The Calanques are a series of natural rugged white cliffs forming inlets and crystal clear bays extending a 13-mile stretch of coast between Cassis and Marseille. If you are in this area of France, you "must not miss" these! Although our apartment owner told us the only way to see them is by boat, that is not correct (we think she must not get out much). You can hike to them, which is what we intended to do. However, in the summer months, many days they are completely forbidden due to the fire danger caused by the combination of the high heat plus wind. We checked the website last night, updated after 6pm, and it said access was RED: meaning it was limited to the hours of 6-11am.
We gained access to the Calanques via the seaside town of Cassis (a 30 minute drive for us). We were headed for the parking lot at Plage du Bestouan but on the way scored some free street parking. We walked from there.
On our way to the Calanques, we passed at least two signs indicating that access was RED (open until 11am). Notice there is a fine of 135 euros for accessing the Calanques when they are closed!
The start of the trail. At the trail head at the entrance to Port Miou, just after you leave the road, is another sign letting you know if the Calanques are open. The sign was RED.
The first calanque is Port Miou, which is nothing spectacular and really just a harbor.
It's a pretty good view as you leave Port Miou!
A lot of the trail looks like this
Going down into Port Pin looks like this. Flip flops are not a good idea!
The trail rocks are actually pretty slippery (where the surface is shiny and wet looking).
Calanque Port Pin is very pretty!
Port Pin has a small beach
Port Pin has a small beach - made out of sharp rocks!
The water feels great and thankfully the ground is soft sand
We swam for a while, and then headed out before 11:00am.
When we got back to the trail head at Port Miou at 11:06am, a lady in a uniform was speaking French to us. She was very nice and switched to English for me. Apparently the Calanques were BLACK today. Acces interdit. Access forbidden. CLOSED. And of course now the sign was black! She didn't fine us 135 euros though.
Plage du Bestouan was pretty full when we got there. The parking lot was "complet".
Plage du Bestouan beach is a bit rocky - and every bit as uncomfortable (painful) as it looks.
We walked through the quaint harbor and town of Cassis.
Logistics:
- To see if the Calanques are open, visit: http://www.paca.gouv.fr/files/massif/. The map has a date on it, so make sure you are looking at the updated one. (I wasn't.)
- You can also call 0811 20 13 13 (available in French and English)
- Bring "proper equipment": sturdy shoes and plenty of water! We also saw people with snorkeling gear.
- Parking at Plage du Bestouan, if you can get one of the 100 spots, is 1.60/hour. It wasn't full at 8:45am, but all the parking in town fills up shortly after. If you can get one, there were also many free spots that we passed along the street.
Keep following these signs
- It took us about 20 minutes to walk from Plage du Bestouan to Port Miou, and then another 20 minutes to get to Port Pin.
