated dovecote.

(1) Cross the Rieutort ford and reach the Yvernès dovecote. Continue along the path to the crossroads and take Chemin de Veyran on the right.

(2) After two bends, turn left between the vineyards and then climb up the path on the right to a place called Le Ministre. There is an old wash house on the left under an almond tree. Reach a hamlet, cross it and arrive at a road.

(3) Turn right immediately and keep left at the three-way junction. After passing under the high-voltage power line, ignore the path on the left leading to the ruins of an old farmhouse with a dovecote and turn right at the imposing stone wall marking the boundary of a vineyard.

(4) 200 metres further on, turn left onto the path. Ignore the paths branching off to the left and then to the right and continue until you reach the junction with a tarmac road.

(5) Turn right.

(6) After about 800 metres, before the high-voltage power line, turn left onto a downhill path.

(7) At the crossroads, continue straight ahead to cross the Rieutort river (using the stepping stones). Then go up the tarmac road for 450 m to reach an intersection.

(8) Turn left to go around Villenouvette hill. The road turns several times to the right and left until you reach another intersection.

(9) Take the road on the left to return to the starting point (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 40 m - Caravan parking area.
  2. 1 : km 0.93 - alt. 37 m - Ford on the Rieutord
  3. 2 : km 1.9 - alt. 65 m - Fork in the road
  4. 3 : km 2.78 - alt. 110 m - Road
  5. 4 : km 3.51 - alt. 132 m - Fork in the road
  6. 5 : km 4.46 - alt. 105 m - Tarmac road junction
  7. 6 : km 5.21 - alt. 92 m - Path on the left
  8. 7 : km 6.23 - alt. 62 m - Fork in the road
  9. 8 : km 6.98 - alt. 71 m - Fork in the road
  10. 9 : km 8.9 - alt. 58 m - Fork in the road
  11. S/E : km 9.25 - alt. 43 m - Caravan parking area.

Notes

Take care in wet weather! You will need to cross fords.

Worth a visit

Church of Murviel-les-Béziers.
Priory of Saint-Server, near Veyran.

Reviews and comments

4.1 / 5
Based on 52 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.1 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5
Route interest
4.1 / 5
etchebes
etchebes

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 28, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely route, well signposted.
Just one tricky ford on the way back due to the high water level in the stream.

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Fernandez Benjamin
Fernandez Benjamin

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 03, 2026
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Very good for a winter hike. At point 3, slightly modify the route to avoid disturbing people.
At the Rieutor crossing after point 6, it is impossible to cross safely due to flooding. So we went to visit Murviel les Béziers instead. There are actually two PR trails: the Pigeonniers trail and the Pech Belet trail. To do these hikes, just follow the yellow PR markings. Thank you for the suggestion. Enjoy your hikes.

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Fredtrek
Fredtrek
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 18, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Nice hike, pleasant and not difficult. Enjoyable.

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DEMOULIN
DEMOULIN

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 29, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

I really enjoyed this first hike guided by Visio Rando

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Cath4134
Cath4134

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 21, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant walk. However, the description needs to be expanded on 2 points:
- Between points 6 and 7, some details are missing, in particular the fact that at one point you take a very small path to the right.
The change of direction is not announced.

- At point 9, the route back to the starting point is not described. We had to follow the busy secondary road to get back.

Subject to these 2 reservations, it was a very nice walk.

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minanos
minanos

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 06, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A varied route with several points of interest. Not necessarily popular in winter.

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HADELINE
HADELINE

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 25, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

This is a lovely walk with no difficulties and well signposted. The pigeon lofts are the "plus" of the walk. One has been really well restored. Be careful when it's hot, there's no shade. Well worth doing!

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guglielmina
guglielmina

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 25, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

pleasant, well-marked walk

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Chlebegue
Chlebegue

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 07, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Some of the signposts are quite difficult to find, especially if you choose to do the route in reverse. The diversions via the prieiré de Veyran is well worth it (the minister).
Despite the high-voltage lines, the landscape of the Monts d'Orb is superb. Dolmage quil yai qu'un sel pigeonnier restauré celui d'Yvernès; la aussi arrêt indispensable

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Noëlle Muller
Noëlle Muller
• Edited:

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 06, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very nice walk, we saw the Yvernes mill. We went as far as the Hameau de Veyran to admire the priory and had a picnic.
To be repeated.

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nono342865
nono342865

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 05, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

blue and yellow route sometimes you have to look hard because it's not always well indicated, especially in the hamlet of ministre

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dj34450
dj34450

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 16, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The landmarks on the ground are quite similar to each other: vines, walls, etc. Dovecotes are not always easy to find, as there are few people on the spot to provide information... We had to grope our way around more than once...!
As for the printed map, the stage numbers sometimes hide the route and can be annoying.
All in all, we had a very pleasant time.

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randonnée34
randonnée34

Overall rating : 2.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 21, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : Yes

We didn't have a GPS and as the marks on the route are sometimes too few, we didn't find the washhouse at a place called le MINISTRE.de plus après le point8 nous avons perdu beaucoup de temps à trouver notre chemin par manque de marques BLEUES.un seul pigeonnier d'accès facile, pour les autres, il faut aller à travers champ.Pourquoi ne pas aller jusqu'à VEYRAN?

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Graviys
Graviys

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 24, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Only part of this walk was done, but my 6 year old son loved the fords with his feet in the water.

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coquelicolette
coquelicolette

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 16, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

we went as far as VEYRAN which is only 2 km from the circuit, by a path through the vines.
In Veyran there is a tap for drinking water and a picnic table, and there is a beautiful old priory - it's well worth the detour.

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