teaberry

During my trip to Provence this April, am considering driving to one of several parking lots above and not far from Les Calanques, and taking a hike in to see one of the calanques. In the Green Guide to Provence, under Calanques, they show that there are several paths available to hikers. I'm not interested in the Grand Randonee hiking route, just one of these shorter ones. Has anyone out there ever ventured on one of these paths?

teaberry

anyone?

teaberry

ttt, one last try

kappa

I have done the followings in last two years :
Sugiton (twice)
Morgiou
Port Pin
Port-Millou
Callelongue

I also took once a boat from Cassis to view above from the water.

I will do En-Vau and maybe Morgiou again on April.

Frioul island also has calanques although less impressive but greta view neverthless over all.

I have to leave now for lunch but will come back later. Will be happy to answer specific questions, if I can, then.

teaberry

Thank you, kappa.

Was wondering - if you could pick the most beautiful, worthwhile hike to do, which would it be? Which was your favorite? Which hike was the hardest? The easiest? Are the trails well-marked? Very steep? Easy to find from the parking lots?

I appreciate any input you may provide - there seems to be very little information out there about hiking this area. I wrote to the cassis tourist board, but not much information from them.. Was hoping to tap on the wisdom and experience of fellow travelers.

Thanks again.

kappa

Hi Tea,
First of all, a correction : Port-Milliou > Port-Miou

I can tell you the following. Background, I may not be the fittest person but fairly sporty and found none of above calanques walks really challenging. And I did them all without particular hiking gear. I wear mid-high basket shoes. Come to think of it, I always do alps hiking trails with such shoes.

Sugiton : My first calanque. I think I fell in love with calanque then. Parking Luminy (near university)is reached in 20 min from Marseille center. Leave the parking and walk for about 45 minutes to reach the water level. There are a longer/easier route and a steeper/quicker route. Even steeper one is not that hard. I did both. Before taking the path going down, you can take another path to your left that leads to Bellevue Observatory. You can't miss it when you are there. From there the view over Sugiton - Cap Canaille is apectacular. I loved it even though I'm a bit afraid of hight. You can see Morgiou on the other side of the observatory.

At the end of Sugiton, there is a nudist beach. a person sunbathig died there a fee weeks ago hit by a big rock that fell on him.

Morgiou
Parking Baumettes (20 min from Marseille center). The first 30 minutes is not very interesting, not much to see and sometime steep and winding road. The path to Cap de Morgiou starts at the hight of the pass (forgot the name) and takes about 45 minutes. Some times flat, but more steeper roads than Sugiton. You may be able to cross the pass mentioned above and drive down to the small port village of Morgiou but that may be limited only to the locals with licence. I'm not sure.

Callelongue
Closest from Marseille, easy walk.

The followings are easily accecible from Cassis.
Port-Miou (30 minute walk from Cassis)
Port-Pin (after Port-Miou, 30 minuet more walk)
En-Vau (after Port-Pin, perhapas 45 five minutes more). Looking forward to be there in April. Many seem to say this is the best of all Calanques. I'll see. Have seen it already from the boat.

I liked all of them. Each has it own charm but if I have to choose, I will say Sugiton or Morgiou. Maybe I will find En-Vau the best of all in April.

Easiest : Port-Miou.

Hardest (relatively): Morgiou.

Where will you be based ? Both Marseille and Cassis have a tourist office and they provided me with good informations on calanques walks.

Take a look at some photos I made while visiting Sugiton last December. On some photos, you can see water blown up like smoke by Mistral wind, that was blowing incredibly hard and constantly, it was really hard walking and have a steady hand to take photos.

http://photobucket.com/albums/c294/k...%20Dec%202005/

I will be back in a few hours so if you have more questions, please do post.

macanimals

Kappa--great photos and thanks for sharing all your excellent information. Now I can understand the attraction of the area. Paul

teaberry

kappa -

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences - your information is invaluable for me, and your pictures are amazing - the rock formations and color contrasts just fantastic!

We will be staying in Lourmarin for 1 week, and, needless to say, there are endless possibilities on the "menu". All the pictures I have seen of the calanques look sooo pretty, and your pictures have only confirmed that. That mistral wind does some incredible things on the water - I wonder if the wind was responsible for blowing over the rock that hit the bather?

I'm glad to hear that the hikes aren't too challenging, as my husband and I love to hike, but we can't do the steep climbs as well as we once did. I will be there during Easter week, so when I get back maybe we can compare notes.

So kind of you for answering every one of my questions (I know there were a lot). Your answers are so complete, and helpful.

With my appreciation,
Tea

Oh, by the way, would you happen to know how warm it might be along the coast for that time of year?

kappa

Tea, you are very welcome.

This April will be the first time I hike on the calanques in springtime. So far, I have been there in summer and in winter and found the weather very hot in summer (yet bearable) to rather mild in winter. So I just suppose it will be mild to warm in April. I heard somewhere Marseille area has the most sun shine time a year of all France. Don't know about statistics but among about 10 times I did calanques, only once I got rained briefly. Most of the times, it was sunny and even when the mistral blew so strong, sunny landscape was breathtakingly beautiful.

I will not have internet access regularly for 3 weeks from now (leaving on a trip)so I wish you a happy travel planning. Perhaps I will check some time later to see if there are new posts.

Thank you for your kind words, Tea and Macanimals, about my photos.

benjinho

En Vau is the best one. Lovely calanque.
Hike #2 would be Cap Morgiou, shorter but tougher.

teaberry

benjinho -

how tough was the hike in to En Vau? And do you remember where you parked?

thanks, tea

benjinho

En Vau is not very tough. Main difficulty can be the heat but April will not be an issue. Another difficulty could be the wind, if the mistral blows, it can be be more tiring, but the good part being that windy days = very sunny days.
You have two ways to reach En Vau : either you drive from Marseille or Cassis up to Col de la Gardiole, where you can park (next to Col de la Gineste) and hike to the calanque. Another one, a bit tougher is to park on Cassis "Presqu'île" (or Bestouan) and walk to Port Miou, then Port Pin, then En Vau. Both hikes are around 1h45 to 2 hours. I have done the first one with my 5 years old boy. For the final part, you can either follow the GR98/51, with a tough way down or follow the green itinerary which is easier.

teaberry

thanks, benjinho, for all the details. Appreciate it.

btewalt

Thanks Teaberry for posting this question. I'm also planning on hiking in the area in April, but hadn't got past the "book the hotel" phase. Sounds like a lot of great hikes in the area. Maybe I will plan on spending a second night in Cassis.

lizkn

This probably will sound silly but I'll post it anyway...I spent my junior year abroad 20 years ago and did the usual bumming around Europe with Eurail pass. My three girlfriends and i got off the train at Cassis and secured lodging. We went on a hike from the village, had a great picnic, views etc etc. We enjoyed Cassis, eating in a restauarnt along the water/harbour, watching the fishing boats. Anyway, little did I know it would be one of the standout experiences of my trip - just something magical that I still remember.

Coincidentally, I am bringing my kids and husband there in June while on our 3 week ramble in France.It'll be a different experience but I am looking forward to seeing the area again.

Have fun and I guess don't feel the need to plan too much in this area.

btewalt

lizkn--
do you think 2 nights in Cassis would be too much? We'd really like to relax and go on some hikes.

lizkn

I would have no problem staying two nights and just relaxing and exploring the area, especially if yyou are going to do a nice hike.

btewalt

Thanks..I think we'll do that.

innash

Hi,

Thank you for the hiking routes around les Colanques. We are going to be there in November, do you think those routes are doable in November?

Ackislander

When our son was a student in Aix, he climbed (rock climbing, not hiking) in the calanques all winter, stopping only during mistral periods. So if you can climb then, you can walk then.