Hiking at Les Calanques

A few posts ago, Sophie described a day of kayaking in southern France and how to do it. It looked too good to pass up, so my friends and I took the detour.

But when we got there, the weather was not kayak-able... Or, they wouldn't let us. For two days! So we found other things to do. One of the things was an unexpected killer hike along the coast. I will explain.

There is a beautiful beach along these coasts that we saw in postcards on the first day we were there. You can only reach it by water (weather permitting) or by hiking. So we laced up our hiking boots and headed out.

I don't think any of us expected the experience we got. The farther we hiked, the more beautiful the water got. Seriously, don't judge Les Calanques based on the first inlet called Port-Miou. It's not very impressive, but it gets 10X better.

Also, the farther we hiked, the more intense the hike became. We didn't really expect that.

 
It got to a point where I said out loud "what in the world--we are supposed to be hiking down to the beach." But this hike is gorgeous. Towards the top, you keep getting glimpses of the amazing beach you're headed toward, and your anticipation grows.

It is a fair trail until you turn left and go down an intense decline. As long as you expect to slide on this loose rock, you should be fine. It's just like walking downhill in the snow. 

I'm sort of kidding.

Anyway, you round a corner in the last stretch, and the amazing beach called Calanque d'en Vau lies before you. Cliff jumping galore, and a lot of sport climbing as well. The water is cold as the Pacific Coast, but you become numb after a while and you can't even feel the temperature.

Anyway, the beach town of Cassis and all the beaches around it is worth a look see. And it's not very crowded like Nice or Lake Annecy.

Access: Take a train or bus to Montreaux, and a train to Cassis for 4.50 Euro. From the station, a bus will go into town for 80 cents. Ask the tourist office at the dock for a map to Port-Miou. It's about a 30 minute hike. 

Sophie already explained how to get kayaks set up, and I strongly recommend kayaking. But if it doesn't work out and you choose to hike: walk along the right side of the inlet along the trail. You'll come across an obvious hiking trail with blue markers headed off toward the West. 

Follow this trail up and down to the second beach. Then pass that beach and head back up on the other side. Keep following the blue trail even when all hope seems lost. Then, you'll reach a four-way intersection at the top. You turn left onto another trail with red markers as well.

This trail goes down a steep decline, flattens out, and curves around a corner to the beach. On the way back, you can take a shorter route by going straight at that four-way intersection back towards Port Miou.

Thanks for the idea, Sophie!

PS, we eventually did get to kayak.