An outlook over Calanque de Sormiou,
the most spectacular swift trip from Marseille
Half-day
If you want to enjoy a nature getaway, guided by a professional, you can reach a spot with a beautiful view over Calanque de Sormiou, within 1hr 30 min from downtown Marseille, France’s second metropolis. Sormiou is one of the largest calanques¹, these steep-walled coves that beautify Provence’s coastline. This calanque is a natural amphitheater with white limestone cliffs as terrace seats, the sea as stage and the little harbour and its cottages as orchestra.
After 30 minutes walking from a South Marseille district, your local guide has led you into the heart of Calanques National Park. And a little further up, from a vantage point, you are wowed by the vista down on Calanque de Sormiou‘s turquoise waters: a cove as large as a fjord with a shore where are visible a tiny port and old fishermen’s cottages towered over by rocky headlands.
¹ calanque : a steep-walled cove of the sea coast
Walking time : 2 hours
Rating : leisurely (rugged terrain)
Season calendar : year-round (summer : 8am – 11am only, not allowed on fire risk days)
Come & discover autumn’s late bloomers
Half-day
In nature, climate is one of the different components of an ecosystem. This botanical walk is an opportunity to get to know some species of Mediterranean plants showing their flowers or fruits at the end of the year in Calanques National Park. You can see especially the strawberry tree whose little white bells and red berries embellish. You can also observe the so-called ‘garrigue’, the evergreen shrubby vegetation of the area. Moreover, the trail will offer you the pleasure of admiring Calanque de Sugiton from the clifftop of Falaise des Toits, more than 200 meters above the sea.
In November and December only to be able to watch fruits and flowers, a season when you can enjoy the unique Provence light at its best.
Walking time : 3 hours
Rating : leisurely (rugged terrain)
Season calendar : 11/1 – 12/31
The ‘Esprit parc national’ brand has been attributed to this guided walk by the Calanques National Park.
The calanques of Port-Pin & Port-Miou,
hidden gems from the fishing port of Cassis
Half-day
Rich in cultural and natural heritage, this picturesque, moderate footpath allows you to quickly get to the two most easterly of all calanques. The hike is an ideal cocktail to discover the peculiarities of Calanques National Park, while getting fond of the beauty of Provence seascapes.
With your local guide, you start the hike from the colorful fishing port of Cassis, famous for the high towering cliffs of Cap Canaille. And you reach the pebbly beach at Calanque de Port-Pin, an exquisite cove surrounded by pine trees. On your way back, you walk along the marina where 200 sailboats moor in the Calanque de Port Miou, the longest of all calanques.
Walking time : 3 hours
Rating : moderate (rugged terrain)
Season calendar : year-round (summer : 8am – 11am only, not allowed on fire risk days)
An amazing outlook over Calanque d’En-Vau,
the crown jewel of Marseille’s coves!
Half-day
Walking is the only way to get access to the different viewpoints over Calanque d’En-Vau. And you reach your goal after 1.5 hour from the trailhead in Cassis near Calanque de Port-Miou. From the clifftop, you need then a fair amount of time to fully relish the striking scenery that takes your breath away. Just opposite, the limestone faces, worldwide famous for climbing, tower 350 feet high above the sea. And the intensity of the various shades of blues in water looks somewhat unnatural.
After an interpretation of the geological origins of these calanques by your guide, you admire later, en route to Cassis, the beauty of the two other ones: calanques of Port-Pin and Port-Miou. Considering their respective names, only the second one is a port: a pretty marina bobbing with 200 sailboats. Port-Pin is a cove that is surrounded by pine trees, as its name suggests, and is dedicated to hikers, swimmers and climbers.
Walking time : 3.5 hours
Rating : moderate (rugged terrain)
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/15 & 9/15 – 12/31
Outlooks over Sormiou, Morgiou & Sugiton
Half-day or Full day
This nature walk takes you to several outstanding viewpoints of the 3 calanques from the heights overlooking the sea. So, you can explore the gorgeous calanques without long uphill hiking. Moderate walking that provides breathtaking scenery!
You first discover Calanque de Sormiou, the largest one, with fishermen cottages, small harbour and coves. Later, you take in your first vistas of Calanque de Morgiou, while walking on a scenic pathway. And finally, your local guide leads you to the most amazing lookout point. Located just above Morgiou, it offers views of Calanque de Sugiton, as well.
Walking time : 3.5 hours (point-to-point trail) or 4.5 hours (loop trail)
Rating : moderate (rugged terrain)
Season calendar : year-round (summer : morning only, not allowed on fire risk days)
The high biodiversity of the Calanques massif
Half Day or Full Day
This interpretive walk allows you to develop a deeper understanding of the great biodiversity that can be found in the Calanques National Park. Your hiking guide is knowledgeable about plants and wildlife. He can explain to you, among other things, the importance of the variety of habitats that exist in the Calanques massif; he shows you some of them, telling you what species of plants and animals live in these different natural homes. The hike is also a delightful experience along a very scenic trail, offering spectacular views of luminous landscapes in the heart of the Calanques National Park. In particular, you can see right down into Calanque de Sugiton from the clifftop.
Walking time : between 3 and 4.5 hours
Rating : moderate (rugged terrain)
Season calendar : year-round (summer : 8am – 11am only, not allowed on fire risk days)
Cap Canaille: the highest sea cliff in Europe
Full day
Along this trail, you hike in the part of coastline which is at the eastern end of Calanques National Park. The rocks and cliffs that you can see there, located between the tiny fishing town of Cassis and the harbour of La Ciotat, are very different from the rest of Calanques National Park.
Starting from the streets of this last town, you climb along a trail offering a view that encompasses the whole of the bay. And after crossing Route des Crêtes, the panoramic clifftop road, you quickly reach the top. From up there, overlooking the sea from a height of 1,300 feet, you can see in the distance the white limestone capes and cliffs of Massif des Calanques. As you walk northwest over the top of the cliff, the stunning views widen to the little port of Cassis, lying in an attractive setting.
Point-to-point hike.
Walking time : 4.5 hours
Rating : moderate
Season calendar : year-round (not allowed under strong wind and on fire risk days)
Calanque de Sugiton: a gem of a spot !
Full day
Do you want to embark on a thrilling adventure a stone’s throw away from South Marseille? Take this hiking tour to Calanque de Sugiton. Located in the heart of Calanques National Park, this jewel of nature is a cove towered by crags. A whole day is needed to get the full benefit of the site: when sitting on its little pebble beach or on a rock overlooking its turquoise waters, how hard it is to leave this place!
Along this hike, you first see Sugiton in the distance from a lookout atop the cliffs: scenery opens up to the bay and a series of capes. And what a breathtaking view over Calanque de Morgiou, you can enjoy, when looking the other way! You then walk down to the sea and take a closer look at Calanque de Sugiton‘s two little coves.
One of Provence’s nature treasures!
Walking time : 4.5 hours
Rating : moderate (rugged terrain)
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/15 & 9/15 – 12/31
Rochers du Bec de l’Aigle,
a fun hike on puddingstone rocks
Full day
Rochers du Bec de l’Aigle are some of the most spectacular peaks on the coast of Provence. These cliffs rocks, called puddingstone, are not made of the white limestone visible in the famous calanques, but sculpted in an orange brown and shaped by erosion. This hike starts from the town of La Ciotat, known for its beaches, pretty port and yacht refit shipyards.
Mugel Park and Calanque de Figuerolles are worth visiting before following the street up to Notre-Dame de la Garde chapel. Escorted by your local guide, you then enjoy a unique, scenic and exciting seaside traverse on these puddingstone rocks, off the beaten trails.
Walking time : 4.5 hours
Rating : challenging (rugged terrain, impressive sections)
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/15 & 9/15 – 12/31 (not allowed under strong wind conditions)
If you have a fear of heights, you had better choose another hike.
Mont Puget, Candelle & Chemin du Centaure
Full Day
If taking the route around Mont Puget, highest point of Calanques National Park, is rated challenging, you are rewarded with the most stunning views from different places. And most of the walk itself should be considered moderate.
Your local expert guide can be helpful in the few steep descents on the way. Halfway, near Grande Candelle, this stone-sentinel rising dramatically over the sea, you enjoy impressive scenery over cliffs, ridges, crags, capes and calanques, both towards the south-east and the south-west. And from Chemin du Centaure, the clifftop trail running back to the finish, you gaze west at the gorgeous landscape: the pine-cloaked hills overlooking the university campus and, in the distance, the Frioul Islands in the middle of the bay and the city of Marseille.
Walking time : 4.5 hours
Rating : challenging moderate (rugged terrain and a few steep sections)
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/15 & 9/15 – 12/31
The Frioul islands:
peaceful beauty just off the coast of Marseille
Full day
After jumping on a boat, you can travel from downtown Marseille to the Frioul archipelago within 20 minutes. Once landed, you explore the two largest islands, genuine and wild. They offer an outstanding heritage, both natural and cultural. And their microclimate makes their flora so specific: many plants that live there do not exist in other parts of the world, except on the stretch of coastline to the east of the Marseille Bay.
During this hike, your local guide also interprets the Frioul Islands‘ human legacy, a cultural heritage that is both military and sanitary. There was indeed a time when Pomègues and Ratonneau were the quarantine islands for France in the Mediterranean.
Walking time : 4 hours
Rating : leisurely
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/30 & 9/1 – 12/31
Calanque d’En-Vau, praised for rare beauty
Full day
Is it worth the effort to hike all the intense trail to get to Calanque d’En-Vau from Cassis? Definitely yes! The pay off is big. Because En-Vau is acclaimed for its brilliant-turquoise waters that are towered over by dramatic white cliffs: a nature paradise for both hikers and rock climbers! On this walking day in Calanques National Park, you can admire this Provence natural wonder from several lookout points: first, from the clifftops behind the calanque, then from the side, quite different, and from the beach, at the very bottom.
On your way back to the port of Cassis, your local walking guide offers you a chance to discover two other beautiful calanques: Port-Pin and Port-Miou. In the last one, you see a lovely natural marina where more than 200 sailboats moor.
In the end, the spectacular images seen during this hike will undoubtedly hold a special place among all those seen during your trip to the South of France! Because if many sceneries throughout the world look better in pictures than in real life, these calanques turn out to be even more amazing as they seem to be on screen or magazines!
Walking time : 4.5 hours
Rating : challenging (rugged terrain, scrambling)
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/15 & 9/15 – 12/31
Ascents & descents from Morgiou to Sugiton
Full Day
A classic hike, strenuous, but unrivalled for its seascapes, with two challenging upwards passages of scrambling. It provides many opportunities, on a sunny day, to enjoy the brilliant color contrasts so particular here: between the dark and turquoise blues of the sea, the bright blue of the sky, the varied green shades of plants and the white of cliffs and outcrops.
Your guide first leads you to the tiny harbour of Morgiou, with about one hundred cabanons, these pretty fishermen cottages. During your ascent, as you leave Morgiou, you discover beautiful views of the wide entrance to the calanque and of the small port in its narrowest part. You take a last glance back to Morgiou before, once beyond Cap Sugiton, become visible to the eye the high cliffs of Cap Canaille.
The small, pretty Calanque de Sugiton, with turquoise waters, then comes into view. It bursts upon the senses with very little warning ! This tiny cove is sheltered by very high cliffs and by gigantic crags, such as Grande Candelle, whose top reach 454 meters!
Walking time : 5 hours
Rating : challenging (rugged terrain and scrambling)
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/15 & 9/15 – 12/31
In the heart of the Calanques
Full Day
This large-scale hike favours the discovery of Calanques National Park‘s remarkable biodiversity and gorgeous landscapes. Your local guide will be pleased to show them to you.
Starting from a trailhead on the Carpiagne plateau, 10 miles from Marseille, a route through varied terrain leads you down to the sea. You reach the small, rocky beach of Calanque d’En-Vau, at the bottom of impressive cliffs. Later, you walk along the overhanging Devenson trail, more than 1,000 feet above the sea, enjoying outstanding views over En-Vau and four lesser-known calanques. As you walk further west, the Grande Candelle, this emblematic craggy summit of the Massif des Calanques, becomes more and more imposing and beautiful.
Walking time : 6 hours
Rating : medium-difficult (2,500 feet elevation gain, rock scrambles)
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/15 & 9/15 – 12/31
The ‘Esprit parc national’ brand has been attributed to this guided walk by the Calanques National Park.
Crossing the Calanques
and plunging into their wild beauty
Full Day
This one-day guided hike is unrivaled for its amazing sceneries: a long traverse, from the campus south of Marseille to the tiny fishing town of Cassis. Through Calanques National Park, you walk 12 miles over stony paths. During this adventure, you enjoy countless jaw-dropping views, from 3 successive levels: the shoreline, the clifftop, and, on the cliff side in between, the balcony trail. Within 7hr, with your local guide, you have the chance to explore the 5 most spectacular Provence’s calanques: Sormiou, Morgiou, Sugiton, En-Vau, Port-Pin and Port-Miou. Nothing more needs saying.
This scrambling hike requires intermediate-advanced hiking fitness.
Point-to-point hike.
Walking time : 6.5 hours
Rating : difficult (steep ascents/descents, rock scrambles)
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/15 & 9/15 – 12/31
The Côte Bleue, such a beautiful coastland !
Half-day
The twenty miles of coastline stretching west of Marseille is called Côte Bleue (Blue Coast) due to the colour of the sea. It is a preserved marine area called the Parc Régional Marin de la Côte Bleue. And it is also the area where the Chaine de l’Estaque, a dramatic range of limestone hills, meets the Mediterranean. Even if this massif is not elevated, its numerous escarpments and arid appearance give the landscape its unique features, particularly its beautiful inlets. The trail along the coast, called the Sentier du Douanier (coast guard footpath), was built to allow the watching of potential invaders or smugglers. It offers today to walkers numerous panoramic views of the sea, with the large city of Marseille in the background.
Walking time : 3 hours
Rating : challenging (stony and craggy terrain)
Season calendar : 1/1 – 6/15 & 9/15 – 12/31