Anyone Hike the Calenques??

[kimanjo]

Acitve DH and I want to hike some of the Calenques...

 

Have been reading bits and pieces from TripAdvisor and other places..

 

Looking for a short, concise how-to from Marseilles port.

 

And for advise as to 3 or 4 hour hike, must see-must do...

 

Thanks so much!!

[epixx]

We did investigate this possibility for our visit in on a Sunday in August, but we decided against it. Our reasons for skipping it, which might not be relevant to you, are that (1) public transportation options are very limited on Sunday and (2) even if we could work out the transportation obstacles, there's a substantial chance that in August the trails will either be closed entirely or time-limited to 11:00 am due to potential fire risk from the mistral. Rental car is not an option on Sunday.

 

The best information we could find about logistics is here:

 

http://www.marvellous-provence.com/other-places/sights-and-attractions/calanques/cassis

 

The trailhead for the first of the Calanques, Port Miou, is located right at the western edge of the town of Cassis.

 

The choices for transportation seem to include:

1. taxi. Most expensive. Easy to find at Marseille port; may be quite difficult to find in Cassis, especially on Sunday.

2. train. Inexpensive, short trip, with reasonable frequency, even on Sunday. Cassis train station located a looooooong way up the hill (4km) from the trailhead to the Calanques.

3. bus. http://www.nap-tourisme.fr/lignes-regulieres/ Inexpensive. Longer trip than train, but bus terminal in Cassis is right in town and therefore much closer to trailhead. Limiting factor: no workable return schedule on Sunday for Cassis to Marseille.

 

Status of trails for the following day will be published by 6 pm the previous day here:

 

http://www.paca.gouv.fr/files/massif/

 

Good luck.

 

If you decide to do this, please post back with a report of your excursion.

[kimanjo]

I too, have found those sites.

 

We are in port on Monday, so at least it being a weekday we have that in our favor.

 

Take the bus from Marseille to Cassis.

 

Tourist office to pick up a map.

 

I think I read the start of the trails is near the University??

 

After that, in a perfect world, DH and I would start out and plan on a 3 ish mile hike. I do not know how frequent the calanques are. 1 mile apart, 1/2 mile??

 

Is the beginning of the hike easier, and it gets progessivly harder??

 

Can you hike down to one of the little "beaches" in the first few miles??

 

These are questions I cannot seem to find answers to...

[summergirlinWI]

I would love to know too as they look like a great place to hike and the ones closest to Cassis seem to be the most interesting.