The Calanques are these steep and narrow walled inlets along the Mediterranean coast. The Calanques National Park (Parc National des Calanques) is between Marseille and Cassis and are the most popular places to view these gorgeous Calanques. This post will cover the four most popular ways to visit the Calanques.
Hiking
The best part about hiking, is that you’ll be able to swim in the beautiful Calanques and bask along the beach (the reward!) There are numerous Calanques along the coast, and so it can be tricky to determine which one to visit. Each hike also has a varying degree of difficulty. For me, I looked for Calanques that offered picturesque beaches, and was suitable for more casual hikers. The two that I would recommend checking out in that category are Calanque D’en Vau and Calanque de Sugiton. If you’re interested in more intense hiking, I would recommend checking out lovetraveleat’s adventures to the Calanques.
After hiking for an hour, we finally made it!
To hike D’en Vau, the closest entrance is at La Gardiole. It’s a 3-4K hike and took us around an hour each way (keep in mind its uphill on the way back). This blog is in French, but is very informative on the hike itself. I wore birkenstocks and while it was rocky in a couple of places, it was fine.
Scenic Drive
Cap Canaille is a short 20 minute scenic drive from Cassis, but brings you to the very top of the Southern sea board. The hike is easy (park your car, and walk around type), but has amazing views that should not be missed.
Boat Tour
This is great if you want to experience multiple Calanques in a more relaxing manner. The tours vary in length (great if you want to see more), and by size of boat. The only downside of the boat tour is that you won’t be able to reach some of the more popular Calanques, as the water is too shallow in the beach area for the boat to come in.
There are 2 places to embark for the boats, and I’d recommend starting at Port de la Point Rouge rather than Vieux-Port as its closer to the Calanques and you’ll spend less time at sea.
Rock Climbing
I’m least familiar with this option, but I do know there are plenty of trails for climbers. While we were hiking, we spotted a few people climbing.
Let me know if you’re planning on checking it out!